Day 50 - 8 August
Interesting to arrive in San Francisco during the morning. We were half an hour late and eventually tied up at 10.30. That cloud I mentioned in the previous post was present as we sailed in and the top portion of the Golden Gate Bridge was totally obscured. However, once berthed, the weather improved and it was certainly a shorts & tee shirt sort of day, about 22 degrees. We were berthed at Pier 37, which is the same berth as QV in February. It is close to all the activities of Fishermans Wharf etc.
Immigration inspection was done on board and did not involve any fingerprints or photos and the officers were actually relaxed & friendly. The only issue was with the Princess organisation, including our late arrival and priority for shore tours, which had us queued up for well over an hour. Eventually we hit the streets just after 12.30 and it was very warm by then. The place was pretty crowded, particularly with the school holidays now on.
Our first port of call was Pier 39, where we'd been to the information centre on our last visit. Our mission was to establish how we could get over to Muir Woods, on the north shore. Unfortunately we had a bad experience with one of the HOHO companies previously and sure enough, same info. office, same company recommended. The thing was that the tour was $60 each but it left from one of a number of downtown hotels at 9.00 in the morning. It was all too vague for us and we weren't happy because of our prior experience.
Continued to the end of the Pier, which we didn't do in February and saw all the famous Sea Lions basking in the sun. Vivian also bought a top (unrelated to the sea lions) and we visited the lefthanded shop for some scissors, but the quality was lacking. I decided that the shopping on the ground floor was too dangerous, so we went upstairs, where it was much quieter and we had good views. Pretty well straight away we found a bar and had a beer & of course the famous Clam Chowder - in the traditional breadbowl. It was OK but I'd made a mistake in the size of my beer, which would catch up with me later in the day, if you get my drift!
The bar-stop gave us time to consult our maps and we were still looking at getting to Muir Woods, or at least initially to Sausalito, the city at the other end if the Golden Gate Bridge. The maps and information were not overly helpful, but did show a ferry going from Pier 41, next door. Very helpful staff there had all the information on the ferry and the transfer arrangements from Sausalito to Muir Woods. We bought ferry tickets for the first (11.00 am) ferry for the princely sum of $11.50 each return. So it looks as if tomorrow is now sorted.
Headed further down the Fishermans Wharf shopping area, where to be honest, most of the shops were outlets for tours or HoHo, bulk cheap clothing, or dingy eating outlets. One shop did inspire us, it was full of crystal, china and all good quality, including Lladro etc. and huge chandeliers. We were allowed into the "inner sanctum", which was roped off and had a good look around. I think that the owners were either Italian or certainly Continental. One of them - owner, manager struck up conversation (as they do) & yes, he'd just come back from NZ & yes, he knew exactly where Warkworth was as they'd just shipped a chandelier to a customer there. I don't wish to seem cynical, but what if I'd said we were from Waipukurau?
A safe escape from that shop and onwards, ever onwards, past the HoHo shop which kindly stopped the bus for us in February and on another couple of streets to the end of civilisation as we know it. Our destination was the San Francisco Cable Car. As we approached the terminus, which has the turntable, we congratulated ourselves that there were 4 cable cars sitting there and 2 others stopped just up the road. There seemed to be a little queue but off we went to buy our tickets @ $7 each each way and noticed a sign "Do not ask, but yes the queue is 1 hour long". The bloke in front DID ask and was told in no uncertain terms what part of the sign did he not understand!
So the queue was just over 100, and with 4 cars sitting there how could it take an hour? Easy - this is a *cable* car and clearly the cars (or carriages) had to be hooked up to the cables which run under the track and are all linked together. So, each car left at around 20 minute intervals. There was a mad rush for the outside seats when our turn eventually came, but we hung back and fortunately I was pretty much last on at the back. Although standing, had some great views as we rumbled up & down the road. A great experience and we eventually got to the end of the line, where we had to get off.
From there we went back to Macey's, to satisfy Vivian's shopping whims & to satisfy my desire for the restroom! On the latter, Vivian found a man using the women's convenience & I was surprised at the deep snoring noise emanating from one of the stalls in the gents - only in San Francisco! Fortunately there was no shopping done but we did spend some time looking. By now it was about 5.30 and we thought it was time to try our luck on the return trip. By toss of a coin, we headed down to Union Square rather than the starting point. Although we had to wait half an hour for the first car to pass, there was enough space for 6 (of the 2 dozen waiting) to get on. The brake men (or driver & assistant ) were hilarious. Almost all the staff are African American, with clearly some enjoying their job more than others.
By the time we got back to the waterfront the wind had got up and it was getting a bit chilly, so we walked back to the ship along one of the back roads - still the same shops as on the front road. We were the only ones from our table at dinner, even though it was open seating. As you'll recall, the ship is in port for electrical maintenance and this meant that the power was out for a couple of hours during the afternoon. A by-product was that the kitchen on Deck 5 was out of action, so staff had to go upstairs to Deck 6 for food, so the meal was not the hottest, but we accepted this in the circumstances.
Day 51 - 9 August
Nice to wake up to the sun shining into the stateroom for a change. Looked out and saw the Grand Princess tied up a couple of wharves away from us. She is a bit bigger than us and is doing Alaskan cruises from here. Rumour has it that the missing passenger from Victoria was to be brought along to rejoin our ship but apparently he flew instead. Also heard that he was 92 and was actually sitting in the Victoria terminal, but was unaware of the earlier departure time - if this so, shame on Princess.
