Cruise starting in San Francisco

[Springerlady]

I live about 1 hour away from San Francisco and wondered if anyone has experience cruising round trip from that port?

[bar_20]

I have only ended a cruise in San Francisco. It's not a great place to disembark. The exit was narrow and there were too many people trying to get a cab or have someone pick them up right in front of the exit. A lot of pushing and shoving and name calling. If I had to do it again I would have carried my bags off or waited as long as they allowed me to stay on the ship. I would imagine that boarding would be easier. I think that Princess is the only line with some cruises that start and finish in SF next year. There are others that do one or the other.

[California Native]

Yes,

I live 1 hour away and have been sailing roundtrip out of SFO since I was a child over 30 years ago

The seas can be very rough, so if you have any issues with seasickness, I would not recommend it.

We don't have a glamorous area as say Florida or San Diego BUT who cares

The port people that will check you in are very experienced and have their act together, they work for all cruise lines and just change their uniform depending on what ship they are servicing

 

We absolutely LOVE the convenience and at times over the years my mom and I have just done a cruise as a spa vacation because the price was so cheap!

[Keith1010]

I have sailed R/T out of San Francisco and also sailed one way as well.

 

If I lived as close as you do I would not hesitate to sail to or from there.

 

Yes, it is not as sophisticated ports as some of the other ones but I don't think that is a big deal and again you have the advantage of being very close.

 

And to me the seas were fine.

 

I lived in San Francisco for a few years and of course now like returning to visit.

 

I look forward to sailing this port again.

 

Keith

[California Native]

Just wanted to add...when I said glamorous area...

I meant Pier 35 where you embark and disembark

Sailing in and out of San Francisco under the Golden Gate Bridge with the a view of the skyline is fabulous!

[KateDen]

We took a Princess cruise out of San Francisco to Alaska and had a wonderful trip. There was a little roughness outside the Golden Gate, but nothing like what I expected. We went in early September and had beautiful weather in all ports except for Juneau, where it was raining.

 

True, the port area isn't fancy, but sailing under the Golden Gate twice more than made up for it. Check in was very fast and disembarkation was as easy as any we have had.

 

My son picked us up afterward, but it would probably be a good idea to either park close or have someone pick you up. There were a lot of people waiting for a taxi. I would love to do it again!

 

Kate

[ERTHDOG]

I agree with the others,mostly:)

 

were about 40 mins from sf port, and we've only sailed once ,round trip alaska, and i loved it but the seas were so ruff leaving the bay that my poor wife was sick for 36 hours:(

 

some of it was the fact it was our first cruise,and we didnt know that the bow of the ship is the ruffest place,and we were the very front cabin:rolleyes:

 

we'd do it again,but mid ship down low prolly:D

 

do it , just take that into consideration

 

dave

[JJ2sail]

I've cruised twice out/in to SF and did not have rough seas or weather, guess we were lucky!

[cali-croozer]

We loved the convenience! A friend dropped us off (no problem) and picked us up (yes, it's a mess at debarkation, but it didn't take him to long to find us; we didn't call him until after we were off the ship and just parked ourselves near the curb until he came). It was just so nice not having to take a plane or drive 6 hours to Long Beach or worry about luggage restrictions.

 

We also didn't experience rough seas going into or out of the bay. The only rough seas we had were up in Alaska, after our day at Hubbard Glacier. We will certainly cruise out of our home port again!:)