SF Cruise Parking

We will be sailing on the Grand in February. In my research, I've found the 55 Francisco is the parking lot recommended by Princess. I tried to book online and it said no reservations at this time. I found a lot next to it run by Parking Panda, which let me book a spot. Does anyone know anything about this lot? Ideally, I'd like to park outside the city and take public transportation to the pier. I read of someone taking the ferry from Vallejo and walking to the cruise dock. Looking for suggestions on the best way to get to the pier. We will be coming from the Sacramento area.

Why not ask at the West Coast Departure board?

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

Or check with your roll call?

We will be sailing on the Grand in February. In my research, I've found the 55 Francisco is the parking lot recommended by Princess. I tried to book online and it said no reservations at this time. I found a lot next to it run by Parking Panda, which let me book a spot. Does anyone know anything about this lot? Ideally, I'd like to park outside the city and take public transportation to the pier. I read of someone taking the ferry from Vallejo and walking to the cruise dock. Looking for suggestions on the best way to get to the pier. We will be coming from the Sacramento area.

I just checked on all the departures in February on the Grand at the 55 garage and there was space available for each one of those cruises. It is listed at $12 per day. I would check again and be sure to enter your times as well as dates. List it as going in after 11 AM and out by 10 AM. That may have been your issue ... not sure. I did the test reservation through spothero.com and plugged in pier 27 if that helps.

If you are really interested in taking public transportation and saving a little money, you can make reservations at one of the BART stations and take BART in ... the walk from the Embarcadero station is 1 mile. If that is not a problem with your luggage, we've done it before and it is an easy walk. Cross the street when you get off BART and walk along the waterfront ... it is all flat. You just need to have luggage that wheels easily.

The parking at BART can be reserved ahead of time and it is only about $5-$7 per day and under $5 each to get to SF. It will save you a little ... not a ton but a little. Your other consideration is weather, though. While we usually have a week of fantastic weather in February, we can also can get rain and it is no fun to walk in the rain with luggage.

I have used 80 Francisco (the Panda reference above) many times. It is only $16 per day, but they now charge for 11 "calendar" days for a 10 day cruise, for a total of $176. Prepaid by credit card. The garage at 55 Francisco is $18 per day, and the site mentioned above (spothero ...) shows the 10 days in January to be a total of $230. Don't know where the $12 per day came from.

We always drive to Vallejo, park in the covered garage at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal ($20 for a monthly permit) and take the ferry to the SF Ferry Terminal. From there it's about a half mile walk to Pier 27. Easily the least stressful way to go. The ferry is about $13.50 per person round trip.

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Why not ask at the West Coast Departure board?

 

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

 

Or check with your roll call?

That's where I found the post about the ferry from Vallejo. Not a lot about SF, but it was helpful. Thank you for the link.

I just checked on all the departures in February on the Grand at the 55 garage and there was space available for each one of those cruises. It is listed at $12 per day. I would check again and be sure to enter your times as well as dates. List it as going in after 11 AM and out by 10 AM. That may have been your issue ... not sure. I did the test reservation through spothero.com and plugged in pier 27 if that helps.

 

If you are really interested in taking public transportation and saving a little money, you can make reservations at one of the BART stations and take BART in ... the walk from the Embarcadero station is 1 mile. If that is not a problem with your luggage, we've done it before and it is an easy walk. Cross the street when you get off BART and walk along the waterfront ... it is all flat. You just need to have luggage that wheels easily.

The parking at BART can be reserved ahead of time and it is only about $5-$7 per day and under $5 each to get to SF. It will save you a little ... not a ton but a little. Your other consideration is weather, though. While we usually have a week of fantastic weather in February, we can also can get rain and it is no fun to walk in the rain with luggage.

I was surprised when the website wouldn't let me reserve a spot. I was going to call them but found Parking Panda next door.

We are a little worried about rainy weather and having to walk to the pier in it, but BART would be an option. Thanks for the info.

I have used 80 Francisco (the Panda reference above) many times. It is only $16 per day, but they now charge for 11 "calendar" days for a 10 day cruise, for a total of $176. Prepaid by credit card. The garage at 55 Francisco is $18 per day, and the site mentioned above (spothero ...) shows the 10 days in January to be a total of $230. Don't know where the $12 per day came from.

Thanks for the info on Parking Panda. I checked it out on Google Earth and it doesn't look covered. It's not a big deal, but I'm curious.

We always drive to Vallejo, park in the covered garage at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal ($20 for a monthly permit) and take the ferry to the SF Ferry Terminal. From there it's about a half mile walk to Pier 27. Easily the least stressful way to go. The ferry is about $13.50 per person round trip.

 

 

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This sounds like a great option for us. Parking in SF isn't the problem. I'm kind of a country hick and I'd like to avoid driving in to the city if I can.;-) Thanks for the info.

