First time on the Grand

[suekel]

Just booked my first cruise out of San Francisco doing the Mexican Riveria. First time on the Grand. Flying in a day early. Is it best to stay by the airport and shuttle back and take the transfer to the ship or stay down by Fisherman's Wharf. Staying down by the wharf is my preference. How much is a cab/uber from the airport? I'd take BART but I don't know how many suitcases we'll have. Thinking it'll be quite cool the first couple of days so that will affect packing. I haven't been to San Francisco since I was a kid so any helpful hints will be appreciated.

 

TIA

[CruiserBruce]

A lot of this ground logistical info is discussed quite frequently on the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

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

 

I can't think of one reason to stay by the airport, except perhaps cheaper hotel rooms. I would Uber or shuttle to a hotel downtown.

[moki'smommy]

If you google "Fare estimator" with the name of any city, you can get an approximation of various means of transportation from the location you enter to your destination. You'll usually get a standard taxi as well as various levels of uber and lyft as well as any bus/train/whatever that might be available.

[suekel]

Thank you both. I will peruse the West Coast board. I think we'll stay down by Fisherman's Wharf. Coming from the Midwest, we get in early.

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you both. I will peruse the West Coast board. I think we'll stay down by Fisherman's Wharf. Coming from the Midwest, we get in early.

 

Yes, definitely stay downtown. The San Francisco airport isn't even in San Francisco but in Burlingame. Haven't heard of it?? There's a reason for that! There really isn't aren't any attractions there other than the airport.

Uber or Lyft is definitely the way to get to the City and shuttles aren't even all that costly either but door to door without extra stops is so much nicer. If, by chance, you do take BART, the Hyatt is right across the street from the Embarcadero Station. But even though the trains go right to the airport, you still have to catch a little train to get to the BART platform and it's not that easy with a lot of luggage. But if you do stay there, you will be a little less than a mile from Pier 27 ... all flat with a nice sidewalk along the waterfront. But, the only problem is that the nicer hotels down by the Wharf are rather pricey. Hopefully, you can find something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

 

We've sailed on the Grand a few times, including a couple of times down to Mexico. If they are still offering that excursion to the Turtle Farms where they allow you to release the baby turtles in Manzanillo ... it is a blast! I loved it!

[suekel]

Yes, definitely stay downtown. The San Francisco airport isn't even in San Francisco but in Burlingame. Haven't heard of it?? There's a reason for that! There really isn't aren't any attractions there other than the airport.

Uber or Lyft is definitely the way to get to the City and shuttles aren't even all that costly either but door to door without extra stops is so much nicer. If, by chance, you do take BART, the Hyatt is right across the street from the Embarcadero Station. But even though the trains go right to the airport, you still have to catch a little train to get to the BART platform and it's not that easy with a lot of luggage. But if you do stay there, you will be a little less than a mile from Pier 27 ... all flat with a nice sidewalk along the waterfront. But, the only problem is that the nicer hotels down by the Wharf are rather pricey. Hopefully, you can find something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

 

We've sailed on the Grand a few times, including a couple of times down to Mexico. If they are still offering that excursion to the Turtle Farms where they allow you to release the baby turtles in Manzanillo ... it is a blast! I loved it!

 

Thank you

[trbarton]

I live in San Francisco & since there is 2 of you I would use UBER/LIFT.

Staying in the Wharf/Fisherman’s Wharf is a good idea. The F MUNI line, it’s old street cars from the US & around the world runs along the Embarcadero & goes from Fisherman’s Wharf & runs up Market Street.

The hop on/off bus starts at the Wharf area & is a good way to see the city.

Any questions please ask.

Tom😀

[suekel]

I live in San Francisco & since there is 2 of you I would use UBER/LIFT.

Staying in the Wharf/Fisherman’s Wharf is a good idea. The F MUNI line, it’s old street cars from the US & around the world runs along the Embarcadero & goes from Fisherman’s Wharf & runs up Market Street.

The hop on/off bus starts at the Wharf area & is a good way to see the city.

Any questions please ask.

Tom😀

 

thanks, I might just do that. If I can get the flight that I want (don't release them until March), we get in at 12:30. How long does it take to get to the wharf?

[villauk]

I live in San Francisco & since there is 2 of you I would use UBER/LIFT.

Staying in the Wharf/Fisherman’s Wharf is a good idea. The F MUNI line, it’s old street cars from the US & around the world runs along the Embarcadero & goes from Fisherman’s Wharf & runs up Market Street.

