March 7 - Turn Around Day in San Francisco

Saturday, March 7, 2026

It was already daylight when I woke up, just a few minutes before my alarm was to go off. Bob and I went up to the buffet and the place was a total zoo. We had to go to the VERY back of Cafe Caribe to find a place to sit. The buffet in that area is a scaled down version of the main buffet line at the Horizon Court but when it is so crowded, I don't find it worth the effort to check out the more extensive options. When Jon and Michelle showed up I could tell Michelle wasn't feeling great.

Early morning view of Coit Tower from our balcony.

The plan for all four of us to rent bikes turned into just Bob and Jon renting the bikes while Michelle and I stayed on the ship. They reserved e-bikes online while we were sitting at breakfast and then headed off the ship to walk to the bike rental shop in Fisherman's Wharf. 

From our balcony, I could watch the long line of passengers getting off the ship.
Bob and Jon were somewhere in that line!

Michelle and I joined the other in-transit guests in the Michelangelo Dining Room at 9 am. We walked in, sat down for about 2 minutes and then were ushered through the customs line. A quick look into the camera and a scan of our medallion and we were free to go back to our cabin. The whole process was so much quicker and easier than our past experiences where we had to get off the ship and wait as long as an hour in the terminal before being able to reboard.

Michelle spent the morning napping and I just enjoyed the beautiful weather on the balcony looking out at Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and Coit Tower...and getting caught up on social media. 😀

Alcatraz

The Bay Bridge and Ferry Building

Coit Tower

Golden Gate Bridge

Transamerica Pyramid

I tracked Bob's iPhone and he texted a few times to update me on what he and Jon were doing on their bike adventure. They rode across the Golden Gate Bridge, down into Sausalito and then around the Marin Headlands. I was sorry I didn't get to go on the bikes, but I KNOW I could have never ridden the distance that the guys did.

I was following Bob's location as they started across the bridge.

When I noticed on the map that they were headed down the steep and crooked Lombard Street on their bikes, I expected I would be getting a call from the hospital ER department! They also stopped at a grocery store and had In-and-Out burgers for lunch. As always, when those two go off on their own I worried that they would lose track of time.

Bob & Jon's location...just about ready to go down steep, curvy Lombard Street!

Bob's REAL view!

I hate dealing with the crowds in the buffet on the first day of any cruise so wanted to avoid it at lunch with all of the new passengers just coming onboard. We knew there was rarely a wait to get pizza so Michelle and I went there instead. We couldn't find a table anywhere close so we sat in the lounge chairs by the pool while we ate and visited with a couple who had just gotten on the ship. 

The sun felt so good while we were eating that we both went back to the rooms and changed into shorts and headed to the Terrace Pool at the back of the ship. The pool was not open but there were several loungers available. We were still sitting there when the guys got back from their bike ride. I was getting too hot so Bob and I went back to our partially shaded balcony.

When it was sail away time, Bob went down to the promenade deck to get photos of Alcatraz and also the Sausalito side of the bridge where they had biked today. I stayed on the balcony with a view of the San Francisco skyline until we passed under the bridge.

Palace of Fine Arts

It was so nice going to dinner knowing that we already had a reservation. A long line of people were standing at the door of the Botticelli Dining Room waiting to be seated and we just breezed by them. I'm sure many of them wondered why we were so special!

The menu was a repeat from our first night on the last cruise but I didn't remember ever seeing it before! (Lokesh had to remind us.) I ordered the Cajun fried chicken and really enjoyed it. I begged Lokesh to find me some of the espresso ice cream that I knew had been served in the dining room at lunch but he couldn't make it happen. 

The evening entertainment in the theater was a repeat of Katia and Zenia, the ballroom dancers we had seen a couple of nights ago. None of us really cared if we watched their show again so we didn't need to rush through dinner. Instead we went directly to the Explorer's Lounge to get seats for the game show at 8:00 pm. Getting there early really wouldn't have been necessary since only about half of the lounge seats were occupied for the trivia session that was going on when we arrived.

Jon brought cards (as usual!) and we played the card game, Alaska until the game show began. The show was a little stupid in my opinion. They had people come to the front while they played a song and then had two different years projected on the screen. One of the years represented the year the song had been released. The group would split up and stand on one side or the other based on which year they felt was correct. Once the answer was revealed, the losers had to sit down. This went on with song after song until only one person was left standing. Bob and Jon took part, but the years were always two consecutive years and who is the world could remember the exact year a song had debuted! 

