Looking for transportation from San Fran Hotel to Pier

[ghjcmo]

Hello, I've searched this forum and Google and I don't seem to have much luck finding what I need.  I'm flying in July 23rd for a July 24th departure.  I have my hotel booked and I've found transportation options to get to the hotel from SFO.  What I'm not finding is a shuttle service that will pick me up at the hotel and take me to the pier.  I find it odd I can't seem to find that kind of service.   I'm wondering if anyone has any options/recommendations.  Obviously I can use Uber, but was looking for a possible cheaper shuttle option.   

[princeton123211]

14 minutes ago, ghjcmo said:

What I'm not finding is a shuttle service that will pick me up at the hotel and take me to the pier.  I find it odd I can't seem to find that kind of service.   I'm wondering if anyone has any options/recommendations.  Obviously I can use Uber, but was looking for a possible cheaper shuttle option. 

To/from the airport, yes. Within town on such a short trip, no (assuming you are staying downtown). Uber's home base is San Francisco and the plethora of more modern transport options (they even have fully autonomous driverless taxis in town now!) has long since cut down on more traditional options like a shared shuttle. Even in LA, where the distances are much greater than in this case a lot of the traditional shuttle companies have gone under. 

 

For the most part its fairly compact and an Uber ride in town will be relatively inexpensive. 

 

PS-- just a friendly reminder that the locals will gleefully crucify you if you call their town "San Fran". 

 

[ghjcmo]

1 minute ago, princeton123211 said:

To/from the airport, yes. Within town on such a short trip, no (assuming you are staying downtown). Uber's home base is San Francisco and the plethora of more modern transport options (they even have fully autonomous driverless taxis in town now!) has long since cut down on more traditional options like a shared shuttle. Even in LA, where the distances are much greater than in this case a lot of the traditional shuttle companies have gone under. 

 

For the most part its fairly compact and an Uber ride in town will be relatively inexpensive. 

 

PS-- just a friendly reminder that the locals will gleefully crucify you if you call their town "San Fran". 

 

Thanks I figured that would end up being the case.  Not a big fan of Uber but I'll do what I have to,   I assuming it's maybe because SF is not as busy of a cruise port as Seattle, but I had no issues finding a shuttle there last year, nor in LA back in October.  Likewise in Ft Lauderdale in March.  

THX!

[CruiserBruce]

For transport within the downtown area of Seattle, the very common recommendation for transport is taxi or Uber/Lyft. The same is true for SF. I mean, from the downtown Seattle Hilton to Pier 91 was $13 by taxi, for the taxi (not per person as most shuttles are). That was before tip, but how much cheaper would a shuttle be? Uber would be cheaper than that. Same is true for SF.

[ghjcmo]

25 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

For transport within the downtown area of Seattle, the very common recommendation for transport is taxi or Uber/Lyft. The same is true for SF. I mean, from the downtown Seattle Hilton to Pier 91 was $13 by taxi, for the taxi (not per person as most shuttles are). That was before tip, but how much cheaper would a shuttle be? Uber would be cheaper than that. Same is true for SF.

I'm not sure what Seattle has to do with my question, but THX.   

 

EDIT TO ADD;   And in the other areas I mentioned, the shuttles were cheaper b quite a bit.   

 

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by ghjcmo
additional info

[CruiserBruce]

7 minutes ago, ghjcmo said:

I'm not sure what Seattle has to do with my question, but THX.   

 

EDIT TO ADD;   And in the other areas I mentioned, the shuttles were cheaper b quite a bit.   

 

 

YOU mentioned Seattle.  The distances in Seattle and SF are much shorter. In LA the distance from airport, or downtown LA,mto the ports, is much greater.

 

You got a shuttle in Seattle,  from the downtown area to the port that was "much" cheaper than Uber or taxi? Please tell us the provider. That would be of great value to all of us.

[Philob]

Back in the old times, Super Shuttle between SFO and the city was about $25 pp. 

 

Now a days a cab to downtown will be $60+ and Uber $30-$40. We caught a cab from SFO to home s/w part of the city and the fare was $56. SWMBO was not happy, Uber was quoting $33.

[ghjcmo]

18 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

YOU mentioned Seattle.  The distances in Seattle and SF are much shorter. In LA the distance from airport, or downtown LA,mto the ports, is much greater.

 

You got a shuttle in Seattle,  from the downtown area to the port that was "much" cheaper than Uber or taxi? Please tell us the provider. That would be of great value to all of us.

I mentioned Seattle, along with LA, and Ft Lauderdale as an example of places that had shuttle after being told shuttles don't exist anymore.  And NO I didn't say I got a shuttle from downtown Seattle.  I stayed out by SeaTac. I took Seattle Express and it was about $22.  That was last year, it's probably more now.  Google is telling me Uber is about $35 to $45.  The shuttle in Ft. Lauderdale was about half the cost of Uber.

 

But again this has NOTHING to do with my question about SF.  So if you're telling there are no shuttle services in SF, then fine, I'll figure something out. 

[ghjcmo]

21 minutes ago, Philob said:

Back in the old times, Super Shuttle between SFO and the city was about $25 pp. 

 

Now a days a cab to downtown will be $60+ and Uber $30-$40. We caught a cab from SFO to home s/w part of the city and the fare was $56. SWMBO was not happy, Uber was quoting $33.

Yeah I figured Uber would be cheaper than a Taxi but I'm just not a big fan of the "ride share" thing but that's just me.  If have to use Uber to get to the pier, I guess I'll do it.  It's a shame the shuttles went out of business.

On the positive side, I can get a ride from the pier to SFO through Carnival for $34.  

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

On the positive side, I can get a ride from the pier to SFO through Carnival for $34.  

With the cruise transfer it'll take 1.5 hours with waiting for baggage to load/unload and the bus to fill vs the Uber or Lyft that will basically cost the same (per person and less the more you have) and take 30 minutes to get to the airport. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

20 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Hello, I've searched this forum and Google and I don't seem to have much luck finding what I need.  I'm flying in July 23rd for a July 24th departure.  I have my hotel booked and I've found transportation options to get to the hotel from SFO.  What I'm not finding is a shuttle service that will pick me up at the hotel and take me to the pier.  I find it odd I can't seem to find that kind of service.   I'm wondering if anyone has any options/recommendations.  Obviously I can use Uber, but was looking for a possible cheaper shuttle option.   

 

You are not giving enough information for people to help you. Which hotel are you staying at in San Francisco (never ever "San Fran")?

 

90% of the hotels that tourists stay at in San Francisco are 2 miles or less from the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal so no shuttle company wants a 2 mile trip.

 

If you are stay by SFO, which you should not, you are not in San Francisco, you are in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County. Even from the SFO area you should be able to find shuttles.

 

As to $34 from Carnival to SFO, that is not really a bargain. Uber is around $35 usually and it is door to door on demand vs waiting for a bus to fill up and then stopping at every terminal at SFO.

[ghjcmo]

On 5/18/2023 at 1:30 PM, scottca075 said:

If you are stay by SFO, which you should not

Why do you say that?
 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, ghjcmo said:

Why do you say that?
 

Because there really isn't anything to do there. The main hotel area south of the airport hardly even has restaurants. If I were to stay in that area, it would be a later arrival and an early flight/departure.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Why do you say that?

 

It would be like going to Paris and spending the night by the airport.

 

a) the airport area stinks

b) San Francisco is one of the best cities in the U.S., maybe #1 because of its compact size

[ghjcmo]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Because there really isn't anything to do there. The main hotel area south of the airport hardly even has restaurants. If I were to stay in that area, it would be a later arrival and an early flight/departure.

That doesn't matter me.  I just need a place to sleep before catching my cruise the next day.

[ghjcmo]

8 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

It would be like going to Paris and spending the night by the airport.

 

a) the airport area stinks

b) San Francisco is one of the best cities in the U.S., maybe #1 because of its compact size

Unless you're saying the airport area is unsafe, none of that really is important to me. I've been to SF in the past,  I'm not coming to SF to see SF, it's simply a means to an end, i.e. getting to the cruise ship.  Regardless of where I stay, I don't intend to go anywhere once I get settled in the night before my cruise.   Currently I am booked "downtown" (Not sure if that's the correct term, heaven forbid I call it wrong thing.)  I MAY switch to staying out by the airport OR as I'm currently exploring options, I may roll the dice and end up flying in the morning of the cruise and just go straight from the airport to the pier.  
 

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Unless you're saying the airport area is unsafe, none of that really is important to me. I've been to SF in the past,  I'm not coming to SF to see SF, it's simply a means to an end, i.e. getting to the cruise ship. 

 

It depends on the hotel. Some are in good areas, some not.

 

6 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Regardless of where I stay, I don't intend to go anywhere once I get settled in the night before my cruise.   

 

Again, depending on which hotel you might choose by the airport, there may or may not be anyplace to eat.

 

6 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Currently I am booked "downtown" (Not sure if that's the correct term, heaven forbid I call it wrong thing.) 

 

Which hotel?

6 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

I MAY switch to staying out by the airport OR as I'm currently exploring options, I may roll the dice and end up flying in the morning of the cruise and just go straight from the airport to the pier. 

 

Not sure how much flying you've done in the last year, but it is incredibly unreliable. I am a business traveler and it is miserable. I used to be able to schedule appointments in three different cities in four days (i.e. Salt Lake, Denver, Phoenix) and now I can only reliably schedule two cities in four days.

[ghjcmo]

13 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Which hotel?

 

Not sure how much flying you've done in the last year, but it is incredibly unreliable. I am a business traveler and it is miserable. I used to be able to schedule appointments in three different cities in four days (i.e. Salt Lake, Denver, Phoenix) and now I can only reliably schedule two cities in four days.

Currently I'm booked at the Comfort Inn by the Bay which if Google Maps is correct, is in the vicinity of Lombard and Van Ness,  I'm only booked there because the friends I'm meeting up with are staying there.  I'm not terribly concerned about finding a place to eat that night.

And I know what you mean about flying.  There was a time when I often flew the day of the cruise.  Now I generally don't do that, but some preliminary research shows I could cut my flight costs in half and my "night before" hotel by about 2/3rds.    (Stay in KC instead of SF the night before).  But I know it's risky.  If I miss my cruise, that's one thing. IF I miss my cruise and forfeit my fare, that's another.  😞

[Nannydd12]

I saw on here that someone recommended a company named WingZ for transportation. Sounds like they are reasonable and a great service. We are going to use them when we cruise out of San Francisco in June of 2024.

[ghjcmo]

1 hour ago, Nannydd12 said:

I saw on here that someone recommended a company named WingZ for transportation. Sounds like they are reasonable and a great service. We are going to use them when we cruise out of San Francisco in June of 2024.

Yeah I think I saw that too.  I haven't dug into it deep enough, but just a quick look at it, it appears they do, shuttle from SFO to pier/hotel or from pier to SFO, but don't offer a "door to door" service which I guess takes us back to Uber which nearly everybody recommends.  Not a fan of the "ride share" concept but I guess I'll do what I have to do.  

[Philob]

12 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Currently I am booked "downtown" (Not sure if that's the correct term, heaven forbid I call it wrong thing.) 

 

6 hours ago, ghjcmo said:

Currently I'm booked at the Comfort Inn by the Bay which if Google Maps is correct, is in the vicinity of Lombard and Van Ness.

Definitely not "downtown". I used to live up the hill from that hotel. It is in the Russian Hill/Marina District area. Couple of blocks north is Ghirardelli Square/Fisherman's Wharf. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Philob