If you enjoy taking cruises, using San Francisco for your departing port has tremendous advantages in saving time and money. Depending upon the size of your family, you could save thousands of dollars in airfare alone.
While plenty of cruise ships spend a day or two in San Francisco as a port-of-call, only Princess Cruise Lines currently has a extensive list of upcoming cruises that set sail from the Embarcadero.
Princess Cruises has an extensive list of offerings sure to entice daydreams. If you're retired or have tons of vacation time, they have a 27-night cruise coming up that will have you island-hopping from San Francisco to Sydney. You'll stop at two ports in Hawaii, then on to Tahiti, Bora Bora, Pago Pago, multiple ports in New Zealand, and your final destination is Australia. The cruise sets sail Sept. 20, and since there are unsold cabins they're on sale--some for almost half price!
Princess has other dream itineraries from San Francisco including Andes & Cape Horn Grand Adventure, Andes & South America, and the Panama Canal.
If you're seeking a shorter cruise, Princess also offers three separate itineraties round-trip to Alaska and one to Mexico. Each trip is 10 days.
Holland America Line has a cruise through the Panama Canal that will set sail Oct. 2. Ports include San Diego, three stops in Mexico, Costa Rica, transverse through the Panama Canal, then stops in Colombia and the Bahamas before docking in Fort Lauderdale.
If you have three weeks to devote to a Panama Canal cruise, Regent Seven Seas Cruises will take you from San Francisco to New York. You'll begin by hopping from port-to-port in Mexico, then you'll stop in Costa Rica, head through the Panama Canal, make a port call in Colombia, Grand Cayman, Florida, Charleston, then on to the Big Apple. The departure date is Sept. 3.
