San Francisco cruise terminal: Pier 27 or Pier 35?

Your ship leaves from Pier 27 or Pier 35, two piers on The Embarcadero that the Port of San Francisco puts 6 to 8 minutes' walk apart. Pier 27 is the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal, and most departures use it. The pier for your date comes from the port's own published schedule, so check the row for your sailing instead of going by the cruise line.

• Pier 27, the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal. The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111, on the northern waterfront. Every Princess and Azamara departure in the port's schedule uses it.
• Pier 35. Also on the northern waterfront of The Embarcadero, a short walk north of Pier 27. Carnival Luminosa uses it on some dates.

This site is independent. We are not the port, a terminal operator, a cruise line or a travel agent. The port says it does not manage cruise reservations either, so bookings go through the lines.

Which pier does a cruise from San Francisco leave from?

Look up your date. The Port of San Francisco publishes one schedule a year as a PDF on its cruise page, and each row gives the ship, the arrival and departure days, the berth and whether the call is a full turnaround or a visit in transit. We copy the berth from that row and never infer it from the line, because Carnival Luminosa uses both piers in 2027.

The schedule shows the pier on every sailing. Today 53 of the 101 sailings here show Pier 27 and 4 show Pier 35. The rest leave after 31 December 2027, the last day the port has published, so they show no pier yet.

On 3 November 2026 the port's page linked a 2026 file updated 22 October 2026 and a 2027 file updated 13 August 2026. It had no 2028 file. When one appears, the later sailings get their pier.

Your boarding documents have the last word. Princess says the port location is subject to change and tells guests to check the itinerary details after booking.

Which cruise lines use Pier 27 and Pier 35?

Princess and Azamara use Pier 27 on every date in the port's schedule, and Carnival uses both. This is what the port's 2026 and 2027 files showed when we read them, for the ships on our schedule.

Line	Ship	Pier in the port's schedule
Princess	Ruby Princess	Pier 27 on every departure
Carnival	Carnival Luminosa	Pier 27 on most dates, Pier 35 on some
Azamara	Azamara Quest	Pier 27
Carnival	Carnival Legend	Sails from 2028, after the schedule ends
Regent	Seven Seas Splendor	Sails from 2028, after the schedule ends

The port lists Pier 35 as Pier 35 South. In its 2027 file, each Carnival Luminosa turnaround at Pier 35 falls on a day when another ship is booked into Pier 27. That was Ruby Princess on most of those days and Norwegian Bliss on 28 April 2027. Treat that as a pattern in one file, not a rule.

You will also see ships that do not start cruises here. The port's schedule lists visits in transit by Holland America, Norwegian, Celebrity and other lines, and some use Pier 35 while your ship is at Pier 27. Those are stops on someone else's cruise, and they are not departures you can book from San Francisco.

Pier 27

Pier 27 is the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal, which the port says opened in 2014. It sits on the northern waterfront of The Embarcadero. Carnival's port list gives the address as The Embarcadero, Pier 27, San Francisco, CA 94111. Ships berthed here can plug into the port's 12-megawatt shore power system. The Pier 27 page lists every sailing from it.

• Drop-off. The port says taxis and other vehicles may drop off cruise passengers at the terminal hall entrance. Princess says taxis and rideshare vehicles are available pierside for all guests.
• On foot from BART. The port puts the terminal about a 20-minute walk from Embarcadero BART and Muni station. Our walking route measured about 1 mile.
• By streetcar. The nearest stop is The Embarcadero and Sansome Street, on Muni's F Market and Wharves line.
• Parking. The port provides no temporary or overnight parking at the terminals. Our cruise parking guide covers the garages nearby.
• Luggage. The terminal does not store bags. The lockers at PIER 39 are covered below.

Pier 35

Pier 35 is also on the northern waterfront of The Embarcadero, and the port says it is about a 6 to 8 minute walk north from Pier 27. Its nearest streetcar stop is The Embarcadero and Bay Street, the next F-line stop after Sansome Street heading toward Fisherman's Wharf. The Pier 35 page lists every sailing from it.

The port's page gives no separate drop-off instructions for Pier 35, so follow the emails your line sends before you sail. If your car drops you at Pier 27 by mistake, the walk with your bags is the 6 to 8 minutes the port describes.

Carnival's port list names both piers in one entry, Pier 27 and Pier 35, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111. A Carnival booking alone does not tell you which pier you need. Your boarding pass and the port's row for your date do.