As our trip over to Sausalito was not until 11.00, we had a leisurely breakfast, but wanted to ensure that we didn't miss our sailing. The woman yesterday said to be at the pier at 10.45, so we got there at 10.15 and there was already a queue! - almost exclusively from the ship. Haha, they didn't start loading until 10.56, but at least it was a lovely morning in the sun.
The trip over took about half an hour and as the next shuttle to Muir Woods didn't leave until 11.45, we had time to get over to the bus stop. A mad dash of well-fed passengers ensued, but confusion reigned as we couldn't find the bus stop until we came across the sign "Muir Woods Shuttle Stop Here". So far, so good. The only problem was that the bus could only stop if it arrived. And it didn't until half an hour later. A second one was right behind! Typical.
Muir Woods is an ancient Redwoods Forest, some 45 minutes north-east of Sausalito, sort of coastal but over a range of hills, which were pretty well up in the clouds and very, very windy. Before we got to the cloudy bit, the landscape looked very Australian, with tons of eucalyptus trees and similar housing in amongst these trees. The land was very dry looking, but they do not seem to experience the fires as they do in Australia.
About 2 or 3 miles away from the park we came across all these cars parked on the side of the road. All the way - now whether this was because of lack of parking or to save on parking fees I don't know, but fair to say a pretty good hike just to reach the hiking spot in the park. We arrived at the Park entrance however, paid our entry fee ($10 + $5 shuttle) and went off through the forest. Two things, one, being Kiwis we went the "wrong " way - to the left and two, although there were thousands of screaming kids on holidays, it was eerily quiet as we walked along through these magnificent trees, some up to 800 years old. We felt we had seen enough after an hour and came back on the noisy side. A dozen or so were gathered in one spot, cameras at the ready and sure enough, about 4 metres away, a deer and her fawn were quietly munching away, completely oblivious to the crowd. Still no bears though!!!
Half an hour wait for the shuttle back to Sausalito and we'd already decided on the 5.35 ferry back, so wandered around and found a cafe for lunch & a drink at 3.00ish. Vivian had French toast & I had BLT with Wine served in tumblers! Very pleasant spot, with great views over San Francisco, except for the clouds both over the city and also rolling down the hills behind Sausalito, over the bridge and on to the city. Quite amazing cloud formations, pouring, like water over the hills.
Wandered back to the ferry terminal just before 5.00 and we were surprised at the queue - all with bicycles. We reckon that there must have been 500 of them - some got on the 5.05 to downtown and the rest on our ferry to Fishermans Wharf. They were pretty well all rentals for the "cycle the bridge" expedition. Wow, whoever started that must be making a mint (in season). The other thing we noticed was almost the lack of English language - very little American, many Continentals and if course Spanish, probably from the Mexicans and a surprising number of Muslims. BTW, pedestrian passengers got on & off the ferry first!
Day 52 - 10 August
Well this is supposed to be our last morning in San Francisco and once again a beautiful day. We must have been a little tired from our expedition yesterday, as we woke late and didn't get to breakfast until 8.30. We just got all our breakfast when the scheduled power cut from 9.00 to 11.00 took place - luckily we were on the sunny side of the MDR, with the remaining few on the other side under candles! The power cut was for much of the ship and once again affected all the aft cabins beyond ours, on all the decks. They were all given little torches I understand, which were collected the next day!
We were a little dubious at this late power cut, but obviously it was planned to enable the main power supply to be reconnected after work yesterday. We wandered back down through town, as really there was not much anyone could do, with a scheduled "be back" of 12.00. Had some problem however finding a coffee and eventually ended up back at Pier 39. The barman made probably the best coffee we've had in USA. Made it back on time and this time with everyone on board and electrics fixed, we set sail at 1.00 under a brilliant sun and our escort of 2 Coastguard machine-gun armed high powered craft. Before this however we had our 3rd "General Energency" practice - thankfully for the last time. Oh yes, a seal popped up right alongside the ship to say goodbye too.
Surprisingly, the Captain put on a sail away party with mostly free beer for an hour. They were not only giving it away, but insisting that people had it. From those who know, at least the first lot was aparrently flat and horrible and I think it was stuff that had been sitting around for a day or three during our power cuts! How ungrateful of me. Oh yes, we have a new Captain now - the regular one, an Italian. Our Norwegian has gone home for his holidays. We have also taken on board a couple of hundred new passengers and quite a few new crew, but life goes on.
Day 53 - 11 August
Forgot to mention yesterday, that as soon as we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, the cloud descended, the sun disappeared and it got quite cold. Today we woke (late again) to a bit of movement in the boat and lumpy seas - nothing to really write home about, but a change from our harbour location. So yes, another sea day and all the usual activities. This has given me an opportunity to get the blog up to date and it is surprisingly hard to backtrack. Tonight we thankfully getting one of those hours back!! In fact we have 3 successive nights of getting an extra hour of sleep. I see that they are no longer doing the time changes during the day - probably as they'd end up with 2 Happy Hours!
Sea Lions of Pier 39
The beers (at last)
Clam Chowder
Cablecar (4)
Sausalito in the distance
Muir Woods (3) - spot the fawn in #3
Sausalito Cafe
View back to San Francisco
Clouds rolling over Sausalito
Stateroom view (feeling patriotic)
To prove I was there - between piers 39 & 41
Our escort
Sail away party
Alcatraz
Goodbye San Francisco
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