San Diego Information

[mimisandy45]

We will be on the British Columbia and West Coast cruise in September. We will be in San Diego Fri., 10/5. Never been there. We have 8 AM-6 PM. Is there a HOHO? Should we walk? Take a tour? Need an excursion we can do ourselves. Thanks.

 

Sandy

[WineCountryCruiser]

We will be on the British Columbia and West Coast cruise in September. We will be in San Diego Fri., 10/5. Never been there. We have 8 AM-6 PM. Is there a HOHO? Should we walk? Take a tour? Need an excursion we can do ourselves. Thanks.

 

Sandy

 

DW & I grew up in San Diego. One of the great areas in San Diego is Balboa Park. Besides being a beautiful city park in its own right, it includes several wonderful museums and many beautiful buildings that date back to a world expo that was held in San Diego many years ago. The world-famous San Diego Zoo is also a short walk away. I believe there are ship-sponsored excursions to the park and to the zoo as well. If you want to do this on your own, you should be able to use public transportation to get from the pier to the park/zoo area. Check out the San Diego Trolley, the city's light rail system, as a possible transportation option.

 

Craig

[slomotion]

Another "Must See" is right on the water.

 

Its the carrier USS Midway. Go here http://www.midway.org/.

 

Well worth the time.

[jpthomas27]

Plenty of things to do in San Diego. Here are some starting points that might give you some things to research on line.

 

USS Midway - Decomissioned aircraft carrier open to the public as a museum. There are also a few other ships turned museums in that area. Old time pirate type ships with the tall sails and so on.

Sea Port Village - Nice area to walk around, do a little shopping and have lunch...a little touristy, but then again, your a tourist :)

The Hotel Del - World Famous Hotel (part museum) that is the temporary home to every celebrity and powerful politician that passes through San Diego. It's right on the beach, has exclusive guests from Marilyn Monroe to past presidents. Neat place to walk around past on it's age, beauty and history, plus you can then cruise along the beach.

Horton Plaza - Downtown, multi-level shopping center

Sea World

San Diego Zoo

Balboa Park - Lots of things to do including plenty of museums to keep you busy. The SD Zoo is also located here.

Petco Park - If your a baseball fan a tour of the stadium might be interesting.

Gaslamp Quarter - A lot of bars and restaraunts that is the heart of downtown nightlife but still interesting during the day for a lunch or a drink.

Belmont Park - Beach side amusement park (I use that term loosely) that has an old school wooden roller coaster and a walk along the boardwalk.

Watersports- Plenty of places to enjoy the water if your want to go kayaking or sailing or something else. Look in the area of Mission Bay (near Bellmont park in Mission Beach) or, if you want to travel a littel further in La Jolla.

La Jolla (the city) - A little north of San Diego, up the coast, is an upscale neighborhood, plenty of 6 figure cars and million dollar homes. The downtown (not a "big city" downtown, more like "exclusive small town" downtown) area is a good place to walk around and shop in small boutique stores and enjoy the good life. Have some lunch and enjoy the scenery.

"The Clam" - Just a small spot in La Jolla that is a pretty cave along the coast. You can snorkle or kayak there or just walk down and admire it for a bit.

The Children's Pool - Another fun spot in La Jolla. A decieving name because it's really filled with seals that have taken it over as thier own piece of the beach. There's a story behind it that I won't get into but if you look into it at, you'll come across it. It's a fun spot to watch some seals lay around and play in the water / beach.

 

Pleanty of these things can be combined to fill the day in San Diego.

- Everything mentioned in La Jolla is easily doable in one trip.

- IMO SD Zoo is the entire day, I wouldn't recommend do anything else. Although you could do the tram tour through the park and still do other things if you want to.

- Sea Wold is the entire day.

- Balboa park can easily take the entire day if you enjoy multiple museums and the other sites. Or, if you want to make a trip to just one or two musems or just a highlight or two it can be shorter.

