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6 Day Pacific Wine Country Cruise
From Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
To Los Angeles, California, USA
September 16 - 22, 2019

San Francisco, California, USA
Day 4 September 19, 2019, Thursday

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Thursday Princess Patter

San Francisco Port Guide

Disembarkation Questionnaire

Prior Night View From Our Cabin Balcony

Sunrise View From Our Cabin Balcony

Room Service Breakfast

San Francisco Shore Excursion
Sonoma Wine Country

Sonoma Wine Country
SFO300A | San Francisco | Medium
7:30 AM - 1:30 PM | Approx. 6 hours
$129.95 Per Person | Max Group Size: 50

Tour Summary

This tour takes you to the Carneros region of Sonoma to sample and purchase wines at a number of prominent producers, ranging from major labels to boutique vineyards. Also on your itinerary is a brief photo stop at Vista Point on the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Weather permitting, you'll witness sweeping views of San Francisco Bay and the city skyline, as well as Alcatraz, Angel Island and Yerba Buena Island, two islands situated in the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley, Oakland and downtown San Francisco.

Tour Overview

As you board your motorcoach sit back and relax for a scenic drive to the Carneros District in Sonoma County. On the way we will cross the Golden Gate Bridge and leave the city behind to travel through the rolling hills and vineyards on our way to Sonoma region. Sonoma's rise to vinicultural prominence was fueled in part by the development of the Carneros District in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Wineries here and around the town of Sonoma are noted for their fine Chardonnays, Cabernets, Merlot and Riesling.

In route to Carneros, you'll make a brief photo stop at the Golden Gate Bridge, Vista Point. The Golden Gate Bridge is admired for its magnitude and graceful beauty, the bridge took over four years to build and was completed in 1937. Its two towers rise an impressive 746 feet, 191 feet taller than the Washington Monument. Weather permitting, you'll witness sweeping views of San Francisco Bay and the city skyline, as well as Alcatraz, Angel Island and Yerba Buena Island, two islands situated in the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley, Oakland and downtown San Francisco. The stop at the bridge may be done on the return to the ship at the guides discretion.

As we wind our way through the valley you will enjoy the gentle rolling hills and vineyards in the distance . We have scheduled two vineyard's with private wine tastings . The Vineyards private guide will be available during the tastings to answer your questions whether you are an wine connoisseur or just starting to enjoy fine wines. You'll visit two prominent producers, ranging from major labels to boutique vineyards. After the tour and tastings at each of the vineyards you will have some time to explore and purchase some wines which they can arrange to send to you. Some states and countries may not allow the shipment of wines , the staff on site will be able to help you with this.

As we depart the Canaros District sit back and relax as we make our way back into San Francisco and your ship.. As we approach the city, watch for the views of the city, our ship and the bridges of San Francisco.


Our tour bus and a photo taken as we departed Pier 27


Left: Our Tour Guide; Right: Our Bus Driver


The Island Princess at Pier 27 in San Francisco

H. Dana Powers Memorial Vista Point

Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco from the H. Dana Powers Memorial Vista Point:

Cline Cellars




The Cline wines we tasted and the price list

We purchased the following two bottles of wine at Cline Family Cellars:


2014 Cline Meadowbrook Ranch Vineyard Zinfandel
Sustainably Farmed In Tehama County


2016 Cline Lucchesi Vineyard Petite Sirah - Single Vineyard Series
Sustainably Farmed In Contra Costa County


Barbara and Dena at Cline Cellars

Photo Of Vineyards During The Drive

Sonoma Plaza




Who Loves Stickers? Our tour guide gave us "I Love Sonoma" stickers which entitled us to a complimentary single cheese plate with purchase of entry at "The Girl & The Fig" which is where we ate lunch.


A Tesla Model S in Sonoma Plaza

Lunch At The Girl & The Fig Restaurant


Nicholson Ranch Vineyards & Winery


The wines we tasted at Nicholson Ranch



We tasted the first two white wines outdoors near one of their vineyards.


We tasted the red wines at their indoor tasting room

The wine we purchased at Nicholson Ranch:


2012 Pinot Noir Estate Sonoma Coast

Wine Characteristics

Wine Tasting 101

San Francisco Street Car

Photos Of San Francisco
From Our Cabin Balcony

Wines We Drank On The Ship

We purchased the above excellent bottle of wine, 2016 Ancient Peaks "Renegade", at a reasonable price in a restaurant on the ship.


2017 Peter Lehmann Barossa "The Barossan" Shiraz

We brought two bottles onto the ship with us of the above 2016 Painted Rock Estate Grown Unfiltered Cabernet Franc (14.9% ABV) that we had purchased in Vancouver, BC, Canada. This wine is from Okanagan Valley BC VQA. We wanted to have some wines from the vineyards of British Columbia, Canada, to try on this cruise.

Barbara, my wife

Bayou Cafe Menu

Island Princess Senior Officers

Port Of San Francisco

Heading off the cruise ship for a night on the town!


Zingori Ristorante & Jazz Bar





2013 Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino

Black Cat



Grammy-Collaborator Sean Jones with Howard Wiley & Extra Nappy


Red Wine List



2017 Valravn Sonoma County Zinfandel


Linda, Barbara and Dena

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If in this report you see any typos, misspellings, factual errors or other types of errors, please let me know. Please include the web address (URL) of the report in which you found the error. Thank you! Send your email to:

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