California Coastal - San Francisco

[Cutcorneroff]

Hello. We are on 7 night California Coastal on 06 April on Princess and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for private excursions in locations

 

Ensenada

Santa Barbara

San Diego

Long Beach

 

Also what is the best way to book for Alcatraz [ a night trip?] and boat trip in SF

 

Any advice / links appreciated

 

Thank you

John and Barbara

[M4dC0w]

Being only a month away, most night trips are probably booked already.

 

I would finsd the tiur site niw, as evem day trips may omly have a few spots left.

[TucsonRick]

I wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada. It is the armpit of the world. I know of nothing interesting to do there.

 

Rick

[disgirl]

We did a private photo tour in San Diego. She was amazing! San Fran we just walked around, went to Dick Blick Art, Boudins Bakery for lunch, rode the cable car - we were there a few years ago. Santa Barbara we did the trolly tour through PCL. Ensenada we did the wine tour with a group of friends and booked through PCL - we dont have to get off there again!

[akeasley]

I wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada. It is the armpit of the world. I know of nothing interesting to do there.

 

Rick

 

 

Wow! What a selling feature for those of us who have never been there before. Excuriosns are still offered at this port, so I'm hoping it can't be that bad.

[etwright]

I wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada. It is the armpit of the world. I know of nothing interesting to do there.

 

Rick

 

Have to agree here. :rolleyes:

[Jim Avery]

I wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada. It is the armpit of the world. I know of nothing interesting to do there.

 

Rick

 

We have been to worse armpits than Ensenada.:eek: Actually enjoyed a walkabout even though it is typical hucksterism just about everywhere.:D

[neverbeenhere]

Armpit with dollar store deodorant.

[rpcv77]

Hi,

We are on the same cruise and live in the San Francisco Bay area. Please find the web site for Alcatraz and book ASAP. As previously posted, their tours are often booked up far in advance. As for the ports, I'm not familiar with private tours in any of them, since we live in CA. In Ensenada, we are taking the ship's winery tour, which has gotten good reviews. We've been to Ensenada before and had fun. After the tour, we'll walk to Avenida Lopez Mateos, have lunch and enjoy some margaritas. We just like to wander around. It's about a ten minute walk back to the ship or they have a shuttle for a few dollars. Is Ensenada an incredible, must see destination? No, but my dd and I are the types who can always find a way enjoy whatever each port brings. Have you joined our roll call yet? Some folks there might have tour ideas for you. We're renting bikes in San Diego and just walking around in the other ports. See you soon!

[DrivesLikeMario]

I wouldn't even get off the ship in Ensenada. It is the armpit of the world. I know of nothing interesting to do there.

 

Rick

 

If you're planning on finding "great buys" while shopping, then yes, I agree with you.

 

If you're planning on doing the wine tour, then it is WELL worth it and WELL worth seeing a different, more rural part of the area. It looks almost exactly like Southern California around San Diego and the wine country in SW Riverside County. We've done the tour twice and really enjoyed it both times. You get to see what the "real" Mexico is like, get way out of the city (45 min. drive one way) and meet locals that are not pushing cheap touristy junk. I highly recommend getting out of the massive 600,000+ city center of Ensenada.

[vantec]

I agree with the winery tour in Ensenada suggestion - at first we were not excited about that port, but we did sign up for the winery tour and had a wonderful time. We were given a tour of the area, stopped at two winerys and even sampled pizza with our wine. It was such a pleasant day.

[akeasley]

My mom and I will be on the same cruise as OP and have had our Alcatrez tickets booked for several months. I read several reviews that said the tour fills up quickly and I didn't want to miss out since who knows when I'll be in the area again.

 

I agree with other poster about booking now. Do you have a TA? If so, they may know of a ticket company. Mine suggested Vitar (sp?) and that is who we have booked with.

 

Good luck on finding some tickets!

[DrivesLikeMario]

My mom and I will be on the same cruise as OP and have had our Alcatrez tickets booked for several months. I read several reviews that said the tour fills up quickly and I didn't want to miss out since who knows when I'll be in the area again.

 

I agree with other poster about booking now. Do you have a TA? If so, they may know of a ticket company. Mine suggested Vitar (sp?) and that is who we have booked with.

 

Good luck on finding some tickets!

 

I think you mean Viator. We've used them a couple of times and had really good tours with them in Europe.

[CRUISER WI]

I am on the same coastal cruise also. Does anyone know if it is easy to do the Santa Barbara Trolley on your own. From the research I have done it looks like it is easy to pick up near where the ship is docked. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[fabby50]

Yes, the trolley is right where you get off the ship. However, since there are "trolley tours" through the ship, this is another thing that sometimes gets booked up early. Also, if you buy tickets early and not through the cruise line, the cruise line tours get priority, so you might have a little bit of a wait.