- Bellmont Park can easily be combined with water activities in Mission Bay

- USS Midway, Sea Port Village, Petco Park and The Gaslamp Quarter can easily be done together and by walking. My recommendation is to walk it in that order and then take a short cab ride back to the ship. The walk will basically take you along the bay/boardwalk from your ship, through Sea Port Village, then leaves the water. You can throw The Hote Del in there as well by taking a ferry across the bay and then back. The ferry leaves from somewhere very close to where your ship will dock so either do it at the begining or the end. Horton Plaza is basically between The Gaslamp Quarter and the ship. You can walk there from the Gaslamp if you want, and realistically you could walk back to the ship from there. If you walk the entire thing you will have basically made a circle going along the water for the first part then through downtown and back to the ship. Just depend on how active you are wether you will want to walk it all the way or take a cab back from the Gaslamp. Don't worry about time or activity level if you decide to do this walk. If at any time you start to fell like your not going to get back in time or your feel like your tired of walking it is easy to catch a pedi-cab or actual taxi back or to the next destination. Your never very far from the ship anywhere in the down town area.

[JLC@SD]

In addition to the USS Midway, you will dock near the Maritime Musuem.....which has a nice collection of historical ships.....including the HMS Surprise that Master and Commander was filmed on.

 

http://www.sdmaritime.org/star-of-india/

 

http://www.sdmaritime.org/the-ships/

[mimisandy45]

jpthomas 27: Thanks for the info. My husband and I both agree the itinerary you suggested is great. We'll follow it. Wanta meet us at the pier? LOL.

 

JLC@SD: The website links were excellent help. Thanks.

 

Sandy

[mimisandy45]

Guys:

 

I looked again at your post, JP, and we decided to do a 3 hr. walk/sightseeing in the morning and 3 hrs. in the afternoon. We are in our 60s but very active, so walking is good for us--especially with that cruise food. Probably would be smart to do the farthest sites early when our energy is high. Things closer to the ship we'll leave for afternoon. You have been so kind already, but if I could ask one more thing--an itinerary for the morning and one for the afternoon. We like all the sites you suggested but if I had to choose, photo stops (camera buff, here) would be my first choice. Are there any botanical gardens? I like the idea of the ships and Balboa Park and maybe one museum. Never being there and hating to waste time, I can't quite get my head around the route to take. Thanks in advance.

 

Sandy

[goodie2shoes]

Do be aware that if you have stopped in Mexico before reaching San Diego, you may be delayed getting off the ship. We did a cruise from San Francisco earlier this year, and when we arrived in San Diego everyone who was not a US citizen had to meet with Immigration. Some didn't show up as scheduled, and no one was allowed to leave the ship until they were located. We also had to take our Passport (as US Citizens) to get off the ship. Nothing was asked for when we returned.

 

The good thing about it was that we did not have to clear customs when we returned to San Francisco.

[CRUISEADIK]

Thanks for the input, this cruise will be coming from San Francisco and then to LA, starting in Vancouver.

[snowman]

There is a HOHO and it will give you a glimps of San Diego, try to get to Old Town for some shopping and some great Mexican food.

[judyjudy56]

There is a trolley with hop on and hop off. It stops right at the cruise pier. It takes you all around the city with great stops. I believe there is a discount if you book online. We did this a couple of years ago and it was great. here is the link to their web site

http://www.trolleytours.com/san-diego/

[SoBaycruiser]

I highly recommend the HOHO trolley. It was a great way to see a lot of SD. However, if you a particular interest in the Midway aircraft or zoo, then concentrate on that and give yourself plenty of time.

[san diego sue]

I am a camera buff as well. Balboa Park has beautiful old buildings to photograph. Just walking in the park is a must experience, plenty of lawn areas with flowers. I would go to Balboa Park in the morning. My favorite museum there is Air and Space Museum. Vintage airplanes, space shuttles

etc. Really interesting place. Natural History Museum another fabulous one. In the afternoon, if you still have strength, walk along the waterfront

and then go to the Midway (aircraft carrier, now a museum).:D

[Once Upon A Time]

Just got home a few weeks ago.. Last stop on our cruise was San Diego.. We did the HOHO (purchased tickets online and saved a lot of time at the pier) I recommend Old Town, Balboa Park (amazing museums) and Seaport Village.. can spend hours in each of them.. Others in our group went to the Midway and spent a minimum of 6 hours. Lots of construction going on in front of cruise terminal...and from the looks of it, won't be completed for some time.

[CuTiAngel]

I highly recommend the HOHO trolley tour as well.

[TracieABD]

Take a cab to Balboa Park. There are so many museums and niftly little places to eat up there. Also, you can see the famous SD Zoo.

 

You might find it helpful to buy a one day Go-Pass. That will cover your admission fees for most attractions.

