ATSEAMYLIFE

Alameda just doesn't make sense since you would be in commute traffic in the AM getting to Emeryville Amtrak. Staying in SF is reverse commute and staying in Emeryville is no commute. True that's why I recommended Uber Amtrak still has the bus bridge between SF and Emeryville. I think OP was talking about end of cruise Amtrak from Emeryville train station to Reno. Big issue with using Amtrak bus from SF to Emeryville is to catch the train to Reno you would have to catch the bus in SF at 6AM vs just catching the train in Emeryville around 8:20 AM. I would rather sleep a few extra hours and walk a few hundred feet to the train.

Northbound anytime is rougher than southbound.

We sailed Alaska to San Francisco in September. I don't recall the seas being all that rough. It's usually rougher going north rather than south. We had nice weather except for fog at SF that kept us off shore for several hours making us late to debark. Nice means not much rain, but nobody was laying out by the pool or drinking umbrella drinks on deck.

You been to the San Francisco bus station lately?

Get some vacuum bags and a small rechargeable vacuum pump. It won't help with weight but really reduces the volume. I had a hand pump but just found a really small rechargeable on Amazon and have used it a couple of times.

Could be, but Alameda would be just to far and is sort of a wasteland for food when I worked there. Isn't any decent hotel in SF area going to cost that much? I feel like I'm getting a deal if I can find anything under $300. Realistically, if it were me i would stay in SF and just Uber over to the Amtrak.

Alameda is really going in the wrong direction for catching the Amtrak from Emeryville. Emeryville was a very nice city surrounded by not so nice. Looks like there's a couple of Hyatt's close to the Amtrak and walking distance to the Public Market.

If you plan to be out on deck after sunset I would pack something warmer like a wind shirt. It will be cool until you get south of Ensenada. In Baja we are getting high 60's to low 70's during the day and low 60's at night and that's with no wind. I wouldn't pack a winter jacket and your ensemble sounds good. He might want to pack something a little heavier.

I priced it for July 2025 and it's around $750 for Fairmont Pacific Rim and $575 for Fairmont Waterfront for our dates.

True words, I book hotels, sometime multiple, as soon as I think we are going someplace. We sail on a NYE cruise out of Miami and I booked those hotels almost one year ago. My Hilton Downtown ocean view balcony room is now double what I booked it for. The Doubletree Gallery one in Fort Lauderdale I had booked a two bedroom suite with living room and kitchen last year for $475 per night. It's now almost a $1000 per night. BOOK EARLY AND BOOK OFTEN!

Wow isn't that the truth I just started looking for July 2025 and I'm shocked at what hotels cost near the cruise port. I finally booked the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown as I could get a two room suite with a sofa bed for one of the grandkids for less than a Hyatt with just a hotel room.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites a few years ago and they had a park & sail plus shuttle to the port. You might want to call them and see if they still offer that service. We ended up calling a taxi to the port as the shuttle was small, slow, and crowded. Good thing was the Walmart directly across the street for any last minute items.

Call the hotel and double check about the underground shuttle. We flew in/out last year there was major construction going on with the shuttle and the shuttle didn't go to a lot of stops it normally did. Even if it doesn't it's a pretty easy walk, long but easy.

Short answer, I wouldn't book anything before 1130-1200 hrs. CLEAR will help but only if flying out of Terminal 2. At times, TSA pre is longer than the regular lanes. San Diego airport is a mess currently with all the construction. You might check the airport www site for recommendations. Some depends on if there are any other ships disembarking. We were at the airport one morning when two ships disembarked and the security lines were outside on the sidewalk. Security inside the terminal is disjointed depending on which terminal and even which gate you are using. There's no one security check point but several separate ones depending on your gate.

We have done it a few times at the Embassy Suites south of SFO, but only for 3-4 days extra. I recall we paid about the going rate for parking near SFO.

We have a private driver we have used several times the last 2-3 years to take friends/family to/from San Diego airport and he took six of us on an all day tour to the Villa. Alberto Fierro has a few employees with different types of vehicles. I usually FB message him but he does WhatsApp (as do most people in MX) +52 664 386 6119 Tell him Jim from La Jolla Excellence sent you.

We live in TX and have flown from San Antonio a few times to LAX and if it were me I would stay near LAX and Uber to the port the next day. You will be a little later that weekday commute, but Friday night commute in LA can be horrible with everybody fleeing town for the weekend, especially if it rains as nobody in LA knows how to drive in the rain. We are Hilton people and always stay at the LAX Hilton so I can't speak to any HI properties. Yes Uber black can be RSVP at LAX and also to the cruise port, we did it. In fact if you're going to Uber after the cruise definitely RSVP. We walked right out to our Uber Black while others had been waiting at the curb for 20-30 minutes and still hadn't gotten a confirmed driver.

No, we only did a five day. But I recall people there who just had to pay for the extra days over seven. But it might be easier to just park at the cruise terminal. It's a large lot and just a short walk to the terminal. I recall it was cheap and made a mental to park there next time.

You should be fine there.

Truer words were never spoken. One block can make a huge difference let alone one mile.

There was one on the Pacific Hwy side of the ES. I don't use taxis so can't say for sure. Looks like there might be another at Pacific Landing, which would be closer. But there's a review stating how disorganized they were.

I would suck it up and use Uber both ways. As a tip don't try to catch it in front of the pier. Walk across the street and down a block or so and then catch it. I have seen taxis just down the street in front of the Embassy Suites that would get you to the car rental center, but no sure about getting back to the port. You could probably take the rental car shuttle back to the airport and then catch a taxi there. In some cities I have seen an option on the Uber app to call a taxi.

You won't find any free shuttles to the port. There are several nice hotels within walking distance if you're able or plenty of taxis and Ubers for the very short distance to the port. You can Google Maps for the port and see all the hotels nearby in various price ranges. We like the Hilton Gaslamp when we visit. It's not walkable to the port but still a cheap cab ride. I'm not sure what the Padre's schedule might be in October 2025 but if they are playing in town then Gaslamp isn't where you want to be. San Diego isn't a huge/active cruise port so it's not a major thing for the city.

"noon-ish" closer to "one-ish" rather than "11-ish" would make me more comfortable.

No, Saturday would be a great day to get to the port. Depending on time of the year you might want to rent an AWD due to snow in parts of AZ and NM.