Anyone from San Diego?

My husband and I are leaving on a Mexican Riviera cruise from San Diego on March 15th. We are flying to San Diego a couple of days early to sight see since I have never been to CA. I am so excited!!!:) Does anyone have any recommendations on "must see" places in San Diego? Also, any restaurant recommendations? This will be our third cruise, second on Carnival. We can't wait!!!

I live in Escondido; in the north San Diego County. Lots to do in San Diego: visit the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park and/or Sea World, take a harbor excursion in San Diego Bay, visit Mission Bay (Pacific & Mission Beach) or La Jolla (La Jolla Coves, good restaurants and shopping), go to Coronado and visit the world famous Hotel Del Corornado, stroll through the Gaslamp District and Seaport Village (revitalized downtown area) or Old Town, go on a whale-watching tour (or drive up to the Point Loma Lighthouse where you might spot them from there). Tons of good restuarants: The Fish Market (downtown), Peohe's (Coronardo), Georges at the Cove (La Jolla), Lou & Mickey's (Gaslamp District, downtown), Casa Guadalajara (Old Town), to name a few.

We have taken five cruises to Mexico (several different itineraries) and are taking our sixth in December (Dawn Princess). Hope you enjoy your cruise and your time in San Diego.

I agree with the last entry. If you have a car go east to El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee. Not everyone lives at the beach. Less expensive places to eat. You can also take the Trolley. Have fun in San Diego, I just got back from my Mexican cruise on Carnival had a wonderful time. :)

My husband and I are leaving on a Mexican Riviera cruise from San Diego on March 15th. We are flying to San Diego a couple of days early to sight see since I have never been to CA. I am so excited!!!:) Does anyone have any recommendations on "must see" places in San Diego? Also, any restaurant recommendations? This will be our third cruise, second on Carnival. We can't wait!!!

I'm not from San Diego, but on the same cruise as you. :) Check the roll call boards and join in. We will be flying in the day before and staying across from the pier at the Holiday Inn. If your staying anywhere near the pier there is much to see, do and eat. Jump on the trolley and site see that way, we did this last time. Unless of course you have a car rented.

Hope you can jump on the roll call and join the quiet bunch there.

We are also staying at the Holiday Inn. I am not sure if it is the exact one you are staying at or not. Ours is called HOLIDAY INN MISSION BAY/SEA WORLD. The address is 3737 SPORTS ARENA BLVD SAN DIEGO, CA 92110. I will check out the roll call portion as well.

We are also staying at the Holiday Inn. I am not sure if it is the exact one you are staying at or not. Ours is called HOLIDAY INN MISSION BAY/SEA WORLD. The address is 3737 SPORTS ARENA BLVD SAN DIEGO, CA 92110. I will check out the roll call portion as well.

nope, we are staying at the one that you can walk right across the street to the pier. I believe it is Holiday Inn on the Bay. We stayed there last year pre and post cruise and found it very convient. We will be there pre and post cruise again in March, got a pretty good rate at hotwire.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!!

My husband and I are leaving on a Mexican Riviera cruise from San Diego on March 15th. We are flying to San Diego a couple of days early to sight see since I have never been to CA. I am so excited!!!:) Does anyone have any recommendations on "must see" places in San Diego? Also, any restaurant recommendations? This will be our third cruise, second on Carnival. We can't wait!!!

You will love San Diego. Double click or copy and paste the short cut to your browser. This is a live cam showing the pier and all the areas around it. Needs JAVA though. There are several other cams you can click on from this page and see all of downtown San Diego. It should work. Enjoy:D

http://live6.truelook.com/face/newface.jsp?func=live&name=/ecodb/1amnorth/camera1&pan=-90.20001&tilt=-12.44&panfov=46.7&tiltfov=36.4&overlay=default&skin=Nov2004SOSD&useapplet=true&time=1170706372778&width=640&height=480&quality=65&catalogname=catalog&imagemap.x=103&imagemap.y=77&imagemap.w=434&imagemap.h=326

Downtown La Mesa is quaint had has a lovely restaurant called Tratoria Tiramasu. It's Italian and great. It on La Mesa Blvd. Not as expensive as Downtown but just as good. Of course it's inland.

There is also Mission de Acala, the first mission built in a series of the California Missions. It's near the Stadium.

We have so many attractions that it is very difficult to decide. Have fun picking.

I forgot to tell you that the trolly runs to La Mesa. There are lots of antique shops on La Mesa Blvd. If you go get off the Trolly and La Mesa Blvd is right there.

OLD TOWN SD is well worth going to. We went to a restaurat which name I can't remember but people from SD will know. There is a deli in front and some of the best italian food I have ever had at more than reasonable prices.

Also there is Su Casa for Mexican food. Great and I am from AZ so I know Mexican food. Not far from your hotel either.

I would refer you to hommebronze but he is on a cruise at the moment.

They both are great but I think old town is a bit further from your hotel

I've only been there 2 times and was driven around the entire time so have little idea how the land lays. Just know it was not very far from my hotel.

I hope this helps. Too bad you won't be there longe enough to go to Sea World. It made my trip:cool:

I'd go back in a heart beat and may do so in July.

Smooth Sailing

Scruffers

The restaurant you are thinking of is Casa de Pico. It has moved to La Mesa. There is another restaurant in the same place and is very similar to Casa de Pico but not as good (IMHO).

OP why don't you come a week early and do it all. We love tourists. :D

We are also staying at the Holiday Inn. I am not sure if it is the exact one you are staying at or not. Ours is called HOLIDAY INN MISSION BAY/SEA WORLD. The address is 3737 SPORTS ARENA BLVD SAN DIEGO, CA 92110. I will check out the roll call portion as well.

