Pier 80, San Francisco - Parking and experience

[EDDY0827]

I will be departing San Francisco from Pier 80, near Candlestick Point. From Google Earth, I don't see any dedicated parking for cruising. As this is a 1-way repo cruise to Vancouver, where do you park, SFO and Princess transfer or Uber/Lyft? The Grand is returning from Aus/NZ. Will it clear extended Customs and Coast Guard inspections in Hnl stop or SF? Should I brace myself for a zoo-like experience? I have a 3+/- hr drive. If parking is an issue, fly in? I have United service close by.

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

15 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

I will be departing San Francisco from Pier 80, near Candlestick Point. From Google Earth, I don't see any dedicated parking for cruising. As this is a 1-way repo cruise to Vancouver, where do you park, SFO and Princess transfer or Uber/Lyft? The Grand is returning from Aus/NZ. Will it clear extended Customs and Coast Guard inspections in Hnl stop or SF? Should I brace myself for a zoo-like experience? I have a 3+/- hr drive. If parking is an issue, fly in? I have United service close by.

 

There is no dedicated cruise parking that I am aware nearby.   I would fly in and then use BART to the pier or UBER from SFO.  Then fly home.  Less stress and probably about the same cost as parking will be very expensive. 

Not sure why you are concerned about arriving passengers.  Customs mostly uses facial recognition and moves very quickly. 

Boarding will go quickly and likely very easy.

[JGmf]

I'm assuming this question will be moved to this board:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

I'm assuming a lot of your questions are already answered there...

[milolii]

Also look at this company.  Uber to pier 80 from the hotel parking.  Shouldn’t be a long ride.  I imagine flying both ways could be expensive. Also, the commuter planes often run late.  

I imagine you’ve planned for traffic if commuting in on a weekday. 
 

https://onestopparking.com

[hobo1937]

There is no Bart stop near Pier 80. The closest looks to be 24th St Mission Bart Station. Not sure how easy an uber is from that location. Pier 80 is a cargo dock so I doubt there is any kind of parking for cruisers/tourists at that location. It will be interesting to see how they handle immigration, check in etc with no real cruise facilities there. If you want to drive you could park at one of the off site lots at SFO and take an UBER to the Pier.

 

[EDDY0827]

Thanks all. I'll fly. My concern for arrival is the delay in boarding for the inspections with basically no decent facilities to process arrival of new passengers. A waiting area.

[CruiserBruce]

24 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

Thanks all. I'll fly. My concern for arrival is the delay in boarding for the inspections with basically no decent facilities to process arrival of new passengers. A waiting area.

If the cruise doesn't end at HNL, unlikely the inspections will be done there. But Immigration (what you really need to worry about)and Customs might (almost non-existant process for cruisers any more). 

 

Interesting they are using Pier 80. First choice is the regular terminal at Pier 27. Second choice is typically Pier 35, the old cruise terminal. There is at least facilities there. Pier 30-32 is the next choice...used occasionally,  but no facilities. Pier 80 is a new one. It sounds like you will be here in Spring, so the biggest event of the year, Flight Week, is not the cause of this.

[EDDY0827]

I had heard the the Port of SF is doing maintenance work on all the piers to include new fenders/rubber bumpers dockside. Just lucky timing I guess that Pier 35 is down that day.

[Philob]

Pier 80 is in a industrial area. I drive by it twice a week. There is NO parking unless your vehicle is a semi waiting to be loaded. Local transit stops are blocks away. Pier 80 is leased by an auto transport company and used as a roll-on-roll-off pier.

 

IMO take the Princess transfer from SFO. Some taxis/ride share drivers don't go to that area since it's "that part of town".

[sfpd3000]

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Interesting they are using Pier 80. First choice is the regular terminal at Pier 27. Second choice is typically Pier 35, the old cruise terminal. There is at least facilities there. Pier 30-32 is the next choice...used occasionally,  but no facilities. Pier 80 is a new one. It sounds like you will be here in Spring, so the biggest event of the year, Flight Week, is not the cause of this.

Crown Princess is homeported here; that's why they get Pier 27.  The backup terminal is Pier 35; that terminal needs major dredge work and will not be available until the Fall (Europa 2 pulled it off last week because they are a smaller ship and they "demanded" to be docked at Pier 35).  Pier 30/32 will not hold the weight of the number of semi-trucks loading the provisions for the next cruise.  They luggage x-ray machines were being packed up last week from Pier 35 getting ready to be moved to Pier 80.

[daydreamer16]

I’m on the Grand right now we cleared immigration in Honolulu yesterday. It looks like a pain to get an Uber or taxi to get from Pier 80 to SFO?

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, daydreamer16 said:

I’m on the Grand right now we cleared immigration in Honolulu yesterday. It looks like a pain to get an Uber or taxi to get from Pier 80 to SFO?

They will be aware a ship is docking at Pier 80, and will be available. Its about knowing where the demand is. Same for taxis.

[daydreamer16]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

They will be aware a ship is docking at Pier 80, and will be available. Its about knowing where the demand is. Same for taxis.

I hope you’re right because Princess is saying there will be limited access to use taxi or ride sharing. They are offering a free shuttle bus to Union Sq. or the Embarcadero. I’d rather take my chances at pier 80 which is closer to SFO, if I’m not mistaken. I have a 12pm flight.

[CruiserBruce]

14 minutes ago, daydreamer16 said:

I hope you’re right because Princess is saying there will be limited access to use taxi or ride sharing. They are offering a free shuttle bus to Union Sq. or the Embarcadero. I’d rather take my chances at pier 80 which is closer to SFO, if I’m not mistaken. I have a 12pm flight.

I would take the Princess transportation in that case.

[cruising_bruce]

9 hours ago, daydreamer16 said:

I hope you’re right because Princess is saying there will be limited access to use taxi or ride sharing. They are offering a free shuttle bus to Union Sq. or the Embarcadero. I’d rather take my chances at pier 80 which is closer to SFO, if I’m not mistaken. I have a 12pm flight.

 

I'm in a similar boat, but headed in the opposite direction 

 

Did you call in and talk to them? I need a shuttle from the Embarcadero to Pier 80.

[CMDE]

Will this be the first time a cruise ship has used pier 80? I have been looking at past schedules from 2023 and 2024 and can only find the Grand Princess for April 27/24. Not quite sure how to find out.

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, CMDE said:

Will this be the first time a cruise ship has used pier 80? I have been looking at past schedules from 2023 and 2024 and can only find the Grand Princess for April 27/24. Not quite sure how to find out.

The reasons are discussed in post #10. It seems to be a new procedure this year for when there is more than one cruise ship in port.

[dmwnc1959]

On 4/16/2024 at 5:04 PM, sfpd3000 said:

Crown Princess is homeported here; that's why they get Pier 27.  The backup terminal is Pier 35; that terminal needs major dredge work and will not be available until the Fall (Europa 2 pulled it off last week because they are a smaller ship and they "demanded" to be docked at Pier 35).  Pier 30/32 will not hold the weight of the number of semi-trucks loading the provisions for the next cruise.  They luggage x-ray machines were being packed up last week from Pier 35 getting ready to be moved to Pier 80.

I’m curious about April 2025 when the Norwegian Jade visits. Ruby Princess will be there on a turn-around day, will Pier 35 be where we go? 
 

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I’m curious about April 2025 when the Norwegian Jade visits. Ruby Princess will be there on a turn-around day, will Pier 35 be where we go? 
 

If you are on a day visit, rather than a turn around day, you might be able to use 30-32,if 35 isn't available..

[dmwnc1959]

17 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

If you are on a day visit, rather than a turn around day, you might be able to use 30-32,if 35 isn't available..

Since it's another 11 months away and per @sfpd3000 Pier 35 should re-open after the dredge work, hoping Pier 30/32 is a last option. Per NCL we are there from 7am-9pm coming in from LA (and points south from the Panama Canal) then leaving for Astoria (and Alaska-bound). 

[daydreamer16]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:23 PM, cruising_bruce said:

 

I'm in a similar boat, but headed in the opposite direction 

 

Did you call in and talk to them? I need a shuttle from the Embarcadero to Pier 80.

We’ll be in the first group getting off & it seems Uber & Lyft are able to enter the port. I’m taking my chances but I don’t want to wait for a princess bus to fill & they estimate a 45 minute trip to Union Square.

[bcso203]

I’m currently in the Grand Princess at Pier 80. Hope the process for everyone getting on the ship is better than getting off because it is a terrible experience right now. They are running late and there are really no facilities at this location

[sfpd3000]

On 4/24/2024 at 7:46 AM, dmwnc1959 said:

I’m curious about April 2025 when the Norwegian Jade visits. Ruby Princess will be there on a turn-around day, will Pier 35 be where we go? 
 

If I had to bet, I would put money on Pier 35.   Dredge work should be finished by Fall 2024.  But then again, this is SF…….

[dmwnc1959]

Just now, sfpd3000 said:

If I had to bet, I would put money on Pier 35.   Dredge work should be finished by Fall 2024.  But then again, this is SF…….

I was checking out the Marine Traffic app today and saw Grand Princess docked way down at Pier 80. I'm sure they have it pretty well set up by now, but that's gotta be an absolute mess. 
 

I was stationed in the Bay Area for several years back in the mid-80s, my ship was home-ported out of Concord but we also spent a lot of time at the old Oakland Naval Air Station and Mare Island. It's probably been 25 years since the last time I was out there. Very much looking forward to that day where I get to spend digging up old memories. 

[sfpd3000]

3 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I was checking out the Marine Traffic app today and saw Grand Princess docked way down at Pier 80. I'm sure they have it pretty well set up by now, but that's gotta be an absolute mess. 
 

I was stationed in the Bay Area for several years back in the mid-80s, my ship was home-ported out of Concord but we also spent a lot of time at the old Oakland Naval Air Station and Mare Island. It's probably been 25 years since the last time I was out there. Very much looking forward to that day where I get to spend digging up old memories. 

Just got off the Crown Princess.  I heard it’s a mess at Pier 80