San Diego 2 days post cruise questions

[ddeprez]

We'd like to spend two days post cruise visiting the Zoo, and other areas (yet to be finalized- suggestions?  Never been to San Diego). Flying back home after that. Looking for suggestions on what area to stay in that would be convenient for the zoo and then to the airport?  Not sure yet what we would do for transportation- is it worth renting a car or could we get around using ride share? TIA!

[Northern Aurora]

San Diego is compact and easy to navigate.  The airport is on the edge of town.  You will watch planes landing and departing while standing on your cruise ship upper decks.

 

We have used mass transit to visit the Zoo.  Other ideas to visit are the USS Midway (we generally spend most of a day there) and the Maritime Museum of San Diego.  We also check the Padres' game schedule; their baseball field is also centrally located.

 

Lots of interesting hotels in San Diego.  

[OneSixtyToOne]

The airport, cruise terminal and Balboa Park are all located in the same compact area. San Diego is a major convention destination. That means there are thousands of hotel rooms available in the downtown area. Be aware that at certain times, like Comic-Com in July, the rates can skyrocket as available becomes scare. They sooner you book, the better. 
 

BTW I highly recommend spending a day or two in Balboa Park. In addition to the zoo, it’s home to a dozen museums and numerous gardens. It’s the largest urban cultural park in the country. The facades on the buildings were used in the movie Citizen Kane to represent Kane’s fictional palatial estate of Xanadu. It’s worth a walk along The Prado, the park’s main walkway, just to experience the architecture.

Edited November 13, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[SDPadreFan]

On 11/11/2022 at 2:02 PM, Northern Aurora said:

San Diego is compact and easy to navigate.  The airport is on the edge of town.  You will watch planes landing and departing while standing on your cruise ship upper decks.

 

We have used mass transit to visit the Zoo.  Other ideas to visit are the USS Midway (we generally spend most of a day there) and the Maritime Museum of San Diego.  We also check the Padres' game schedule; their baseball field is also centrally located.

 

Lots of interesting hotels in San Diego.  

The airport is on the edge of DOWNTOWN. Depending on the time of day and traffic, a ride (by car/shuttle) can take you between 5-10 min from the airport to center city (or cruise terminal). Obviously you can throw that out the window around major travel holidays. But try and say 5-10 min airport to downtown from any other major city. San Diego and the suburbs comprise a very large area. I live in San Diego City and am still about 15 miles from downtown.

[SDPadreFan]

I would agree that both the San Diego Zoo and the USS Midway museum are both outstanding suggestions. Both are world class sites.

 

Hint: take good care of your feet, you will be doing a lot of walking both at the Zoo and the USS Midway. The Zoo does at least have a hop-on, hop-off bus/tram that could be a worthwhile option because the zoo does have a lot of hills to navigate. On the USS Midway, there will be numerous narrow and steep ladders to climb. Want to look like a pro - go down those ladders facing outward. It will feel very awkward at first, but after a couple of them, you will almost look like an old salt. Almost. Flat comfortable shoes (not sandals) and non-revealing clothes are the uniform of the day for the ladies. Skirts/dresses are not a good idea. Someone can stand at the bottom of these ladders and see ... There is an option to get a "sort of" guided tour of the USS Midway. Very worthwhile option. In addition, there will be a ton of docents around to explain shipboard life. They are all old salts like me (and boy can we tell some tales). Never served on the Midway, my first aircraft carrier was even older than her. USS Hancock (CVA-19), a WWII Aircraft Carrier. She only had a straight deck originally, complete with a wooden flight deck. Her angle deck (steel) was added later on. She also had the very first steam catapults installed to launch aircraft. Served on her in 1975 and was part of the evacuation of Vietnam and also Cambodia that year.

 

The Gaslamp District as well as Little Italy (both downtown) are great locations to stay at as well as dine. But do your homework. The train tracks for freight, AMTRAK, and our light rail system runs right by some of these hotels. I would suggest a room facing away from the tracks. Getting around downtown San Diego can be pretty inexpensive. We have FRED (Free Ride Everywhere Downtown) so that is an option worth looking into. For the ZOO, you could either take a bus from downtown or Uber/Lyft. It will be fairly inexpensive.

 

Want to check out San Diego's beaches. Easy to catch a ride share to Mission Beach and walk the boardwalk. Get dropped off by Belmont Park and walk north as far as you care. Fun fact. The Plunge San Diego is a huge indoor pool at Belmont Park. Remember the original movie Top Gun (not the newer one). Obviously many scenes were shot in San Diego. The locker room scene from that movie was actually filmed in the locker room at The Plunge (it's now just a storeroom).

 

Have a little free time either before boarding or after debarkation. The Embarcadero is a nice walk along a flat concrete walkway. Head north from the cruise ship terminal. Walk far enough, and you will actually be back at the airport.

[riffatsea]

All great suggestions so far

There is also a good hop on hop off tour which has 2 routes

See ww.trolleytours.com/san diego

[KeepCalmBearOn]

You don't ask where to stay, per se, but I would choose from the Residence Inn Bayfront and SpringHill Suites (same building), InterContinental Hotel San Diego and Manchester Grand Hyatt. All four are easily walkable from the cruise terminal, walkable to great dining and transportation options and nice in their own right.