San Francisco Pier 35 Transportation Question

Need assistance with a transportation question from San Francisco Pier 35 to SFO. Arriving on the Dawn Princess May 14th. and have a 1 pm flight. Are taxi's or airporter bus service readily available at the pier? Yes, I know that Princess offers shuttle service but I personally feel the cost is too high.

Yes, there are cabs but if your alone it would be cheaper to take a shuttle.

The answer is that yes there are taxis lined up outside the pier waiting for disembarking passengers. I don't know what the Princess shuttle price is, but SF has the highest taxi rates in the country. It will be at least $35.00 from the pier to SFO without tip.

I hope you enjoy your cruise!

Carole

As a follow up to my original post: Would taking a taxi to the closest BART station and then the BART to SFO be more cost effective for a party of two?

SF traffic can be bad at almost anytime of day. With having to be at airports because of secuirty stuff. And cabs are pricey in SF (not to mention many are not regulated). If you do use a cab in SF use one that is a "yellow cab" other yellow's are not licensed by the city and are noted for ripping people off. I'll see if I can find the news report they just did on that subject and post it.

Getting to the BART maybe a time issue as in getting off the ship with all your stuff then making it before a 1pm flight. It might be a little tricky if anything goes haywire. Just my humble opinion.

We took the Super Shuttle last September for both of us it cost $22 from the pier to the airport. It worked out very well although we did have to pick up a couple other passengers. We were at the airport in plenty of time.

Need assistance with a transportation question from San Francisco Pier 35 to SFO. Arriving on the Dawn Princess May 14th. and have a 1 pm flight. Are taxi's or airporter bus service readily available at the pier? Yes, I know that Princess offers shuttle service but I personally feel the cost is too high.

I would just walk outside and take a taxi. In San Francisco, the immigration officials will board the ship and everyone on board will have to go through customs before anyone leaves the ship. Remember, San Francisco only does a few ships a month and so their embarkation, disembarkation process is not as smooth as most ports. We were on the Mercury last week and the ship docked at 7:00am; the first passengers leaving the ship occured at 9:35am. It took over an hour and half to run everyone through customs onboard. The day we boarded the ship, it was late into port (arrived at 9:30am), the first passengers were let off at 11:00am and many were in panic mode! Keep it simple!! The taxi drivers will have been in line for over an hour as the passengers leave the terminal; they won't be happy with just taking you to the BART station near by. It's always worth an extra $25 to keep the stress level low at the end of a wonderful vacation!:rolleyes:

Good luck!

Kel

Another problem with taking the BART to the airport is that it is not the fastest or most direct method of getting there. The trains swing 7 miles to the southwest through Daly City before turning back southeast to the airport. I have not checked the schedules, but it is really not that fast.

There is also a good distance between the BART station and the domestic terminals. Lastly, BART trains do experience regular delays from equipment problems, crazy people on the tracks, and other unpredictable factors.

As someone who lives in San Francisco, I would take BART to the airport from the pier area only if it were the afternoon commute period (3-7 P.M.). Street traffic in the downtown area to the freeway during the afternoon commute can be slower than walking.

Since you are going on a Saturday morning, there will also be fewer BART trains. There should be very little auto traffic once you pass by the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market down the Embarcadero near Pier 1 (the piers are odd-numbered, so that would be 17 piers to the south).

A taxi is really better for peace of mind and efficiency. It will cost you $20-30 more than a taxi and then BART, but it would be a foolish savings if you miss your air connection.

Fully agree with above post.

With 2 persons, unless Princess has raised its prices, Princess transfer may be most convenient. Expect cost of cab to be around $45 with tips. /Sultan