Will we be allowed in and out of San Pedro?

We're sailing out of San Pedro on Vision of the Seas and coming in a few days early to tour LA. Renting a car at LAX and considering dropping off at a location near the port. I'm traveling with my mom (with a wheelchair), husband and kids. I'm wondering if I can drive them to the terminal and then take the rental back and catch a cab myself.

Is there easy entry/exit into the terminals? I don't like the idea of having to drive back to LAX and taking a shuttle with all 5 of us, but I don't want to get bogged down in an onslaught of vehicles/people and risk losing my family!

One thing you should make sure of is that the car rental agency you're going to use will be open on the day of your cruise. Some of the ones near the port may not be open on the weekends or else have an early close. Talk directly to the local office and you may find out if they will shuttle you to the pier.

If you're dropping off your passengers (before returning the rental), make sure you go through the guard booth at the entrance of the world cruise center and see if you need a special ticket for dropping off passengers (else you could be charged for parking). You may want to time this carefully, just in case your passengers have to wait outside the building. I didn't catch when you are sailing, but if it's between now and March, it could be raining. If it's during the summer, it could be warm (tho' usually not in the morning in June).

I'm renting a car through enterprise at LAX in a few weeks. I will drop it off at San Pedro...at or near the Crowne Plaza hotel, I believe. I had to phone to make the car reservation as it wouldn't let me do the one way online.

There is a drop off fee, but I feel it is worth it. Enterprise has a van that will drop us off at the pier.

And on the return we have also booked through them. Fees $25 and $40 on top of the daily rental fee.

. . . and then return the Enterprise car to the office across the street from the cruise terminal and Enterprise will probably take you back to the cruise terminal. Otherwise, it is a short 10 minute walk.

The office across from the pier has closed down as of Feb.2nd. They are now at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro which is about 10 blocks away. They close at noon on Saturday and they are very busy with long lines. They do have a shuttle back to the pier.

The office across from the pier has closed down as of Feb.2nd. They are now at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro which is about 10 blocks away. They close at noon on Saturday and they are very busy with long lines. They do have a shuttle back to the pier.

Boy, I'm getting really frustrated looking into Enterprise car rental. I called yesterday but didn't rent yet. First I was told the office at the port didn't have Sunday hours then was told they are open 9 a.m. til 12 p.m. Now I read this and it isn't even open AT ALL! It's scaring me to do a rental!

So am I reading whole thread correctly that to rent a car for a couple days before the cruise I need to call to do a one way rental to rent a car at LAX and then will need to return it at Crowne Plaza by noon on Sat. even though we don't cruise until Sunday? We were planning on sightseeing on Sat. and not be back until after supper. So do you think it's possible to return it on Sunday and then we'd just get charged til Monday or can't we return it at all on Sunday?

If the office isn't open on Sunday, how do we get to the port then? When I called on the phone and was told about the office at the port at San Pedro, they told me it was 5.00 per person to shuttle from port office to port. Now that the office isn't open, will we be able to be shuttled over on Sunday?

I have yet to have a good experience with Enterprise anywhere.

You may not find an abundance of rental car offices in San Pedro but you shouldn’t have any trouble in dropping off your passengers at the terminal and dropping the car at one of the agencies in Long Beach which is just 10 min’s or so away. They may also shuttle but worth checking out.

Just a idea.....Try renting one from Long Beach airport. It's closer than LAX.

The office across from the pier has closed down as of Feb.2nd. They are now at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro which is about 10 blocks away. They close at noon on Saturday and they are very busy with long lines. They do have a shuttle back to the pier.

That is really weird. I've done the one way rental with Enterprise, LAX to San Pedro before and I just called yesterday to reserve again and they told me the office across from the ship was still there. Bizarre. Guess I better call back.

We're sailing out of San Pedro on Vision of the Seas and coming in a few days early to tour LA. Renting a car at LAX and considering dropping off at a location near the port. I'm traveling with my mom (with a wheelchair), husband and kids. I'm wondering if I can drive them to the terminal and then take the rental back and catch a cab myself.

 

Is there easy entry/exit into the terminals? I don't like the idea of having to drive back to LAX and taking a shuttle with all 5 of us, but I don't want to get bogged down in an onslaught of vehicles/people and risk losing my family!

