ATSEAMYLIFE

I always overlook those two as we haven't ever done them. I think Houston has a few also.

It's the weather. Everybody on the east coast and Canada want to go to the Caribbean in January to warm up. CA coast to MX won't be as warm as the Caribbean. It's not bad if the sun is out, but if it's overcast and moving on the ship you won't be laying out on deck. It will warm up after 2-3 days once you get to Cabo. Panorama is a "turn and burn" ship for the LA crowd. It's cheaper than most and gets a lot of use by people who don't really respect the ship. Can we say, "party crowd?" We live just south of San Diego and January is a nice time of the year. But only if the sun is out and there's no wind. You can expect air temp in the high 60's to low 70's. Personally, if coming from Ontario I would look at going out of Galveston if the price is right. We also have a place north of there and the January weather in TX is pretty nice. Plus, I think the port stops are better.

True at all port stops.

When are you there? Whale watching can be hit or miss depending on time of the year.

I know this is an old post, but for people who might be looking. https://www.flixbus.com/?_sp=d5d56844-b41e-4961-9c05-040b79480af3.1696465280884

That's exactly one of the reasons why we us a TA. We had the same TA (RIP) for +35 years and I bet you don't get the same perks today that you did 20 years ago. I know we don't. The nature of the business has changed dramatically. I recall 15 of us in eight cabins all getting $900 OBC after our TA worked the system. She once got us upgraded on Oceania to a penthouse suite with a butler. Sadly that spoiled DW for anything less.

For many years our TA was getting us the eight cabin discount or OBC, most of us took the OBC. Then RCL dropped the flat number of eight for some type of formula you needed a physics degree from Yale to understand. It's been several years since we had enough in our own group to worry about a discount. Most times our TA sticks us into an agency group booking for any discounts or perks.

Unless you're an early riser (I'm not) stay on the ship and enjoy the empty space while everybody else gets off, that was our plan last time and it worked out well.

In a word "no" not worth the time for where it goes.

I use that app all the time to identify ships we see from our Mexico condo balcony.

Kind of true no matter who you use. We have never had an Uber RSVP not show up. We have had the server site not allow us to book when we wanted one and we have had no drivers want to take out fare. Last year we walked directly out of the San Pedro terminal to our RSVP Uber XL. Many others had been standing at the curb for 20-30 minutes and still didn't have a confirmed Uber ride. But anything can happen.

We almost always use the ships shuttle buses at the end of the cruise to get to an airport. It makes it much simpler. If you decide on Uber I would suggest making an advance RSVP otherwise you might be stuck at the pier/airport waiting for a driver to take your fare or worse yet the Uber server is overloaded and you can't even get on to book.

Edith's was great for dinner. We were staying at a nearby resort and some other guests suggested it.

Most of the year?

We like the walk down to Seaport Village. There's lots of new places we haven't tried. But for a great burger at a reasonable cost the San Diego Burger Company is good. It's nothing fancy. The Edgewater Grill is more upscale with good food. In the Headquarters is Eddie V's, Puesto, and Cheesecake Factory. We have done Puesto and Cheesecake. Cheesecake is what you would expect. Puesto was excellent but not much of a view.

Is the ship offering an Alcatraz excursion? If so it might be best to book it with them. If you are there overnight I would do the nighttime Alcatraz tour. The view of the city from the island is awesome and the night tour of the prison is really creepy. You didn't mention the time of the year. The night tour or even the day tour during the winter can get really cold. The prison has no heat, drafty, and no sun. Dress warm and take layers no matter the time of the year.

Walkable and not touristy? Aren't any. I would look by AT&T park. Momo's is a good one as is Public House. It's about an hour walk but not sure I would do it. We enjoy Public House prior to a baseball game for the private entrance to the park. But Momo's would be my first choice otherwise. Make a RSVP.

Check Uber for an advance RSVP and it will show you the cost. Advance RSVP's seem to be higher than requesting at the time you're ready, but at least you're guarantied a ride. I have had Uber show "not available" at times when I wanted to go. Two weeks ago in Paris the Uber site keep showing "server down" when we needed a ride. That went on for about 30 minutes. The following day we needed a ride for a river boat dinner cruise so I booked an advanced RSVP. When we got off the dinner cruise we just looked for an on demand Uber, which was five minutes away. The RSVP was $45 hotel to boat. The on demand boat back to hotel was $22.

There's not much of a selection for shopping anywhere near the Doubletree. I would look to stop on your way to the hotel on the 20th. San Padro isn't the safest port town once you venture to far from the hotel. I had to go out late one night for an RX and ended up at a Target in a not so nice area. There were many liquor stores along the route but I doubt the wine selection was what you want.

I'm Hilton brand loyal and we like the Embassy Suites south of the airport. Nice restaurant with a great view of the SFO landing runway. Free cocktails and breakfast. Rooms are a little tired, but clean.

No idea we were there the week between Christmas and New Years. Being a tourist town I would doubt much will be closed. I would suggest making restaurant reservations if there's someplace special you want to eat. However, we found many places in the French Quarter didn't take RSVP's and it was first come first serve.

No way to know until you book at the time. You can do an advance RSVP and get a price but it's usually higher. However, if you want to be guarantied a car it's best to RSVP in advance. If you wait to call for an Uber when you need it there might not be any drivers or the system might be overloaded and you won't get one. We just returned from Paris and Nice using Uber both places several times. Doing an RSVP was about double the price of just calling when needed. However, one morning we decided to call rather than advance RSVP and for 30 minutes the Uber www said "unable to connect to our server try again in a few minutes"; after that I did RSVP's.

I'm guessing it's all done via facial recognition now and you don't even flash your passport or at least that was our experience in November 2022 at Port Canaveral and on a recent flight back from Cabo to San Diego.

We lived 90 minutes away and went to the the City several times a year for the last +25 years for long weekends. Sure there were always places you just didn't go as a tourist, but the other 95% was safe, interesting, and memorable. Now it's the other way around with only 5% I would go and so that's not worth it. The City is a ghost town compared to pre-pandemic with no signs of getting better. Restaurants that were open everyday all day are now only open on the weekends with limited hours or just gone. Shopping malls are empty and unsafe to even get to. Tourist attractions Union Square, Golden Gate Park, Presidio, etc are overrun with homeless, poop, and needles. The office workers who supported downtown merchants are mostly gone and working remote. Even the federal building has told employees to work remote because it's unsafe downtown. It's sad to see what a once great city has become. I do still visit when I have to for some appointments, but we don't hang around and make a weekend of it as we used to.

Most times I have found the LAX Hilton to be the cheapest of any Hilton close to the airport. I guess they figure they make up the money at the bar. "Subway" really?