As it’s been way too long since my last big trip, I decided
to do something unusual for Christmas this year. Initially, I thought to travel to Los Cabos
since there’s nothing better than a trip to sun and surf in the middle of
winter. After a chat with one of my
co-workers (thanks Chere!), I decided to take the full plunge and make this
trip a series of firsts. If I was going
to go to Mexico for the first time, why not make this an opportunity to take my
first cruise as well. The embarkation
point is from San Francisco, a city I’ve also never visited? Sure, why not!
I’ve wanted to take a cruise since I was a teenager, but it
just never happened. There was always
that dreaded single supplement to consider.
For those of you not in the know, cruise tickets are based on double
occupancy meaning that any initial price would require an additional payment
for anyone traveling solo. I’m already
cheap. The last thing I wanted to do was
pay for another person who wasn’t there.
It felt like I was being punished for being alone. I’m just trying to take a trip while not
getting guilt-tripped in the process.
Fortunately, the Princess cruise I spotted did not have this
pesky extra. It was about $2,000 for a 10-day
cruise that would stop in Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Manzanillo, and Puerta Vallarta
before returning to San Francisco. I took two weeks off from 12/16/19
to 12/28/19, giving myself a couple of days in San Francisco, and made ready to set sail.
San Francisco
My first and only California trip was way back in 2002 when
I visited San Jose and L.A so I was really looking forward to seeing more of
the state. Just finding my way to the BART station in the airport was tricky enough. After wandering around SFO confused for several minutes, I finally got to the old trains that serve as public transport in the BAY area. I'd been warned about seeing weirdos on the train but managed to reach my destination without incident. The trains were spacious but had definitely seen better days.
I reached my stop which I was told was in walking distance of my hotel. All I know is there were a lot of people, buildings, cars, dogs, food carts, you name it. It was enough to get me completely confused as I lugged my huge suitcase around. After finding the fancy Marriott, the nice doorman directed me to the one I could actually afford. If I could find it. I ended up on the right street but passed by the hotel. I had to turn around to see the front entrance – which is not the way you get into the
building. I didn’t realize before
booking that the hotel is under renovation.
The front entrance is closed so you have to go around to the side which
is covered in scaffolding and temporary walls.
You can’t even see the sign indicating the entrance unless you’re
passing right by it so, of course, I had entered this street on the opposite side
of the building. Great.
By this point I was exhausted and had seen way more of the city
than I’d intended right after my flight. But at least I'd found my way to the lobby -- which looked like Beirut. There was dust everywhere, plastic covering everything and, if you hit it at the wrong time, the very loud noises of construction. The room was
actually very nice. Beautifully
decorated with a view of the busy street below. I loved the long red couch and the big
bathroom.
I set out the next day for sightseeing. There was a bunch of stuff I wanted to do in the city; walk
through the Sequoias, visit the Ghiardelli factory, see the seals at Pier
39. But given that I only had the one
full day, I quickly realized that was too much to expect. I did some walking around, a little shopping,
stumbled onto Chinatown. I’d intended to
go through the scenic gate but got turned around and had arrived too early for
anything to be open thanks to the time difference.
San Francisco is a very walkable city. There were always people everywhere and
different pop-up produce shops and booths, food trucks and performers. I wasn’t sure how much of this was for the
holiday season and how much was just normal S.F. but it was all interesting to
see. Except for the homeless. I knew before coming here that California as
a state had a massive homeless population and a serious problem with
drugs. It’s one thing to read about it
or see a video on YouTube. It was
something else entirely to see the tents set up by the train tracks, to have a
man in a wheelchair claiming to be a veteran asking for change, to have to
skirt past a man standing and twitching by the entrance to Target. It was very humbling. And highly depressing.
I found my way to the Embarcadero, the street that runs
parallel to the ocean. I passed a bunch
of shops, following the numbered piers from 1 all the way to the big tourist
spot, Pier 39. I loved the festive air
of the place with the big Christmas tree and the live music. I had some yummy clam chowder in a sourdough
bowl (in a café with pigeons flying in through the open door), did some
shopping, and saw the famous seals.
Going past this pier, I traveled to the end of the
Embarcadero onto Fisherman’s Wharf.
There were more shops and restaurants here as well as the turnaround for
the trolley cars. I really wanted to
jump one and hang on to the edge as it traveled but not in that weather. It wasn’t too bad while walking but I knew it
would be too cold in a moving vehicle.
And these vehicles didn’t move while I was there. I didn’t want to wait for them to get going
so I kept walking.
I tried in vain to find the chocolate factory, but by this
point I was exhausted. I made the long
trek back to the hotel. There was way
too much of the city left to explore so I will have to go back at some point.
Embarkation day, 12/18/19 started off wet and gloomy. My legs were still shot from the day before,
so I knew there was no way I was dragging all my baggage to the pier in the
rain. My hotel was a bit a hoof from Pier 1. The boat left from Pier 27. Cab ride it is!
I already knew how nuts it was to walk in the city. Being in a car took it to a whole new
level. There were so many one-way
streets, bus-only lanes, and pedestrians everywhere I knew there’d be no way
I’d ever try to drive here.
Pier 27 was a big, warehouse-like building. After handing off Big Red to a porter, I wound my way around the building, up an escalator, and into a long line of people. They checked my passport and handed me a bunch of paperwork including my cruise card. The card, I'd find out later, would be used as currency all over the ship, in the shops and for any alcohol. It also served as a room key so they advised you to never let it out of your sight.
No comments:
Post a Comment