How do you get to Pier 27 by BART and Muni?

Take BART to Embarcadero station, then walk about 20 minutes north or ride the F-line streetcar. These are the steps, with what each operator's page said on 3 November 2026.

1. Ride BART to Embarcadero. The station is at 298 Market Street, at the foot of Market Street near the Ferry Building. Trains from SFO run there without a change. Our airport guide has the fares and times from SFO, Oakland and San Jose.
2. Get up to the street. BART says you need two elevators to travel between the trains and the street, and the street elevator is at Main Street and Market Street. That matters with heavy bags.
3. Walk or ride the F line. Walking, follow The Embarcadero north. By streetcar, board an F train toward Fisherman's Wharf at Market Street and Main Street or at The Embarcadero and Ferry Building stop. Get off at The Embarcadero and Sansome Street for Pier 27, or The Embarcadero and Bay Street for Pier 35.

SFMTA listed F-line service from 7 a.m. to midnight every day on 3 November 2026, so it does not help with a very early arrival. A single Muni ride was $2.85 with Clipper, MuniMobile or a contactless card and $3.00 in cash on 3 November 2026, good for 120 minutes of travel.

With two people and several cases, a taxi from the station may be simpler than the streetcar. Our route by road from Embarcadero station to Pier 27 measured about 1.4 miles.

Where do taxis and rideshares drop off at Pier 27?

At the terminal hall entrance. The port says taxis and vehicles may drop off cruise passengers there. Princess adds that taxis and rideshare vehicles are available pierside for all guests, which covers the ride back after your cruise.

Give the driver the pier number from your boarding pass, not just "the cruise terminal." Pier 27 and Pier 35 are separate stops on The Embarcadero, and a driver heading to the wrong one leaves you with a walk.

If someone is dropping you off and then parking, unload the people and the bags at the terminal first. The port has no parking at either pier, and the nearest garages are a walk away.

How does check-in work at the San Francisco cruise terminal?

Your cruise line runs check-in, so its emails and app overrule anything general. These are the rules Princess and Carnival publish for their guests.

Princess at Pier 27

• Pick an arrival group. Princess staggers check-in through the day. It says selection typically opens 30 days before embarkation in the Princess app, and that a group is assigned automatically 24 hours before if you have not chosen one.
• Arrive in your window. Princess recommends arriving within your assigned check-in window. If you come early, it says you may drop off luggage but will be asked to return at your designated time.
• Have your boarding pass ready. Princess asks for it on arrival and suggests saving it to a phone wallet or taking a screenshot.
• Finish OceanReady first. Princess says you can complete check-in at the port if needed, but strongly recommends doing OceanReady in advance.
• Do not cut it fine. Princess says boarding typically begins several hours before departure and closes well before the ship leaves.

Carnival at Pier 27 or Pier 35

• Online check-in. Carnival requires it by midnight Eastern time before your sailing date. You choose an arrival appointment there, and everyone in the stateroom should be at the terminal at that time.
• What to show. Your boarding pass, a photo ID and your citizenship documents, including any visas.
• Bags. Checked baggage service ends 2 hours before the ship's published departure. Carnival luggage tags must be on your bags before you reach the terminal. Carnival says curbside porters are not its employees, and its tipping guideline is $1 a bag.
• Final boarding. Be on board by the Final Boarding time on your boarding pass, or Carnival will not let you sail.

Azamara and Regent send their own boarding instructions, so use those. Our documents guide covers passports and IDs, and the first-time cruiser FAQ covers the rest of the day.

Can you store luggage at the San Francisco cruise terminal?

No. The port says luggage storage is not offered at the cruise terminals. It points instead to self-service luggage lockers at the California Welcome Center at PIER 39, Level 2, for a daily fee with all-day in-and-out access.

PIER 39's own page said on 3 November 2026 that the lockers come in several sizes, starting at $10 for all-day storage. Our walking route from PIER 39 to Pier 27 measured about 0.7 mile, around 15 minutes.

That helps on the last morning if your flight is late in the day, because the terminal will not hold your bags while you see the city.

What about Piers 30 and 32?

The port's page also gives directions to Piers 30/32, less than a mile south of the Ferry Building, between Bryant and Brannan streets. No call in the port's 2026 or 2027 schedules uses it, so it should not appear on your boarding pass. If it ever does, the port names The Embarcadero and Brannan Street as the nearest streetcar stop.

For a bed the night before, see hotels near Pier 27. For the car, see cruise parking in San Francisco.