Mariner question(s)

[coordinator23]

We will be on M of S Feb 7 - 14. We need to catch a flight back to ORD. When do they let people off the ship in San Pedro? How long is the trip to LAX? Should we shuttle or rent a car to get back to the airport? Is there a program in place (like in Fl) where we can check our bags through while on the ship? Some of us have to be back at work the next day, so we want to get as early a flight as possible (6 hr time difference = 4hrs on plane and time zone change) and not arrive home too late. Jet lag will be bad enough. Please help
(Also we're flying in a day early. Any suggestons as to a place to stay overnight. Mid range hotel/motel )

[joyfulmarsh]

Some of your questions can be culled from the West Coast Departure Board:http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=413

[elleluv]

Originally Posted by coordinator23

We will be on M of S Feb 7 - 14. We need to catch a flight back to ORD. When do they let people off the ship in San Pedro? How long is the trip to LAX? Should we shuttle or rent a car to get back to the airport? Is there a program in place (like in Fl) where we can check our bags through while on the ship? Some of us have to be back at work the next day, so we want to get as early a flight as possible (6 hr time difference = 4hrs on plane and time zone change) and not arrive home too late. Jet lag will be bad enough. Please help
(Also we're flying in a day early. Any suggestons as to a place to stay overnight. Mid range hotel/motel )

That's a lot of questions...

Disembarking on Mariner has gone very well the 3 times we've done it this year.... Express usually starts at about 7:45... I'd recommend a flight time of 11:30 or after. It's about 20-30 minutes to LAX, since Mariner comes in on Sunday, you don't have a lot of traffic.

We like using Super Shuttle for transportation to/from the port... There is a discount code available on the West Coast Departures area you can use if you make reservations in advance.

They do have a luggage valet program available... If I remember correctly, your flight has to be after 12:00 noon... We used it on our May cruise and it was awesome.

Hotels in that area are not cheap... the 2 that seem to get recommended consistently on the West Coast boards are the Crowne Plaza and Doubletree.

Have a great time on Mariner! We love her.

[cruisermob]

We were on the Mariner in June, and also had to fly into ORD. We had a 12:30pm flight and made it in plenty of time. We did use the luggage valet service and checked our luggage through to ORD. I know it is only available for certain airlines. We were on United, and I know it is also available for American. Worked well, no problems with luggage. We were off the ship around 9:00 am, and used the bus service offered through Royal Caribbean. We were at the airport by 10:30 am. You can reserve a spot on their shuttle service prior to the cruise. We also came in the night before and stayed at the Doubletree in San Pedro. They had a free shuttle service to the ship starting at 10:00 am. You have to sign up for it the night before. Hope this helps.

[Happy ks]

Check flights out of Long Beach as well. LGB is a little closer to the port and a whole bunch nicer to fly in and out of than LAX.

I'd not book a flight before noon. Best scenario you have time to waste at the airport, worst scenario the ship is delayed and you miss your early flight. You won't know which will happen until it's history.

[elleluv]

Just wanted to mention that Luggage Valet is only available if your flight is out of LAX.... We love Long Beach and flew through there on our last cruise in July, we were disappointed when we found out we couldn't use the program.

[reddevil1179]

Hotels in that area are not cheap... the 2 that seem to get recommended consistently on the West Coast boards are the Crowne Plaza and Doubletree.

I just booked a room last night at the DoubleTree in San Pedro for our Mariner cruise next month. I used the website that the guy from Star Trek promotes (trying not to get in trouble for using the real name ) and got it for $77 a night. Total came to $95 for one night with taxes and fees. Still much better than the $165 rate on the DT website and $130 rate I've seen on other travel sites. Just do the name your own price thing and choose a 3.5 star in the San Pedro area.

[Garyorient]

Originally Posted by coordinator23

We will be on M of S Feb 7 - 14. We need to catch a flight back to ORD. When do they let people off the ship in San Pedro? How long is the trip to LAX? Should we shuttle or rent a car to get back to the airport? Is there a program in place (like in Fl) where we can check our bags through while on the ship? Some of us have to be back at work the next day, so we want to get as early a flight as possible (6 hr time difference = 4hrs on plane and time zone change) and not arrive home too late. Jet lag will be bad enough. Please help
(Also we're flying in a day early. Any suggestons as to a place to stay overnight. Mid range hotel/motel )

Surely the jet lag issue is minimal? Unless I don't understand aviation or USA timezones (which I think I do)

If you got a flight at 2.30 in the afternoon (perfectly manageable - that is the time I am flying to Vegas from my Mariner cruise) you would get in at 830 at night. What possible jet lag are you going to suffer on a 2 hour time zone difference?

[gvanpelt]

We are staying overnight Saturday for a Sunday 5pm cruise. I was thinking it would be fun to shop in the Ports of Call villiage in San Pedro before going to board the ship. My question is if check out from the hotel (Doubletree in Carson) is noon, what do people do with the bags until they board the cruise? Has anyone stayed at the Doubletree in Carson (much less expensive than the one in Long Beach and they have free shuttle to the ship plus of course the park n sail package. Any tips would be great.

[akcruz]

Originally Posted by gvanpelt

We are staying overnight Saturday for a Sunday 5pm cruise. I was thinking it would be fun to shop in the Ports of Call villiage in San Pedro before going to board the ship. My question is if check out from the hotel (Doubletree in Carson) is noon, what do people do with the bags until they board the cruise? Has anyone stayed at the Doubletree in Carson (much less expensive than the one in Long Beach and they have free shuttle to the ship plus of course the park n sail package. Any tips would be great.

Most weeks they start letting passenger on board before noon, so unless you really want to shop, I would just get on the ship and start enjoying. No need to kill time.