May 19 - 24, 2014 San Diego to Vancouver

[RweTHEREyet]

Does anyone have any recommendations on hotels in San Diego. Have never been to California and am looking for a clean place in a safe area.

In googling the Port of San Diego, it looks to me as if the airport is not too far from downtown and the Port There were lots of hotels listed on their site, but I would sure prefer some first-hand recommendations.

 

[taaren]

Does anyone have any recommendations on hotels in San Diego. Have never been to California and am looking for a clean place in a safe area.

I like the Mission Valley area with Hotel Circle, but usually end up staying Old Town because I love the food, arguably some of the best Mexican north of the border in Old Town that's in a safe neighborhood, anyways.
Many of the hotels tend to have shuttles that go to the airport and various attractions for free (the Zoo, Sea World). We stay Marriott because we collect the points, but either Hotel Circle or Old Town you should be safe.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I like the Mission Valley area with Hotel Circle, but usually end up staying Old Town because I love the food, arguably some of the best Mexican north of the border in Old Town that's in a safe neighborhood, anyways.
Many of the hotels tend to have shuttles that go to the airport and various attractions for free (the Zoo, Sea World). We stay Marriott because we collect the points, but either Hotel Circle or Old Town you should be safe.

Thanks for the tip, will definitely keep that in mind. I think I saw Old Town mentioned in the Port of San Diego site last night.

 

[VowRenewal13]

I like the Mission Valley area with Hotel Circle, but usually end up staying Old Town because I love the food, arguably some of the best Mexican north of the border in Old Town that's in a safe neighborhood, anyways.
Many of the hotels tend to have shuttles that go to the airport and various attractions for free (the Zoo, Sea World). We stay Marriott because we collect the points, but either Hotel Circle or Old Town you should be safe.

Thanks. It is hard to look for hotel rooms from a distance. I do read the reviews on Trip Advisor. People post pictures that are more current than the hotel web site. I also check the AAA diamonds.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I like the Mission Valley area with Hotel Circle, but usually end up staying Old Town because I love the food, arguably some of the best Mexican north of the border in Old Town that's in a safe neighborhood, anyways.
Many of the hotels tend to have shuttles that go to the airport and various attractions for free (the Zoo, Sea World). We stay Marriott because we collect the points, but either Hotel Circle or Old Town you should be safe.

So you are going to tell us some good places to eat as well, right?

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Thanks. It is hard to look for hotel rooms from a distance. I do read the reviews on Trip Advisor. People post pictures that are more current than the hotel web site. I also check the AAA diamonds.

Just curious, have you decided if you will arrive in San Diego on Saturday or Sunday?

Also, I found a section over on Cruise Critic that is about Westcoast departure ports, I posted the link on the information thread on the first page. Haven't had a chance to really check it out, but there were lots of threads about hotels, restaurants, places to buy wine, etc. Looks like a good San Diego resource.

 

[luvdamouse91]

We are booked for this cruise as well. DH & I. We are going to spend the weekend at DL before the cruise. Looking forward to the trip.

Melisa & Mike

 

[VowRenewal13]

Just curious, have you decided if you will arrive in San Diego on Saturday or Sunday?

Also, I found a section over on Cruise Critic that is about Westcoast departure ports, I posted the link on the information thread on the first page. Haven't had a chance to really check it out, but there were lots of threads about hotels, restaurants, places to buy wine, etc. Looks like a good San Diego resource.

We will be arriving on Saturday. That way we will have time to see something in San Diego. My husband has been there while in the military, but California is a new frontier for me. Will check out Cruise Critic.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We are booked for this cruise as well. DH & I. We are going to spend the weekend at DL before the cruise. Looking forward to the trip.

Melisa & Mike

Welcome Melisa & Mike, glad you found us.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We will be arriving on Saturday. That way we will have time to see something in San Diego. My husband has been there while in the military, but California is a new frontier for me. Will check out Cruise Critic.

That is my plan too, as long as my sil agrees to do so. I would like to have the time to get adjusted to the time change.

 

[VowRenewal13]

That is my plan too, as long as my sil agrees to do so. I would like to have the time to get adjusted to the time change.

After our last cruise to Alaska, we spent an extra day in Seattle and flew in Minneapolis on our way home. I had to ask what time zone were we in. It is totally confusing to be in different time zones.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Woke up in the middle of the night with chills and when I took my temp this morning it was 100.9. I don't have time for this.

 

[Kidlette]

Yo Ho and away we go!

We're joining you on this cruise! We also convinced some friends to come with us but I haven't seen them post yet - but they will. We actually met them through DISboards on a Disney cruise 3 years ago or so, so I'm sure they'll be checking in! This will be our 5th Disney Cruise and we can't wait - after this sailing we'll finally be Gold members

Anyway - we're avid Disney fans, avid cruisers (we always sail on the Wonder, so she's "our ship" and we know all about her) and my husband and I were both born and raised in San Diego, so if anyone has any questions on anything just let us know!

As a side note, I ran an FE list and group before but I don't think we're interested on this sailing. If anyone has questions about it though, I'm happy to give some insight. We may reconsider as it gets closer, but I think we probably just want to skip FE's for this trip.

We are:
Ryan (34 at time of sailing), Jessica (32 at time of sailing), and Lorelai (2 at time of sailing)

 

[airtime247]

I've never been good with introductions but I'll do my best. I'm certainly not as good as that weirdo who posted just before me. I must say that screen name does look oddly familiar though...

Anyway, we are Steve (I won't post my age as I'm turning old this year), DW Amy (I won't post hers as she will kill me), and DD Emma (8 as of the sailing).

This will be our fifth Disney cruise as well - one prior sailing on the Wonder and three on the Magic. I grew up near San Francisco and lived there into adulthood. I don't live too far from there now (globally speaking) and go there often so I can probably help with things to do in port if anyone has questions.

We have done a lot of touristy things in San Diego and Vancouver too so I can maybe help with some advice.

-steve

PS - Jessica, we hope to see you in two weeks when we are down there!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Welcome to all the newcomers, our list is growing, and you can bet that there will be some of us wanting to pick your brains about San Diego and San Francisco. Glad you are joining us, welcome again.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

If anyone comes across any threads or a site that might be of interest to everyone, please post and I will add it to the information started on post #3 of this thread. Those of us coming from the East Coast can use all the help we can get as far as tips on San Diego and San Francisco, so please do share what you might find.

 

[VowRenewal13]

I've never been good with introductions but I'll do my best. I'm certainly not as good as that weirdo who posted just before me. I must say that screen name does look oddly familiar though...

Anyway, we are Steve (I won't post my age as I'm turning old this year), DW Amy (I won't post hers as she will kill me), and DD Emma (8 as of the sailing).

This will be our fifth Disney cruise as well - one prior sailing on the Wonder and three on the Magic. I grew up near San Francisco and lived there into adulthood. I don't live too far from there now (globally speaking) and go there often so I can probably help with things to do in port if anyone has questions.

We have done a lot of touristy things in San Diego and Vancouver too so I can maybe help with some advice.

-steve

PS - Jessica, we hope to see you in two weeks when we are down there!

Steve,

Glad you and your family will be sailing with the rest of us. We are from the southeast and it will be my first visit to the west coast. Would appreciate any information on good, clean, safe hotels in San Diego and things to do while there. We will be arriving two days before the cruise. Another question is where can I buy wine to take on the ship and good places to eat.

Thanks,
Linda

 

[RweTHEREyet]

You used to be able to contact a cities tourism department and have information sent to you and lo and behold a week or so later you would have some fun mail in your mailbox. So, far, I have not seen where I can order maps, information, etc. on San Diego and/or San Francisco without paying a hefty postage charge. While I don't mind paying the postage, I might as well just go to Barnes and Noble and buy a tourguide book that includes maps, etc. Anyone else find this to be true? I know a map of both cities would be helpful as they are not hard to get around as long as you have something to go by. I have seen maps on-line, but they aren't always as clear as my eyes need them to be.

 

[airtime247]

I used to go through my local AAA office to get maps and tourbooks which they seemed to stock for most major cities.

I lived in San Diego for 8 months and only stayed in a couple of hotels but never stayed in or near downtown San Diego. We usually like to stay in the outskirts of large cities so when we were job searching, we stayed in Escondido by the Wild Animal Park and in San Marcos when we went to Legoland two years ago.

Sorry I couldn't help with hotel recommendations. As far as things to do, we mostly just did all the touristy things like the world-famous SD Zoo, Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, and Legoland but also spent time visiting Balboa Park (the zoo is right there), Seaport Village which is a neat little shopping and dining area on the water, and Belmont Park (nothing special but there is a classic wooden roller coaster there). A lot of people like the Gaslamp District but we never found much to do there that interested us.

Disneyland is only a couple of hours north so we seemed to spend most of our free weekends up there!

-steve

 

[ppartekim]

Steve,

Glad you and your family will be sailing with the rest of us. We are from the southeast and it will be my first visit to the west coast. Would appreciate any information on good, clean, safe hotels in San Diego and things to do while there. We will be arriving two days before the cruise. Another question is where can I buy wine to take on the ship and good places to eat.

Thanks,
Linda

In California, all Liquor/Wine/Beer is available at any location that is licensed for it. That means, grocery stores, drug stores, liquor stores, Targets, Walmarts, etc.


I find the Apps on my iPhone to be fine for traversing known and unknown cities.. Used Waze on all my trips for the last year with no getting lost. The are apps for touring as well just don't know the names. But for the time in SF, you can stick to the basics - Pier 39 (shops, food, Aquarium, sea lions), Alcatraz (several hour tour), Ghirardelli Square (w/Cable Car connections), China Town/Golden Gate is bit of a distance. But I do believe there is a Hop-On/Hop-Off tour bus.