Port of Los Angeles

Just booked a last minute short cruise on the Crown out of LA. I've read previous posts about Prime Time Shuttle and Super Shuttle from LAX. However I've checked out reviews for both of them and they aren't very good. What experiences have you had or what airport transportation did you use? Shuttle or Princess transfers?

We have used Super Shuttle several times and have been pleased with

their service. We will again be using them this week.

Just booked a last minute short cruise on the Crown out of LA. I've read previous posts about Prime Time Shuttle and Super Shuttle from LAX. However I've checked out reviews for both of them and they aren't very good. What experiences have you had or what airport transportation did you use? Shuttle or Princess transfers?

I have used them both with no issues, but we always arrive a few days before the cruise. The shuttles take on passengers that go to various locations, not just to the San Pedro pier, and hold about 15 passengers. There may be stops at hotels, and other places along the way. If time is tight, take a private taxi or the Princess transfer.

You have to take service industry reviews with a grain of salt. Not very many people who had good service post reviews. However, if someone had a bad experience they can't wait to post something negative.

We recently used Prime Time Shuttle to go from LAX to San Pedro. No problems at all. Quick, efficient and reasonable.

Thanks

The "problem" with any of these shuttle companies is inherent in the type of service they are...

The standard shuttle company van holds 8-9 passengers...

They all charge around $17 pp for a one-way ride from LAX to San Pedro...

In order to make the economics work, they really need to fill up those vans as much as possible...

Unfortunately, you don't always find 8-9 passengers ALL arriving at LAX at the same time and ALL wanted to go to, say, the pier in San Pedro...

So, at one end, you may find yourself circling LAX looking for or waiting for other passengers headed in the same direction...You also may not have a van immediately available when you arrive--so you end up waiting a bit at the airport.

Then, at the other end, you may end up detouring a couple of times to drop off people at other destinations--homes, hotels, etc.

So, where most of the complaints come from are people forced to wait what seems like a long amount of time at the curb, then forced to drive around the airport a couple of times, then stopping at 2-4 off the route locations on their way to their destination...

Sometimes, OTOH, you get lucky--say a van is waiting and there are several people who just got off a plane all waiting for a ride to the pier...

OR, if you are patient...and time isn't a concern...you get a great deal on price...

Another alternative for many is to pay a little more and take one of the exclusive car services, for example, Super Shuttle's Execucar...They charge $62 Total for the car for up to 4 people...So, if there are four of you, it actually makes more sense...but, even with two, what you are doing is paying an additional $28 to have your own car and driver--so, when you get picked up, you go directly door-to-door without delay...

I will never book another time with PT. We had a point to point (home/port) booking and they sent the driver to the port instead of to our house. Okay. But then two weeks later, they sent our driver to our house instead of to the port. Maybe we could have given that first part as an one-off experience, but when they mess up on the same reservation? No way.

In fact, my hubby and I were talking about bad customer service the other day -- that if a company messes up, wouldn't they be extra careful with the same customer or client on the next occasion, and I brought that horrible experience up. He agreed that good customer service would be 1) not to make the mistake in the first case, 2) not to make the same exact mistake with the same customer just a couple of weeks later.

Last time, we used On Time and were very happy. Another good service we've used in the past was Coolrides. But both companies don't have a van waiting outside the airport terminals...you have to prebook them.

We always book a town car from LAX to San Pedro. Only cost a few dollars more than a shared shuttle.:)

Trip last fall from LAX to San Pedro we used Prime Time without an reservations. Came out of baggage claim area, found the PT rep who then put us on one of their shuttles. Yes, we stopped at several hotels along the way which was not a problem. We always arrive a minimum of one day before the cruise. Once off the cruise, claiming baggage, government approval we exited the terminal to the waiting PT and SS reps. We were put on the van and taken back to LAX. That trip of course was only to LAX so after a few stops for other airlines we were dropped off at our airline. No problems whatsoever.

I traveled every week by air in my job and used SS many times to go from the airport to the hotel and later from the hotel back to the airport. I never really had any problem with them and used them often as it is much cheaper than taking a cab. You just have to allot enough time for the trip. Now I could tell you many tales of ugly passengers who were in the "me" mode expecting everyone to bow to their selfish demands.

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting from the ship (San Pedro I assume) to the long beach airport after the cruise? Are there shuttles, cabs, etc. Thanks

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting from the ship (San Pedro I assume) to the long beach airport after the cruise? Are there shuttles, cabs, etc. Thanks

If you are sailing on Carnival, then you're (most likely) at the Port of Long Beach. For all other cruise lines (there may be a very few exception using Long Beach), you're leaving from the Port of Los Angeles, which is in San Pedro.

There will be taxis waiting outside the port terminals. For the Port of LA (I'm haven't sailed out of LB, so others will have to post), there are SS and PT shuttles that will take cruise passengers to LAX and hotels, and most likely to the Long Beach airport. If you are in any hurry (like a morning flight, even though hopefully you didn't do this to yourself), you should either go with a taxi or prebook a private shuttle (as I noted above, I do not recommend PT as I found them to be unreliable, and after checking out yelp before my last cruise, many other people had a negative experience). Many land transportation companies (Execucar, Karmel, On Time, Coolrides, etc.) will pick up from either port and take you to any of the local airports or hotels, but if you can't find that combination in the booking engine, all of those websites will have a "contact us" option.

Are there any places within the actual cruise terminal to get something to eat?

Are there any places within the actual cruise terminal to get something to eat?

No...It's pretty austere...

If you are there way before boarding and want to get a bite to eat, your main options are to either walk into town--leave the terminal, turn left on Harbor Blvd. and then right on 6th Street...and you will find several restaurants up that way...Or take the trolley down to the Ports of call area...and eat somewhere there...There's also a small restaurant at the Catalina Express terminal...Follow around the far left end of the Berth 93 Terminal and continue around the small inlet...

If you are just looking for small snack food items, there's a small liquor store/mini market on Harbor Blvd.--across from the Terminal between O'Farrell and Santa Cruz...

I am flying into Lax and cruising out of San Pedro. I would like to stop at a grocery store on the way. Any suggestions?? I guess a taxi is my only choice.

I am flying into Lax and cruising out of San Pedro. I would like to stop at a grocery store on the way. Any suggestions?? I guess a taxi is my only choice.

You can take a private car for less money than a Taxi and they will make stops for you.:)