Port of Call San Diego in Southern California
What’s not to like with a near perfect year-round temperature, 70 miles of coastline and beaches, a major U.S. Naval Base, an interesting historic area and world famous Balboa Park that features 17 museums, numerous galleries and performing arts venues including the incredible San Diego Zoo. It isn’t hard to fall in love with San Diego.
Popular with cruise lines for trips up the coast, over to Hawaii and south through the Panama Canal this is a world class port of call.
Where Your Ship Docks
Most cruise ships will dock right downtown at the B Street Cruise Pier. The pier features a cruise terminal with public facilities. Across the street from the pier are a number of good hotels and just another block up is a rapid rail stop. A little over a half mile south of the terminal is Seaport Village with an interesting collection of shops and restaurants also on the water. The aircraft carrier Midway Museum is also nearby along with a number of other historic ship exhibits.
Transportation
San Diego has an economical public transportation system featuring a light rail system that includes over fifty area stops. Just two blocks from the pier is a light rail stop where you can catch a trolly down to Old Town for a fare of $2.50. You can purchase one to 30-day passes for the transit system right from your smartphone and use them immediately using the Compass-Cloud app.
Currency
The U.S. Dollar is the accepted currency with credit and debit cards welcome almost everywhere. Changing foreign currency can be a challenge with facilities available mostly at the airport.
Attractions
As already mentioned, San Diego has a lot to offer. There is a good hop-on hop-off bus that travels all around the city and out to Coronado. Coronado sits right in the middle of the harbor and often is referred to as an island but actually is attached at the southern end to the mainland. It is also home to a Naval Air Station, a Naval Amphibious Base and is home to the Navy SEALS. If you want to rub shoulders with a SEAL stop in at Mc P’s Pub, a local hangout founded by an ex-SEAL more than a few years ago. It’s not far from the “The Del” (Del Coronado Hotel) a famous hotel on Coronado beach.
If you are catching a cruise from San Diego we recommend allowing a couple of days to this beautiful city. Balboa Park is worth a whole day itself and try and fit in a trip to Old Town. For good food try the Little Italy neighborhood or head down to the waterfront for seafood.
and the meals we shared were delightful. But after a number of days of stumbling around in the middle of the night looking for the bathrooms we were looking forward to getting back to London
I think that one of those requirements for first-time visitors to Ireland is visit Blarney Castle. It was way up on our list of must see.
story, narrow spiral staircase. Everything is rough stone and there isn’t enough room on the stairs for more than a single file line. Someone getting past another in line would be a serious challenge. In touring the castle and getting up to the rock of eloquence (better known as the Blarney Stone) you must ascend on one staircase and descend on another equally narrow staircase. While on the ascent there are a couple of side rooms attached to the stairwell there is no way out until you climb the full six stories. At the top you walk over to the Blarney Stone and afterwords cross over to the other corner and start down the second staircase.
On our visit last year as we entered the grounds we became aware of a couple in the group that stood out. He was, it turned out, in his 90’s and walked with a Hurrycane. It’s that foldable walking cane with the hand grip at the top and the four footed base as seen on TV. As we entered the castle the elderly gentleman was ahead of us with about six people between us and him in line. Just ten feet inside we were at the foot of that spiral staircase. At that point we commented to ourselves that we were impressed with his courage if not his judgement.
To his credit he made it up almost three stories before he couldn’t take another step. At that point the people below on the stairs couldn’t do anything to help because we were stuck in a single file. There was a lot of discussion up and down the line and eventually the line above him managed to get into an alcove and one gentlemen came back to him. With his wife behind him and help from the man above they managed to help him crawl up a number of steps to that alcove. After that the line started moving up again – there was no other choice. There was no way we were going to get a line three stories up into the castle to back up. When we got to the top of the 
*You lay on your back while the attendants hold you as you stick your head through an opening at the top of the castle, six stories above the ground while you kiss the stone protruding from the wall above you – try that on a wet and rainy day. Also there doesn’t seem to be any Purell in use and you start speculating about all those people ahead of you that day?
Baja California is a slender peninsula sticking south from the continent in western Mexico for almost a thousand miles. To the west is the Pacific Ocean and to the east is the Sea of Cortes blessing it with almost two thousand miles of spectacular beaches. At the very southern tip is a world class destination known for fantastic beaches, boating, deep sea fishing and five star amenities known as Cabo San Lucas but often referred to as just Cabo.
Cabo has no facilities to support cruise ships so this is a tender port. Ships anchor outside the small harbor just off Lands End. The tender dock is right in the middle of the popular harbor with easy access to shops, cafes, restaurants, excursion and charter boats. The downtown area is only a short walk away. There are also a number of good public facilities in the harbor.
Lover’s Beach. This secluded cove is hidden at the tip of Land’s End, surrounded by cliffs and accessible only by boat. It’s a perfect attraction for those looking to get away from the crowds and vendors at Medana Beach. It features beaches facing both oceans. Swim only on the Sea of Cortes side – the Pacific side can be dangerous.
originally discovered by Jacques Cousteau, and it remains one of the chief diving attractions of Cabo San Lucas to this day.
The Intentional Travelers 