 

Do check the schedule though, not all museums are open daily...:)

[chipq]

The HOHO is a good way to see SD at your pace. Still if the HOHO is not for you thete will be dozens of taxis at the pier. The Midway is a very near museum and probably the first thing to strike you is how small it is compared to the cruise ship. There are plenty of stairs and narrow thresholds to navigate on the tour. Also, the food at the snack bar on the Midway is not very good, eat before or wait until after

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[jpthomas27]

Guys:

 

I looked again at your post, JP, and we decided to do a 3 hr. walk/sightseeing in the morning and 3 hrs. in the afternoon. We are in our 60s but very active, so walking is good for us--especially with that cruise food. Probably would be smart to do the farthest sites early when our energy is high. Things closer to the ship we'll leave for afternoon. You have been so kind already, but if I could ask one more thing--an itinerary for the morning and one for the afternoon. We like all the sites you suggested but if I had to choose, photo stops (camera buff, here) would be my first choice. Are there any botanical gardens? I like the idea of the ships and Balboa Park and maybe one museum. Never being there and hating to waste time, I can't quite get my head around the route to take. Thanks in advance.

 

Sandy

 

From a photographic point of view (I too am very much into photography) your best bet is Balboa Park. There is so much to shoot there you will be sad to leave. There's great old architecture, plenty of flowers, ponds with lily pads and ducks etc... As far as botanicle gardens, there is a great one right there in Balboa Park. Other photographic oportunities will be mostly cityscape / architecture stuff down town. The old ships as well as the USS Midway has some photo ops and if you take the ferry across the bay you will have good views of the downtown skyline.

 

I would probably suggest you take a cab right from the ship to Balboa Park since it's further away from the ship. Figure out which museum you want to see becasue Balboa Park is a big place and you'll want the cab to take you directly to it.

The main museums are:

San Diego Museum of Art

San Diego Natural History Museum

Ruben H Fleet Science Center (best for kids)

San Diego Air and Space Museum (farthest one from everything else)

 

You said you really want to see the Botanicle Garden, so I would rule out the Air and Space Museum (unless it is something you can't live without) becasue it would be a long walk from there. I suggest you go with either of the first two I mentioned because the area around them is VERY photogenic and the Botanicle Garden is very close as well so you would be able to get the most out of your visit to the park. If you go to the Natural history museum you will walk west after that down The Prado (basically a pedestrian only street), the Lili Pond will be on your right and the Botanical Garden is at the North end of it (you can see the building). After the Botabicle Garden return to The Prado and continue west until you hit a street/parking lot/turn-a-bout. This is where you'll be able to catch a cab back. If you opt for the Museum of Art you will start at the parking lot/turn-a-bout so you'll walk east on The Prado to the Lili Pond, now the Botanicle Garden is on your left. Return to where you started to catch a cab again.

 

From here, you have two options after a cab ride, walk to the ship or walk away from the ship. I suggest you take the cab to Sea Port Village, or the Gaslamp Quarter if that's intresting to you and walk back to the ship in order to avoid another cab ride at the end of the day. Wander around Seaport Village, shop and have lunch if your in the mood and then head west & north away from Sea Port. You'll continue along the water/boardwalk until you get to the USS Midway. At this point you are pretty close to your Cruise ship. After the USS Midway you'll continue in the same direction to get to your ship. The Maritime Museum where the other ships are, including the one that was used in the movie Master and Commander (as mentioned by another poster) is actually just past your cruise ship, you can hit that up before returnign home.

 

Just a side note: The ferry to get across the bay to the Hotel Del is between the USS midway and your cruise ship if you take the path above. However, if your doing Balboa Park in the morning, then this walking tour along the water from Sea Port Village to the Maritime Museum, I really doubt there is time for that side trip.

 

Hope this helps :)

[mimisandy45]

Thanks. It's like you got into my head and unscrambled it. That's not too unusual since my 1/2 page summaries in English 101 topped out at 3 pages. In other words, I don't know how to "pare down". We had already changed our mind back to doing the trolley, so your post fits right in. We'll catch the trolley to Balboa Park while listening to the commentary and get off at the park. When we are finished there, we'll get a bite to eat. Then we'll tackle the rest of the HOHO commentary and start seeing the afternoon sights. Thanks so much.

 

Sandy