San Francisco...touristy but head to Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square. Maybe take a Grayline or similar bus tour to see more sights like the Victorian Painted Ladies, Haight- Ashbury, Chinatown, etc.

San Diego...again you could take a bus tour. You could go to the SD zoo, but I wouldn't miss Coronado Island and lunch or a drink at the beautiful Hotel del Coronado.

San Diego has a US Navy carrier ship you can tour, but I don't remember its name. Sea World aquatic park. Definitely the San Diego Zoo. Old Town, and have lunch.

I like the Old Town trolley tour in San Diego. It goes all over the place, including Old Town, the marina, Balboa Park, Coronado, and you can get on and off wherever sounds interesting.

To my knowledge, there aren't any wineries worth visiting in the San Diego area.

Different people like different things, I'm not sure what your interests are. To me, the most worthwhile tourist destination in the San Diego area (besides the beaches) is the SD Zoo. The USS MIdway (the carrier previously mentioned) is also very interesting if you like that sort of thing. Personally, I think Old Town is overrated but there are several good Mexican restaurants there. There's not much to see on Coronado Island, I think looking at a photo of the Hotel Del would save you a few hours for other things.

In San Francisco, I'd do the Hop on/Hop Off bus tour, it'll take you to the key tourist locations in the city and you can spend time at those that most interest you. Depending upon how much time you have, a visit to Alcatraz is very cool. Be sure to buy tickets in advance, it's very popular.

Have a nice visit.

"One day" being how many limited hours? Try not to waste travel time to and from sites. North, eat seafood. South, eat Mexican. Next time, plant yourself on a beach for a week.

Will you be calling at Monterey? I'll meet you for lunch! If you just have a few hours in San Francisco, enjoy the Ferry Building for lunch. We were in San Diego for vacation last summer, and the Zoo and Sea World are all-day affairs. I wouldn't bother with either unless you have at least 6 hours, not counting travel time. The Midway is very interesting, we all liked it, but plan on lunch somewhere else. Altho there is food available, it isn't worthwhile.

1 day in each? Take a Gray Line tour. At least you'll
see some highlights.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Francisco tour

For me, Chinatown is a must in San Francisco.

oldfixer, I'm native born and but for a few years a life long California resident. I don't agree with your North/South suggestions, my experiences are different.

Food in California is so varied and diverse (just like the people) that generalizations such as you made fail to be accurate or useful.

Snidely, the Bernardo Winery is 125 years old and is the oldest functioning winery in California.

I really, really liked the Gray Line tour in San Francisco. There are coupons available in lots of places (and probably online as well) for Gray Line Tours.

I would NOT want to do a meal in any of the ports with all the meals they serve onboard. Also, be sure that you can get back to your dock on time. One more thing...don't pre-pay for anything just in case that port is cancelled for some reason. We've had that happen....

"Snidely, the Bernardo Winery is 125 years old and is the oldest functioning winery in California."

That's incorrect. The Bernardo Winery claims to be the oldest functioning winery in Southern California. It was founded in 1899.

The Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma is California's oldest commercial winery, established in 1857. And the Gundlach Bundschu Winery, also in Sonoma, was founded the following year (1858) and is California's oldest continuously family-owned and operated winery.

We were in SF last May, had beautiful weather the whole time. We rented bikes and rode around the city. It's not hilly if you stick to the shoreline.

I toally agree with snidely. I too, have spent a great deal of time in California (lived close to where sushipup lives). The variety and freshness of the food is what I have missed the most since I moved from there. Orchards and orchards of fruits and nuts. Fields of fresh veggies. The most recently caught wild seafood. Ah. It's all so good and it's own cuisine up and down the coast. The way they combine those fresh ingredients into their own cuisine is amazing. The vistas amazing. It's a lovely place to live. And visit.

meant to ask... San Diego. What about Balboa Park (the museums and gardens) and Old Town Historic Park? Wouldn't those be good? Didn't much time too far south.

Here is a link that might be useful: Balboa Park

One thing that you might want to think about doing if you want to see the areas is to just hire your own driver...My husband and I are not into hiking and we are not into dealing with a mass of other people from the ship so when we just have a few hours to spend in a location, we hire our own driver and have him drive us to the local spots...He can get you there quicker and in and out a lot easier than any of the ships tours can and for the most part it won't cost you any more...On our Alaska tour our guide was also a local night club singer and when we ask him to take us some where for lunch, we went to the place where he was the local celebrity and we were all greeted with open arms and given a copy of his CD...you can find out what people do when they stop in that location and put it in your stop and you can do twice as much in half the time...Keep reminding yourself though that the cruise is all about the ship and not about the destinations...you are not in any one place long enough to learn much about it...

I just remembered this,,,thought I would add for an FYI the last time we were in Mexico...I dont remember now where it was, Cancun or Puerta Vallarta some where like that, we come off the ship and its the same old same old, all the shops where they want you to buy the over priced jewelry or the cheap crap that will end up in the junk closet in not time flat so John says lets just take a tour of the Island so he goes to the line of limo/taxi's and they want (I can't remember...but lets say $100) John tells the guy that's too much for a 15 drive to the other side of the island and back, how about $75..he shrugs his shoulders and says...sorry, can't do it for that...maybe the guy behind me will do it for less..so we decide it just isn't worth it for that much...there's a bunch of drivers standing around laughing and smoking cigarettes and as we walk off one of them is walking off too...non nonchalantly of course...but as we get to the end of the block and start to cross the street he is at the end of the line in his car and he said, I am not going to have a fare from this ship, and I have a family to feed, $75 sounds good to me...They are all about getting the almighty tourist dollar and as many as they can..they will smile until their face hurts if it gets them an extra dollar...very nice people and lovely to be around...but that's their job and they do it we....and this long diatribe is not to tell you how good my husbands is but to point out that everything is negotiable...not just junky souvenirs but even limo rides.

This post was edited by ruthieg__tx on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 11:13

Thank you all for the suggestions! I will look over them again, more carefully, and there are some ideas in there I didn't know about. So, they are very helpful ideas. Thanks! :)

Ruthie, we are most looking forward to the days at sea to just enjoy peaceful time. Thank you for the idea of a private driver.

Snidley, I asked what you would suggest or want to do yourself. What we enjoy is too varied to list.

OldFixer, if we want to plant ourselves at the beach we could go everyday we don't work, not just a week. We want to take a coastal cruise for a week.

Thanks, again, for the suggestions, everyone, even if they just made me giggle.

Ruthie.....when you say hire a private driver...do you contact a company in advance or just go with a cab driver?

Also, not sure if this is the case all over, but I know that most of the shops where the ships dock in Juneau are owned by the cruise lines....who knew?

Sorry to hijack!

Yes, I meant SOUTHERN California. As in San Diego county.

Deeby, to me wineries are for wine. A winery is worth visiting if it's known for producing wines that are worth tasting and buying. I'm neither an expert nor a snob, but as I said, I'm really not aware of anything south of Santa Barbara that's worth visiting.

There's no official boundary, but broadly I believe Californians think of Southern California as maybe being what lies south of San Luis Obispo (on the coast) and perhaps Bakersfield inland. SD County is a minor part of it. You're welcome to use the term as you wish, but I think almost everyone would misunderstand you if you use the term "Southern California" to mean just San Diego County.