17 Hours to San Diego

Wine Country Coastal Cruise on Discovery Princess 

April 28, 2024 - Sunday

I was too busy with other things the last few weeks and totally neglected to update this blog on Discovery Princess. Hope we can still pick up from where we left off and continue this journey up north to Vancouver.

From our house in L.A. county, driving to San Diego would take about two hours and a half, usually. On this cruise though, it was a 17-hour sailing. We left San Pedro at 300PM Saturday, and by the time we woke up in San Diego, it was 8:00 on Sunday. Now, where did we sail to? Heaven knows! I suppose to somewhere where gambling is allowed so people can have some fun whether they win or lose in the casino!

It was amazing waking up in the morning and right before your eyes it's the USS Midway! Wow! We had the privilege that this giant was right outside our cabin that whole day. I am not a battleship enthusiast but it was still awesome having this sight in port.

Sailing into the Port of San Diego,

USS Midway and Museum

Breakfast in the main dining room before our busy day.

Port of San Diego

The cruise ship terminal (Terminal B) is right next to the Broadway Pier. With two ships in port, it made for a very busy place the whole day. As we walked off our ship, we had to go through the part where the Disney Wonder was docked with thousands of tired cruise passengers just debarking and the new group of excited people trying to get on the ship. It was not easy to wind our way outside the terminal through the rolling suitcases, yelling passengers, and directing security personnel. After going on a couple wrong directions, we finally made it outside the gate. 

We did not realize that there is so much to see around the port area. With a long day in port, we were able to explore as much as possible where our legs will take us. Let's start turning right as we reached the port gate.

Our ship at the cruise terminal. we had to walk across to the terminal building where Disney Wonder was docked, then through the gate to get outside.

First sight was our beautiful ship!

then past the Broadway Pier, where ferries to Coronado can be taken, and then the USS Midway.

A beautiful aircraft carrier but we decided not to visit since it is going to be so busy on a Sunday.

There were vendors selling different wares along the embarcadero as we walked south towards Tuna Harbor. Our goal was to check out the statue that some people find it offensive and I believe it's called "Unconditional Surrender".  Who knows, this may be gone one of these days.

the statue

The National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military is also nearby.

I thought that was interesting as they played recordings of Bob Hope jokes continuously.

View of the bay.

Walking back to the embarcadero the USS San Diego memorial caught our eyes.

an unusual memorial indeed

Continued our walk towards Seaport Village.

Seaport Fountain inside Seaport Village

Some beautiful places to shop and rest. We have plans to come back in the evening, so we did not spend too much time here in the morning.

Embarcadero Marina Park, beautiful, but don't use the public restrooms here. Dirty and without doors.

Merchant Seamen Memorial at the park.

From the park looking back at Seaport Village.

Gaslamp District

We have been to San Diego a few times in the past but had never seen the Gaslamp District. We were curious as to what it is like that it is so famous. We decided to walk down to that area and check it out. It as quite a long walk but walking is what we do in ports anyway, so here we go. There are many old buildings in this area, but other than that not much was interesting to us. I suppose if people like bars and busy restaurants, they may find plenty of them here.

Beautiful old buildings.

After walking around for a couple of blocks, we decided to head back to the port area. Seemed easy to just follow Broadway, the main road, towards the pier.

A pretty, small park in downtown San Diego, I believe it is called "Horton Plaza Historic Park". 

There must be some story behind this, but we did not check. 

Views along Broadway.

Old...

...and new.

Little Italy

Before reaching the pier area, we made a turn on India Street where it took us to Little Italy. It happened that they were having some kind of fair there. It was definitely very busy but full of activities and excitement. 

We planned on having lunch here at one of the popular restaurants but with so many vendors set up for the fair, we were a little distracted but finally stuck to our original plan of going to Filippi's.

Many people showing up for the fair.

We found the restaurant right near the Little Italy sign.

Past the store inside to the restaurant area.

very spacious with plenty of tables.

We ordered a Filippi's Special pizza ($26.25) and

a Combination Plate with meatball, sausage, ravioli and spaghetti ($22.50).

The three of us barely able to finish these and they were absolutely delicious!

It was a wonderful meal with good food and excellent service.

After lunch, we walked around a little more and then headed back to the cruise terminal

I believe this is one of the SD Trolleys.

From Waterfront Park we could see both cruise ships docked side by side.

Old Town Trolley, a HOHO tour bus.

We have walked a long way today. Time to get back on the ship for some rest.

To get back on the ship, we were stopped by the security guard as we walked towards our ship. We did not know that we were supposed to go inside the terminal building first and go through security check, then come back out to cross the parking lot to our ship. There was quite a long line for security check because of the Disney passengers boarding and also passengers from our ship returning. It is what it is and we made it back to the ship albeit a little longer than expected.

Oh, this was how son's bed was set up.

Instead of waiting for our dining time in the MDR, which would make it too late to go out again, we had an earlier dinner at the buffet. Left the ship again and headed out for an evening in port.

beautiful sunset!

This time, we spent more time in Seaport Village. 

Checking out the stores ...

and enjoyed the scenery.

As we were walking back to the ship, the lighting at USS San Diego Memorial also made it into a different mood than when it was under the sun A little eerie and sad feeling.

A little scary even!

Back on the ship at 9:00. Discovery won't leave until 10:00. By now, Disney Magic already left port and the cruise terminal was quiet again. This time we knew we should go inside the building and went through security again. It was very different, quiet and empty this time around.

Saying "Goodbye" to San Diego. What a day we had!

Please click here for video of our day in San Diego.

"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest and repent."   -- Revelation 3:19