A Grand Adventure! Grand Princess California Coastal Complete Photo Review 9/18-9/25

[Techie]

I am glad you are following along and thanks for reading it. I am going to get to the next part tonight sometime and hopefully it helps get you ready for the cruise in the spring. Also on the Grand? I ask because it is going in for a dry dock later this year and supposedly some stuff might be different by the time you sail on it. Happy cruising!

 

Yes, we'll be on the Grand. Looking forward to the new beds as I believe the Grand is getting them in November or December.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thank you very much for your fast response. Yes, it sounds like the SF port hasn't changed too much. Did you have issues with bag delivery? The one time we sailed out of that port, the dock workers staged a big slowdown.

 

Thanks for the recap of always available items. Do you perchance recall if the fettucine alfredo was available every night, or the Love Boat Dream chocolate dessert?

 

No problem with the response, I was on here responding to everyone's comments when you posted it anyway. It is a very compact area but it seems to operate well. I will say debarkation was a breeze, was in the lounge before 0800 and was at the airport at 0830 for an early flight out, no exaggeration. Never gotten through all that as quickly as this time. It did take some preplanning but I will discuss that later. We dropped our bags with the porters before going into the building, they took them right away and the ship staff delivered the bags inside our cabin by 1500 as that is when I stopped in there to get our life jackets and saw them. So it was good also. I do think they had the chocolate love boat dream on the everyday desserts, along with build your own sundaes and fruit plates.

 

I know they had two kinds of pasta on the everyday menu, offered as an appetizer or entree, good chance the fettuccine was one of them but am not certain. I did get penne and gravy one night as an appetizer as I had already picked two main dishes and didn't think I could handle three main dishes. I should have taken some pics of the menus but I didn't, just took pictures of my food instead, haha. The desserts were OK but in my opinion, nothing too spectacular most nights.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Yes, we'll be on the Grand. Looking forward to the new beds as I believe the Grand is getting them in November or December.

 

The beds were OK on this trip, comfortable enough but the comforters were tiny. I mean, on Carnival for example, the comforters are too big and bulky and you end up sweating all night while you sleep and here, they barely covered you completely. That's my only issue with the bedding or even the cabin, really. I know the drydock is supposed to be minor with maybe a major one later down the road. I just remember discussing it with some people onboard and seeing the two different ship layouts on the cruise personalizer page on the Princess website before the cruise.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thanks for the review.

 

No problem, I love writing these. Hope you enjoy the next part which is coming up in just a few moments. Thanks for reading.

[Sacto Rick]

I just wanted to answer the one person's question about the always available.

Yes, fettuccine alfredo is on the anytime menu. Its a favorite standby.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thank you all for reading and for your good comments and discussion that we have gotten going here. As promised, I am here with part two of the vacation review, so here goes. I mentioned that we spent two nights in San Francisco before the cruise and we did that so we could see some of the city before departure day. Here is the summary with pictures of that exciting day. Enjoy!

 

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY

 

Being a tourist is fun, lol. Especially when it is in a place like San Francisco, with so much history and stuff to see. Really too bad we didn't have more than a day and a half to see the place but I had mentioned to a few other people here so far that hotels are really expensive in that area and we did not want to end up spending as much on lodging as we spent on the cruise itself so we limited our time there. But we again pre-planned out as much as we could before going out there so we had an idea of what we would be able to accomplish in one day.

 

So, after a looonnnnnggggg night's sleep the night before, we were both up around 0700 as we were still on east coast time and were ready to go for the day. Mind you, neither of us had any food since getting lunch before flying out of PHL the day before so we were hungry but unfortunately did not have time to get anything before heading uptown. Being the savvy traveler I am, I did have some snacks and a bag of beef jerky leftover from the trip out there just in case I did not get any dinner the night before, so I had that for breakfast (breakfast of champions baby) and I was not too starving for at least a little while. We got our stuff together for the day and headed downstairs to the lobby to get the shuttle ride to the airport to catch the BART train.