Jon outlasted Bob in the competition, but didn't win.

Karaoke came next and we stuck around until it was too painful to listen anymore. Just as we were walking out, a girl started to sing with a great voice! I anticipate that we might hear her again in the Voice of the Ocean competition later in the cruise. 

Leaving San Francisco, we have three sea days before we reach the port of La Paz.

A Day in San Francisco

 Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The four of us began the day with breakfast in the hotel lobby. The rain was coming down steady while we ate and we took our time eating and discussing what we would do for the day. The only two things that were definitely decided were that we wanted to ride in a driverless Waymo car and Jon wanted to have sushi for lunch. I used my phone and asked AI what to do on a rainy day in San Francisco and one option was to visit the Japan Center Mall in Japantown. That was a place we had never been to so we decided to check it out. Surely we could find a sushi place there as well.

A very rainy morning in San Francisco

Jon called a Waymo that picked us up right outside the hotel. Jon sat in the front seat and Bob, Michelle and I sat in the back. It was so tight that we didn't get our seatbelts hooked right away which prompted a call from what I think was a live human telling us we had to buckle up. We had our choice of music to listen to but otherwise we just sat there and let the car do the driving. What a weird experience to go through heavy traffic with no driver!

Waiting on our Waymo ride.

Here comes the Waymo!

We made it safely to the mall and walked through a few of the stores. One store was like a Japanese Dollar Tree which I found fun. Before we had time to see the rest of the mall, Jon announced that there was a concert being held at noon in the huge Grace Cathedral. None of us were really excited to go, but since we had decided Jon would be making the plans for the day we gave in. So...another Waymo ride.

Bob found sweet corn on a rack with other snacks!

The Grace Cathedral was very impressive. We arrived at 11:40 but almost no one else was there for the concert. And that was when we realized that Jon hadn't been truthful about what was going on. It was actually an Ash Wednesday service (which he knew.) 

As we walked in, one of the ushers asked me where I was from (since it was very obvious that I wasn't a regular attender.) He said "follow me, I want to show you something." He walked me over to the far side of the sanctuary and pointed to a stained glass window very high up near the ceiling. I was quite surprised when he showed me that it was astronaut, John Glenn, in his spacesuit with a rocket in the background! 

The four of us stayed for the service (since Jon insisted!) He and Bob sat up near the front while Michelle and I found a spot in the very back row. Listening to the pipe organ and hymns being sung in Latin was so different from the contemporary non-denominational church that we are accustomed to attending each week. The service was probably not something I would have chosen to do, but interesting all the same. Midway through the service the sun came out and fully illuminated the stained glass windows...a sign that maybe the rain was going to give us a break for the afternoon!

It was after 1 pm when the service ended and Jon was still determined to find someplace to have sushi. We stood outside the cathedral in the cold wind using our phones to search for a place to eat. I suggested we find someplace close to where we were staying (instead of going further away) and we found a spot right across the street from the hotel with good reviews.

Standing outside Grace Cathedral following the Ash Wednesday service.

This time we used Uber. It was a little cheaper than Waymo and much more predictable where it was going to pick us up. 

The Kui Shin Bo Restaurant was right next door to where we had pizza last night. The fact that we were the only customers at lunch time made me wonder if we had made a poor choice. The menu was VERY extensive so it took us awhile to figure out what to order. Jon started out by ordering a couple of appetizers...garlic edamame and potsticker dumplings and then ordered sushi (shrimp tempura, tuna, salmon, imitation crab,masago, avocado, cucumber, spicy may sauce, & kabayaki sauce) for he and Michelle to share. Bob and I are not sushi lovers so he ordered udon noodles (tempura shrimp, chicken, fish cake, egg & vegetables cooked in a miso-based broth, served in an iron pot) and I got ramen (ramen noodle with crispy chicken, chili paste, egg, green onion, sesame seeds, nori, & coconut creamy soup, topped with crispy noodle). 

My bowl of soup was huge and after one bite I knew I had made a good choice. The broth was made with coconut milk and was delicious!

Card playing is always a big part of our trips with Jon and Michelle and they had forgotten to bring any. Also Michelle needed some toiletry items that she didn't want to pack from home. Rather than take another Uber, Bob and Jon decided they would walk...possibly to a nearby Walgreens.