The hop on/off bus starts at the Wharf area & is a good way to see the city.

Any questions please ask.

Tom😀

 

Do you know of any private transfer companies that could accommodate 7 pax plus luggage?

 

We are visiting in August and have found the hotels in Fisherman’s Wharf to be very pricey. Looks like the best area to stay in though to see the main tourist attractions.

[trbarton]

Do you know of any private transfer companies that could accommodate 7 pax plus luggage?

 

We are visiting in August and have found the hotels in Fisherman’s Wharf to be very pricey. Looks like the best area to stay in though to see the main tourist attractions.

 

Uber has a number of different size vehicles so if you look at there app scroll across the bottom & you’ll see what they have.

Another option would be to charter a SuperShuttle van which can easily handle 7 people.

Tom😎

[suekel]

I live in San Francisco & since there is 2 of you I would use UBER/LIFT.

Staying in the Wharf/Fisherman’s Wharf is a good idea. The F MUNI line, it’s old street cars from the US & around the world runs along the Embarcadero & goes from Fisherman’s Wharf & runs up Market Street.

The hop on/off bus starts at the Wharf area & is a good way to see the city.

Any questions please ask.

Tom😀

 

The Lombard Motor inn has good prices if we come a couple days early. Are you familiar with it? If yes, is it a good location? Seems like walking distance from the wharf.

[villauk]

Uber has a number of different size vehicles so if you look at there app scroll across the bottom & you’ll see what they have.

Another option would be to charter a SuperShuttle van which can easily handle 7 people.

Tom😎

 

Thanks, I’ll take a look.

[triple7tahoe]

The Lombard Motor inn has good prices if we come a couple days early. Are you familiar with it? If yes, is it a good location? Seems like walking distance from the wharf.

 

Not sure what you mean by close or good location. Walking is easily a mile to Fisherman's Wharf and 2 miles +/- to the ship. Probably more. Up and over Van Ness, around Galileo High School then down hill to the wharf area. If you like walking it would be OK but not really close to anything.

[suekel]

Not sure what you mean by close or good location. Walking is easily a mile to Fisherman's Wharf and 2 miles +/- to the ship. Probably more. Up and over Van Ness, around Galileo High School then down hill to the wharf area. If you like walking it would be OK but not really close to anything.

 

I'm fine with a mile to the wharf. Give us a chance to explore. I plan on ubering or taking a taxi to the ship since we'll have luggage and wine. I'm going to check other hotels when they release those dates but I thought if I could lock in one that's relatively close for the price I got, I better jump on it.

[suekel]

Got my flight booked today, coming in 2 days early. Decided to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott by the wharf. How chilly will the ferry be to Alcatraz in January? Bear in mind we're coming from the midwest so anything over 40 degrees will feel warm.

[Cruise Raider]

Got my flight booked today, coming in 2 days early. Decided to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott by the wharf. How chilly will the ferry be to Alcatraz in January? Bear in mind we're coming from the midwest so anything over 40 degrees will feel warm.

 

Staying by the wharf is definitely a good plan. Everything is pricey but you would be sorry if you came all this way and stayed over by the airport or in a skanky part of town.

The ferry isn't cold, it has a lot of indoor seating! It is cold out on Alcatraz, though. We had a nice January this year but now it is just freezing cold. Mix that with the wind and fog, it could be quite chilly over on the Rock. The night tour could be downright unbearable. But for the day tour, the temps might be between mid 30's to mid 60's .... just depends. I've been over there a couple times, once in the pouring rain and quite chilly in March and the other time, it was sunny and beautiful ... in the mid 50's in Sept. Just wear layers out there and scope out some of the sunnier trails if it you are so lucky as to have a bright sunny day. It does happen!! If rainy or too cold, you can spend most of your time inside the actual prison building and that will shield you from the rain and any wind.

[suekel]

Staying by the wharf is definitely a good plan. Everything is pricey but you would be sorry if you came all this way and stayed over by the airport or in a skanky part of town.

The ferry isn't cold, it has a lot of indoor seating! It is cold out on Alcatraz, though. We had a nice January this year but now it is just freezing cold. Mix that with the wind and fog, it could be quite chilly over on the Rock. The night tour could be downright unbearable. But for the day tour, the temps might be between mid 30's to mid 60's .... just depends. I've been over there a couple times, once in the pouring rain and quite chilly in March and the other time, it was sunny and beautiful ... in the mid 50's in Sept. Just wear layers out there and scope out some of the sunnier trails if it you are so lucky as to have a bright sunny day. It does happen!! If rainy or too cold, you can spend most of your time inside the actual prison building and that will shield you from the rain and any wind.

