Before we had kids, we used to get ourselves up in the middle of the night in order to make it to LAX for an early flight, trying to beat the traffic. To be fair, we still can make it to the LA or San Diego Ports in order to catch a ship in reasonable time… but more and more, especially with a family in tow, we’ve opted to stay the night before by the airport, or ship terminal. If you’re sailing in a different state, I always advise to fly in the day before… dealing with the stress of plane delays and missing the boat are just not worth it, not matter how early your flight is! It’s much nicer to get there, relax, and get to ship at your leisure without panicking or reducing your well paid for time onboard! In our case, Southern California traffic is so crazy we’d much rather lay our heads right next to the airport, have our car parked and hop a shuttle rather than stress when half awake about an accident or some delay that will make our travel experience unpleasant. So on that note… San Diego!
Amazing pre-Cruise (tour) Downtown San Diego Dinner in Little Italy
$3.50 Margarita Across from San Diego Terminal!
We’ve made a habit of flying out of San Diego to Hawaii the last several years, and always stay the night before. This year we were traveling with another family, and for the first time stayed at the Sheraton, which was amazing – we had a great room, and were able to park our car for the trip when we arrived, and simply hopped a shuttle in the early morning hours for our Kona flight. When we returned, Mr. Cain Travel went solo back to retrieve the van and picked us up curbside while we got the bags and wrangled kids – super smooth! I’d highly recommend the Sheraton for any San Diego Airport related stays, or for a cruise as well. Our kids loved the pool, as well as the balloon animals in the lobby! 🙂 The best thing is that it’s part of the Cheap Airport Parking program, so you can not only stay there for a night before, after (or both) from your trip, but keep your car onsite for an affordable rate.
View from our room at San Diego Sheraton Airport Marina
Sheraton San Diego has an awesome pool!
Balloon Animals for Kids in Sheraton San Diego Lobby are super cool!
For our ship tour, my friend and colleague Lyndsey and I decided we didn’t want the stress of traffic in the morning and making the tour, so we went down for a kid free night out beforehand. Rates were higher than normal due to a convention in Downtown San Diego (something to watch for), so we ended up at the Best Western Bayside Inn. While not fancy, it included a nice breakfast, had a basic clean room, a swimming pool, and was in easy walking distance of the cruise terminal. It also had an airport shuttle available. I would definitely stay here with my kids as an affordable location before a cruise. By far the closest hotel to the San Diego Cruise Terminal is the Wyndham, which has ocean views, plenty of restaurants on the same block, and Resort amenities. You can literally wheel your bags across the street and onto the boat from this hotel, and it’s ideal as a pre or post cruise destination!
Bayside Inn is Affordable and a short walk from the pier!
Pool at Bayside Inn
View from our room at Best Western Bayside Inn
Wyndham San Diego is across the street from the pier! Claim Jumper & Ruth Chris Nearby 🙂
The entire Downtown and Bayside San Diego is gorgeous, with plenty of options! Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton and all the major chains have places nearby, as well as great local hotels to check out as well! Let me know if you have any questions! I love San Diego – to visit, and to travel from! 🙂
We Cain Travel 
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