Coast Starlight

[whc6]

I have a question for the experienced west coast traveler.

I will be flying to the San Francisco from North Carolina in April. My flight will arrive in San Francisco in the morning. If I can work out a couple of details, would love to take the Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Seattle and return. (My wife is working in Seattle that week).

As the flight arrives in the morning and the train leaves late in the evening (if it isn't late), I would like to roam around San Francisco for the day. It appears that the Ferry terminal station is now unmanned. Is their anywhere I can ditch my bags until I have to leave for Emeryville that evening?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[jccollins]

I would see if a local hotel might provide the service for you for a nominal fee. Do you have any frequent membership cards with any of them, like the Hilton HHonors program? If so that might make them even a little more inclined to help out (since you often show loyalty to their hotel brand). Might call ahead and check.

Also, I know the Greyhound station is located in downtown SF not far from the wharf and everything. While I have never been there you might check with them. They are fully staffed at the location and may even have luggage lockers inside their terminal.

Good luck.

 

[gswager]

You can ride BART from SFO (San Fransisco airport) to MacArthur on same line. You can find on BART. The ride is about 48 minutes, going underwater. Then ride on ACTransit Bus to Emeryville station.

Although it may be a little technical, but you can ride on BART on a day pass! I believe there is one of our guys live in Oakland. He'll give you more details.

 

[jccollins]

As the flight arrives in the morning and the train leaves late in the evening (if it isn't late), I would like to roam around San Francisco for the day.

But doesn't your idea of involving BART defeat the purpose, gswager? The ride on Amtrak from the San Francisco Ferry Building Station to Emeryville Station would take roughly half the time as BART and probably be more convenient since the connection would be guaranteed and would not involve any other extra transfers for "whc6".

 

[PRR 60]

I have a question for the experienced west coast traveler.
I will be flying to the San Francisco from North Carolina in April.  My flight will arrive in San Francisco in the morning.  If I can work out a couple of details, would love to take the Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Seattle and return.  (My wife is working in Seattle that week).

As the flight arrives in the morning and the train leaves late in the evening (if it isn't late), I would like to roam around San Francisco for the day.  It appears that the Ferry terminal station is now unmanned.  Is their anywhere I can ditch my bags until I have to leave for Emeryville that evening?

Thanks for the advice.

When you arrive at SFO, take AirTrain (the inter-terminal people mover) to the Garage G/ BART station. If you are coming from Charlotte on US Airways you will be arriving at Terminal 1. From Terminal 1 follow the signs for “walkway to International Terminal” and get the AirTrain there (much shorter walk than going to the actual Terminal 1 AirTrain stop.

Take BART downtown ($4.70) and get off at Embarcadero, the last stop in San Francisco. (If you are toting a ton of luggage, a hotel shuttle bus might be better. BART is not expecially luggage friendly.) The Hyatt Hotel is on Market Street right at Embarcadero station. If you look somewhat business like (and that is not a suit and tie anymore, but not torn jeans either), go to the bell captain (in the lobby at the top of the escalators, NOT at the front door) and see if they will store your bags at the bell station for the day (this is common in business hotels). Tell them you had a meeting that ended early and you want to tour the city (only partly untrue). The Hyatt is much more of a business hotel than the hotels at the Wharf, so my guess is that they will be happy to assist. I have stayed there numerous times and they have always been nice to deal with, and most times not knowing if I was a guest or not. If you want to make sure, give them a call (415-788-1234).

The Ferry Building is right across the Embarcadero from the Hyatt, and from there you can catch boats to Sausalito. The F street car line runs up the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf. That is the location for bay cruises and Alcatraz tours, plus the end points of the Powell cable cars (long boarding lines!) and loads of overpriced seafood restaurants. The California cable car starts right in front of the Hyatt (shorter lines but not as spectacular). Chinatown is a short walk. Union Square and the SOMA (South of Market) district are nearby. The Hyatt area is a good setting off point for touring.

When you are ready to head for the Starlight, the Amtrak bus stop is on the Embarcadero just south of the Ferry Building near Sinbad’s Restaurant (it is not in the Ferry Building anymore).

 

[tp49]

BART is luggage friendly enough if you sit near the doors in the sideways facing seats or in the seat with the extra room for wheelchairs. Just make sure that the train is "off peak" and you should be fine getting into SF.

As for potential luggage storage sites, the Greyhound station is at the Transbay Terminal (First and Mission Streets), it's been so long since I've been there though that I am unsure if there are luggage lockers on the premisis. It's not terribly close to the Wharf but it is reachable either by waliking to Market Street (one block north) and taking the F line or by bus the 15 comes up Third Street as wella s the 30 Stockton which will also take you through the heart of Chinatown. SF Municipal Railway is a good resource for transit info in the City of San Francisco.

The Amtrak station is actually located in the building just South of the Ferry Building but is closed due to problems with flooding in the building. Thus as of right now the busses are only picking up at the stop outside the building. The Ferry Building itself recently reopened after a multi-million dollar renovation and is an attraction in and of itself.

I can't speak for the hotel idea as I've never had to do that but if it's worked for others there's no reason not to try it.

Any other questions just ask.

 

[Guest_steve_relei]

Does the ferry building have any locker space that might be normally usable for ferry passengers? Perhaps Amtrak passengers can use thier storage lockers, if there are any. It's been a long time since I have been there, too, to know what is available any more.

 

[Guest]

called golden gate ferry system. No lockers at the ferry building, or any other kind of storage available for the public.

 

[Lolo]

A question of my own; can you store your bags for the day at Emeryville Amtrak?

 

[tp49]

That very well coul dbe possible as they do have checked baggage service at Emeryville. I was thinking of suggesting that as an option for a day of touring in SF but am not 100% sure if they can do that.

 

[AlanB]

Whc6,

Well depending on just when your April trip is, you may get lucky. From the NARP Weekly news hotline:

The Amtrak facility in San Francisco, at 101 Embarcadero, has been closed due to flood damage since December, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It has been closed due to flooding "several times" since it moved there from the Ferry Building in 2001. Amtrak is replacing carpeting with vinyl flooring and should reopen its part of the port-owned facility in April.

 

[whc6]

Well, I booked my ticket from San Francisco to Seattle. If I read the ticket correctly, I am in compartment 14.

However, I did notice today that the accomidations price has fallen $41 since I booked. Is there any way I can take advantage of the lower fare?

 

[battalion51]

Well since you have the tickets in hand maybe not. Call Amtrak and tell them you already have a reservation and would like to get that lower fare. You may have to cancel (for $30) and rebook, so you'd only save $11.

 

[jccollins]

A question of my own; can you store your bags for the day at Emeryville Amtrak?

Yes, this is possible. Just show the station agent your tickets and tell them you'd like to claim your bags in the evening before boarding the train.

The San Francisco Amtrak Station's reopening information (mentioned above) can also be found at Amtrak California's website: http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com

The information on this site is as follows:

San Francisco Ticket Office To Reopen in April 2004!

This website has received information that the San Francisco Embarcadero Ticket office will reopen in April, 2004. Work is underway, and if there are no delays due to more bad weather (the damage was caused by flooding), this Spring date will hold.

ALTHOUGH THE FACILITIES ARE CLOSED, AMTRAK THRUWAY BUS OPERATIONS ARE NOT AFFECTED. CUSTOMERS CAN TAKE REGULAR SCHEDULED SERVICE TO THE EMERYVILLE OR JACK LONDON SQUARE STATIONS TO PURCHASE TICKETS AND CHECK BAGGAGE.