San Francisco, California (2025)

Sep 26

Friday, September 26, 2025 - San Francisco.This was the first stop on our California Coast Cruise (2025). We departed from Vancouver, Canada on Princess Cruises, “Caribbean Princess” two days earlier. This was the third time in three years that we stopped at this port, but it was not my third time in San Francisco. I traveled to San Francisco on business regularly between 2001 and 2013. I worked mainly 29 miles north of the city in Novato, which is in Marin County.

We are not in the habit of doing organized tours in San Francisco because we have explored the city in the past, so generally we disembark and walk along the Embarcadero to Pier 39 which is one of my favorite places. This time we decided to purchase a ticket for the “BigBus, Hop-on Hop-off” motor coaches and made the following stops:

Union Square
The Asian Museum Of Art in the downtown.
Alamo Square to visit the “Painted Ladies” (also known as Seven-sisters). See them in the photo below.
Pass through but did not stop at Haight Street and Ashbury Street corner—the famous landmark and meeting point for counterculture movement.
Pass through Golden Gate Park; took particular notice to de Young Museum, featuring the iconic Hamon Observation Tower.
Vista Point at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Pier 39 (final stop for the BigBus).

We spent the rest of our time exploring Pier 39 before returning to the ship.