San Francisco Wine

[AlibearNS]

I'm planning our Classic California Coast cruise this September on the Emerald. I did this itininary a few years ago and remember Princess offered a few (quite costly) wine tours out of San Francisco to Napa and Sonoma. We decided to book one this time, but, surprisingly, there's only 5 excursions on the planner for our full day (leave at 11pm), and only one with wine, and that doesn't leave the city at all, going to Bloxome Street Winery, about 3 miles from the pier. I'm wondering as we're 84 days out, is it usual for more excusions to appear later on the planner? Are there likely to be more options once onboard? It seems odd to have so few, and no Sonoma or Napa. I guess I need to be looking at private wine tours. Can anyone recommend?

[SimonaD]

I'm planning our Classic California Coast cruise this September on the Emerald. I did this itininary a few years ago and remember Princess offered a few (quite costly) wine tours out of San Francisco to Napa and Sonoma. We decided to book one this time, but, surprisingly, there's only 5 excursions on the planner for our full day (leave at 11pm), and only one with wine, and that doesn't leave the city at all, going to Bloxome Street Winery, about 3 miles from the pier. I'm wondering as we're 84 days out, is it usual for more excusions to appear later on the planner? Are there likely to be more options once onboard? It seems odd to have so few, and no Sonoma or Napa. I guess I need to be looking at private wine tours. Can anyone recommend?

 

 

 

Sonoma was really quite devastated by the fires. I am not sure if they have reopened the wine train. You might want to google that.

 

 

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[1emerald1]

My daughter lives in San Francisco and goes to Sonoma on a regular basis. The last time I was up to see her we did a wine tasting in a very cute little town called Healdsburg, and it's not as far as Sonoma or Napa. I can't remember the name of the tour operator but we did get our tickets from Groupon. We probably went to 5 or 6 wine tastings.

[Cruise Raider]

I'm planning our Classic California Coast cruise this September on the Emerald. I did this itininary a few years ago and remember Princess offered a few (quite costly) wine tours out of San Francisco to Napa and Sonoma. We decided to book one this time, but, surprisingly, there's only 5 excursions on the planner for our full day (leave at 11pm), and only one with wine, and that doesn't leave the city at all, going to Bloxome Street Winery, about 3 miles from the pier. I'm wondering as we're 84 days out, is it usual for more excusions to appear later on the planner? Are there likely to be more options once onboard? It seems odd to have so few, and no Sonoma or Napa. I guess I need to be looking at private wine tours. Can anyone recommend?

 

Hmmmm... shame on them. That isn't a winery but a tasting room.

You can book a private tour to Napa or Sonoma instead ... or even one out to Livermore. However, many of the smaller wineries will not be giving tours or may not even be open on a weekday. So, I think I would stick to Napa if you want to go to wine country for the full experience.

The Wine Train is pricey but might be worth it. You can get discount tickets ahead of time (Costco) and then transportation to Napa and back on your own. Or, some limo companies do offer winery trips to groups. You can also rent a car in SF and head up to Napa on your own, but be well aware that the highway out of Napa is definitely lined with highway patrol so you'd have to have one designated driver for this trip. Plus, the wineries will start closing down by 5 PM ... and traffic will be a nightmare getting back to the City at that time.

Now, for the good news, you are hitting the wineries during harvest season so winery tours will be a lot more interesting and hopefully more plentiful.

 

I think Beaulieu Vinyards gives a wonderful tour. I always like to stop at Chandon, even though it is a lot more commercialized than a lot of the smaller places. Sterling Vinyards has a beautiful setting and there is a nice area up near Silverado Country Club called William Hill where you can enjoy a glass of wine overlooking the hills surrounding the Napa Valley. V Sattui is a nice place to enjoy a picnic lunch.

Duckhorn and Rombauer, as well as Grgich Hills have some awesome higher end wines as well.

 

My absolute favorite thing to do up in the Sonoma area is to stop in at a winery, buy a bottle of wine and head up to Jack London State Park for a picnic lunch and a hike up to the Wolf House and the pond where his friends would all go swimming. There is a museum there, too. So very interesting if you are a fan of that author.

There are probably a couple of wineries open in Sonoma on weekdays where you can stop in for tasting and a bottle of wine. If this interests you in the very least, stop at Boudins in the City (not far from the pier) for a picnic lunch to go before heading up to wine country. Our sourdough bread is most amazing and is oh so good with a nice bottle of wine and some specialty cheeses.

 

Whatever you end up doing, enjoy.

[shepp]

Sonoma was really quite devastated by the fires. I am not sure if they have reopened the wine train. You might want to google that.

 

Don't want to sound grim, but right now Napa and vicinity is being devastated by uncontrolled blazes and the fire season is just getting started. Yesterday, cars parked in San Francisco were coated with ash. So by September, who knows?

