ReggieRail--bus/train question for San Francisco...

[jimbug]

Hi, I saw your reply to a post below about embarking in SFO on the Mercury. We are flying into San Jose, and I found that we can take the Amtrak and then a bus transfer from Emeryville downtown to the pier. It was a very reasonable price...how was it for you carrying your luggage on the Amtrak and the bus? It says "no checked luggage service available" on the two connections I looked up online. I am a little concerned about lugging my large wheeled suitcase and a backpack all over the city if there's nowhere to put it on the train or bus.

 

Help, please! Thank you so much!

[reggierail]

Basically, there are luggage carts available at both the San Jose and Emeryville stations. On the train there is a luggage storage area on both the lower and upper levels. The distance from the train platform to the bus in Emeryville is about 100 feet or less. Ask the conductor which car would be blocked the closest to the station. Once you get to the bus, the driver will place your baggage in the racks under the bus body, just like on Greyhound, you won't have to carry your bags up into the seating area. They should have temporary storage for bags at the San Jose station, I think the charge is $1.50 per bag for up to 24 hours, but check the hours that you may reclaim your bags as the hours may not coincide with your train departure time. The only place that you can check bags in SF would be at the ferry terminal Amtrak bus stop which is about a mile or two from the Celebrity Pier 35. There is a trolley car that runs quite often from the ferry terminal to Fisherman's Wharf, also stopping at Pier 35.

 

Reggie:D

[sailorbill]

JIMBUG - An alternative to AMTRAK is to take CALTRAIN. That is the commuter train service that runs along the penninsula with service into San Francisco. There is a San Jose Airport shuttle bus to the Santa Clara CalTrain depot. The depot in San Francisco is at Fourth and King streets, and from there the easiest way to get to the cruise ship pier is by taxi. It is about 2 miles along the Embarcadero. CalTrain has more frequent service than Amtrak. You can check out their schedules and fares on their website http://www.caltrain.com.

 

Bill

[jimbug]

Thanks reggierail and sailorbill. I looked into the Caltrain and that sounds great. I'll take the shuttle to the Santa Clara depot and then hop on till the San Francisco depot. Much less complicated than the Amtrak/bus route.

 

Thanks!

[LillyDilly]

I was on the Mercury in April. We flew into San Jose and then prebooked the SuperShuttle. I can't remember the exact cost but it was worth it and very easy with luggage. They drop right at Pier and picked us up after the cruise at 9:30 am and took us back to the airport. You can look it up on-line. Hope this helps.

 

 

Lilly

[doris1930]

Taking BART from EBay over to Embarcadero stop, does anyone know how to get from Embarcadero stop over to Pier 35? How far is it?

Thanks

[cruisepest]

Do not! take the train. Get a Limo from San Jose to the Airport getting from, you should be able to get one for a little more than $100.00 and getting from the train station to the Pier is tough. Not only that just boarding in San Fransico is a pain. The docks are vintage 1930.

[BEAV]

Taking BART from EBay over to Embarcadero stop, does anyone know how to get from Embarcadero stop over to Pier 35? How far is it?

Thanks

 

Embarcadero BART station is about 1 1/2 miles from Pier 35. When you come up the escalator out of the BART station, you'll see the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. Should be easy to catch a cab from the hotel's cab stand.