 

I was going to suggest to the original poster that they come to this Ports of Call area with questions, there's been quite a few threads posted here about all the ports.

 

We are from California and have done numerous coastal cruises. Like the ports, don't have to drive to popular areas, and no airfare! Win, win if you are from here. Don't know what your mobility issues might be, but we consider all these ports "walking ports" and have/will be walking every where.

 

Also, not sure why you are listing Long Beach as a port on this cruise? If it is the Crown cruise, it goes in an out of San Pedro, not Long Beach. Not that you can't go to Long Beach from there (it's close), but it is not a port on this cruise?

Edited March 8, 2014 by fabby50

[CRUISER WI]

We are on the coastal cruise leaving from SFO on April 06. It does stop in Santa Barbara. Sorry for the confusion. Do appreciate the information regarding the trolley. I am late getting to my excursions and the trolley is waitlisted from the ship.

[Nancyquilts]

We are on the coastal cruise leaving from SFO on April 06. It does stop in Santa Barbara. Sorry for the confusion. Do appreciate the information regarding the trolley. I am late getting to my excursions and the trolley is waitlisted from the ship.

 

And Long Beach.

[fabby50]

AH - I get you now. Princess has two coastal trips leaving on the same day from different ports - SF and San Pedro. Thanks for the clarification.

 

In Long Beach, there is the Queen Mary right there at the port. If you're at all interested in ship history, great way to spend part of the day. There is also a Soviet submarine that is interesting, though if you have mobility issues, would be difficult to explore.

 

OR - you can take the little shuttle bus over to the waterfront area with the aquarium, harbor cruise boats, lots of restaurants/shops, etc.

[DrivesLikeMario]

AH - I get you now. Princess has two coastal trips leaving on the same day from different ports - SF and San Pedro. Thanks for the clarification.

 

In Long Beach, there is the Queen Mary right there at the port. If you're at all interested in ship history, great way to spend part of the day. There is also a Soviet submarine that is interesting, though if you have mobility issues, would be difficult to explore.

 

OR - you can take the little shuttle bus over to the waterfront area with the aquarium, harbor cruise boats, lots of restaurants/shops, etc.

 

That's the Ports of Call area. Lots of restaurants, shops, etc. Just tell a taxi driver that's where you want to go. Or, here's the war ship that you can tour:

 

I thought it was pretty funny the way there's those massive, intimidating guns right next to the Coke machines. :D

[habita]

Does anyone know of an easy way to get to the Golden Gate Park from the pier ?

[nna]

walk down to the Ferry building. walk across the street. underground will be the muni entrances. go down into embarcadero stop. catch the N Judah car outbound. get off at 9th and Irving. walk north one block..into park. walk three more blocks into park and you will be at area of japanese tea garden, academy of sciences and de Young museum.

[LHARTWICK]

Wow! What a selling feature for those of us who have never been there before. Excuriosns are still offered at this port, so I'm hoping it can't be that bad.

 

We took a tour through PCL of the wine country - one of the best excursions we've ever done. We will be sailing on the Crown April 5, and Ensenada is one of our stops. Unfortunately, the price has risen from $35 to $49 now. I would still encourage you to look at this one. You'll each be given a bottle of wine as well. Again, we really enjoyed this excursion.

[LHARTWICK]

We did a private photo tour in San Diego. She was amazing! San Fran we just walked around, went to Dick Blick Art, Boudins Bakery for lunch, rode the cable car - we were there a few years ago. Santa Barbara we did the trolly tour through PCL. Ensenada we did the wine tour with a group of friends and booked through PCL - we dont have to get off there again!

 

Could you tell me who your tour was with? We've been to SD many times, and we are running out of different things to do. We love SD - a day of just walking around aimlessly isn't bad since the weather is always great, but would love to know more about your tour. Thanks!

[LHARTWICK]

If you're planning on finding "great buys" while shopping, then yes, I agree with you.

 

If you're planning on doing the wine tour, then it is WELL worth it and WELL worth seeing a different, more rural part of the area. It looks almost exactly like Southern California around San Diego and the wine country in SW Riverside County. We've done the tour twice and really enjoyed it both times. You get to see what the "real" Mexico is like, get way out of the city (45 min. drive one way) and meet locals that are not pushing cheap touristy junk. I highly recommend getting out of the massive 600,000+ city center of Ensenada.

 

Well said! It really is a lovely tour.

[YubaSutter]

We did a private photo tour in San Diego. She was amazing! San Fran we just walked around, went to Dick Blick Art, Boudins Bakery for lunch, rode the cable car - we were there a few years ago. Santa Barbara we did the trolly tour through PCL. Ensenada we did the wine tour with a group of friends and booked through PCL - we dont have to get off there again!

 

The city is San Francisco, not San Fran. :rolleyes: