Shore excursion on disembarkation day in San Francisco???

[smilz]

There are no excursions listed under San Francisco on the 10 day Grand Alaska cruise 7/30/16 out of SF. I know you usually can't book until you are on board but I looked under the "generic" excursion list for SF and they all say not available when embarking or disembarking in SF. Does that mean there will be no excursions offered? We generally like to take the ones that take you to the airport afterwards.

[idahospud]

There are no excursions listed under San Francisco on the 10 day Grand Alaska cruise 7/30/16 out of SF. I know you usually can't book until you are on board but I looked under the "generic" excursion list for SF and they all say not available when embarking or disembarking in SF. Does that mean there will be no excursions offered? We generally like to take the ones that take you to the airport afterwards.

 

After dozens of cruises I can't recall ever not having an option of an excursion/airport transfer for a disembarkation option in any port. Sometimes they are in the personalizer where you can book ahead and other times they aren't available until once aboard.

Edited May 4, 2016 by idahospud

[Mary Ann 2]

I was disappointed also to not see any choice at disembarkation!

[ZeroSeven]

Since it'll be your disembarkation port... My suggestion is to take one of those hop on & hop off buses that goes around the city that makes multiple stops at different districts / neighborhoods. You can't miss it. Most of them are red double decker buses. It's a good and quick easy way to see the City of San Francisco and you can always stop at the places that picks your interest. They start around 10 AM on weekends and you can pretty much cover the whole city in less than a day.

 

I'm not sure if some of the companies will stow away your luggage for free or with a nominal fee. If you have hotel reservations you can always drop it off first at the concierge service desk.

 

Best of luck:)

[idahospud]

What time is your flight out?

[pris993]

There are no excursions listed under San Francisco on the 10 day Grand Alaska cruise 7/30/16 out of SF. I know you usually can't book until you are on board but I looked under the "generic" excursion list for SF and they all say not available when embarking or disembarking in SF. Does that mean there will be no excursions offered? We generally like to take the ones that take you to the airport afterwards.

 

I can understand your disappointment, see you are from east coast. San Francisco is a fantastic city. If you are doing a 10 day RT out of San Francisco you have two opportunities to see the city. Either before or after your cruise.

 

A few options I might suggest are:

 

Come 2 days early or stay 2 days afterwards then you can really enjoy San Francisco.

 

Another option is book a late flight back to NJ, when you get off the ship, pick up a local taxi driver, I am sure any of them can give you a good tour of the city. San Franciso is a pretty small city... you can drive around it in a few hours... negotiate a rate with a driver, hire a limo service in advance.

 

Maybe some one on cruise critic can suggest a service, they have used, since cruise ships are not offerring the transfer tours.

 

Look up San Francisco on Youtube, I am sure you will see video of some of highlights that you may like to see.

 

I hope these suggestions are helpful.

[smilz]

Thanks for the ideas. We would have liked to have added a day or two prior to the cruise but we just came back from a cruise a few weeks ago and couldn't take any more time off. We are flying in the day before and are scheduled to land at SFO at 12:15. (Time change in our favor!) Going back we have a 2:00 flight and will not land until after midnight so a later flight isn't an option. We can't see everything we want to (not for lack of trying!) so we thought we'd see what isn't offered on an excursion. We are planning to do EZ check for our baggage but we will still have a carry-on with us. Not ideal but doable for sightseeing on our own when we disembark. I just like the flawlessness that we have experienced with excursions that drop you at the airport.

[ansoninc]

I can understand your disappointment, see you are from east coast. San Francisco is a fantastic city. If you are doing a 10 day RT out of San Francisco you have two opportunities to see the city. Either before or after your cruise.

 

 

 

A few options I might suggest are:

 

 

 

Come 2 days early or stay 2 days afterwards then you can really enjoy San Francisco.

 

 

 

Another option is book a late flight back to NJ, when you get off the ship, pick up a local taxi driver, I am sure any of them can give you a good tour of the city. San Franciso is a pretty small city... you can drive around it in a few hours... negotiate a rate with a driver, hire a limo service in advance.

 

 

 

Maybe some one on cruise critic can suggest a service, they have used, since cruise ships are not offerring the transfer tours.

 

 

 

Look up San Francisco on Youtube, I am sure you will see video of some of highlights that you may like to see.

 

 

 

I hope these suggestions are helpful.

 

 

 

Check Tripadvisor for tours. There is a company, Viator, I believe, that has tours everywhere. I have use them in Seattle and Hawaii. Very reasonable cost. I agree with coming in earlier or staying after. San Francisco is a fabulous city.

Diana

[CatsareCool]

Since the Grand has been home ported in SFO, we have done several cruise out of there. Alas, there has never been a disembark tour offered and they do not offer EZ baggage check either. There is a place at pier 39 that will hold your bags however.

[Cruise Raider]

We've done this itinerary several times and have always seen disembarkation tours offered -- with a drop off at SFO afterwards. One was a tour across the Golden Gate and one had you enjoy a tour and lunch in Chinatown before dropping you off at the airport. I am going on this itinerary later this summer and had to check if there was one offered. Surprisingly, there are no longer any of these available. Darn! We live nearby but actually found it a nice relaxing last day of our vacation and it is much cheaper for us to get a shuttle home from the airport or even taking BART from SFO than it is from the pier....so I know for a fact that they used to offer these.

 

Does the pier in SF not offer the EZ bag check service? I wouldn't know but it seems like it should. Too bad if it doesn't. I just love that service!

 

The limo tour sounds like a good plan, though. If someone on your roll call wants to share the cost, that might be a good option. Many have a 4 hour minimum so that might be just what you need. If it were me, I would tour Muir Woods before being dropped off at the airport.

 

There are also a million things to do in the city by foot if you can drop your luggage somewhere. I haven't heard of a drop off spot at Pier 39, it is not all that far from where the ship docks....used to be closer but now maybe about a 7-10 min walk with luggage.