Arriving Early in LA what to do with ourselves

Greetings all - I'm coming to the experts. Through circumstances I can't really control - my friend (a first-time cruiser) and I (2 more and elite!!!) are arriving in LA at 7:30 the morning of our cruise :rolleyes:. And I'm looking for places near the Cruise center where we can hang out a bit.

I have located Grinders so we can at least get breakfast and coffee but is there anywhere we can maybe get a manicure or just hang out until the port opens

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance :)

Are you willing to take a taxi or do you have access to a car?

Down the street is Ports of Call Village. At one time very nice now just so so but right on the water with lots of tourist shops and some restaurants. In the San Pedro area there is not much. You can take a taxi across the bridge and go to the Queen Mary ship or to Long Beach with their Shore Line Village. I think that's the name. IMO a much nicer shopping area by the water with lots of restaurants of all price ranges.

We won't have a car - I've been thinking about a shuttle - Ports of Call Village may be doable though...

Thanks Waltd :)

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful with the manicure. I'm sure that would be a lot more fun. :)

Greetings all - I'm coming to the experts. Through circumstances I can't really control - my friend (a first-time cruiser) and I (2 more and elite!!!) are arriving in LA at 7:30 the morning of our cruise :rolleyes:. And I'm looking for places near the Cruise center where we can hang out a bit.

 

I have located Grinders so we can at least get breakfast and coffee but is there anywhere we can maybe get a manicure or just hang out until the port opens

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance :)

Let me suggest you post this over on the West Coast Departure Ports board instead...You'll get more suggestions there from locals...

First question, though: How are you getting here? Driving or Flying?

If you are driving, you can pretty much stop and hang out anywhere...and time it all to arrive a little later...So, I will assume you are flying down...

Does your flight arrive at 7:30 am? At LAX?? Really???

From San Leandro, that means you must have like a 6:15 am flight out of Oakland or SFO...

Okay...Then, how are you getting from LAX to San Pedro? I am imagining a shuttle?

But, if you arrive at LAX, make it off the plane, collect your luggage, locate your shuttle and take the drive down to San Pedro, then don't plan on arriving in Pedro until maybe 9:00--if everything goes like clockwork...

Problem you'll have is what to do with your luggage...AND...what time do you really want to get to the ship? We usually aim at 11:30 or so...so that we'll get on early and get to lunch onboard. Better to hang out on the ship than in San Pedro...

So, breakfast alone may be enough to kill enough time...

But...if you get on the ship early to EAT, do you really want a big breakfast?

If you can get Princess to take your luggage at 9:00 when you arrive, you might want to, free of luggage, just do this:

The San Pedro Trolley runs, starting at 10:00 when a ship is in port:

http://www.sanpedro.com/SPCOM/sanpedrotrolley.htm

You may want to grab that early breakfast, head down to the ship by 10:00, drop off the luggage...then go for a trolley ride around San Pedro...back to the ship and board

Where are you sailing from?

Where are you sailing from?

The OP would be sailing from San Pedro...

Arriving 7:30 at LAX? Take Super Shuttle or Prime Time to the World Cruise Center. You should be there around 9am. Drop your luggage with the porters. It is a short walk down to Grinders. Directly across the street from Grinders is the Battleship Iowa. They have very interesting self guided tours which takes about two hours, but you must be able to climb up and down steep Navy staircases to get around the ship. They open at 10am. By the time you finish a short breakfast and visit the Iowa you will be ready to walk back to the cruise pier to board. Another place to visit is the L.A. Maritime museum, which also opens at 10am. This will only take an hour or less to visit. There really isn't much action at Ports of Call in the morning except for the fish market.

Just curious, what day is your cruise? Navy Days 2014 are August 9&10. The area will be a little crazy.

Just curious, what day is your cruise? Navy Days 2014 are August 9&10. The area will be a little crazy.

I can guarantee ships will not be in San Pedro in August, so that should be fine! All the ships are in Alaska until about mix September.

Wow Great responses and questions....I knew there would be questions :) Cruise is October 20, a 4 day cruise - just to give her a taste for it (then I'll hook her into the 15 day to Hawaii cruise - she'll never know what hit her :)!!!

Friend arrives around that time and I wanted to be able walk her through the whole process - a little bummed that we can't take the Princess transport - fond memories of my first cruise being met by the nice lady with the clipboard -oh well. Primetime Shuttle is cheaper :)

Thanks SKNIGHT, you are right - I was estimating getting to the pier closer to 8:30 but now that you mention it should be closer to 9. I was thinking of the IOWA but didn't think about the stairs and she may have some mobility issues (knee surgery soon). So maybe Grinders for a cup of coffee and a lovely walk. and maybe the Maritime museum....I wonder if they do manicures????

As for Navy days - please- I boarded a ship in SF during fleet week, with a playoff game and trying to control a pair of80 year olds. Crowd control I can manage - free time I have a problem with :) If it were just me - I'd sit at the doors reading until they opened. But few are like me :)

Thank you all - I KNEW I could count on you

Grinders is actually pretty good. :) It's a basic, inexpensive restaurant with reasonably-priced food. It's within walking distance to the Cruise terminal although someone with mobility issues might have a problem.

There's a nail salon down the street from the Crown Plaza Hotel. I can't remember the street, but I'm sure one of the waitresses at Grinders could direct you. If not, stop in at the Crown Plaza and ask them. They told us about it on our last cruise out of San Pedro. It was an easy walk from the hotel, about 5 or 6 blocks.

There's a nail salon down the street from the Crown Plaza Hotel. I can't remember the street, but I'm sure one of the waitresses at Grinders could direct you. If not, stop in at the Crown Plaza and ask them. They told us about it on our last cruise out of San Pedro. It was an easy walk from the hotel, about 5 or 6 blocks.

Brilliant!! Will check it out thank so much Always_Cruisin

And thanks Pam - I was hoping Grinders was a decent restaurant

Looks like there is a nail / hair salon about half a mile from Grinders ;) see link below...

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/511+S+Harbor+Blvd,+San+Pedro,+CA+90731/Leisure+Spa+Nail+%26+Hair+Salon,+377+W+7th+St,+San+Pedro,+CA+90731/@33.7391191,-118.2846659,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x80dd363767cc5743:0xc7fc1be55317c40f!2m2!1d-118.2800737!2d33.7402456!1m5!1m1!1s0x80dd36305be813c9:0xd9432743029b65e2!2m2!1d-118.285248!2d33.737717!3e2

Always Cruisin - found it; Lanta Salon on 6th - the even have a web site

TLC535 - it's even closer and from Google street view looks more modern than leisure nail salon.

Bruin Steve: Really and truly - Zero dark thirty flight - oh man I'm gonna need lotsa coffee!!!

Grinders is actually pretty good. :) It's a basic, inexpensive restaurant with reasonably-priced food. It's within walking distance to the Cruise terminal although someone with mobility issues might have a problem.

Been there twice and prefer not to go back.

Like Denny's to me. Yuk. :(

is there anywhere we can maybe get a manicure or just hang out until the port opens

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance :)

You might want to check out the thread "San Pedro from a San Pedran" I'm sure you will find several suggestions there, you might even want to ask your question there. I remember several posts about manicures. Here's the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1343892

Always Cruisin - found it; Lanta Salon on 6th - the even have a web site

TLC535 - it's even closer and from Google street view looks more modern than leisure nail salon.

 

Bruin Steve: Really and truly - Zero dark thirty flight - oh man I'm gonna need lotsa coffee!!!

I believe that's it. We (BFF and I) both had mani's while our DHs walked around San Pedro.

Grinders is a lot like a Denny's restaurant. We've eaten there a few times and would go back. The breakfasts were better than the lunches/dinners there.

I would do Ports of Call. I agree it is not as good as it use to be but there is a couple of decent restaurants. We've had some nice times there, we use to pick up a cruise ship employee and take him there for the day. It really isn't that far.

Been there twice and prefer not to go back.

Like Denny's to me. Yuk. :(

When I was younger I thought that Dennys at 3:00 AM was absolutely Fantastic! :)

When I was younger I thought that Dennys at 3:00 AM was absolutely Fantastic! :)

I do recall a few breakfasts after the bars close at Denny's....ah youth:rolleyes: