San Francisco tourist questions

I posted this on my roll call, but so far no answers.

DW and I are sailing on a Panama Canal cruise on Celebrity Infinity leaving Sep 18 from SF. We are flying in on the 16th and staying at the Chelsea Motor Inn on Lombard St. Our full day touristy thing on the 17th is pretty much fully booked with Alcatraz in the morning and a Muir Woods/Sausolito tour in the afternoon. However, since we get in pretty early on the 16th, we wanted to tool around Fisherman's Wharf in the afternoon/evening and probably the evening of the 17th as well. Google maps shows this as about 1.5 miles from our hotel. However, DW is currently in a walking boot due to a foot issue and asking her to walk 1.5 miles in hilly SF would be too much. So, my questions are:

1) What's the easiest public transportation method?

2) Can you flag down a taxi or does it have to be called? What's the typical rate for a taxi?

3) What about BART? How easy is it to buy a day bus pass and is it worth it?

4) We'd also like to ride the Powell-Hyde line cable car. Where is the best place to purchase a pass and board?

5) Given that terminal 27 is maybe a 10 minute walk from FW Pier 39, is it possible to drop off your luggage to porters on pier 27 and then spend the morning at FW?

6) Of the few reviews I've read about Pier 27 operations, they indicated there were very few porters and so you have to wait in a long line just to drop off your luggage. Anyone have any more recent experience?

7) I'd also like to hear restaurant recommendations near FW, if anyone has any.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

I posted this on my roll call, but so far no answers.

 

DW and I are sailing on a Panama Canal cruise on Celebrity Infinity leaving Sep 18 from SF. We are flying in on the 16th and staying at the Chelsea Motor Inn on Lombard St. Our full day touristy thing on the 17th is pretty much fully booked with Alcatraz in the morning and a Muir Woods/Sausolito tour in the afternoon. However, since we get in pretty early on the 16th, we wanted to tool around Fisherman's Wharf in the afternoon/evening and probably the evening of the 17th as well. Google maps shows this as about 1.5 miles from our hotel. However, DW is currently in a walking boot due to a foot issue and asking her to walk 1.5 miles in hilly SF would be too much. So, my questions are:

 

1) What's the easiest public transportation method? For which trip? Taxi is probably your best bet in general, you might even wish to consider Uber.

2) Can you flag down a taxi or does it have to be called? What's the typical rate for a taxi? You may flag them down. Again, consider Uber.

3) What about BART? How easy is it to buy a day bus pass and is it worth it? Other than coming from the Airport, BART doesn't do you any good for what you mention doing.

4) We'd also like to ride the Powell-Hyde line cable car. Where is the best place to purchase a pass and board?

5) Given that terminal 27 is maybe a 10 minute walk from FW Pier 39, is it possible to drop off your luggage to porters on pier 27 and then spend the morning at FW? Yes.

6) Of the few reviews I've read about Pier 27 operations, they indicated there were very few porters and so you have to wait in a long line just to drop off your luggage. Anyone have any more recent experience?

7) I'd also like to hear restaurant recommendations near FW, if anyone has any. Depends what you like...lots of fish places...FW is full of restaurants.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

You might want to do some reading on the West Coast Departures board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

as the new Terminal is discussed regularly there. Plus your transport options from the airport are also commonly discussed there.

You might want to do some reading on the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

 

as the new Terminal is discussed regularly there. Plus your transport options from the airport are also commonly discussed there.

Thanks for the response and links. I didn't know there WAS a west coast departures board :)

I would download Lyft and Uber on your phone. I live near SF and we've switched to almost exclusively using ridesharing for getting around the city. It is very convenient and reasonably priced.

For seafood at Fisherman's Wharf we like Alito's - be sure to make a reservation & request a table by the window.

I would download Lyft and Uber on your phone. I live near SF and we've switched to almost exclusively using ridesharing for getting around the city. It is very convenient and reasonably priced.

 

For seafood at Fisherman's Wharf we like Alito's - be sure to make a reservation & request a table by the window.

Alioto's. You can make reservations online.

When you're at the wharf get some Boudins sourdough bread. The mother is older than the state.

Sorry, I couldn't mark the font of my answers.

1) What's the easiest public transportation method? I'm going to agree with Uber/Lyft as well. MUNI is not terrible, but if you see something out of the ordinary, you have to chalk it up as part of the experience, culture, not something bad :)

2) Can you flag down a taxi or does it have to be called? What's the typical rate for a taxi? You can flag if you are in downtown or touristy places. Definitely not in Chinatown :D

3) What about BART? How easy is it to buy a day bus pass and is it worth it? BART can get you into the city from the airport, but you will still need to take something from a station to the hotel... maybe the hotel can help w/that, but again, maybe BART in and take Uber the rest of the way. Or maybe they have a shuttle.

4) We'd also like to ride the Powell-Hyde line cable car. Where is the best place to purchase a pass and board? I always think end of the line is best, so either Market and Powell or Hyde and whatever the cross street is in Fisherman's Wharf where it ends... Northpoint?

5) Given that terminal 27 is maybe a 10 minute walk from FW Pier 39, is it possible to drop off your luggage to porters on pier 27 and then spend the morning at FW? I'm going to say yes because I feel like Pier 39 is one of the attractions the cruise ships advertise, but you may want to double check how far that really is.

6) Of the few reviews I've read about Pier 27 operations, they indicated there were very few porters and so you have to wait in a long line just to drop off your luggage. Anyone have any more recent experience? I don't know about this as it's been 3 years for me.

7) I'd also like to hear restaurant recommendations near FW, if anyone has any. None here either. There are many restaurants in Pier 39 including Bubba Gumps and Hard Rock, but there might be more authentic ones. You can also go to Hog Island (oysters, fish, clam chowder) in the Ferry Building and also walk around the shops in there as well. Or save money and eat on the ship. If on a different day, you can really be at the Wharf (several blocks away from Pier 39)... there are restaurants on Jefferson street (clam chowder, crab on the street) and in Ghirardelli Square.

We will be docked in SF Sept 28 overnight. Thinking of going to AT&T stadium to see the game that night. Is it possible to walk to stadium from cruise port? Thanks

We will be docked in SF Sept 28 overnight. Thinking of going to AT&T stadium to see the game that night. Is it possible to walk to stadium from cruise port? Thanks

It is not possible to walk from either cruise pier (27 or 35) but you can easily take public transit, taxi, or Lyft/Uber.

Here is the calendar to help you determine which pier you will dock at:

http://www.sfport.com/index.aspx?page=2462

We will be docked in SF Sept 28 overnight. Thinking of going to AT&T stadium to see the game that night. Is it possible to walk to stadium from cruise port? Thanks

It's about a 3 mile (1hr?) walk along the waterfront (Embarcadero).

Taking it leisurely you can grab some munchies at the Ferry Building or grab a beer & burger combo at Red's Java House (a real dive joint) that's packed with suits and overalls at lunch time: http://redsjavahouse.com/index2.php#/home/

Just checked the schedule, should be an easy sweep for the home team;):D