This sounds like a great option for us. Parking in SF isn't the problem. I'm kind of a country hick and I'd like to avoid driving in to the city if I can.;-) Thanks for the info.

Ditto the country hick![emoji4] I'd recommend that you go on to the Vallejo Waterfront Parking site and get your monthly permit on line. That way, once you get to the ferry terminal, you can just park your car in the garage and walk across the street to the terminal without the need to buy your permit at one of the kiosks. Enjoy your cruise!

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We are fortunate that our TA provides free round trip bus transportation on selected sailings out of SF. We take advantage of it when we can. We don't like driving or paying for parking in the City either.

I have used 80 Francisco (the Panda reference above) many times. It is only $16 per day, but they now charge for 11 "calendar" days for a 10 day cruise, for a total of $176. Prepaid by credit card. The garage at 55 Francisco is $18 per day, and the site mentioned above (spothero ...) shows the 10 days in January to be a total of $230. Don't know where the $12 per day came from.

Crazy fingers ... sorry about that. I meant to type $18 !!

Funny thing is ... the 2 isn't even near the 8 on my keyboard :eek:

We are fortunate that our TA provides free round trip bus transportation on selected sailings out of SF. We take advantage of it when we can. We don't like driving or paying for parking in the City either.

You must use Zoe's. I just found them, but too late for this booking. I may give them a call to see if we could " hitch a ride" for a fee.

No problem Cruiseraider. I thought you might get a locals discount. :-))

No problem Cruiseraider. I thought you might get a locals discount. :-))

I wish!! I just use BART if I can't get a ride from one of the neighbors. We usually pack in carry on luggage only ... but if I get a ride, I take my own wine with me. More savings ... yay! I just rely on their happy hours and such if I don't get a ride. I will not lug that heavy stuff with me all the way from BART.

You know, I have talked people into taking us to the pier by bribing them with the BVE ... quite nice and only $39 + a few hours parking fee. I have had a couple of takers. But, we are pretty close to the pier.

We've decided to rent a car from Enterprise and drop it off on Beach St., in San Francisco. It's far cheaper than parking the car for 15 days. We'll drop our luggage off at curbside then drop the car off. We've done this before and it's the best option. We live 3 hours away and drive in - easy. Also, friend parked her car and her sister parked her car at the parking garage on Francisco St. Her car was broken into and some items were stolen. Also, a passenger off the ship their truck was stolen right from the garage. Not a good way to end a cruise.

I thought that I would investigate further on 55 Francisco St. Some of the comments left reiterated what my friend said about her sisters car getting broken into. Read the comments - I'd think twice about leaving my car there. Renting a car is my best option.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/ace-parking-san-francisco-3

We've parked at 55 a Francisco twice, most recently last month and had no problem whatsoever. However, we did make sure to drive our 15 year old vehicle. That way if it had gotten stolen we wouldn't have missed it. We also got there by 12:30 and got the last self-park spot so we didn't have to surrender our keys. We've had our car stolen before from BART, so I can appreciate why peole are hesitant to leave their cars for an extended period of time. But we were only gone for a couple hours and the car was stolen, while we've parked at BART for three weeks at s time and never had a car stolen either. Guess it is just luck of the draw.

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I thought that I would investigate further on 55 Francisco St. Some of the comments left reiterated what my friend said about her sisters car getting broken into. Read the comments - I'd think twice about leaving my car there. Renting a car is my best option.

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/ace-parking-san-francisco-3

Do you rent a car for the trip home?

We will be sailing on the Grand in February. In my research, I've found the 55 Francisco is the parking lot recommended by Princess. I tried to book online and it said no reservations at this time. I found a lot next to it run by Parking Panda, which let me book a spot. Does anyone know anything about this lot? Ideally, I'd like to park outside the city and take public transportation to the pier. I read of someone taking the ferry from Vallejo and walking to the cruise dock. Looking for suggestions on the best way to get to the pier. We will be coming from the Sacramento area.

We always take Bart, at the Dublin station. Our last cruise cost 75.00 for a 7 day cruise. One year we rented cars one way, each way. Bart is so much easier. It's a 15 min walk from the Embarcadero station,or if you want take a cab a the Hyatt Regency which is at the Bart station.

Are there any issues riding BART with several pieces of luggage? I've never been on Bart and am not familiar with the system.

Are there any issues riding BART with several pieces of luggage? I've never been on Bart and am not familiar with the system.

Depending on the time of the day it can be problematic. Since the trains are jam packed during commute hours it could be very difficult. If you go after commuted hours there will be no problem. We've taken BART to the airport many times, once with a lot of luggage, and it was a non commute time.

Sardine time is mon-Fri 6-9 am

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