 

We booked an Alcatraz (and Angel Island) tour well in advance as they sell out quickly and lo and behold, when we got to the pier, people who wanted to buy tickets could not get them and were turned away. Good we got ours early. We got our shuttle ride to the airport around 0745, got to BART around 0800. In a perfect world, plenty of time to get to a 0940 tour. Yeah. We looked at a map to judge distance to get to the pier for the ferry and well, we must have misjudged because it was quite a bit further from Embarcadero train station to the pier that the tours left from. We knew ahead of time that the BART system was undergoing track work that weekend and that we would have to get off the train midway though, ride a bus to a downline station, reboard the train and go to the final destination.

 

 

Boarding BART at SFO station.

 

Onboard the train, was clean and modern and not crowded until we got to the transfer station further north. Fare system sort of complicated but fellow riders helped us out at the automated ticket vending kiosk to get what we needed to ride. You do have to use a magnetic ticket to ride, no honors system here.

 

You can pick the train up at International T3 at SFO, which is also the end of the spur that runs to the airport. The first part of the train ride was fine and being a train afficionado as well as cruise ships and planes, I enjoyed riding another city's transit system and compared it to what we have in Philly and NJ. It was OK. Expensive, a ride to downtown was like $9 but it would have been quick if not for the track work and a broken down train in a downtown tunnel that slowed the already delayed trains down more and caused the one we were on to literally be standing room only, shoulder to shoulder.

 

Anyway, we got off the train at Embarcadero station at like 0920 and figured we could walk a short distance to the pier 33, where the ferries left from. I will say it was a typical SF morning, fog and damp but it burned off around noon and warmed up quite a bit. Obviously we missed our scheduled tour at 0940 as even I cannot walk two miles in 15 minutes or less and my mom had a hard time walking the distance altogether. Looking back we could have gotten a cab or taken the MUNI trolley that runs along the Embarcadero but we would have still missed our original tour time. Oh well. We did ride MUNI later in the day. We did see some nice scenery along the way, including the Coit tower up on the hill, downtown, the Bay Bridge to Oakland, some other ferries, a lot of dock buildings, many antique MUNI trolleys and lots and lots of joggers along the sidewalk. Interesting experience.

 

 

Neat early morning view from right near the bay and near Pier 1.

 

The famous Coit Tower, at least that is what my mom said. Never had really heard much about it before. The fog had really burned off and it was warming up nicely by now.

 

We also passed Pier 27, where the Island Princess was being turned around for the next voyage and got a few pics. Walking past the area also gave us an idea of what to expect the next day as well. Plenty of SFPD around directing traffic and it seemed fairly organized. Good sign. Finally, at 1030 we arrived at the pier that the Alcatraz tours leave from and asked them if there was anything they could do to honor our tickets seeing that we missed our original tour and it says on the tickets no refunds or exchanges. They did tell us that we could still ride out to the island and do our own tour but we could not go to Angel Island. Fine with us. I really did not know anything about Angel Island anyway, we just took the tour (almost $70) that included that because it was all that was left when we booked.

 

 

The Island Princess. Our ship would be there waiting for us this time tomorrow. Yay.

 

I stopped in the little snack area nearby to get some drinks before we boarded the Alcatraz ferry boat and we boarded around 1100. We got lucky I guess. They could have turned us away. We boarded the ferry and it was windy and chilly out on the water but we soon got going. They do have a snack bar with limited stuff available on the boat and they do not sell any food at all on Alcatraz Island. So, we left the pier and were on our way to a wonderful tour at the island that was famous for years and had me in awe after the movie The Rock.

 

 

Leaving the pier, good views of the city here but better ones later on.

 

More to come in just a few.......

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED...

The multi-level ferry took maybe 15 minutes to get out to Alcatraz Island, and it was windy and chilly so a hoodie or sweatshirt is recommended attire. I went upstairs to get better pictures and a better perspective of where we were and where we were going. We soon approached The Rock and slowed down for an approach. Breathtaking views of both the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, the Island Princess, everything from where we were.