Michelle came to our room and we watched the Olympics on TV. We tracked the guys on their iPhones and after they walked down to the shoreline near Ghirardelli Square, they walked to Target instead of a much closer Walgreens. Bob's iPhone health app showed they went over 6 miles and climbed 13 stories (because of the hills!) Bob is used to walking several miles each day but even he admitted this was a very long walk. They chose to Uber back to the hotel. 😏 Here are some of their photos...

The rain had held off all afternoon, but was just starting again when the guys returned. None of us were in the mood to go out to eat so Bob and Jon went across the street to Chico's pizza (where we ate the previous night.) Bob got us each a slice of pizza and Jon bought a calzone for he and Michelle to share. (None of us were very hungry after our late lunch.) Our plan was to eat at a table in the breakfast area of the hotel and then play some cards. But...the lobby was freezing cold and we moved to Jon and Michelle's room instead.

After we finished eating, Jon tried to move the desk away from the wall so we could sit around it to play cards. He was only able to get it moved a few inches because a power strip was attached which was connected to the lamp and TV. But what did happen was a small vinyl envelope fell to the ground from behind the desk. It had been lodged in all of the wires. Jon opened the envelope and it was filled with cash...a LOT of cash...including some foreign currency. He layed out all of the money and counted it and decided he would wait until the next day to decide what to do about it.

Without a good table, we gave up on cards and just watched the Olympics until we were all ready to call it a night.

There is a gale warning out beginning at 3:00 am tomorrow morning until 9:00 pm tomorrow night. This could make the beginning of the cruise quite bumpy. Oh...and also a high surf warning. AND...heavy rains overnight. Fingers are crossed that the rain will be over about the time we need to go to the pier. We shall see. 

San Francisco...Day 2

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

I had a plan in my mind for how to spend our second day in San Francisco. But the plan was conceived back when I was able bodied and had two good working legs. Now I was very nervous that my ideas were not going to pan out with my handicapped knee. 

Usually Bob's sense of direction is much better than mine so I informed him he was to be the navigator for our DIY tour of San Francisco. He had helped me make a list of places we wanted to visit and I had pored over a map of the city to figure out the most logical order to make our stops. I showed Bob how to use the "Transit" option for finding directions using Google Maps on his phone and thought we were good to go.

The next morning after breakfast, the four of us downloaded the MuniMobile app on our phones and we each purchased a One Day Visitor Passport for $13. This would enable us to have unlimited rides on Muni, Muni Metro, historic streetcars and the cable cars. A single cable car ride purchased separately would have cost $8/person so I felt like this wasn't a bad deal. 

I took a photo of the sign by the gangplank to remind us when we needed to return to the ship.

I knew we could get on a streetcar at the Ferry Building that would take us to Fisherman's Wharf. But, we were about a mile away...much further than I felt capable of walking. Jon tends to be very spontaneous and said he knew there was a metro stop right across the street from our pier and SURELY it would take us where we wanted to go. Bob on the other hand was walking around in circles trying to figure out which direction was which on Google Maps and complaining that his eyes aren't what they used to be. We went with Jon's suggestion.

The metro started out in the direction of the Ferry Building (where I hoped we could switch to the F-line streetcar) but before we got there it went underground and in the process made a 90º turn and headed away from the Ferry Building. I was following our progress on Google Maps on my phone as we got farther and farther away from our intended destination. By the time Jon announced we should get off we were much further away from the Ferry Building than when we started!

Not where we intended to be, but we did get to see City Hall!

Once we exited the train and walked up the stairs to street level, Jon studied the map and figured out we weren't too far from a stop on the F-Line. I was pretty sure that would get us to Fisherman's Wharf so we got on the streetcar and off we went. There were only a few people on the streetcar and things were looking good. But (and there is always a "but" isn't there!)...at one of the stops a large group of Asian adults with what appeared to be a even larger group of preschoolers boarded the streetcar. They just kept coming and coming until every seat was taken and the aisle was so crowded no one could move. Each adult had the hand of two or more children and the kids were all wearing name tags from a Chinese preschool. One little girl even grabbed Michelle's hand! 

The group got off a couple of stops before we reached Fisherman's Wharf, otherwise I'm not sure how we would have been able to get through the crowd! All in all it took us nearly two hours to travel the 2.5 miles from the ship to Fisherman's Wharf but we just considered the journey part of the day's adventure!

