Car Hire in Los Angeles

We are flying into LAX and staying in the Super 8 hotel Long Beach for two nights and were thinking of renting a car at Lax and then leaving it at the docks when we board the NCL Jewel ship, but we can't seem to find a car rental company that can accept the returned car anywhere near the ship.

Can anyone advise?

Many thanks in advance :)

from what I have researched for previous cruises there are not rental car agencies that are located at the port. I would do a search on cruise critic for better info. you can likely do drop off in long beach but not right at the pier. good luck

There's an Enterprise at the Crown Plaza, across from the Port of San Pedro, limited hours. Enterprise usually has high one way fees.

An option is always dropping off at Long Beach (LGB) Airport.

Why are you at the Super 8? Not much over there for tourists. Extremely mixed reviews on TripAdvisor.

last poster brought up important point...2 cruise ports in LA....Long Beach and San Pedro. make sure you know which port you are leaving from.

NCL leaves from San Pedro.

We are flying into LAX and staying in the Super 8 hotel Long Beach for two nights and were thinking of renting a car at Lax and then leaving it at the docks when we board the NCL Jewel ship, but we can't seem to find a car rental company that can accept the returned car anywhere near the ship.

 

Can anyone advise?

 

Many thanks in advance :)

Old but Active, unless something has changed drastically NCL ships depart from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Only Carnival uses the Port of Long Beach.

Personally I wouldn't stay in Long Beach to see LA.

I think you'd be far ahead of the game to stay in an area with great public transportation (like Hollywood) and then shuttle or Uber to the port.

last poster brought up important point...2 cruise ports in LA....Long Beach and San Pedro. make sure you know which port you are leaving from.

NCL leaves from San Pedro.

'Old but Active'...here's a link for the Port of LA (San Pedro) cruise ship activity (berth 93 is the larger cruise ship terminal where the Love Boat sailed; berth 92 is smaller; berths 54 & 46 are remote berths).

https://www.portsamerica.com/cruise/los-angeles-terminal.html

http://www.magazineusa.com/images_st2/ca/la2/USS-IOWA_Map_Berth_87.jpg

As said, NCL apparently uses LA & not LB so if sailing from LA there are several San Pedro hotel options near the cruise ship terminal that are discussed often on this forum such as the Crown Plaza, Doubletree, Best Western or Vagabond.

Here's a link to things to do in the San Pedro area where the Port of LA is located:

http://www.sanpedro.com

Why are you at the Super 8? Not much over there for tourists. Extremely mixed reviews on TripAdvisor.

This is an add on that the TA has put together, flights from London to Las Vegas, 2 nights in a strip hotel, flight to LA, 2 nights in the Super 8 and then a 7 night cruise & flights back to London.

We had no option on picking the hotel, so trying to make the best of it. As we are really in LA for one full day, we plan to take a bus tour. From research, a taxi from LAX to the hotel is £56 & taxi from hotel to ship is £56, yet a car hire for 2 days is £67, hence we were wanting to rent a car at the airport and return it at the port, but from replies on here that appears not to be possible.

Although I will have another look at Enterprise.

Thanks all :)

if your TA put together a package deal I am suprised they did not book transfers to the hotel and the ship. We did a package like this from Vancouver one time and the transfers were included.

If you are not familiar with driving in LA especially since you drive on the wrong side of the road doing a rental car on you own might not be optimal.

How many people in your party. shuttles from LAX to Long Beach run from as low as $18 US per person.

Would be around the same from your hotel.

good luck. especially in Vegas

The TA did offer transfers, both in Las Vegas & in Los Angeles, but and it is a BIG but, the quoted price for the four in our party was $770, which I thought was excessive.

I often travel to Florida and spend time most years in mainland Europe, driving on the wrong side of the road, without any problems, hence I would not worry about renting a car for a couple of days.

The Enterprise office near the port appears to be shut on a Sunday when we would be joining the ship, therefore it looks like we will be using local airport transfers.

driving on an unfamiliar side of the road is one thing...LA is a thing in itself. I live in a city of just under a million people...bad traffic is half hour from edge of city to downtown. LA can be nuts.

you are right about $770 for transfers being a lot. Vegas has shuttles right outside the terminal at the airport. little booths where you buy your transfer to the hotel. for 4 of you a cab would be cheaper.

LA also has Uber.

since you have time in Long Beach you could visit the Queen Mary. My dad was an MP on it when it was a troop ship in WWII.

another option would be to book a bus tour that picks up at your hotel. we stayed at an airport hotel last time we cruised in LA. day tour did all the normal tourist stuff. view of Hollywood sign etc. more relaxing than driving.

Why are you at the Super 8? Not much over there for tourists. Extremely mixed reviews on TripAdvisor.

This is an add on that the TA has put together, flights from London to Las Vegas, 2 nights in a strip hotel, flight to LA, 2 nights in the Super 8 and then a 7 night cruise & flights back to London.

We had no option on picking the hotel, so trying to make the best of it. As we are really in LA for one full day, we plan to take a bus tour. From research, a taxi from LAX to the hotel is £56 & taxi from hotel to ship is £56, yet a car hire for 2 days is £67, hence we were wanting to rent a car at the airport and return it at the port, but from replies on here that appears not to be possible.

Although I will have another look at Enterprise.

Thanks all :)

Could drop of at Long Beach airport.

If I were you, I would let your TA know that for further packages, he/she needs to do better research. I'm guessing price was the main consideration -- and any of us local Angelenos will advise any one planning to come pre-cruise for a stay to be very careful. If it's a low rate, there could be a reason....it's in a dicey area or it's a dumpy hotel, or both.

You're going to be sailing out of the Port of Los Angeles, and there's much closer hotels -- the Crowne Plaza and Doubletree in San Pedro (the community where the port of LA is) both have shuttles (one is free and I believe the other is $5/person). with the hotel you were given, you will need to get a taxi or shuttle to the Port of LA (and you need to be clear with the driver; else you might end up at the Carnival berth at the Port of Long Beach).

some of Long Beach is nice (and often cruise passengers might spend their pre-cruise stay there and then get a ride to the World cruise Center in San Pedro), but some of it is industrial in nature.

Most likely if you're doing a organized day's tour, it'll be away from either SP or LB as many of the tourist attractions will be in the Hollywood area.