 

 

 

Approach to and arrival at.... THE ROCK!

 

There is a ton of walking to be done on this tour and the terrain is steep. They have an electric trolley that takes you to the top, where the main infrastructure is, but it has limited seating and is only for people who cannot make the walk and those accompanying them. I rode to the top with my mom, and then we split and I went inside the main building as she walked around outside on the flat ground atop the island and looked at stuff out there.

 

 

One of the electric trolleys. I believe this is a national preserved land, so it is protected by the US government and the people who work there take preserving the place very seriously. I will talk more about the history of the island in just a few but there is so much I learned that I did not know about before during my self-tour.

 

I went in through the west end, where the communications room was and the exhibit honoring the guards who worked there was set up. A lot of the stuff here is original artifacts but some is re-created I think. Info about the wardens was posted on one wall, and a life-size model of one of the guards was in a display case as well. I think they had 90 full-time guards and 258 inmates at the facility. Most of the guards and their families lived on the island as well. Only a couple major uprisings in the history of the place, which started as a military facility then became a federal prison for major criminals, and a few guards did die over the years. No inmate ever made the escape and was able to swim to land. Any who did get to the water died trying to make the swim, so they say.

 

 

Wardens

 

 

Guard

 

Communication room

 

More in a minute....

Edited October 4, 2016 by FlyingCruiserNJ

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED.....

 

After the comms room was the visitation area, but it was too dark in here to really get any good pics. Beyond that was the main cell house, and this was one of the main halls. I forget if this was C block or whatever but this is what it looked like. The insides of the cells look mainly intact to what they must have looked like when the place was in operation. What a way to live. They say it got cold and damp in here and the feeling of being closed in your small cell could really play with inmates minds.

 

 

 

Cell block and typical prison cell accommodations.

Then on to the prison cafeteria. They say it was the most dangerous place in the prison because so many inmates were in one place at once but at no time did they ever have to discharge the spray in the ceiling to break up any problems caused. They said the food at Alcatraz was the best in the prison system and said they figured that if the inmates got fed well it might help keep them less irritable and less prone to riot. They could eat all they wanted as long as they could eat it. They said they went through lots and lots of food per year and it was all shipped to the island as was potable water and other supplies. You had to have a pass to get within 200 feet of the shores, that went for any craft at all in the area.

 

 

 

 

Cafeteria and kitchen. Inmates worked in the kitchens and they said they marked utensil containers in a way that it helped them to quickly see if anything was missing after a meal and could be used as a weapon or escape tool. I saw there was an audio guided tour going on but I don't know how you got to be a part of that and I was OK going on my own anyway and seeing stuff for myself. I did stop in the gift shop and bought a neat magnet for somewhere around $6. I think the proceeds go to preserving the site, at least I hope they do. Plenty in the gift shop like books, shirts, magnets, artifacts, everything. I almost bought a replica marked Alcatraz food bowl but figured it would be too much to lug around all day so I just got the magnet.

 

 

Forgot to post this pic of me outside the administration building, where I met up again with my mom after touring the cell block and cafeteria and talked her into going on a tour inside the main building as there was lots to see in there.

 

More shortly....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED.....

We hung outside some and saw the old watch tower outside the admin building, and looked out from all angles at the city, Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge in the background. Looking down was the area that the military used to do parades when the weather was good so it said. Good photo ops up here too.

 

 

 

 

Tower and photo ops from outside the administration building. Breezy up here, hold onto your hat.

 

 

Parade area, not sure what it is used for now.

 

The warden's home. Obviously no longer intact but located next to the admin building. Pretty big based on pictures there.

 

More shortly....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED....

 

We toured all the things that I looked at before and headed into the cell block for those who broke the rules and were facing more punishment in solitary. This was a large cell, not sure what it was used for but next to it was the "hole" which was for those who really did something bad and was completely dark, where the inmate would be kept inside for any number of days. Unfortunately I cannot find the picture I took of solitary.

 

 

We then proceeded into the library, not too much to see here I guess.

