San Francisco #2 - February 4, 2012

San Francisco, what a beautiful city -- day and night!  And we were fortunate when the ship both entered and left the harbor under the Golden Gate Bridge this morning and evening there were clear skies and no fog!  Spectacular!

We woke around 4 am because the Captain had said that the ship would be coming into the Bay early in the morning.  Steve braved the brisk morning air on the upper deck to catch a few pictures of the bridge.  As the sun came up, we were docked at Pier 33 and were able to take nice pictures from the ship of the city and harbor.

Alcatraz

Sea Lions Pier 39

The ‘segment’ people (those not staying on the World Cruise) were disembarking from the ship all morning. We were cleared to disembark at 11 am.  Our day revolved around errands-- including lots of walking in the Union Square area.  On our way back, we happened to catch a nice glimpse of the Transamerica Pyramid building and the Chinatown Gate.  Back at the pier area, we detoured to Pier 39 for pictures of the resident sea lions. 

On the ship this evening, we had nice phone chats with Lesley & Geoff, then off we sail.  We didn’t forget to get a picture of Alcatraz Island. Also on our way out of the bay, a picture of the emblematic San Francisco Ghirardelli sign all lit up.  As we pass under the Golden Gate Bridge this evening, the ship and the bridge exchange horn blasts; little did we Midwesterners know that bridges have horns!

The ship will be at sea four full days as we steam to Hawaii.

Nautical Term of the day:  The Plimsoll Mark – The term “waterline” generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface.  It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship may be loaded for specific water types and temperatures.  The marking was invented in the 1870s by Samuel Plimsoll.  All commercial ships have a Plimsoll Mark symbol painted amidships on each side of the ship.  The symbol must also be permanently marked so that if the pain wears off it remains visible.

Cruise musings:  As we sit at dinner this evening, we realize that there are a lot of familiar faces around us.  Fellow world cruisers who we haven’t met but we feel closer to since so many others have departed and arrived today.