What Is The Nicest Cruise Ship
- #1. Seven Seas Explorer. Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
- #2. Viking Orion. Viking Ocean Cruises.
- #2. Viking Sun. Viking Ocean Cruises.
- #2. Seabourn Odyssey. Seabourn Cruise Line.
- #5. Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity Cruises.
- #5. Silver Spirit. Silversea Cruises.
- #5. Viking Sea. Viking Ocean Cruises.
- #5. Viking Star. Viking Ocean Cruises.
Alaska Inside Passage Cruises
The most popular cruises from San Francisco take visitors through the Alaska Inside Passage. This journey offers you a chance to see the wild beauty of Alaska up close. Most have three stops in Alaska as well as one in Canada.
The highlight of these cruises is the journey through either Tracy Arms Fjord or Glacier Bay. While you don’t dock on these days, you do spend a number of hours cruising around these amazing places.
Learn More: Read more about the Alaska Inside Passage cruises that leave from SF
Returning After A Decade
Royal Caribbeans announcement that it will cruise from Los Angeles regularly after more than a decade is significant, as industry insiders have speculated about its West Coast return for years.
While other cruise lines returned, Royal Caribbean stayed away, claiming it was able to make more money elsewhere.
In 2015, Freed pointed out the low rates competitor cruise lines were getting. We always look at the West Coast. But we continue to look at the rates that the other cruise lines are getting, and we offer an experience that we cant afford to be selling at those low rates.
If and when we see the rates start to bounce back, and we feel we can get paid for what we offer for our product, then well be back there. But right now, unfortunately, its a bath out there. Theyre selling four-day cruises at $199 per person, and were not just talking Carnival.
We spend more on food, more on entertainment and more on our overall onboard experience , and so we cannot be the low-price leader out in any market.
The line also cited the logistical challenges of returning its ships to the West Coast, much of which had to do with the rise of cruise popularity in other areas of the world, such as Europe and China. Sending ships to those locations meant fewer ships to go to other ports.
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Other Cruises From Sf
In addition to trips to Alaska, Hawaii, and Mexico, you will find several other cruise options with departures from San Francisco. The most popular is the California Coastal Cruise offered by Princess. During this journey, you will visit ports along the western US and make one stop in Mexico.
You can also hop aboard a ship and head toward the South Pacific and beyond. Cunard offers a cruise that starts in SF, takes you west, and allows you to end your cruise at almost any port before they arrive at their destination in Southampton, U.K. If you decide to go the entire way, it would be a 90+ day trip.
Princess also offers a South Pacific cruise, a 25-day adventure that starts in SF and ends in Sydney, Australia.
West Coast Cruises From San Francisco
San Francisco, thanks to its great location, is also a great place for shorter mini-cruises on the U.S. West Coast. Between 3 and 7 days long, these San Francisco cruises sail to either the north or the south. Both one-way and round-trip options are available, although the latter are more plentiful.
Whichever part of the West Coast you choose to explore, a cruise is probably the easiest way to travel between places of interest. Going south, youll visit amazing cities like Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego and, possibly, Ensenada . This option offers you sun, sea, sand and California vibes.
On the other hand, when you sail north, you get to explore the verdant Pacific Northwest. From San Francisco, itineraries include such wonderful destinations as Astoria , Seattle and/or Vancouver and Victoria .
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Cruise Lines Departing Out Of San Francisco
The state of California is one of the most popular places to begin a cruise vacation year round. Besides cruise lines departing out of San Francisco, cruise lines also depart out of Sacramento, Monterey, Ontario, San Jose, Santa Maria, San Ysidro, Tecate, Victorville, Winterhaven, Calexico East and West, Eureka, Fresno, Port Hueneme, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Palm Springs, and San Diego. Cruise lines departing out of San Francisco are among the most popular cruises in the state of California as well as cruise lines departing out of San Diego, Los Angeles, and Long Beach.
âBorn out of the California Gold Rush of 1849,â? The Port of San Francisco consists of 7.5 miles of San Francisco Bay shoreline covering the areas from Hyde Street Pier in the north to India Basin in the south. In addition to hosting cruises, the Portâs other major activities include promoting maritime commerce, navigation, and fisheries preserving the environment and providing public recreation. The Port of San Francisco welcomes 60-80 cruise ships and 200,000 passengers each year. Cruise itineraries typically include round trip cruises to Mexico, Hawaii, and the Alaska/Pacific Coast. Cruise lines departing out of San Francisco also set sail numerous repositioning cruises during the spring and fall months. While repositioning cruises sail from San Francisco, many also end in San Francisco.
Michael Nerney
Culture & History Of The San Francisco Cruise Port
The city of San Francisco was originally a Spanish mission, since the bays positioning made it a desirable location for trade and commerce. During the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, the United States claimed the city and it saw considerable growth as a metropolitan area. The 1906 earthquakes and fire left the majority of San Francisco in ruins but, miraculously, the city bounced back. The 1930s saw the creation of the Golden Gate Bridge, increasing accessibility to the Bay Area unlike ever before.
Then, San Francisco became known as the birthplace of the counterculture movement during the Summer of Love in 1967, and became a safe haven for the LGBTQ community in the years following. Let San Francisco cruises be your introduction to Silicon Valley, where tech startups and innovators increasingly flock year after year to make it big.
San Francisco Port Facilities & Location
Cruises to San Francisco have the unique benefit of a well-kept cruise port. You can reach the James R. Herman cruise terminal via public transportation or simply walking from Pier 27. San Francisco cruises are incredibly popular, with over 300,000 passengers passing through this port of call every year. You can find luggage storage at Pier 39 within the California Welcome Center, just 0.4 miles away from Cruise Pier 27.
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Battles With Cdc Over Health Requirements
The cruise industry was hard-hit by the pandemic after passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19 and some ships were turned away from ports. The industry has battled the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over health requirements for resuming sailing in U.S. waters.
Major cruise lines were granted permission by the CDC in April to resume sailing in U.S. waters by mid-summer so long as 95% of customers and 98% of crew are vaccinated against COVID-19. Passenger cruise ships had been barred from excursions leaving U.S. domestic ports in March of last year, under the CDCs no sail order.
Carnival said its operational protocols exceed CDC recommendations. They include having all employees vaccinated and requiring all passengers to show a negative COVID-19 test.
Passengers must be vaccinated, but the company will allow a small number of exemptions for those unable to get the vaccine, including children under 12 who are not yet eligible. Those who are unvaccinated will have to follow additional precautions, according to Carnivals COVID-19 guest protocols.
Last week, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 on a Carnival cruise just before the ship made a stop in Belize City, Belize. The ship headed back to Galveston, Texas, Friday after stopping in Mexico.
The positive cases were among 26 crew members and one passenger on the Carnival Vista, which was carrying over 1,400 crew and nearly 3,000 passengers, the Belize Tourism Board said in a statement.
Alaska Cruises From San Francisco
Sail from sunny California to glacier-clad Alaska, a journey thatll take you along the entire northern part of the West Coast. Cruise along Northern Californias redwood-topped coastal cliffs, past the countless sea stacks of the Oregon Coast and through the orca-inhabited waters of Washington and British Columbia.
On most cruises from San Francisco to Alaska, youll spend the first couple of days at sea. Once youre up north, a typical cruise, depending on your cruise line and itinerary, may include a stop or two at British Columbia destinations, such as Victoria and the famed Inside Passage.
In Alaska, you can immerse yourself in the local Alaskan lifestyle, enjoy delicious fresh-caught seafood, learn about Native Alaskan culture and gaze at breathtaking coastal landscapes.
Popular ports of call on San Francisco cruises to Alaska are Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan.
Additionallyand arguably the highlight of your tripmany itineraries include a visit to spectacular Glacier Bay National Park, as well as Icy Strait Point and Tracy Arm Fjord. These cruises usually take at least 10 days.
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Port San Francisco Ca
Port San Francisco is managed by San Francisco Harbor Commission . The seaport itself manages the waterfront area from Golden Gate Bridge anchorage, along Marina district, all the way around the city’s northern and eastern shores and southward beyond Candlestick Point.
Port of San Francisco is a state-owned revenue-generating agency. It manages seaport’s wide range of commercial and maritime facilities, plus approx 7,5 ml long waterfront. The port is located on San Francisco Bay’s western edge, near the Golden Gate Bridge. It is ranked as one of the world’s 3 largest natural harbors.
The port area, besides the waterfront lands, also includes commercial real estate and docking piers – between Hyde Str and India Basin . Among the landmarks under the Port Authority control is Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, Ferry Building, AT& T Park , Pier 70 . Huge piers jut out into the bay along much of the city’s waterfront, which is bordered by the roadway Embarcadero .
San Francisco Ferry Building used to serve steamship ferries to Los Angeles CA, Portland OR, Seattle WA, Alaska and Canada’s British Columbia. In 2003, this historic building was restored and reopened. Today it houses a premium gourmet marketplace and office spaces . The building also serves San Francisco Bay Ferry to ports in Oakland, Alameda, Bay Farm Island, Vallejo. The other ferry operator using this terminal is Golden Gate Ferry .
San Francisco Pier 27 Cruise Terminal
The terminal has a new shore power technology which allows equipped cruise liners to use the city’s grid power system instead of their diesel engines to supply onboard services while berthed/docked. This innovation reduces the ships emissions at the cruise terminal.
The biggest ship ever docked at Pier 35 is RMS Queen Mary 2. The new San Francisco cruise terminal was inaugurated in August 2014. It was built at Pier 27 and replaced the old Pier 35 terminal facility.
The new Pier 27 cruise terminal is operational since August 2014. It features a new modern building, electric shore-to-ship power, large holding areas, customs screening. Currently, the cruise port handles up to 80 ship calls and around 200,000 passengers. In 2013, the Princess Cruises ship Grand Princess became the first-ever liner home-ported in San Francisco for year-round turnaround operations. The round-trip itineraries visited ports in California, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico Riviera.
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Further Hawaii Sailings Remain Scheduled
Guests who are booked on the sailing are being notified about the cancellations and their compensation options. Carnival is offering a future cruise credit so that an alternative booking can be made with some savings.
Carnival Cruise Line has already changed the voyage and split up those 14 days. The ship will be departing on November 28 on a four-day Mexican Riviera cruise. The itinerary includes a call at Catalina Island and Ensenda, returning to Long Beach on December 2, 2021.
Carnival Miracle is still scheduled to operate its next cruise to Hawaii that departs on January 9, 2022. The ship will sail a 14-day voyage to Hawaii as part of its Carnival Journeys program. The program allows for more time in port and for guests to experience the cultures the ship visits. Theres also a cruise to Hawaii an additional three times in 2022 and even more in 2023.
Currently, there are no guests operations from Hawaii, with only ships visiting to take on fuel and supplies. Celebrity Solstice will be the next ship to make a supply stop with no guests at Honolulu on November 11. The first cruise ships are set to restart in Hawaii in early 2022.
Carnival Miracle became the fourth ship in the fleet to resume passenger operations on July 27 from Seattle, Washington. The ship kickstarted what remained of the Alaska cruise season. More recently, the ship was redeployed to operate Mexican Riviera cruises from the Port of Long Beach in California in September 2021.
San Francisco Tours Shore Excursions Hotels
City Tours and Shore Excursions
Port San Francisco cruise ship schedule shows timetable calendars of all arrival and departure dates by month. The port’s schedule lists all ships with cruises going to or leaving from San Francisco, California. To see the full itineraries and their lowest rates just follow the corresponding ship-link.
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Hawaiian Islands Cruises From San Francisco
Scared of flying but still want to fulfill your lifes dream of visiting Hawaii? Theres hardly a better way to do that than by going on a Hawaiian Island cruise from San Francisco. Board your ship at the Port of San Francisco, unpack only once, and settle in for a once-in-a-lifetime trip around whats arguably the worlds most famous archipelago.
Generally, cruises from San Francisco to Hawaii are round-trip sailings that last about 15 days . Youll spend a significant amount of your time at sea while you make your way to and from these volcanic islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Count on about half of the total number of days spent at sea. This, however, does allow for a super-relaxed cruise holiday. Because there are no new ports or destinations to explore each day, you have plenty of time to enjoy the ships amenities and services, spend time with your co-cruisers and unwind.
Once youre in Hawaii, youll get to visit several of the main islands, all of which have their own vibe and attractions. Explore the iconic city of Honolulu, visit Hilo and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, see Kauais sensational Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon, and/or explore the vibrant coastal towns of Maui.
Cruises From San Diego
There are many cruises from San Diego. This is the complete schedule of cruises leaving in 2021 and 2022.
Spring cruises departing out of SD go to Hawaii, the Mexican Riviera, South America, through the Panama Canal, and up the Pacific Coast. In the fall, cruises go to Mexico, South America and Hawaii. Winter cruises go to the Mexican Riviera, Hawaii and through the Panama Canal.
If youre interested in short cruises, check our schedules of 2-day cruises and 3-day cruises from San Diego. For more departures from Southern California, check the cruises out of Los Angeles.
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Cruise Lines That Visit San Francisco
As one of the main cities on the West Coast, San Francisco is a popular tourist destination. This fact has not escaped the attention of the major cruise lines, most of which embark and disembark here. Currently, these are the main cruise lines whose ships visit the Port of San Francisco. Youll notice that they include many of the worlds leading lines.
- Celebrity Cruises
San Francisco Cruise Terminal
San Francisco cruise port terminal is located at the western end of San Francisco Bay in the midway between the Fishermans Wharf and the Bay Bridge. It is along San Francisco City’s waterfront at Pier 35.
Most of the city’s highlights are within walking distance from the terminal. Easily reachable are popular restaurants, hotels, theaters, museums. The cruise port is also at 1/2 hours drive distance from San Francisco International Airport.
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Carnival Cruise Line Restarts Operations From Long Beach California
Carnival Cruise Line restarts operations from California with the Carnival Panorama cruise ship sailing out of Long Beach.
Carnival Cruise Line restarts operations with the Carnival Panorama cruise ship out of Long Beach. The ship also becomes the first to resume sailings out of California for the first time since suspensions started in March 2020.
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How To Get Here
The best way to get to Pier 27 is by public transit. As you can see from the picture above, you will find a streetcar stop right across the street from the pier.
You can take this streetcar south from Fisherman’s Wharf or north from Market Street. Your stop is Greenwich. You can also ask the driver to alert you when you arrive at this stop.
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What Is The Highest Quality Cruise Line
Best Luxury Cruise Lines
- #1. Viking Ocean Cruises. #1 in Best Luxury Cruise Lines.
- #2. Seabourn Cruise Line. #2 in Best Luxury Cruise Lines.
- #3. Crystal Cruises. #3 in Best Luxury Cruise Lines.
- #4. Regent Seven Seas Cruises. #4 in Best Luxury Cruise Lines.
- #5. Azamara Club Cruises. #5 in Best Luxury Cruise Lines.
- #6. Oceania Cruises.