Help plan our LAX day/stay!

First west coast cruise and could use some help planning, fellow cruise critic friends!

Family of four, (two adult boys, mom and dad). We arrive into LAX at 8pm, on a Friday night, which is basically midnight on our Michigan clocks by the time we get luggage. Looking for the best location to stay.

Our cruise departs Sunday, so on Saturday we would like it to be our "LAX" excursion day. Maybe one of the tour companies that stops at the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Walk of Fame, and the boys are all interested in Muscle Beach. I think I would be interested also in a stop at Getty Center but don't know if this is possible to fit in.

I would appreciate suggestions on which area to stay... near cruise terminal, near airport, or best place to stay and catch one of the tours. Maybe a 3-4 star hotel...

Also if anyone has tour suggestions, and the easiest way to get to port from hotel Sunday morning. Thanks!!

Which cruise line? Carnival sails out of Long Beach. All others sail out of San Pedro.

Both ports are a distance from what you want to see.

First west coast cruise and could use some help planning, fellow cruise critic friends!

 

Family of four, (two adult boys, mom and dad). We arrive into LAX at 8pm, on a Friday night, which is basically midnight on our Michigan clocks by the time we get luggage. Looking for the best location to stay.

 

Our cruise departs Sunday, so on Saturday we would like it to be our "LAX" excursion day. Maybe one of the tour companies that stops at the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Walk of Fame, and the boys are all interested in Muscle Beach. I think I would be interested also in a stop at Getty Center but don't know if this is possible to fit in.

 

I would appreciate suggestions on which area to stay... near cruise terminal, near airport, or best place to stay and catch one of the tours. Maybe a 3-4 star hotel...

 

Also if anyone has tour suggestions, and the easiest way to get to port from hotel Sunday morning. Thanks!!

First off, a correction. Please call it LA or Los Angeles. I don't even mind "La La Land." But LAX just refers to the international airport. Any sights you decide to see are not in this area.

Next, as Sadie said above, it would be good to know which port you're sailing from. Carnival uses the Port of Long Beach. If you want to stay by that port, you'll want to do a search on BruinSteve's posts on Long Beach hotel recommendations. Some will shuttle you to the port.

All other cruise lines (with very few exceptions) will use the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center, which is in the community of San Pedro. There's a couple of hotels that are recommended for near this port: the Doubletree and the Crowne Plaza. These will shuttle you (one for free, the other for $5) to the port.

There are tour companies you can check out. Since I live in the city (albeit as far away as possible from downtown), I haven't been on any of these, but I often have seen references to Sunseekers. I imagine if you do a search on "tours" on this board, you'll find some more listed.

Since the city (and county) of Los Angeles is so widespread, a major tour may take up the whole day. A partial tour would probably include the Hollywood area (the Walk of Fame, Graumanns theater or whatever it's called nowadays, Kodak theater), Farmers Market (a top tourist attraction, believe it or not) which is near Hollywood, maybe Venice or Santa Monica beaches (I think this is where Muscle Beach is), maybe downtown LA (Olvera Street, Disney Hall). But I'm not sure how that would give you too much time to get to the Getty and do it proper.

The Hollywood sign is not accessible to the public, but usually you'll be able to see it from a distance by looking to the north from much of LA. Rodeo Drive, at least the part you would want to go to, is in Beverly Hills, so some of the tours might stop there or go by.

Thanks... we are sailing NCL out of San Pedro World Cruise Terminal.

We would like an all day tour, but if we opt to stay in San Pedro, are tours available from there?

Also... shuttle services from the airport to San Pedro and back, recommendations?

Were it me, I would stay somewhere on the West Side both Friday and Saturday nights and catch a shuttle from your hotel down to San Pedro on Sunday morning.

Staying down in San Pedro is great--if you were just getting in the day before the cruise and didn't want to see any LA tourist sights...

Because San Pedro is a good 30-40 miles from most of the things most tourists want to tour in LA. Of course, if you did that option, Sunseeker Tours is the one known local tour company that picks up from the harbor area and does tours to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc.--but, a portion of your time is eaten up by the trip back and forth.

The good parts about the West Side is that it encompasses many of LA's nicer neighborhoods...and the climate is superior to the inland areas as it's near the coast...and that most of the local tour providers pick up and drop off at hotels in the area. The negative is that it can be particularly pricey.

My personal favorite area on the West Side is Santa Monica--Very upscale, lots of shops and restaurants and great walking areas with all sorts of nightlife...best climate in the area. The Third Street Promenade has all sorts of shops, restaurants and street performers...Palisades Park, on the bluffs overlooking the beach and pier is great for scenic walks...And the Santa Monica Pier is full of attractions. Venice Beach, with its famous Boardwalk, is not far away, just down the beach a bit. Of course, it can be fairly pricey...I have (even though I live in the area) actually personally stayed in a couple of hotels there which I highly recommend--the Loews and the Marriott LeMarigot--incredible views if you get a room on the right side of either hotel...Other first class hotels in the area are the Fairmont Miramar, Shutters on the Beach and Casa del Mar...But, you can also consider the well located Huntley House or the Wyndham...or a couple hotels right on Ocean Avenue across from the Park--the Georgian or the Shangri-la...Not quite as good a location, but not that far are the Doubletree and the Le Meridien Delfina...Any of these put you at least right near the "heart of the action"...Of course, they tend to be a bit pricey...That's just a factor of being in the nicest part of an expensive city....There is a sort of "lesser" jhotel called the CalMar which is still excellently located--if you're looking for a bargain and don't care about being in a 4 or 5 star...

A little less pricey, but still not a bad area to stay in is Venice Beach/Marina del Rey...Venice is a little less upscale, but fairly trendy...Hotel Erwin is well-located near the Boardwalk...In Marina del Rey--LA's great yacht harbor, there's the Jamaica Bay Inn, Inn at Venice Beach and Hilton Garden Inn, among others...I'd call some tour companies and see if they'll pick you up at these (they probably will)...This area is not far from LAX...so a shuttle or car there from the airport won't cost much...Some good restaurants in the area (I can highly recommend C&O Trattoria on Washington Blvd at the beach)...

If you are staying in the Santa Monica area, probably best to get a standard 8 hour 9-5 tour, then just hang out in the Santa Monica area after the tour--find a place to eat, walk around the Promenade and Pier...enjoy...

Other parts of the West Side (Beverly Hills, Westwood Village, Bel Air, etc.) have some nice hotels--but it's not quite as tourist friendly as Santa Monica.

Another thought is that if you are going to get a personalized private tour all day, you can stay somewhere on the West Side that's a bit more reasonably priced and where a tour company will pick you up and drop you off...and you're just using it to sleep...Don't stay AT LAX--there's NOTHING there but big hotels, industrial uses and planes overhead...but there are some nice hotels not that far away that you could, at least use as a base...Culver City, just north of the airport, has a few reasonable hotels--look at the Doubletree and the Four Points (at one time, these hotels had free airport shuttles--but I think they may have discontinued those awhile back)...The area won't excite you, but there are some restaurants nearby (Dinah's on Sepulveda is an LA institution--great food and has been around about 60 or 70 years and looks like they haven't redeveloped since the opening...But, if you're doing a LONG tour with that Saturday, it could work and save you some money...

Thanks so much Steve, I really appreciate it! That's a lot of info to go through and I will certainly check it out. Thinking I will start with the Venice area.

Okay so we just did what you are asking about, last week. We stayed at the Best Western San Pedro on Gaffey St. It is very clean, reasonable and includes breakfast and a shuttle to the ship. We booked Prime Time Shuttle to pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel the night before. We took a taxi to the ship the next day as the time for the shuttle was filled for mid day. Taxi was $10.00 for 4 of us I think. We had SunSeeker Tour pick us up at the ship in San Pedro at the end of our cruise and did an 8-hour tour of LA and surrounding area. They will pick you up at your hotel in San Pedro also. We knew our hotel room would not be read early in the morning so we booked this tour and our luggage went in the back of the van. We toured around the area seeing all the sights including driving up to the top of Griffiths Park and having pictures taken with the Hollywood Sign in the background. We did the Stars signs and the Chinese Theatre, Rodeo Drive. We stopped for lunch at Mel's Diner (not included in the price) and had a nice lunch, reasonable. We went and drove by Santa Monica Pier and area and stopped at Venice Beach (muscle beach). It was a fantastic tour with Alberto. See if you can get him if you take this tour. We were dropped off at our hotel after the tour. They will drop you off at the airport if you have a flight to catch. We had Prime Time Shuttle pick us up in the morning and take us to the airport for our flight home. All of the above were excellent and reasonable. Check on-line for pricing but we found them all to be a good price. Hope this helps and if you have any questions, just ask.

Thanks Ontario Mike! We're right across the bridge ;)

I have already booked Prime Time Shuttle from ship back to airport. Our flight is 11:40, I feel I'm cutting it a little close, but hoping it works out.

I like BruinSteve's recommendations.

I would not stay in San Pedro. I just don't care for it and don't mean any insults to those from Southern California but I find parts of it unattractive, a bit unsafe and just don't think it's a good place to stay. If we were only coming in the day before we would stay in Long Beach which we find to be quite nice.

But as mentioned by BruinSteve, I would look at Santa Monica or Venice Beach/Marina del Rey both of which will give you a much nicer experience.

As to your return, you are cutting it a bit close.

Are you booked on a shared shuttle? If so, you might have multiple stops at LAX when time is tight.

Consider a private car and take a look at a subsidiary of super shuttle which is execucar and their web site is http://www.execucar.com

They are reliable and you would be the only one to be dropped off so you would get to the terminal without multiple stops.

Wishing you a great pre cruise stay and great cruise.

Keith

Seeing as you are getting in late and have the 1 day before your cruise, I would still suggest The Best Western, San Pedro. It is a busy street but there is a 711, MacDonald's and a Hawaiin Restaurant that are right there by the hotel. With only that 1 day to tour why spend a lot of money to stay in the other areas when you aren't going to be there that long. The BW has a pool and hot tub also. Make sure you get a "disembarkation walk off" on the last day or you probably won't make your flight. You have to carry your luggage off yourself. It is at least a 1/2 hour drive if there is no traffic, such as we found on a Sunday. Good luck and have a great cruise.

Thanks Ontario Mike! We're right across the bridge ;)

 

I have already booked Prime Time Shuttle from ship back to airport. Our flight is 11:40, I feel I'm cutting it a little close, but hoping it works out.

I would definitely switch that to a more reliable (and non-shared) service like Execu-car, OnTime, etc. (I had found PT to be unreliable) The cruiselines do not recommend booking flights out of LAX before noon (some actually say 1pm) for a reason. Even on weekends, there could be lots of traffic. And I didn't see when you're cruising, but we're expecting an extremely (and very welcomed) wet fall and winter this year. Traffic slows down on rainy days (the late night comedians have done bits on this that aren't that much of an exaggeration).

I............ And I didn't see when you're cruising' date=' but we're expecting an extremely (and very welcomed) wet fall and winter this year. Traffic slows down on rainy days (the late night comedians have done bits on this that aren't that much of an exaggeration).[/quote']

 

 

11:40 is very early for LAX. It would be OK for Long Beach LGB. Port is 30 minutes away on a good day (those are rare). LAX really does need 2 full hours before your flight. So you'd need to be IN your transportation by 9 at the very latest. Plan on an hour for CBP, be happy if it's less. Reserve private transportation. Which airline? Southwest T1 or United T7 are easy to get to, T4 & T5 (American?) are difficult in traffic as there are no shortcuts to those. Several times it has taken us over 45 minutes to get to TBIT, which is before T4

 

For your viewing pleasure. We need videos to explain how to act and drive in the rain.

 

 

 

Oh my. I did book a private shuttle through Prime Time. Best Western in San Pedro is sold out our dates. Still hoping to talk hubby into Venice/Santa Monica area.

One of these days we will book a cruise more than 2 months in advance and I won't be scrambling to make plans!

11:40 is very early for LAX. It would be OK for Long Beach LGB. Port is 30 minutes away on a good day (those are rare). LAX really does need 2 full hours before your flight. So you'd need to be IN your transportation by 9 at the very latest. Plan on an hour for CBP, be happy if it's less. Reserve private transportation. Which airline? Southwest T1 or United T7 are easy to get to, T4 & T5 (American?) are difficult in traffic as there are no shortcuts to those. Several times it has taken us over 45 minutes to get to TBIT, which is before T4

 

For your viewing pleasure. We need videos to explain how to act and drive in the rain.

 

 

 

I remember seeing that second video a couple of weeks ago. Very true.

Too bad that Conan O'Brien report (from his short time taking over for Jay Leno) isn't still available.

Hi there, .. due to your time constraints in L.A. it might be better to stay around LAX to avoid to much travelling with your luggage on your day of arrival.

Most of your LA tour attractions request is pretty standard and a lot of tour companies offer them on their tours. The only down side of going with the big tour companies is of course the number of guests they have to collect before starting the tour and same when ending - so that does take in a lot if the tour time.

But if you are looking to try to include the Getty or personalize the tour then I do suggest looking for a private tour company that can help you customize your tour to your liking. You might be surprised to get some great attractive rates during the low season - specially for 4 guests. A little research goes a long way to maximize your experience in L.A.

Hi there, .. due to your time constraints in L.A. it might be better to stay around LAX to avoid to much travelling with your luggage on your day of arrival.

 

Most of your LA tour attractions request is pretty standard and a lot of tour companies offer them on their tours. The only down side of going with the big tour companies is of course the number of guests they have to collect before starting the tour and same when ending - so that does take in a lot if the tour time.

 

But if you are looking to try to include the Getty or personalize the tour then I do suggest looking for a private tour company that can help you customize your tour to your liking. You might be surprised to get some great attractive rates during the low season - specially for 4 guests. A little research goes a long way to maximize your experience in L.A.

I so disagree about staying by the airport. The OP will have a whole day to sightsee, not including getting in on Friday night and going to the port on Sunday. I recommend staying in that area ONLY when you have an early morning flight the next day. If the OP books a private van or shuttle service, they'll get to their hotel (whether staying in Long Beach, San Pedro, Santa Monica) within a half hour or so, depending on whether it's past rush hour or not.