Ronnie1a

The Playa Mazatlan is a nice hotel with one of the best beaches in the area.  There is a charge for use of the facilities for a day, including the hotel pool but it used to be reasonable.  Cruise ships used to have "tours" to there for the day.

The Villa del Sol  Hotel is located on La Ropa beach.  It is frequently listed in the top 10 beaches in the world.  However, from the cruise ship pier you will probably need a cab.

It is a healthy walk and may be uncomfortable going home in the dark. Tons of SF's best restaurants in the immediate area.

Fisherman's Wharf if 1/2 restaurants and 1/2 T shirt shops. That's kinda it!

Time will probably be an issue, so a cab or Uber. Lots of eating places around the ball park.

Except for luggage it is an easy walk so fares should be quite reasonable. Probably a 5 min. drive, maybe less.

It will be busier than normal especially at the waterfront and around the cruise ship pier. Downtown SF is far enough away that it will be a "normal" day there. The Blue Angels usually fly around during Fleet Week and they draw enormous crowds to the waterfront when they fly.

As soon as you drive onto the pier porters will be standing there to take your luggage. I have been there as early as 10 am and there were stacks of luggage already waiting to be put on the ship. Be sure your room # tags are on the luggage and tip the porters.

Where to go will not be an issue when you get to the terminal. There will be people right at the outside door who will want to see your tickets and will tell you exactly where you can and cannot go. When you actually board most people will take escalators but there are elevators. There will be lots of seating until you actually board. There is a separate area for priority boarding. It will be reflected on your boarding pass if you do get it and, again, you will be told where to go.

The drop off/pick up area outside the terminal has numbered posts. You could meet your travel companions under one of the posts before you go inside. Just give them the post number assuming you have a cell phone.

I you want to ride the cable car the Hyde St. line is the best ride. Catch it at the edge of Fisherman's Wharf. The return ride from downtown usually have LONG lines and easy to miss your ship. Come back on the F streetcar which runs along Market St. and down to the ship.

Make advance res. for the golf cart. Frequently a sellout.

Do not miss the giant redwoods in N. CA but you need a car to see them. Same with the San Juan Islands between Seattle and Vancouver. If you want public trans. there are 2 daily trains from Seattle to Vancouver and a daily train from Seatte to Los Angeles.

Very difficult to impossible to get to Alcatraz without an advance reservation. There are 2 hop on-off buses and they both originate at Fisherman's Wharf. Probably best way to see SF but a warning: certain stops such as Union Square are so popular there are very long lines to get back on the bus. Not uncommon on a busy day to wait for 3-4 buses to come and go before you can get on. Same with the cable car. At Union Square waits up to 3-4 hours to get on one on a busy weekend.

The only public transportation is the streetcar which will take you directly to the cruise ship pier. But they are very crowded, usually standing room only and many times they won't even let you on because they are too crowded. Luggage makes that ride out of the question. Taxi or Uber your only choice

A simple answer: with very few exceptions if you have a passport they will let you on the ship. If you do not have one they will not let you on board.

My 1st Sitmar trip was in 1971. And they had sales back then This is what we got on a 1 week Mexican trip out of LA:

round trip airfare from San Francisco

transportation from LAX to the ship and back

cruise-inside room

A gift left in the room last night at sea (forgot what it was)

price: $290.@

Your plan is sound. The airport BART terminal is inside the international terminal on the upper level. After you get your luggage go upstairs then to the international terminal. In SF the Hyatt is across the street from BART, up one flight of stairs. The earlier you get there the better as traffic gets bad beginning early afternoon.

You get off BART at the Embarcadero station. If you miss it the next stop is Oakland!

MSC cruise lines have the equivalent to the Princess Elite card, called the Black card. It actually gives more perks than the Elite card does. If you have an Elite card they will give you a Black card with all its perks when you book with them. This is new to me. Do any other cruise lines do this?

I was visiting Napa wineries yesterday (Monday Oct. 30) and almost all the roads and wineries are open. Very light traffic You should not have any problem visiting.

I have been on the Grand before and never heard of the Elite lounge. What and where is it?

I have a confirmed 6 pm res. for dinner but another couple did a last minute sign up and are on a wait list. We want to sit together and suspect I will need to talk to the head waiter to make the change. I would like to clear this up as soon as I board but there is more than one dining room. Where do I start? Is this easy to do?

If you have the unlimited drink package and are with another couple that does not have it, how do they handle it when the two couples, together, order a "round of drinks?" Will ours automatically be deducted or do we need to use are card separately? How would we pay for their drinks if we wish to do so?

When we do use our drink card does the bartender do some kind of "no charge" or is that done at the end of the cruise on our room bill?

Princess used to send out an info packet which included dress codes for each night. Do they still do that? Usually received it 2-3 weeks before the sail date.

Would this be important? Nobody is going to cancel or change a cruise because of the movies.

Almost all cruise ships will have binoculars for sale in one of their stores. Another choice on where to buy them