Explora 3 at Port of San Diego
Everything you need for boarding Explora 3 (Explora Journeys) at Port of San Diego. Terminal info, parking, restaurants, hotels, and pro tips.
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Email me the Explora 3 boarding-day plan — pick your sailing below and we'll send your terminal, parking and boarding details now, then reminders a month out to book the hotel, two weeks out to pack, the week before you sail and the day before, whichever are still ahead of you. No newsletter.
Upcoming Sail Dates
Current sailing dates are temporarily unavailable. Use the terminal, parking, hotel, and local guidance below, and confirm your itinerary with the cruise line.
We are not showing sail dates for Explora 3 right now — our San Diego schedule is between checks, so this is a gap in what we can vouch for, not a sign the ship has stopped sailing. Your cruise line has the current dates.
Planning the rest of your port day
Parking rates, boarding windows and getting to the terminal are the same for every ship sailing from San Diego, so they live in one place: parking at San Diego, boarding tips and when you can board.
Getting to the Port
Driving & Parking Near the Piers
There is no port-run lot to aim for. The Port of San Diego does not own or operate cruise parking, so every car ends up with a private operator, and the Port publishes a referral list rather than a price list. The names on it are San Diego's Park, Shuttle & Fly, with two lots on Pacific Highway and a shuttle the Port describes as running 24/7 to and from the cruise ship terminals; Aladdin Airport & Cruise Ship Parking on Kettner Boulevard, with a free shuttle and live tracking; Ace Parking at the Wyndham, BRIC North and BRIC South; and ABM Parking on Harbor Island, in two surface lots and at the Campus at Horton Garage downtown. Only the first two publish a figure you can read before you call.
Cost: $24.95 a day at San Diego's Park, Shuttle & Fly, which is the regular rate — the $18.95 you see advertised is a coupon rate the same page bars cruise patrons from using. Aladdin publishes $21 a day on the rooftop, $23 a day indoors and $30 a day for Quick-Valet, all three framed as airport rates. Ace Parking and ABM Parking publish no rate on the pages we read; both quote by phone or email instead, and Ace's cruise line is staffed weekdays only.
From San Diego International Airport (SAN)
The airport is unusually close to the ships. Its own ground transportation page puts the Cruise Ship Terminal approximately two miles east on N. Harbor Drive, and the Port measures 2.4 miles to the B Street Pier and 2.7 miles to the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier. Ground transportation of every kind leaves from the Transportation Plazas in front of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, so the first decision after baggage claim is which lane you want rather than which road. Neither the Port nor the airport publishes a drive time for the trip; on 2.4 miles of Harbor Drive our own allowance is 10-15 min, and more than that on a morning when the piers are turning around three ships.
Cost: Not published by the airport. San.org lists where each mode picks up and prints no fare for taxi or rideshare, and the city page that once carried taxicab rates now returns a 404. The one published fare on this route is transit: MTS Route 992 is $2.50 for an adult one-way and $1.25 reduced.
MTS Route 992, the Airport Bus
Route 992's own timetable is titled "Downtown San Diego / via Cruise Ship Terminal / Harbor Drive", and the Cruise Ship Terminal is one of its published destinations alongside the Embarcadero and Waterfront Park. It connects to the trolley at America Plaza, Santa Fe Depot and Courthouse. The airport describes the route as serving Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 every day from 4:15 a.m. to midnight, roughly every 15 minutes, on wheelchair-accessible buses, and MTS puts the run between the airport and Santa Fe Depot at about 15 minutes.
Cost: $2.50 for an adult one-way and $1.25 for seniors, riders with disabilities, Medicare recipients and youth. A day pass is $6.00 adult and $3.00 reduced.
Amtrak and the Santa Fe Depot
Trains arrive downtown at Santa Fe Depot, on Kettner Boulevard, which is the closest rail arrival to the piers and the same station MTS Route 992 uses as its downtown anchor. The trolley meets the depot as well, so a rail arrival lands you on the right side of downtown for the waterfront without a transfer through the airport.
Cost: Fares vary by origin and are sold by Amtrak, so there is no flat figure to quote here. The onward leg is the cheap part: Route 992 and the trolley both serve Santa Fe Depot, at $2.50 for an adult one-way and $1.25 reduced.
Where can I park for an Explora 3 cruise?
The sourced rate is above, in Getting to the Port.
Still weighing where to leave the car?
Nearby Restaurants
The Fish Market
Seafood market and restaurant on North Harbor Drive, seven minutes' walk from the pier
Price not publishedCrack Taco Shop
Tri-tip tacos in Seaport Village, with the doors open from 7am every day
Price not publishedGrant Grill at THE US GRANT
The breakfast option — 7am on weekdays, in a Broadway hotel dining room
Price not publishedQueenstown Public House
New Zealand cooking in Little Italy, with a kids menu it publishes on its own page
Price not publishedNearby Hotels
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SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Diego Downtown/Bayfront
All-suite hotel on Bayfront Court that says in its own words it sits next to the cruise port
Wyndham San Diego Bayside
Big conventional tower on North Harbor Drive, four minutes from the B Street Pier
Embassy Suites by Hilton San Diego Bay Downtown
Two-room suites on Pacific Highway, six minutes on foot from the Broadway pier
Hampton Inn San Diego-Downtown
Pacific Highway Hampton, and the only hotel on our list that publishes a parking rate in dollars
Other Ships Sailing from San Diego
Azamara Quest terminal & parking
Azamara
Brilliant Lady terminal & parking
Virgin Voyages
Coral Princess terminal & parking
Princess
Costa Deliziosa terminal & parking
Costa Cruises
Crystal Serenity terminal & parking
Crystal Cruises
Crystal Symphony terminal & parking
Crystal Cruises
Discovery Princess terminal & parking
Princess
Disney Magic terminal & parking
Disney
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