 

 

We also saw the barber shop which was located adjacent to the cell blocks but somehow I missed the shower room which I wanted to see because of the shootout scene in The Rock. Oh well. Moving outside, I saw the morgue and industrial area They said lots of product was produced here, nowadays it is in the process of being restored.

 

 

 

 

Also, I mentioned that many employees and their families lived on the island. They said that it was so secure that the families rarely even thought about the inmates and it was really a unique place to grow up. They had a social building at the bottom of the hill that was the place to go to for families and guards, it is again pretty wrecked now but there is a story behind it.

 

 

Again, the old housing is being restored currently as is a lot of stuff on the island.

 

More in a minute...

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED...

To illustrate the terrain that you have to climb, I took this picture looking up.

 

My mom rode the tram back down to the dock area and we agreed to meet up around 1400 for the ride back to land. After all, we saw what we wanted to see and were hungry, so we were already planning out what we were going to do at Fisherman's Wharf. I went downstairs to see a few more exhibits and a short video of the history of the island before we met up to head back to the mainland.

 

These exhibits talked some about life on the island for inmates and workers, and how it was different from what the people back on the mainland thought it was. Also told was the story of the American Indians who took the island over and claimed it as their own after the facility closed in 1963 due to high operating costs and it being obsolete for use. The story was explained and it was an interesting one that I did not know much about before. Also, it is a nice sanctuary for some birds and vegetation despite it being in a harsh environment. Lots of this wildlife is still protected to this day.

 

 

 

We talked to one of the park rangers while we waited for the ride back to land on the Alcatraz Clipper and watched a sailboat race taking place nearby. Soon, we were on our way back to land although there is a bit of a wait for boats during the day as although the number of people allowed on the island is restricted, it still does get crowded. Plan a little extra time to get back to land.

 

 

 

Got a great view of the Island Princess on the way back to land. Getting ready to leave by this time and there was fog developing near the Golden Gate also. I did check the next day once we boarded the Grand to see if we could see the Alcatraz ferries operating back and forth to the island.

 

 

More to come...

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED....

 

Once back on land before 1500, there was a neat scale model of Alcatraz Island right in the waiting area for people who were getting on the ferry.

 

After that, we were hungry and wanted to sit down and get some lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. My mom had been to SF before and said it is similar to the boardwalks you would find at the Jersey Shore, plenty to do and see. Pier 39 it is. Little more walking to get to it. Neat monument and dock with a view of the bay.

 

 

 

I went ahead and scoped out some of the eateries and we settled on Wipeout Grill, which was toward the entrance but seemed like good food in a good atmosphere. Other restaurants included Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co, Hard Rock Cafe, a few other seafood places, and some sweets shops. Also apparel shops and all the way at the back was a merry go round, lol. We were seated after a short wait at Wipeout and I got a steak burrito and it was pretty good. My mom got a huge burger. No appetizers needed but we did get onion rings which were good. We got sodas but they also have lots of beers and other alcoholic drinks available. I also charged my phone here as I had used it quite a bit earlier and was going to be out late into the evening so I made sure I had a full charge. Nice and very affordable here. Total with tip was under $50 I think. All the restaurants post their menus outside so you can see what each place has before you go in.

 

 

 

 

We left around 1630, and asked the staff at the restaurant what the best option to get to AT%T Park, home of the MLB San Francisco Giants was and were told to take MUNI. Cool, the trolleys going back and forth looked like a blast to ride on. We got our exact fare together ($2.25 for me I think and half that for senior citizens) and waited across the street for the E trolley which was supposed to go directly to the park along the Embarcadero.

 

More on that in a second...

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY

 

Seems like a lot of people had the same idea as us to ride MUNI. There were also delays on the system as their website shows real-time data showing where their vehicles are and when to expect them at your stop. Plenty of trolleys going to the Castro district rode past our stop, most full but it took a half hour for ours to arrive. We had to fight our way on and it was cramped with not that many seats in the old Philadelphia city trolley. Seems a lot of St Louis Cardinals fans were riding along with us as well, seeing they were wearing Cards jerseys and other stuff. A good half hour later (the streetcars stop at all traffic lights in the area) we were dropped right off at the door to the stadium, for the 1805 start. We got there right around 1800 and there was a bit of a wait at the security checkpoint outside.

 

 

 

We pre-ordered our tickets before going and printed them out ahead of time so it was just head right into the park. The Giants are a big draw in the area and at the time, they were neck and neck with the Cardinals for one of two National League wild card spots. Cool, as a Phillies fan, it has been a while since I have been at a baseball game in September that actually meant something, haha. I climbed up a stairwell to get to the upper deck seats that we had behind third base because the elevator was too slow, and I did regret it later. Felt like running on a treadmill for a hour at the toughest level. Anyway....we did get to our seats in the bottom of the 1st inning, where the Giants were in the process of getting an early run.

 

 

 

We sat around some interesting people, a few from NY, a few from SF local, some from St. Louis, it was a fun time. It was also here where I read about the NY explosions from a friend who lives not far from there (he was not in the area of the explosion at the time) and made sure everyone else I knew who might be in the area on that day was OK. Sucks but that is the world now. Anyway, The Cardinals got a run later on to tie and it stayed like that until the Giants scored around the 5th inning and should have had more but they basically ran themselves out of a big inning. Bad omen.....but here are a few more nice pics from our vantage point in the park.

 

 

 

I went for a walk later on to see the park and some of the features it has to offer and planned on coming back near the end to see the final innings......

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED...

I got some nice perspectives and couldn't decide on what food to get so I got nothing. But some great eateries there. Expensive but it is ballpark food. Walked all around the concourse and got a view from every perspective in the park I think. Nice place.

 

 

 

Cool view of the Bay Bridge lit up at night. Taken from upper deck concourse.

 

 

More pics of the park

 

 

 

Oh, I will say that after getting back to the seat in time for the 9th, SF leading 2-1, it should be a slam dunk. But in came Sergio Romo and Casilla to blow the lead, gave up 2 runs and the Giants were not able to rally to win in the bottom half. My understanding is that the Giants lost a lot of games in the late innings this year. Ultimately this game would not destroy the Giants playoff chances as they have gotten in as a wildcard (we will see how they do against the NY Metropolitans) but based on momentum of the teams at the time, it looked like it could have cost them their season.

 

Anyway, that is it for the game, will wrap the night's activities up with the ride back to the hotel and a few things about the hotel.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 2: SAN FRANCISCO PRE-CRUISE TOURIST DAY CONTINUED....

 

We discussed the best way to get back to the hotel with the front desk in the morning and they said that Caltrain would be the best option. It does not run to the airport but it stops near the stadium and is cheaper and quicker than BART at that time of night and considering the track work. They ran two sports special trains right after the game but unless you are Usain Bolt, you are not going to make them and you will have to wait an hour for a local. Oh well. We just missed the second one as my mom was getting tired and didn't really feel like participating in an Olympic running contest tonight.

 

While we waited, there was a guy selling bottles of water for a dollar each and I bought a bunch figuring it would be a lot cheaper than buying it at the hotel. Also, we were going to get some stuff from the grocery store across from the station but it was closed, unfortunately. Oh well. So, I did find a Subway that was still open in the concourse and got a footlong meatball sandwich for dinner when I got back to the hotel. Ewwww, not a big fan of places like that when I have much better delis at home but I couldn't even finish the whole thing once I got back to the hotel. Just wasn't that good but it was food. And they make you pay for paper bags there, lol. I knew about plastic but paper too? OK.......

 

Anyway, Caltrain is $5.75 one way to Millbrae (or Burlingame, can't remember which) and seniors is $2.75. It is honors system but just pay for your ticket like the rest of us do as there are always transit officers roaming around the trains and if you are caught without a ticket, it will cost you more in the long run anyway. Or as the loud woman at the other end of our car on the ride back said, if you are going to cheat to ride this train, how bad off must you be? Well, not those exact words but you get the idea LOL. We did wait a while for our train to get in as it must have come from the Stanford football game and probably a thousand or more people streamed off of it and through the station.

 

 

 

We were finally on before 2300, on a comfortable if not a little vintage double decker commuter train with plenty of room for bicycle storage. We got off at Burlingame I think, and got a cab for about $10 to the hotel. They told us that downtown Broadway is open on Saturdays and is close to the walkway that takes you to the hotel but we decided against it, and that cabs were easy to get at the busier station and were not expensive. We were back at the hotel by 2330, I had my sandwich, we watched some tv and re-packed what we unpacked for the day, and went to sleep in preparation for the big embarkation day the next morning.

 

I do have to say the hotel was nice, shuttle every 30 minutes or so, free wifi and a nice pool and hot tub with gym and conference room I will talk about some more when I chronicle embarkation day.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my eventful pre-cruise day that I got to play tourist for. That is just a preview of what is to come in the rest of the review. Each day gets better and better. I will get to talking about embarkation day and all the craziness that comes with that in the next few days hopefully. Have a good night!

[justafem]

We were on the same cruise. Didn't do the precruise stuff (since we live in NorCal). A great trip for us.

 

Did you join us for the cruise critic meet and greet?

[waverley7]

Great review!

 

Enjoying so far....going in April with about as much pre-cruise time in SF as you had.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

We were on the same cruise. Didn't do the precruise stuff (since we live in NorCal). A great trip for us.

 

Did you join us for the cruise critic meet and greet?

 

I agree it was a very good cruise. I did unfortunately not go to the CC meet and greet. I looked at the roll call a few times ahead of the cruise but I did not sign up to go to the M&G. I figured it would have been weird to go by myself and I don't think my mom would have been interested in going. How did it go? Make sure the folks who did go get the link to this review so they can see how it went from a fellow cruiser's perspective. I should be getting to the next part here in just a few minutes, it will cover the first day of the cruise, aka embarkation day. Thanks for following along with me here. Hope this review helps you re-live the cruise experience a little bit.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Great review!

 

Enjoying so far....going in April with about as much pre-cruise time in SF as you had.

 

Thanks, going to get the all-important embarkation day going here in just a minute. The people who we sat with at dinner told us they planned to see SF after the cruise and I think they said they were going to spend a few days there and maybe take a red-eye home after the second day. Hard to do that heading westbound, you kind of lose a whole day traveling out there. But yeah, spending a few days there before or after the cruise is something everyone should do if they can. I feel like there was a lot we didn't see like the cable cars and we didn't actually get to go over the Golden Gate bridge but we did see some stuff that I was always interested in while we were there and like I said before, we were trying to keep the lodging costs down as much as possible. And whatever you do, don't rent a car if you are not driving outside the city too much as you will not need one and it will just cost too much with parking and everything else. Anyway, happy cruising and hope you enjoy seeing my wrap-up of our first day on the ship that is coming up right here in a minute.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I have finally returned with the long-awaited embarkation day review from this Grand Princess California coastal cruise review. I hope you enjoyed reading about my pre-cruise activities in San Francisco and maybe it gave you an idea of what to do if you have a day before your cruise if from out of town, or maybe if you are from the area, you kind of like seeing your touristy attractions featured on a CC review. Anyway, I am pleased to finally bring you the next part of this review, which will finally take us into the cruise itself. Enjoy!

 

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY

 

As with yesterday, I was up again early today. Not that I love being up early as I do not, but I was still on east coast time so 0800 really felt like 1100 to me. No problem because I wanted to go to the hotel's indoor hot tub and pool the day before but it was too busy and I was not able to get in there before they closed at 2300. So, I threw on my swim trunks and headed down there to relax some.

 

The pool/hot tub is in a nice, warm, climate controlled building connected to the hotel, and the pool water was warm, the pool got very deep in one end, and the hot tub was very soothing and relaxing. I stayed in here for almost 2 hours (lol) until after 1000 when it was finally time to go back upstairs, get a shower, get our stuff together, and make our way downstairs to check out and get our shuttle to the airport where we would meet our van to the cruise terminal. Along the way I did check out the large conference and banquet room and the on-site gym that they offered. I did not make it into the gym (surprise) but it did seem to have a good deal of decent cardio equipment and some weights also. Plenty of people were using the gym though throughout the time I was in the pool room as there is a large window between the two that each room can see into the other one through. I was the only one in the pool though however, which was a shame because it was really pretty nice.

 

 

 

 

Once back upstairs, I took a quick shower and took one last check to make sure we had everything we arrived with and were not leaving anything behind. I have left things such as phone chargers and gift cards (for use in the light slot on newer Carnival ships) in rooms, so I always double check to make sure I have everything. Anyway, we were on the 4th floor with a look out the back of the hotel, a parking lot, some power lines and Highway 101 were our view, haha. HOWEVER, the sunrise was pretty nice out that window I was told as my mom was up early to see it.

 

 

The room was nice, large, decent TV and bathroom, ice machine down the hall, work desk, lamps, outlets to plug electronic stuff into, real glassware, etc. Not bad for the $350 or so we paid including taxes and fees for the two nights. A downtown stay would have gone over $300 per night at the least expensive place from what we saw.

 

 

We checked out around 1100, and waited for our hotel shuttle to the airport for just a few minutes. I checked out the on-site restaurant, called West Bay Cafe and it looked like a decent place but we did not have time to go there today. We could wait another hour or two for lunch on the ship. From what I can remember, the hotel either offered very basic continental breakfast for free or nothing at all, I cannot remember what my mom told me they had for breakfast. Either way, I did not have anything at all.

 

 

More in a second....

Edited October 6, 2016 by FlyingCruiserNJ

[shredie]

Alcatraz is a must-do in SF. :)

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED....

While I waited for the shuttle to show up I got a pic of the hotel from the parking lot. I have to mention that I think the parking rate if you had your own car was in the $20 or so a day range. The total for both of us for transportation for both before and after the cruise was probably somewhere between $100 and $150. You can get around San Francisco pretty well without a car, keep that in mind.

 

 

The shuttle showed up before 1130, we rode up the 101 to the airport and to the shared van ride stand, picking up and dropping off people along the way at the terminals. We did not wait too long for the van and by 1200, we were onboard and on our way. Along the way, got this awesome picture of a Korean Air 747-400 parking at T3 and a China Eastern 777-300W (I think) parked next to it. SFO is a spotter's heaven for widebodies from all over the world, and is one of the few airports that still sees lots of 747 activity. Lots and lots everywhere you look.

 

 

I believe the van company was Airport Express, a locally-operated company that we found online while we were searching for airport to cruise shuttles. Got good reviews, and we pre-paid $17 a person which was a good deal. Tip extra of course. Much cheaper than Princess cruise line-contracted buses and we don't have to sit on a bus with 50 other people either. We got a few people who were on the cruise with us, and stopped at area hotels to pick up a few other guys who were in town for the downtown Oracle corporation convention. We headed up the 101, which was surprisingly crowded for this midday Sunday and by 1230 we were downtown, going on a little mini-tour of some of the neighborhoods we missed the day before as we dropped off our Oracle guys at a few different places.

 

 

 

 

San Francisco sure is hilly. At least we got to go through Chinatown, haha. Wish we could have spent some more time there to see stuff like that but maybe next time I get a chance to go out there. By 1300, we pulled into the port area off the Embarcadero (the same place we walked past yesterday) and dropped off right out in front of the terminal. Got our bags, tipped the friendly driver, and we were on our way. Pretty good setup they have there, drop off right in front of the door without too much wait or walking and stop right at the porter station to drop off your bags. A view of our van is below. Sorry I did not get a picture of us approaching the ship from the street but I never got a good angle to do so.

 

 

Next up.....we get onto the ship!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED....

We dropped off our two large suitcases and a rollerbag with the porters, left a nice tip, and headed inside with our passports and cruise documents in hand. Since my mother has a difficult time walking in some cases, they let us go up the elevator to security, which was a breeze and we headed into the terminal building shortly thereafter to check in. The line was not too long at all, we got our charge accounts verified and since everything else was done ahead of time, we quickly got our sign and sail cards and were on our way. I had pre-paid the unlimited soda package beforehand, so I already had the sticker when I got my card. Cool. Hassle free. We went upstairs through the rather long and steep glass gangway (looks like those new fancy jetways they have in Europe) and were on the ship not too long after 1300. You have to give your card to the security officers to scan and DING, we were onboard with a nice welcome from crew members as we went through the doors to the atrium. It has begun, finally.

 

 

 

The cabins were not supposed to be available for a little while, so we went up to Deck 14, where the lido lunch buffet was, naturally. We were both hungry. Nice atmosphere, open pool deck right beyond the elevators, one of 5 (!) pools and hot tub arrangements on the ship. The fanavision was featuring a Billy Joel live at Shea Stadium concert, so we sat down at an open table and got some food at the lido grill and pizzeria. The pizza on this ship at least, is the best pizza I have ever had on a cruise ship. They have regular (margherita), white some days, pepperoni, and veggie I think. Open most of the day and evening. I mean, the pizza near me at home is better but this is the best I have ever had on a cruise. Next to it was a bar where I got my first Coke and a grill where they make sausages, brats, hot dogs, and other grub to order until late each evening. Nice first experience.

 

After that, we ventured further aft in the lido area, passed an enclosed pool and hot tub with bar nearby and headed to the main buffet area. Here I got all kinds of stuff, which I remember included good and creamy mashed potatoes and awesome bbq spare ribs. I had other stuff but couldn't remember exactly as I did not take any pics of it. Oh well. I know the buffet includes a salad bar, many food stations, nuts and fresh fruits, and across the way is the dessert bar.

 

Of course I had to go around the ship and take some pictures of the city behind us and the surrounding areas that we had great views of. There was a pool on Deck 14 all the way aft with a bar and some seating nearby, and the hot tub pair was located above it, on Deck 15 or 16. All other pool/hot tub combos featured the two right next to each other in the same area. Here are some pics of the area from the top of the ship.

 

 

 

Bay Bridge and city

 

Embaracadero, city neighborhood and Coit Tower again.

 

More in a moment....

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

DAY 3: EMBARKATION DAY CONTINUED....

Just a few more random pictures around the ship as we waited for the call to muster that would be coming around 1500.

 

 

Indoor pool and hot tub midship on lido that I spent a lot of time in.

 

 

Outdoor lido pool deck, where the pizza and grill is located near.

 

 

Pool and hot tubs with Bay Bridge in background.

 

The call to muster came around 1500, and this is the time that all activity on the ship comes to a halt. You have to check in and attend or else they will find you and make you do it again later. If you don't do it again then, you don't sail. We first heard from our captain and Cruise Director here, and we met in the theater, forward deck 6 for the 1530 drill. It is serious and they were thorough, and we did have to bring our lifejackets to this drill, which is rare nowadays. I had to stop back in the cabin to get ours, and our bags were already delivered inside the cabin at this time. Neat.

 

Around 1600, the drill was over and we made our way upstairs through the mass of humanity and my mother went back to check out the cabin. I always hang out upstairs for the sailaway but here would be even more special, considering the scenery for this departure. So, at 1615 or so we were released from the dock, Captain Ronald Wilson told us we were cleared to sail in between the docks and Alcatraz, so check that out as we sail out. Here are a few neat pics of that.

 

 

 

Bye San Francisco, see you next week.

 

We did pass pretty close to Alcatraz on the way out.

 

Hope you enjoy so far, I unfortunately have to head out for a little while but I will try to finish this day's activities later tonight if I get a chance. We were still yet to sail under the Golden Gate bridge and there was plenty of stuff that went on that evening, so stay tuned for that and I cannot wait to write about it.