LAX Departure Flight time after cruise

We have never cruised from LA which is really San Pedro from what I have been reading on the boards. How much time is needed to get from the pier back to the airport (LAX)? Would a flight at 12:15 pm be cutting it too close? We are debating whether it is better to spend the night after the cruise if we decide to do the Mexician Riveria in 2008 Thanks

Two things to think about here...

#1 IF you get off the ship very early, and IF there are no problems with customs or passengers, or debarkation in general and IF everything goes as smooth as glass, then 12:15 PM flight is okay.

That's a lot of ifs...:eek:

I'd say that you were "safer" in general with a flight closer to 2 PM.

#2 You are going to be in LA! Read around all the threads and recommendations on this wonderful West Coast Board and see if there are sights or ideas you'd like to see.

Take your time, take advantage of being here, see some great sights or activites, and leave the next day.:D

CJW;)

We have never cruised from LA which is really San Pedro from what I have been reading on the boards. How much time is needed to get from the pier back to the airport (LAX)? Would a flight at 12:15 pm be cutting it too close? We are debating whether it is better to spend the night after the cruise if we decide to do the Mexician Riveria in 2008 Thanks

Just to clarify: most of the cruiselines use the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, except for Carnival, which uses Long Beach...a short distance away. I agree that 12:15 pm could be pushing it. On my last cruise, the disembarkation process started almost an hour late. And there was only one other ship in port that morning too. If customs/immigration is shorthanded or being extra-thorough, there's nothing you can do but wait.

Another factor is our great :rolleyes: LA traffic. Generally, you'll be going on the 405 freeway to get to the airport. If it's a weekday, expect traffic in the morning, even after what you would consider rush hour. If it's the day before a holiday (say the Wed. before Thanksgiving), add time to the commute.

Then add time for the security lines.

Personally, I just wouldn't want to stress out about trying to catch an early flight...after all that time relaxing on the ship.

the Princess cruise line has you fill out a form that gives them the info they need as to the passengers flights times, etc. That is the way they gauge the disembarkation procedudres. The earlier you have to catch a flight the earlier you are able to get off the ship. However, as the other people indicated, there could be delays. Passengers that do not show up for customs and they have to find them and all passengers have to wait, etc. Last cruise i was on the ship did not inform passengers what area they were using to disembark the ship and i went from deck to deck looking. very frustrating.

The weather can also have a big effect on disembarking. If we have a marine layer come in and it's foggy, the ship can be up to several hours late in docking. 12:15 is really pushing it, but if things go right it can be done. There was a lady who posted this same sort of inquiry about a year ago, and got these kinds of responses, saying it would be tight, so she changed her flight. When she got back, she posted saying that she could have made it easily and blasting everyone for giving her such bad advice.:p So it goes.

Enjoy

Ron

We recently came back to LA from a Mexican Riviera cruise which was supposed to disembark at 7 AM. We were not off the ship until about 1 PM becuase engine problems slowed our arrival. Fortunately, we were not flying til the next day so it was no big deal but hundreds of others had to rebook flights. Deirdre