Jaberwocky

Considering a quick trip on the Emerald in October. The cruise is 4 nights, with the only port being Grand Turk. Does anyone know if there is a formal night on such a short cruise? Also, does one need a passport for Grand Turk? Thanks.

We were in San Francisco last Monday on a Crown Princess cruise. We booked an independent tour through All Tours/Grayline. The tour took us to Muir Woods and Sausolito, and then dropped us off at the pier for the Alcatraz tour. Our tour guide was really good and we were pleased with the price. You don't have to do the Alcatraz tour through them - it was an add-on, but they dropped us off right at the pier and the price was the same for Alcatraz as it would be to get tickets on your own. From Pier 27 it was about a 20-25 minute walk to meet the tour - very easy to find at 2627 Taylor St. Hope this information helps.

Sorry for using the wrong terms. Living here in the landlocked Midwest, I don't always get my nautical/ship/sea terms correct! :)

Thanks for the quick replies. I will look forward to reading tomorrow's posts and seeing the pictures! Hope all goes smoothly!

Has anyone been on a ship that docked at the new pier - Pier 27 - in San Francisco? Just wondering if everything went smoothly. We will be there next week. Thanks.

This may be obvious to those of you who are frequent cruisers, but I was just wondering where I might find out where the Crown was cruising the week before our cruise. The reason I was wondering was because I had read that if the ship is coming back from a long overseas cruise, boarding would likely be delayed due to immigration for departing passengers. We are sailing on Sept. 20 for a California Coastal cruise.

Thanks, Pam! You have been an amazing help to us as we plan our Princess cruise!

Does anyone have the exact address of the port in San Diego where Princess docks? Would like to use Google maps but need address. Thanks.

Just wondering if there are any advantages to booking Super Shuttle prior to arrival for transportation from LAX to San Pedro Pier on a Saturday morning . Or is it wise to just wait until we arrive and hope to find a shuttle going to San Pedro? Our flight arrives at 10:30am, ship departs at 4pm if that makes any difference on advice. Thanks!

Couldn't resist replying to this one! 1983 - Carnival Festivale. I was a young teacher, and my roommate and I saved like crazy to take this cruise in the summer. We dressed up for every evening meal, with long dresses for formal nights. We participated in every activity we could - horse races, bingo, all kinds of contests. We were amazed at how big the ship was and how "fancy" everything was. After getting home, we promised we would take a cruise every summer.

Life (and finances) got in the way, and the two of us didn't cruise together again. I finally cruised again in 1994 on NCL with my husband, and have done several cruises since. All of our cruises have been wonderful, but nothing quite compares to that first impression of life on-board a ship!

The roommate and I are still friends, and hoping that one day she and her husband will cruise with us. Wouldn't that be fun?

I found that, too. Called Princess and the rep said she could see it listed as an option on our cruise. When I went to sign up, there wasn't anything there. Someone said that they sometimes offer these "end of cruise" tours while on board the ship, but I would rather have plans in place so I know what will be happening when we get off the ship with luggage.

I have also heard mention of "Sunseekers" tours in LA, and may end up giving them a call. Tours listed on their web site are all day tours, which would not work. Still hoping someone will help us! :o

I hope someone can answer this, as we are looking for the same thing on Sept. 27. Our flight leaves LAX at 4:30, and would hate to spend all that time at the airport.

Does anyone know if there is a seating plan for the Crown dining rooms that I could look at? I am trying to find out if there are tables for two that are not simply lined up next to other tables for 2 so that you are actually sitting almost with someone else.

My husband is not a fan of sitting with others, and we are trying to decide if we should bring clothes for the dining room or just plan to do the buffet, grill, eat in port, etc.

We are signed up for Anytime Dining if that makes any difference. Thanks!

Thanks for all of your suggestions and ideas. I feel better about at least having a good chance of making our tour, and if we don't, we don't. Can't let it ruin our good time at this point. At least now I know that many times people are able to disembark in a timely manner, and hoping that will be the case on our cruise. Cruise critic is a great place to get help, especially for those of us who haven't cruised too many times. I will also add that I have found the Princess boards to be the nicest and most helpful, compared to several others!

We will be on a California Coastal cruise in late September, leaving from L.A. with stops in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Ensanada, Mexico. We know that we need layers (and jeans) for our San Francisco stop, as we will be going to Alcatraz and Muir Woods. I am unsure of what to wear both on sea days and in the other ports. Will shorts be too cold that time of year? Jeans? Capris? I understand that weather is not all that predictable, but some general guidelines would sure help with my packing plans. Thanks!

San Francisco is a port of call - we will not be disembarking. There are no tours with this company that start at a later time. Just hoping that things will go smoothly with the ship docking in time and opening the doors for us to get off the ship.

Sorry - I don't know how to add to my first post. We will be sailing directly from Los Angeles, so won't be coming in from a foreign port, if that makes any difference.

Maybe someone who has docked in San Francisco can alleviate my fears a bit. I booked an independent tour that goes to Alcatraz and Muir Woods - Princess did not offer a tour that does both. Our ship docks at 7am, and we are to meet the tour at 8:45 (about a 15 minute walk from ship).

I thought the timing would be fine, but after booking the tour, I read that someone had been late disembarking numerous times in San Francisco. I understand that there can be problems, but does anyone know if San Francisco disembarkation time is normally late?

The tour is non-refundable, so there's nothing I can do there. I guess I am just hoping someone could assure me that San Francisco is not always late in disembarking. We will be there on a Monday in September, if that makes any difference.

(I did read the terms and conditions of the tour, and it said 100% refundable up to 7 days in advance. However, that did not apply to the Alcatraz tours. After looking again at the web site, it did say no refunds on this particular tour, so all of that is on me. :mad::mad::mad: )

Thanks to any experiences you can share.

Does anyone know if debarkation in San Francisco has anything to do with whether or not the previous port is in a foreign country? We have booked an independent tour for 8:30, thinking we would be safe with the ship arriving in port at 7am. Now I am reading that sometimes folks are not allowed off the ship until as late as 10am. I just wondered if the fact that we are sailing directly from L.A. would have anything to do with faster processing of passports, etc. Hopefully this question makes sense. Thanks!

We just booked a tour that leaves from Taylor Street at 9:00. It appears to be a short walk from the pier, so we are sure hoping to get off the ship in time to get there. The tour goes to Alcatraz, Muir Woods and Sausalito. This is on Sept. 22. I booked before I read somewhere that sometimes people get off ship late in S.F. Guess we'll just be taking a chance. Let me know what you decided to do!

Thanks for the tips. We will likely go through a real company instead of through Viator. The reason we want to take a tour is that we want to combine Alcatraz, Muir Woods and Sausalito. Would still appreciate any other tips anyone might have about what companies to check out.

We will be in San Francisco on September 22, cruising with Princess. We are scheduled to be at the pier at 7am. The ship doesn't have the tour we are looking for, but we have found one through Viator Tours. Does anyone know anything about this group? Do you think we would likely be able to meet the tour at 8:30 am? (It is a 10 minute walk from the pier). We want to tour Alcatraz and go to Muir Woods, without renting a car. The tour is an 8 hour tour so should be back to the pier by 5pm. Ship leaves at 11 that evening, so shouldn't be a problem at that end of the tour. Thanks for any info or suggestions you might have.

Can anyone tell me where the Crown Princess will dock when in San Francisco in September? Looking at maps and trying to figure things out. Thanks!

Thanks for all of your ideas. I think we will hope that the cruise line offers something that includes transportation to LAX later. We were concerned about how everything is so spread out and worried about running out of time to get to the airport.

We will be getting off a West Coast cruise on a Saturday morning - arrival in port is scheduled for 7am. Our flight does not leave from LAX until 4pm. Does anyone know if Princess offers any short tours for those leaving the ship? We would like to do something other than sit at the airport until 4:00, but realize we won't have much time in a city as spread out as LA. Thanks for any information - we are just starting to make plans.