Suggestions for eating nearby, Ruth Chris next door to the Holiday Inn on the Bay. Also try the Fish Market - down byt he G Street pier a few block south on the same street along the water. Upstairs in the fish market is anotehr restaurant Top of the Fish Market, just stay downstairs, the food is the same and less expensive. Sushi there too

Keep going down the same street and head towards Seaport Village with lots of restaurants and eateries, shops and activities.

Theres also a great fish and chips place called Anothonys Fish market right next door to the cruise ship terminal.

Have a great time! :)

The restaurant you are thinking of is Casa de Pico. It has moved to La Mesa. There is another restaurant in the same place and is very similar to Casa de Pico but not as good (IMHO).

OP why don't you come a week early and do it all. We love tourists. :D

You are saying Casa de Pico is no longer in Old Town? We ate there 2 years ago and loved the food and the outdoor atmosphere. I was hoping we could go back there. I guess maybe I should research how to get there in La Mesa, the trolley stops there right?

You are saying Casa de Pico is no longer in Old Town? We ate there 2 years ago and loved the food and the outdoor atmosphere. I was hoping we could go back there. I guess maybe I should research how to get there in La Mesa, the trolley stops there right?

To go to Casa de Pico, take the Orange or Green Line to Grossmont Center and walk up the stairs toward the mall. It will be half a block down on the right.

You are saying Casa de Pico is no longer in Old Town? We ate there 2 years ago and loved the food and the outdoor atmosphere. I was hoping we could go back there. I guess maybe I should research how to get there in La Mesa, the trolley stops there right?

They moved it last year to La Mesa. The whole Bazaar Del Mundo (Mexican shopping area) was closed down. The buildings are still there and other stores have moved in but it's just not the same. Please don't misunderstand, Old Town is still worth the visit. It's just different in that area.

Just take the Trolley out to LaMesa as mapman said walk up the stairs and you will find it. It's right across the street from Grossmont Hospital in the Grossmont Shopping Center. It's usually pretty busy at night.

Bazaar Del Mundo shut down? Oh no! I really enjoyed that last time I was there. Ate in the Mexican restaurant just outside its gate there ... wonderful. Wanting to go back to Old Town this trip. I want to go back to the Chuck Jones (Looney Tunes) gallery just outside the park too. Hoping to get hubby a Bugs Bunny cartoon cell. Soooo many cool things in SD.

Casa De Pico ROCKS!!!!! That is one of my favorite places to eat, drink and have a GREAT time with the family... however, it might be a ways out for the OP.

Try to stick near the coast, inland is OK, but you can get lost there.

Try a place called Azul in La Jolla, by far (IMHO) the best bar and eats in all of San Diego and the view is incredible. After dinner/lunch take a stroll down by the water and check out the seals at the Childerns pool. Best way to spend a day in San Diego that I can think of.

Have FUN, we LOVE tourist here!!!!!

Getting to Casa de Pico is easy on the Trolley, and by car for that matter.

Old Town is still lots of fun. Many would not even notice the difference. Only us locals. There was a big ruckus when Bazaar del Mundo closed.

La Jolla is very nice. Many upscale stores and restaurants, I even saw Alice Cooper there once. He was shopping.

No matter what you do here it's good. We have wonderful dining and shopping and sightseeing.

What to do in San Diego?

We like to take visitors (and ourselves occasionally) on the ferry and over to Coronado. The ferry leaves not far from the cruise terminal - literally a couple of minutes' walk and goes back and forth across the harbor pretty much all day. Once over there you can walk to the Hotel Del Coronado (a nice long 45 minute walk maybe) and view the local architecture, local inhabitants, etc. Or you can take a taxi which is not too expensive but I don't recall the cost. At the Hotel you can buy an inexpensive deli lunch and sit out on their large deck and watch the ocean.

Usually we walk to the hotel and then take the taxi back to the ferry pier. It's convenient, doesn't involve a lot of traffic and the price is reasonable.

Hello there! DW and I are two of those dreaded 'zonies' but we do love San Diego and spend a week in Carlsbad every summer, contributing to the local economy...lol. We're looking at scheduling a week on the Dawn Princess from San Diego in October and were wondering where is the best / safest place to park the car while Princess pampers us? We'll be staying in San Diego for a few days before the cruise - my stepson is graduating from Marine boot camp 2 days before the sailing and we'll be driving over from Phoenix to see him graduate. If anyone is considering this cruise as well in early October, be prepared for shorages of food - after 13 weeks of boot camp my son is going to one finely tuned eating machine!

Thanks in advance for the information and all the best,

BD

Yikes "Zonies"

Ah thats ok your money is always welcome here :D

Hey why don't you come on the Spirit Oct 13th 2007with myself and others. Leaves out of good ol' SD. It would be great to have you. We have a roll call going.

Hey why don't you come on the Spirit Oct 13th 2007with myself and others. Leaves out of good ol' SD. It would be great to have you. We have a roll call going.

Thanks for the invite, but the Princess cruise works better for our schedule - my son graduates from Boot Camp on the 5th and the Dawn sails on the 7th.

Any suggestions on parking?

Take care and all the best,

Brendan

Here is information about parking close to the port. Most of this is off-site airport parking as well:

http://www.portofsandiego.org/sandiego_maritime/cruise/parking.asp

Splinter - thanks for that. I have bookmarked that page to keep as a reference for the future in case anyone asks.

We have used the Park-N-Ride places many times for the airport and shuttle and have always found them reliable. They are only about 5 to 10 minutes from the cruise terminal. Their lots are guarded and I would feel comfortable leaving my vehicle there for a week or even two. If a car cover is available, I would suggest covering the vehicle. While the lot is fenced and people cannot just drive in there, it is an outdoor, uncovered parking lot and covering a car is a nice safety precaution.

Barbara