Hey JoAnn!
Keith and I are going to San Fran early. Arrive mid-day Thurs 9/3. We got a great rate for Thurs and Fri at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero.

Excellent location for our needs: Avis is in the building, BART Embarcadero station across the street makes transfer from SFO to hotel cheap and easy, directly on cable car line, quick taxi ride to the pier on Saturday. It's also the hotel used in Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety", a personal favorite LOL

We intend to tour Alcatraz Thurs night, rent a car Fri to go to San Jose' - Winchester Mystery House - then explore San Francisco using walking tour books and cable cars right up to boarding time Saturday :)

I'm sure locals on the boards will have other suggestions based upon your needs and what you want to do in San Fran. The above is just perfect for us.

Looking forward to meeting you!
Cheers,
Ash

Edited to add: Has anyone else noticed how quickly this cruise went from mostly "available" to almost entirely "waitlist?" I guess tax refunds were better than expected LOL