Pier 27 Cruise Terminal at Port of San Francisco
Drop-off directions, parking info, check-in tips, and ships sailing from Pier 27 Cruise Terminal at Port of San Francisco.
What is the address of Pier 27 Cruise Terminal?
Tell your GPS: Pier 27, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111
Address published by Port of San Francisco — Cruise, checked 2026-08-17.
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Drop-Off & Parking
How much is parking at Pier 27 Cruise Terminal?
There is no passenger parking at the pier. The Port states it directly — temporary or overnight parking is not provided at the cruise terminals — and directs passengers instead to Metropolis, which it says offers cruise parking at 55 Francisco Street and 80 Francisco Street, roughly a half-mile walk south. The Port adds two cautions of its own: book the reservation directly with Metropolis, and confirm it with the parking company before the trip, because the Port provides the information as a courtesy and does not manage the lot. Two details are worth knowing before you drive. The garages publish a drive-up maximum of $21.60 a day and close at 7:00pm, and their own lot data records that overnight parking is not allowed unless you are a cruise passenger — which is to say the prepaid, dated cruise reservation is the only compliant way to leave a car for a sailing, not merely the cheaper one. And 80 Francisco Street posts a 6-foot-5 height restriction, which rules out most roof boxes and raised trucks; 55 Francisco Street posts 7 feet. Separately, there is a surface lot physically on Pier 27, run by Impark as Lot #81, and it is the one thing here most likely to catch a driver out: the operator's own listing says that if a cruise ship is docked, no parking is allowed, and that on a day before an arrival all vehicles must be off the pier by 6:00pm. It shows up in map apps as parking at the terminal, and it is closed on precisely the days a passenger would want it.
Where do you drop off passengers at Pier 27 Cruise Terminal?
Pier 27 sits on the northern waterfront of The Embarcadero, between Chestnut and Lombard streets, and the Port's instruction for arriving passengers is a single sentence: taxis and vehicles may drop off cruise passengers at the terminal hall entrance. The Port publishes no driving directions of its own on that page, so approach it as you would any Embarcadero address — the waterfront boulevard runs the length of the city's northeast edge and the terminal fronts directly onto it. The Port measures the terminal at about a 20 minute walk from the Embarcadero BART and Muni station, and names The Embarcadero/Sansome Street as the nearest streetcar stop, which is across the road from the building. Because there is nowhere to leave a car afterwards, treat the curb as a drop-off and nothing more: unload passengers and bags at the terminal hall, then take the car on to one of the Francisco Street garages.
All Port of San Francisco parking & transport options →
Still weighing where to leave the car?
What should you know before check-in at Pier 27 Cruise Terminal?
- Finish your cruise line's online check-in before you travel — every line calling here runs its own window, its own arrival appointments and its own app.
- Check which pier your ship uses. The Port berths most calls at Pier 27 and about one in eight at Pier 35, and your booking documents name the berth.
- There is no parking at either terminal and no luggage storage, so sort the Francisco Street garages before you drive in rather than on the day.
- Arrive inside your own line's arrival window. San Francisco turns two ships on one morning several times a year, and the windows are what shape the queue.
- The Port's own tariff calls Pier 27 the primary passenger terminal and says it may elect to offer an alternative berth; across its published 2026 and 2027 schedules, 78 calls a year work Pier 27 and 11 work Pier 35.
- The garages the Port names want a prepaid, dated cruise reservation rather than a drive-up: they close at 7:00pm, and the operator's own lot record bars overnight parking except for booked cruise passengers.
Current sailing dates are temporarily unavailable. Use the terminal, parking, hotel, and local guidance below, and confirm your itinerary with the cruise line.
Ships That Usually Sail from Pier 27 Cruise Terminal
These terminal associations are historical and may have changed. Confirm your terminal with your cruise line.
AIDAdiva terminal & parking
AIDA Cruises
Arcadia terminal & parking
P&O Cruises
Azamara Quest terminal & parking
Azamara
Carnival Luminosa terminal & parking
Carnival
Costa Deliziosa terminal & parking
Costa Cruises
Crown Princess terminal & parking
Princess
Emerald Princess terminal & parking
Princess
Explora III terminal & parking
Explora Journeys
Ruby Princess terminal & parking
Princess
Other Terminals at Port of San Francisco
What's near Pier 27 Cruise Terminal for last-minute needs?
Nothing inside the terminal gate is set up for shopping, and the Port states that luggage storage is not offered at the cruise terminals. What Pier 27 does have around it is a 2.5-acre public open space: the Port describes Cruise Terminal Plaza as a 34,000 square foot lawn and a 47,000 square foot plaza with paved paths and fifty benches, and says signs around the park tell the stories of ships that have called at the Port. For anything you actually forgot, the walk is short — Trader Joe's at 401 Bay Street and the Walgreens at 1175 Columbus Avenue cover groceries, sunscreen and pharmacy items, and the Safeway at 145 Jackson Street is the closest full-size grocery going the other way, open to 11:00pm.
Nearby Restaurants
Boudin Bakery, Bakers Hall
The lower level of Boudin's Jefferson Street flagship runs a bakery cafe with the demonstration bakery behind glass and clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl.
$$ · 13 min walk from Pier 35
Tony's Pizza Napoletana
One Stockton Street kitchen runs twelve separate pizza styles, each baked in the oven and at the temperature that style needs.
$$ · 12 min walk from Pier 27
Molinari Delicatessen
Salami has been cured under this Columbus Avenue address since 1896, and the counter at the back builds sandwiches from the same product the company ships nationwide.
$ · 15 min walk from Pier 27
Sotto Mare Oysteria & Seafood
A small Italian seafood room on Green Street that stakes its reputation on one dish, advertising "The Best Damn Cioppino in San Francisco!" across its own homepage.
$$ · 13 min walk from Pier 27
Local Tip
Pier 27, the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal, is on the northern waterfront of The Embarcadero between Chestnut and Lombard streets, and the Port's whole instruction for arriving passengers is that taxis and vehicles may drop off cruise passengers at the terminal hall entrance. Plan the car out of the trip before you set off, because there is nowhere to leave it: the Port states that temporary or overnight parking is not provided at the cruise terminals, and points instead at Metropolis, which runs cruise parking at 55 Francisco Street and 80 Francisco Street about a half-mile south. Those are prepaid, dated products booked against your ship rather than drive-up spaces — the garages shut at 7:00pm and their own lot record bars overnight parking except for cruise passengers, so the $21.60 published drive-up daily maximum is not a price you can use for a week away. Check the clearance too: 80 Francisco Street posts 6 feet 5 inches and 55 Francisco Street posts 7 feet. Ignore the surface lot you will see on the pier itself in map apps; Impark's own listing for Lot #81 says that when a cruise ship is docked, no parking is allowed. Arriving by transit, the Port measures the terminal at about a 20 minute walk from Embarcadero BART and Muni, and the F Market streetcar stop at The Embarcadero/Sansome Street is across the road from the door. Luggage storage is not offered at the terminals, so an early arrival cannot check a bag and go walk the waterfront.
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