SAN FRANCISCO
Visitors can take a ferry ride to Alcatraz Island and abandoned edifices virtually blown to bits by director Michael Bay.
Then there’s San Francisco. As cruise ships pass below the Golden Gate Bridge, passengers on deck may be reminded of Alfred Hitchcock and his local masterpiece Vertigo. Further into the bay, Alcatraz Island comes into view, and others may think of The Rock.
Just like in the Sean Connery film — which partially filmed in one of the cruise pier interiors — visitors can take a ferry ride to Alcatraz Island and abandoned edifices virtually blown to bits by director Michael Bay. Or as an homage to Hitchcock as well as Mel Brooks, fans can visit the filming locations of the parody High
Anxiety, including Fort Point and the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.
The city’s Victorian-style row homes are architecturally magnificent in their own right, but two in particular will interest film and television buffs: the houses from Mrs. Doubtfire and Full House.
All of these instances are but a fraction of the potential sites available to be seen at any given time, and there are always new projects in production — especially in Los Angeles — to scope out. The key is to do a web search for your favorites ahead of time to ensure you don’t miss any.
California Homeports
Making it all the easier to get to California and explore its exciting filming locations are the cruise lines themselves. The latest and greatest news comes from regional favorite Carnival Cruise Line, which will be homeporting the upcoming Carnival Panorama in Long Beach in 2019, the first brand-new ship from the line to call SoCal home in 20 years.
That kind of extra commitment speaks as much to the viability of the destination as Disney Cruise Line’s increased dedication. Disney Wonder has scheduled a higher count of roundtrip turnarounds from San Diego on its way down to Baja and the Mexican Riviera.
Meanwhile, remaining a regular from San Diego is Holland America Line. Princess Cruises continues to frequent San Pedro. Even Norwegian Cruise Line has announced several cruises from the Los Angeles port aboard its newest ship, Norwegian Bliss, between its Alaskan and Caribbean seasons. Gone, it would seem, thankfully, are the days of California getting visited only by hand-me-down vessels.