San Francisco became the official home port for the ship Grand Princess Saturday.
No longer will people in the Bay Area have to fly somewhere to start a cruise. They just need to hop in a car, bus or BART and get to Pier 35.
The Grand Princess is a 2,600-passenger ship that has several round trip cruises along the California coast or to Hawaii, Alaska, or Mexico planned in the coming 15 months.
The list from Princess Cruises shows options included a 15 day round trip cruise to Hawaii and several ten day trips to either Mexico or Alaska.
The Princess Cruises says its first few trips are already sold out.
A cruise ship spokesperson said every time the Grand Princess comes into San Francisco, passengers will spend an average of $1 million on San Francisco hotels, restaurants and other attractions.
The ship came in early Saturday and was scheduled to leave in the afternoon. The departure was at least five hours delayed.
The folks on board will be heading to Hawaii.
The Grand Princess will become a normal visitor along the Embarcadero as it makes 37 scheduled cruises over the next 15 months.
Local
In that time some 100,000 passengers will come aboard, according to ship management.
Having a cruise ship stop in San Francisco is not unusual, but having one that has the City as its home base year round hasn't happened in decades.