[Kartgv]

Don't want to sound grim, but right now Napa and vicinity is being devastated by uncontrolled blazes and the fire season is just getting started. Yesterday, cars parked in San Francisco were coated with ash. So by September, who knows?

 

Yes, there may be smoke and/or ash in the Napa/Sonoma area, but it is not currently being hit like it was last year. Here's the link to the official state fire map -

 

http://www.calfire.ca.gov/general/firemaps

 

The current fires are well to the east, east of Clearlake and Lake Berryessa; smoke and ash problems will depend on wind direction. It is a good warning, however, to stay informed about current fire conditions in the summer and fall months in California. If you book a private tour, check their cancellation policies.

[XBGuy]

I don't know the status of the Lake County fire, but it is not stopping an on-line acquaintance of mine from getting on a plane, tomorrow and flying out for a wine country visit. Who knows what will be happening 84 days from now.

 

I find it curious that the OP cannot find Wine Tours on his/her San Francisco port stop. I just looked at the Princess web site and they are showing the "Sonoma Wine Country" tour.

 

https://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=SFO&t=L&exType=S

 

It is entirely possible that this excursion is not offered for your cruise. I can't understand why, though. Another possibility is that it is sold out. Again, why? The can easily engage more busses, and the facilities at these wineries can accommodate fairly large groups. Another possibility is that the Princess site is just messed up. I would suggest that the OP continue looking and see if this tour appears in a few days.

 

I took this excursion a few years ago and we visited Cline in the Carneros district and Sebastiani in downtown Sonoma. Carneros was not affected, at all by the October fires. The fires did come somewhat close to the town of Sonoma, but Santa Rosa and Glen Ellen were the two Sonoma County communities that were really hit. In the Carneros district and up to Sonoma you will be driving through vineyards. So, that is pretty.

 

There are, in fact, wineries in downtown San Francisco. I would assume that they are custom crush facilities, but some excellent labels come from them. Two that immediately come to mind are Roar and Halcon. I have no idea what the Princess "San Francisco Downtown Wineries" excursion visits.

 

Now, if you just want to pick up some good wine at your San Francisco stop, walk over to the Ferry Building--about 20 minutes from Pier 27. There is an excellent wine shop, there. If you want to spend less money, find the Cost Plus World Market in Fisherman's wharf.

 

Also, I see that the Classic California Coast cruise also stops in Santa Barbara. The Princess web site shows various excursions to the Santa Ynez Valley that include winery visits or tastings. Can you see those in your cruise personalizer?

[AlibearNS]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. Yes the wine tours are showing for Santa Barbara, but, as I'd like to visit Solvang, we thought we do the "Solvang on your Own" tour and wander around the tasting rooms there. That, or the Funk Zone, which we've done before. There's a complete lack of tours in San Francisco on my planner - I've checked my filters, refreshed, but apart from the "Leave Your Heart in San Francisco, Cable Cars, Cafe and Chardonay" at a whopping $169.95 each for 4 hours ($430 in Canadian), there's no other mention of wine. In fact, there's only 5 tours altogether showing for day 2. Maybe more will show up, maybe it is a website issue, but meanwhile I've gone into full planning mode so now looking at private options instead.

[koolforkatz]

If you are there until 11 p.m. and thus no worry about getting back to ship in time, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just look at doing this privately. We have done this several times when stopping in San Francisco; there are lots of good operators to choose from.

 

 

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[AlibearNS]

If you are there until 11 p.m. and thus no worry about getting back to ship in time, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just look at doing this privately. We have done this several times when stopping in San Francisco; there are lots of good operators to choose from.

 

 

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We are looking at private tours; as you say we are there till 11pm so no time/traffic constraints. I was just surprised by the lack of options by Princess to compare, and wondered why this was. I also hoped for suggestions, and thanks to those who gave these. We've now found an independent company and in contact with them so all is good but if you've done this several times, and can advise, please do :wine-glass:

[koolforkatz]

We are looking at private tours; as you say we are there till 11pm so no time/traffic constraints. I was just surprised by the lack of options by Princess to compare, and wondered why this was. I also hoped for suggestions, and thanks to those who gave these. We've now found an independent company and in contact with them so all is good but if you've done this several times, and can advise, please do :wine-glass:

 

I can highly recommend Edge of the World Tours out of San Francisco. We've used them twice now. For what it's worth, they're also very highly rated on Google reviews, Yelp and Trip Advisor. We have a coastal in Sept and this time we're using Max NapaTours, also well reviewed, but we haven't experienced them ourselves yet. You'll get much more value using a private operator anyway.

[WVBill]

We're on the Northern California Coastal on the Ruby Departing Seattle Sept 29. Port call in San Francisco Sept 25. We have booked the Sonoma Wine Country excursion

SONOMA WINE COUNTRY

 

SFO-300| SAN FRANCISCO |.

[darstamp]

We are also on that trip out of Vancouver on September 24th. We've booked to go to Los Olivos for wine tasting in Santa Barbara. We will be checking for fires when it gets closer. I agree that the selection of tours on the second day in San Francisco is not great. We looked at the "Leave your Heart" tour but the short duration and high price turned us off. We've also been thinking of taking the Big Bus HoHo trip which includes 3 walking tours. Has anyone done this? I know those big buses can't always get close to some spots so I'm wondering if it is do-able in a day with the 3 walking tours.

[Astro Flyer]

We are looking at private tours; as you say we are there till 11pm so no time/traffic constraints. I was just surprised by the lack of options by Princess to compare, and wondered why this was. I also hoped for suggestions, and thanks to those who gave these. We've now found an independent company and in contact with them so all is good but if you've done this several times, and can advise, please do :wine-glass:

Several years ago on a Wine Country cruise from LA to Vancouver despite being in SF until 11:00 PM they had no wine tasting tours. Many people contacted Princess about the situation & their answer was that based on past experience not enough people book those tours.

 

Eventually closer to sailing they added a Sonoma wine tasting tour & filled 2 buses with passengers who desired a wine tasting tour on a Wine Country cruise. They probably could have filled more buses but due to the late availability of their tour other passengers had already made independent tour bookings.

[AlibearNS]

We're on the Northern California Coastal on the Ruby Departing Seattle Sept 29. Port call in San Francisco Sept 25. We have booked the Sonoma Wine Country excursion SONOMA WINE COUNTRY SFO-300| SAN FRANCISCO |.

 

 

How odd that it's not offered on our cruise (in port Oct 1st)! Also to 11pm!

 

 

Several years ago on a Wine Country cruise from LA to Vancouver despite being in SF until 11:00 PM they had no wine tasting tours. Many people contacted Princess about the situation & their answer was that based on past experience not enough people book those tours. Eventually closer to sailing they added a Sonoma wine tasting tour & filled 2 buses with passengers who desired a wine tasting tour on a Wine Country cruise. They probably could have filled more buses but due to the late availability of their tour other passengers had already made independent tour bookings.

 

 

I guess this must be the same situation. Maybe they think that with more time in port, people will arrange private wine tours, but that doesn't explain why it's offered on the above itinerary and not ours. As you say, there'll always be people who prefer to let Princess make their arrangements. We usually do a mix of both private and ship tours, depending on where we are, and how much OBC we have available. The excursions offered to us by Princess on both SF days are very poor. If we decide against the wine tour, we'll do the HOHO on the second day, and book online, but interesting to note Princess are only offering the HOHO on the arrival afternoon and not on the full day when many would more likely prefer it, giving more time to hop off. I'm quite surprised at the Princess selection. And many of the descriptions are missing when you click in. Perhaps more options and details will appear closer to sailing. Or maybe the website is faulty :confused:

[Podgieree]

I live in the town of Sonoma. You will find plenty of wineries open for business on both weekdays and weekends. You could even Uber to the Square in Sonoma which is filled with tasting rooms. If you would like to see an actual winery in production (you’ll probably be arriving during Crush, depending upon the weather) you can walk 3 blocks to Sebastiani. You can always have your car stop either on your way into or out of the valley. Remember our motto from last year: “The Love in the Air is Thicker Than the Smoke”. Sonoma is only one hour-one hour 15 minutes from the port. We’d love to see you here!

 

 

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[Astro Flyer]

I live in the town of Sonoma. You will find plenty of wineries open for business on both weekdays and weekends. You could even Uber to the Square in Sonoma which is filled with tasting rooms. If you would like to see an actual winery in production (you’ll probably be arriving during Crush, depending upon the weather) you can walk 3 blocks to Sebastiani. You can always have your car stop either on your way into or out of the valley. Remember our motto from last year: “The Love in the Air is Thicker Than the Smoke”. Sonoma is only one hour-one hour 15 minutes from the port. We’d love to see you here!

Thanks for the recommendation....on our Princess tour we had wine tastings at Sebastiani, Jacuzzi & Cline. :wine-glass:

 

It was a happy bus ride back to the ship with few passengers being dropped off at the optional Fisherman’s Wharf.

[XBGuy]

I live in the town of Sonoma. You will find plenty of wineries open for business on both weekdays and weekends. You could even Uber to the Square in Sonoma which is filled with tasting rooms. If you would like to see an actual winery in production (you’ll probably be arriving during Crush, depending upon the weather) you can walk 3 blocks to Sebastiani. You can always have your car stop either on your way into or out of the valley. Remember our motto from last year: “The Love in the Air is Thicker Than the Smoke”. Sonoma is only one hour-one hour 15 minutes from the port. We’d love to see you here!

 

 

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A few years ago I was up there, and the motto was: Go to Napa for auto parts. Come to Sonoma for wine.

 

I thought that was pretty hilarious.

 

Love Sonoma Zins. :p