Anyone sail out of San Francisco?

[neongoddess]

Hi everyone! I have sailed many times on Carnival from the Port of Long Beach, and once from Ft. Lauderdale. In May I will be crusing from San Francisco for the first time (super convenient since I live in the Sacramento area). Any tips on parking and/or thoughts on the emarkation process/the SF terminal in general? I have walked by it before on Fisherman's Wharf but never sailed from there so I am a bit nervous.

[CruiserBruce]

Lots of people sail from SF. Things like parking are covered on the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

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

 

The embarkation process is similar to all other ports...no real difference. The Terminal is very pretty, relatively new.

 

Parking will be expensive. I would look at other options...perhaps parking at SFO or Oakland airport. Or train down, take the Amtrak bus over and walk to the cruise terminal.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Our friends sailed ten days ago on a 15 day RT to HI and back.  They hired a driver to take them and pick them up.  It was a little more than 16 days parking, but worth it for the convenience value.  They live in Lathrop.  You might get better deals being in Sacramento.  Just depends on how long you are gone.  Might even be cost effective to go night before and get a "park & sail" at one of the hotels.  

[disneyochem]

We love to cruise from SF.  We take Amtrak (train to Emeryville, bus to SF).  Depending on weather, we usually just walk to the pier.  It’s about a 20 minute walk along the Embarcadero.  At times we will Uber to Emeryville after the cruise to catch an earlier train home.  Takes about two hours from our house to getting a drink onboard the ship!

[lovecruzin]

We also live in the Sac area. Years ago we parked at one of the SFO hotel parking lots and took town car to the port. I wasn't comfortable leaving our car at a public garage in the city. It was a 30 + minute car ride to the pier but was easy and did save us $.

airportparking dot com is one of the sites we’ve used to find parking.

Edited April 8, 2022 by lovecruzin

[BabsinTX]

On 4/6/2022 at 7:01 PM, disneyochem said:

We love to cruise from SF.  We take Amtrak (train to Emeryville, bus to SF).  Depending on weather, we usually just walk to the pier.  It’s about a 20 minute walk along the Embarcadero.  At times we will Uber to Emeryville after the cruise to catch an earlier train home.  Takes about two hours from our house to getting a drink onboard the ship!

We're arriving on Ruby Princess at 7AM  in San Francisco on a Wednesday in May 2023 and need to get to Emeryville to catch Amtrak, which leaves at 9:10am.  Are we crazy to try this?  I'm concerned that the least delay will make us miss the train.  I'd appreciate any ideas.

[CruiserBruce]

12 hours ago, BabsinTX said:

We're arriving on Ruby Princess at 7AM  in San Francisco on a Wednesday in May 2023 and need to get to Emeryville to catch Amtrak, which leaves at 9:10am.  Are we crazy to try this?  I'm concerned that the least delay will make us miss the train.  I'd appreciate any ideas.

As mentioned in your other post, I think this is going to be tight. You need to walk to the Ferry Terminal to meet the Amtrak bus, or immediately catch a cab or Uber outside the cruise terminal. You are going the counter commute direction, so that is a plus. Its less than a 30 minute drive, if there aren't any issues. Docking can be a little bit of problem due to fog or currents at times. Immigration (if you are subject to it for this cruise) could slow you down. Docking at 7am doesn't mean getting off at 7:05.

 

After researching and considering all that, again, I think you might make it, but its going to be stressful.

[disneyochem]

16 hours ago, BabsinTX said:

We're arriving on Ruby Princess at 7AM  in San Francisco on a Wednesday in May 2023 and need to get to Emeryville to catch Amtrak, which leaves at 9:10am.  Are we crazy to try this?  I'm concerned that the least delay will make us miss the train.  I'd appreciate any ideas.

We’ve been able to make this timeline except that it’s been on weekends.  We’re generally on the first group getting off (7:30-8 ish), calling an Uber while we’re getting off and get to Emeryville around 8:30.  Peet’s across the pedestrian bridge for a cappuccino and I’m set!  Haven’t attempted to do that on weekdays though……

 

Nice thing about Amtrak is that if you miss your train, you can hop just hop on the next one going your direction.  I usually buy tickets for a later train but if the timing works, we get on an earlier train.

 

What train are you catching? Is there a later train?   I would not try to catch a 9 am train on a commute day.  Too stressful!

[disneyochem]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

As mentioned in your other post, I think this is going to be tight. You need to walk to the Ferry Terminal to meet the Amtrak bus, or immediately catch a cab or Uber outside the cruise terminal. 

The Amtrak bus does not pick you up at the Ferry Terminal.  Bus stop (and it’s just a bus stop) is near the Sales Force Transit Center (555 Mission Street).  
 

That’s why we generally take a Uber to Emeryville—if the weather is nice, we don’t mind the wait/walk.  If it’s cold and foggy, it’s nice to wait inside the station at Emeryville.

 

You can also board an earlier bus than your ticket if there’s room.

[CruiserBruce]

56 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

The Amtrak bus does not pick you up at the Ferry Terminal.  Bus stop (and it’s just a bus stop) is near the Sales Force Transit Center (555 Mission Street).  

Ooops...was thinking about when the Transit Center was under construction.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

For the OP, depending on the length of the cruise I'd consider the Capital Corridor Train to Emeryville, Emeryville  Connector Bus to San Francisco.

[CruiseCrabs]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:55 PM, neongoddess said:Any tips on parking and/or thoughts on the emarkation process/the SF terminal in general? I have walked by it before on Fisherman's Wharf but never sailed from there so I am a bit nervous.

We don’t chance parking in SF as of late—the risk of a break in/stolen car isn’t worth it—and are in your area. We take Lyft/Uber or hitch a ride with someone to the closest Amtrak station, take it to Emeryville, and then Lyft/Uber to the port. It’s actually cheaper than parking and relatively easy if you don’t overpack. Do NOT take Amtrak’s bus link from Emeryville to downtown SF. It actually makes things more challenging than it is worth (we tried it and it was an epic, frustrating fail).

[KeepCalmBearOn]

10 hours ago, SwankieG said:

We don’t chance parking in SF as of late—the risk of a break in/stolen car isn’t worth it—and are in your area.

 

Yes, a real problem in the City unfortunately.

 

10 hours ago, SwankieG said:

We take Lyft/Uber or hitch a ride with someone to the closest Amtrak station, take it to Emeryville, and then Lyft/Uber to the port. It’s actually cheaper than parking and relatively easy if you don’t overpack.

 

Very good options.We've done similar when we've driven up from So Cal. We park at a BART long term lot and use it into the City.