Finally made it to Fisherman's Wharf!!

Bob wanted Jon to see all of the vintage arcade games at Musée Mécanique and from there we walked a few blocks to the Powell/Mason Cable Car turnaround. 

I should have figured out how to photoshop the porta potty out of this photo! 😄

When we reached the Cable Car Museum the four of us jumped off. My knee was starting to protest and since this was our third time to visit the museum, I found a place to sit and just relaxed while the others explored. After a bit, Michelle joined me.

The gears and motors pulling the cables that drive the cable cars are visible inside the museum.
The noise and smell of the museum tend to give me a headache!

Giving my knee a break. (Ooohhh...a little foreshadowing...) 😟
I meant "giving my knee a rest."

The museum was very close to Chinatown and since it was close to lunchtime, we went in search of a place to eat. A small dim sum restaurant that had a line reaching out the door and down the sidewalk looked promising. We had no idea what to order so I asked the girl working behind the counter to pick out several things for us to try. By the time we reached the cash register, our bill was nearly $30 (including a tip) and we had way more food than Bob and I could ever consume! 

The restaurant was teeny tiny and most customers were purchasing their food "to go". I was really wanting to sit down to eat but the few small tables were already occupied. A Chinese man motioned for Michelle and I to sit with him and Bob and Jon stood just outside the door and started to eat. Our new friend tried to make conversation but we were only able to make out a word or two of what he said. He seemed pleased that we were willing to eat with him and we gathered that he was a regular at the restaurant.

Michelle and I with our new friend!

A little while later the lady at the table next to us had finished her meal and she told us to call our friends (Bob and Jon) so they could take her seat once she got up. The food was very good and as the only "non-locals" in the place I felt we had an authentic Chinatown experience! 

After leaving the restaurant, we wandered the streets in Chinatown looking into the stores overflowing with merchandise. 

Eventually we located the small alley where the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is located and watched the cookies being made and fortunes inserted. The cookies that cooled too much (and couldn't be folded) were deposited into a large can and we were each given one of the flat cookies to sample.

Ross Alley

The tiny Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

As an avid player himself, Bob had to stop and watch two older men playing ping pong.

The day was starting to get away from us and given our history with public transportation, we knew we should start back to the ship. A guide with a group of tourists at the fortune cookie factory had overheard us talking and gave us directions to get to the closest cable car stop. It wasn't far and as we waited by the Old St. Mary's Cathedral, the Google camera car drove by. I will be checking to see if we eventually show up on the Google "street view" map!

Old St. Mary Cathedral

After taking the cable car to the end of the California Line it was just a short walk to where we could catch the N metro line back to where we started by Pier 30/32. As we were waiting for the N metro, another train pulled in first (12?) and the driver told us to get on and he would take us where we wanted to go. Really? Trains can do that?

As the train got to the dock, I was hoping we could get off right across the street, but the conductor informed us he would have to take us to the next stop, a little past the pier. It wasn't too far, but my knee was definitely feeling the steps. By the time we boarded the ship I limped my way to our cabin and declared I was done for the day!

Almost "home"! So tired, but what a fun day!

The Zaandam was sailing away from San Francisco at 5 pm which was our scheduled time in the main dining room. Since we hadn't been awake for the Zaandam's arrival we decided to park ourselves on "our private deck" and enjoy watching the skyline of SF fade away in the distance. We would just eat on the Lido Deck instead of the main dining room. The menu in the buffet serves almost the same items as the dining room so eating there is certainly not a hardship. And if you have to get up and get your own food I figure it burns a few more calories so you can eat more! 😉

The guys "borrowed" some chairs from the pool area so we had a place to sit on "our private deck".

Zoomed in view of the Ferry Building.

Oracle Park where the SF Giants play.

I love lighthouses!

Ghirardelli Square

Building on Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.

The evening schedule on the ship included a second performance by multi-instrumentalist, Mark Donoghue, and the Orange Party in the Crow's Nest...both of which we skipped. No worries, the four of us can make our own fun pretty easily. I'm sure we played some crazy and complicated game of cards which I can guarantee I lost. 😆

Tomorrow will bring a much appreciated sea day as the Zaandam heads up the western coast of the U.S. Two back-to-back port days is more than this old body can handle!