 

 

Thank you very much!

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you very much!

 

Anytime! Just be sure to purchase your Alcatraz tickets ahead of time on the official site. I think you will save a few dollars that way. They will show as available 90 days ahead of time, I believe. It's well worth it to go over there and tour the island ... very interesting!!

Another adventure is to take the ferry over to Angel Island ... it was our immigration station of the past. So many things to do in the City, though ... soooo many things, it's hard to choose just one or two. Even though we live right here, we try to experience something different each time we find ourselves in the port of SF. Of course, we only really play tourist when this is one of our ports of call. We've seen more in our overnight stops in SF than we have in the decades that we've lived here. Isn't that always the way??

[trbarton]

The Lombard Motor inn has good prices if we come a couple days early. Are you familiar with it? If yes, is it a good location? Seems like walking distance from the wharf.

 

I just saw your post. The Lombard Motor is in the Marina which is an excellent location. I have visiting friends that stay there often. Look for Mel’s Drive In, a 50 style restaurant, where they filmed the movie “American Graffiti “ in another location in the city. I don’t consider it walking distance to the wharf but one block away on Chestnut Street, many shops & restaurants, there is the #30 Stockton bus 🚎 which will take you a few blocks of the wharf, pier 39, & if you were to stay on you would reach China Town, the largest community outside China.

Tom😎

[suekel]

I just saw your post. The Lombard Motor is in the Marina which is an excellent location. I have visiting friends that stay there often. Look for Mel’s Drive In, a 50 style restaurant, where they filmed the movie “American Graffiti “ in another location in the city. I don’t consider it walking distance to the wharf but one block away on Chestnut Street, many shops & restaurants, there is the #30 Stockton bus 🚎 which will take you a few blocks of the wharf, pier 39, & if you were to stay on you would reach China Town, the largest community outside China.

Tom😎

 

 

I ended up moving us to the Courtyard by Marriott. A bit more expensive but reasonable I thought.

[Micahs Grandad]

There for first time in Jan and stayed at Fishermans Wharf and glad we did.

 

Easy 2 mile trolley car to cruise terminal and easy access to cable cars as well. also easy access to tour of Napa Valley wineries

[suekel]

Do you know of any private transfer companies that could accommodate 7 pax plus luggage?

 

We are visiting in August and have found the hotels in Fisherman’s Wharf to be very pricey. Looks like the best area to stay in though to see the main tourist attractions.

 

I ended up hiring Five Emerald Limousine service. They have different sizes of vehicles. For the 2 of us it's not much more than an Uber.

[villauk]

I ended up hiring Five Emerald Limousine service. They have different sizes of vehicles. For the 2 of us it's not much more than an Uber.

 

Thanks, I’ll take a look at them ;).

[Cruisin' Chick]

Got my flight booked today, coming in 2 days early. Decided to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott by the wharf. How chilly will the ferry be to Alcatraz in January? Bear in mind we're coming from the midwest so anything over 40 degrees will feel warm.

 

We stayed at a Courtyard for a night back in Dec. 2015 (not sure if it's the same one, but I think it was considered "downtown"). It was nice (and impressed enough that when we were going to be in Bellevue, Wa last summer, we stayed at the Courtyard there). We had a rental car (we drove from LA, and didn't want to use our own ancient car) so parking was pretty expensive -- we needed to drive over to the Greyhound station to meet up with our college kid.

 

There's some restaurants within walking distance, even a breakfast place. On that trip we didn't go to Fisherman's (we stayed elsewhere in Marin county on our trips in November, March and drove into SF for a day or so). We did do the hop on/hop off tour on our of our trips there and enjoyed it -- there seems to be more than one company that does these all day tours.

[villauk]

I ended up hiring Five Emerald Limousine service. They have different sizes of vehicles. For the 2 of us it's not much more than an Uber.

 

Thanks, I’ll take a look at them ;).

 

 

I contacted them and was quoted $208 (one way) for all 7 persons plus luggage from SFO to a Fisherman’s Wharf hotel, in a private mini van. Is this a reasonable price? Would welcome any replies to confirm either way as we have no idea if this is expensive or not. TIA.