San Diego Wyndham Bayside/Holiday Inn on the Bay

[Jemima]

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay several times over the years for cruises departing from and/or ending in San Diego. There were posts this spring on it's changing to Wyndham Bayside and some reports of poor reviews elsewhere. We booked the Wyndham anyway for our cruise which ended in San Diego 10/5. We did so because it is just so convenient and we hoped we hadn't made a mistake. We hadn't. If this hotel was ok for you in the past, you shouldn't have any concerns booking it under it's new name. We actually found improvements. We still consider it our best choice for San Diego cruises and will continue to book there

[Typhoon1]

It is probably the best hotel for cruisers in San Diego. Glad to hear nothing has changed other than the name.

[Himself]

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay several times over the years for cruises departing from and/or ending in San Diego. There were posts this spring on it's changing to Wyndham Bayside and some reports of poor reviews elsewhere. We booked the Wyndham anyway for our cruise which ended in San Diego 10/5. We did so because it is just so convenient and we hoped we hadn't made a mistake. We hadn't. If this hotel was ok for you in the past, you shouldn't have any concerns booking it under it's new name. We actually found improvements. We still consider it our best choice for San Diego cruises and will continue to book there

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing your recent experience. I will be staying there later this week.

[pris993]

Never stayed here, but we were in San Diego earlier this month, notice the change in name and new paint job... did look like an improvment.

 

We have stayed at the Embassy Suites in the area, in the past.

[scopewest]

Thanks for the report. We love being able to walk across the street from the hotel to the ship and not bother with shuttles, buses, taxis, etc.

 

The only "better" hotel location that we found for getting to the pier was our stay at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. Since we booked through HAL, all we had to do was put our suitcases by the door so the hotel could move them to the ship for us before taking the elevator down to the pier check-in area. It was raining but we didn't care because we were inside the entire time :)

 

Oh, if it only could be that easy for all ports!

[solocanadian]

Stayed there this past April. They were OK but suffered a few speed bumps which would not scare me away in the future. They never did meet my flight but did reimburse me for the taxi fare, including tip. I would gladly stay there again but doubt I ever will. The cruise terminal completely turned me off permanently for San Diego.

[RuthC]

Thank you for the information about the hotel. I liked staying there when I sailed out of San Diego in '06. If I ever recover from that embarkation, and decide to sail from there again, I am happy to know that hotel will still work well for me.

[nana51]

Since I've only left out of San Diego I have nothing to compare it too. It seemed fine to me. We got dropped off, they took our luggage, we went in, checked in and was on the ship all in about 15 minutes. When we got off, we went down, got our luggage and walked off. We have done this on four separate occasions and have never had a problem. I have a Canadian passport and my hubby a U.S passport.

[Winters in NZ]

We tried it in April for a Celebrity cruise. It's a bit older than some places, but very clean, and staff that are hard-working and friendly.

[pris993]

We have cruised and stopped at San Diego frequently on Mexican trips. A year ago we were on the Star Princess and could not believe how difficult port security made it to simply get back on the ship after visiting San Diego. For some reason, they made everyone get off the ship that day, whether they wanted to or not and then there were long lines to get back on. Never experienced that before.

 

It was so bad, that on our last trip, this month I was seriously considering not getting off in San Diego. When we arrived realized we were at an older dock area and there was not the problems we experience a year earlier. So we got off and enjoyed a visit in the area again.

 

Still don't know why security was such an issue on the Star.

[startwin]

During the fiasco of our port stop in SD in May last year, many disembarking passengers missed flight, and those of us in transit were unable to go ashore until after noon. All shore excursions were cancelled. We were informed that this happens way too often there, and one officer said HAL may be re-thinking using the port at all. The biggest problem seems to be too few customs/immigration officers assigned to clear the ship.

[GeriatricNurse]

Stayed there this past April. They were OK but suffered a few speed bumps which would not scare me away in the future. They never did meet my flight but did reimburse me for the taxi fare, including tip. I would gladly stay there again but doubt I ever will. The cruise terminal completely turned me off permanently for San Diego.

 

The airport isn't much to write home about either! :rolleyes:

[Krazy Kruizers]

Never stayed here, but we were in San Diego earlier this month, notice the change in name and new paint job... did look like an improvment.

 

We have stayed at the Embassy Suites in the area, in the past.[/quote]

 

 

That is where we always stay when we are in San Diego.

[Krazy Kruizers]

During the fiasco of our port stop in SD in May last year, many disembarking passengers missed flight, and those of us in transit were unable to go ashore until after noon. All shore excursions were cancelled. We were informed that this happens way too often there, and one officer said HAL may be re-thinking using the port at all. The biggest problem seems to be too few customs/immigration officers assigned to clear the ship.

 

 

We have done quite a few repositioning cruises from Ft Lauderdale to Seattle and one of the port stops is San Diego. And that port always seems to have problems -- and many people missed flights as their cruise ended there. And those of us who were continuing onto Seattle also could not leave the ship. Some people didn't show up for immigration with announcements still being made at 10:40 AM. Horrible mess for lots of people.

[mightycruisequeen]

Thanks so much for the info about this hotel. I just booked it for our cruise next February. :cool: