SAN FRANCISCO information for Duckies and others sailing from Baghdad by the Bay!

[GloBug]

Info for those lucky enough to be sailing from San Francisco. Come early, stay late, and enjoy yourselves.
Posters, please include a web link so that future cruisers can verify that info is still correct.

[GloBug]

[size=large]PORT OF SAN FRANCISCO[/size]

2009 / 2010 Cruise schedule, parking information, Fisherman's Wharf hotels, etc.

http://www.sfgov.org/site/port_page.asp?id=31686

[GloBug]

[size=large]ALCATRAZ ISLAND[/size]
http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/


[size=large]ALCATRAZ TICKETS[/size]
http://www.alcatraztickets.com/?OVRA...mJn5AJOEq7LwxC


[size=large]ALCATRAZ TOURS[/size]
http://www.alcatraz.us/tours/tourType.cfm/ttid2/1383

[Calgon1]

If your hotel doesn’t offer a free shuttle, you have a few ways to get from either San Francisco or Oakland International Airports to the Embarcadero/Fisherman’s Wharf Districts (where the hotels and the cruise terminal are) -

Taxis cost around $55.00. There could be additional costs if the taxi gets stuck in traffic, or you are charged for luggage ... For more info, check http://sftravelguide.com

Limousines run in the vicinity of $70.00 + 20.00 baggage handling fee.

Super Shuttle http://www.supershuttle.com -
Four rates available -
1) - Shared Ride Van / Up to 7 passengers - $17.00 pp.
2) - Exclusive Van / Up to 9 passengers - $75.00 (8.34 pp).
3) - ExecuCar Sedan Meet & Greet / Up to 4 passengers - $75.00 ($17.50 pp).
4) - ExecuCar Sedan / Up to 4 passengers - $60.00 ($15.00 pp).

There is also BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) - a light rail system that runs 7 days a week, with service from four a.m. to midnight. It connects SFO and OAK airports to San Francisco. BART runs from SFO north to San Francisco then crosses the bay and runs east to Berkeley/Oakland, east to Dublin/Pleasanton, north to Richmond/Walnut Creek/Concord and south to Fremont. It is clean, reasonably priced, fairly on-time and occasionally crowded (especially during commute hours and during special events). However, it has a limited number of stops which means you will probably have to transfer to bus unless you are lucky enough to have a destination near a BART stop. This is your cheapest ($5.35) but there is no luggage service available. This means you’ll have to do your own ‘duffle-bag-drag’, and you still may have to hoof it a few blocks to the hotel.

After conversations with some of the C@s, I’m offering to help anyone interested in sharing a Super Shuttle. I'll set up a spreadsheet of who is flying in for this cruise and their arrival/departure dates, times and hotel. Then, I’ll send PMs to those who are potential matches for sharing a shuttle, and let you guys get in touch with each other to work out the details ....

So, if you’re interested, send me a PM with the following information:

Number in your party / arrival and departure- dates, times, airport and hotel.

Example -
Calgon * Party of 2 * Arrival / 08-09-09 / 3:48 pm / SFO / Holiday Inn Express * Departure / 08-23-09 / 9:00 am / SFO / Holiday Inn Express

[Calgon1]

Now, for those arriving early (or staying over), here’s how to get around “The City� -

Public Transit in San Francisco is operated by MUNI. This is a system of buses, streetcars and cable cars that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a wek, but service is limited at night. Unfortunately, they are not well interconnected and so traveling throughout the Bay Area can require you to transfer from one form of transit to another. It's sometimes late and crowded, but MUNI is woefully necessary for getting around San Francisco. It's also the best way to see the real city and the best option for budget transportation.

Cable Cars -

A trip to San Francisco is simply incomplete unless you ride a cable car at least once. If you really want to get to Fisherman's Wharf, take the Powell-Hyde line or the Powell-Mason line. Both start at the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market and end at Fisherman's Wharf, but the Powell-Mason line has the best views. It ends on the east side of Fisherman's Wharf. The Powell-Hyde line takes you right past the crookedest street (Lombard) and ends on the west side of the Wharf. The lines to get on at Powell and Market and at Fisherman's Wharf can be very long -- try getting up at the crack of dawn if you don't like to wait. Don't try to catch it at the stop on the corner of Post and Powell by Union Square (known locally as Fantasy Island); the car is full by that time and won't admit more passengers. Otherwise, take the California line, which runs on California Street from Market to Van Ness Avenue. It's generally less crowded, and takes you through Chinatown, past Grace Cathedral and up and down some impressively steep hills. Hang on tightly and be careful to keep all body parts inside the cable car -- sometimes cars pass very close. Cable cars operate daily from 6 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Tickets are $5 per one-way ride and can be purchased on the cable car; change is given up to $20. Cable car tickets and one-day Cable Car Pass ($10) are sold by the conductors on the cable cars.

The F-line streetcar -

A great alternative to the cable cars. The vintage electric rail vehicles serve the City's main artery, Market Street, and its grand waterfront boulevard, The Embarcadero, linking downtown San Francisco to Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39. Board the F-line at specially marked center islands along the route.

Bus and streetcar fare is $1.50 for adults and 50 cents for seniors (65+), youth (5-17) and persons with disabilities. Exact change is required. Free transfers are issued when the fare is paid, and they're good for two more rides in any direction for the next 90 minutes. Note that different rates apply to cable car rides.

The Passport Pass is available in 1-, 3- and 7-day increments and is good for unlimited bus, streetcar and cable car rides. The Weekly Pass, good for unlimited bus and streetcar rides Monday through Sunday, is cheaper than the 7-day Passport but cable car rides cost an extra $1 each. The San Francisco City Pass is good for seven consecutive days on Muni and is also good for admission to several attractions in the city. If you're planning a week of sightseeing, it can save you money over buying individual tickets and Muni fares. A monthly Fast Pass is good for unlimited rides on buses, streetcars, cable cars and BART, within the city limits. For more information on passes, go to: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/fareinfo.htm

[bOB]

Glo, would be a good idea to add: Anybody seriously interested in an Alcatraz tour should book it online through your link, http://www.alcatraz.us/tours/tourDet...m?tour_id=9684 it sells out and it is not uncommon to walk up to the ticket booth and have them offer you an odball time tomorrow, if your lucky and that isn't sold out. Besides online reservations saves a few bucks. Right now the calendar is open for August but last time we were over there we booked on line and had to pass on our first choice, and we were two months out, the time before that we did the ol' walk up to the ticket booth thing and granted it was a weekend but it was sold out for the weekend. http://resources.reservexl.net/order...date=8/12/2009
And it is amazing how a decaying beat up old building can be so mesmerizing. for the two or three hours your there you just become a part of it

[GloBug]

Thanks for the heads up. I've lived in SF all my life (pretty much) and I've never toured Alcatraz. It's just always been there. I watched from a car parked over looking the bay when the Indians took over. Pretty much take things for granted when you see it every day.

[bOB]

Calgon, to add to your travel plans, if anybody wants to do something a little different AND save a little money, if you are flying into Oakland on Southwest and don't have more luggage than you can comfortably schlep yourself, try our plan whenever we go to San Fran. Take a cab up to Jack London Square and tell the driver to drop you at the Waterfront Hotel, from there it is a 100-150 yard walk North to the pier for the Oakland / Alameda Ferry which will take you to Pier 41 which is right at the East end of the Embarcadaro, where it is a short walk to several of the hotels, little longer walk to the HIE. Anybody interested in that the fare is $6.25 / $3.75 for seniors and here is a schedule to see if you can connect. http://www.eastbayferry.com/when/when.html Just don't get off at the ferry building by mistake, that is a real long walk.

[Calgon1]

Thanks Deputy Master. I completely forgot about the ferrys. Used to hang out on them a lot back in my teanaged-hippie-dippie days. You had to pay to get on, but if you didn't get off, you could continue to ride. Great entertainment for a tennie-bopper on a really limited ncome......

[bOB]

Not any more dodo duck, it's all one ways, even if you ride to Tiberon through Sausalito, you get a freebee between Sausalito and Tiberon but you wind up having to buy a ticket between Tiberon and SFO if you get off the ferry, best you can sneak by with is one round trip just for the ride. When we first started going to SFO on a regular basis you bought a ticket that was round trip, you could go to Sausalito get off and hang around a bit get on a later ferry go to Tiberon and get off and spend some time then get on another ferry and head back to SFO.