 

That is the Vision of the Seas in this photo ...

If I were you, I would get there early (about 11:00am) and check in. Then leave your family and return the car (Enterprise is across the street - the other rental companies will have offices in downtown Long Beach or at the Long Beach Airport - see the photos below) ...

I am going to highjack this thread.

We are coming out in November. Will be renting a car with Enterprise. We will rent the car at LAX keep it two days and return in on Saturday. We plan on staying two days in San Pedro then moving to Long Beach for the last night since we are cruising out of LB. Is there a Enterprise site near Long Beach to return the car?

Just an FYI...The Enterprise Rental Office has moved down the street next to the Crowne Plaza (on 6th street). Still within walking distance or you could hop the Red Car at 6th street and take that back to the terminal.

Love the shots Cuizer!!!

Love the shots Cuizer!!!

Yes, you should get him to mark them up with your store so we know where to find you.

Thanks for everyone's feedback...keep it coming. It sounds like getting in and out of the terminal to drop my family off is the easy part! I'm more confused than ever about renting a car. At first, it looked like Enterprise was the way to go because they're so close (Crowne Plaza), but I've heard so many conflicting things about whether they are open or closed on Sundays. I've also read some unfavorable things about them (although I know that can and does happen with all rental companies). Now I'm thinking of returning the rental in Long Beach. We certainly have more options for rental companies and it sounds like it's easy to get from LB to SP. On the right track?

Kathy

Thanks for everyone's feedback...keep it coming. It sounds like getting in and out of the terminal to drop my family off is the easy part! I'm more confused than ever about renting a car. At first, it looked like Enterprise was the way to go because they're so close (Crowne Plaza), but I've heard so many conflicting things about whether they are open or closed on Sundays. I've also read some unfavorable things about them (although I know that can and does happen with all rental companies). Now I'm thinking of returning the rental in Long Beach. We certainly have more options for rental companies and it sounds like it's easy to get from LB to SP. On the right track?

Kathy

Thanks for everyone's feedback...keep it coming. It sounds like getting in and out of the terminal to drop my family off is the easy part! I'm more confused than ever about renting a car. At first, it looked like Enterprise was the way to go because they're so close (Crowne Plaza), but I've heard so many conflicting things about whether they are open or closed on Sundays. I've also read some unfavorable things about them (although I know that can and does happen with all rental companies). Now I'm thinking of returning the rental in Long Beach. We certainly have more options for rental companies and it sounds like it's easy to get from LB to SP. On the right track?

Kathy

For our Princess cruise out of San Pedro 3 years ago, we rented a car at the airport thru Hertz. Then we dropped it off on embarkation day at their Lomita office and took a cab from there, for which they will credit your bill $10. There was no additional fee, in fact I got a fab deal on the web so the whole thing cost us $15! The office does close at noon, however, so you do have to arrive before that time.

Be careful of dropping a car off at Enterprise after hours. When we rented from the prior to our January Diamond Princess cruise they tried to charge us for damage to the car. They told corporate that we had dropped it off after hours when we had returned it at 11 a.m. and their agent drove us to the dock. If we hadn't had the return slip with the time marked we would have been charged $1300 for damages that we didn't do.

Be careful of dropping a car off at Enterprise after hours. When we rented from the prior to our January Diamond Princess cruise they tried to charge us for damage to the car. They told corporate that we had dropped it off after hours when we had returned it at 11 a.m. and their agent drove us to the dock. If we hadn't had the return slip with the time marked we would have been charged $1300 for damages that we didn't do.

I live in San Pedro so I went to the Enterprise office this Sunday. It is located in the same building of the Crowne Plaza Hotel structure. The office's address is 235 6th St., San Pedro, CA 90731. They were just closing. On the door the hour of operations for Sunday are posted: 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Also posted are after-hours instructions on where to leave the car. It is in the Crowne Plaza Hotel parking lot.

I asked for a local office phone number so you can confirm this info. It is 310-548-8060. To return to the cruise terminal, it is a short two-block walk down the street to Harbor Blvd.; then take the Red Car tram to the cruise terminal for $1.00. It is a five-minute walk from there.

Hope this helps.

Andrea

How far is Crown Plaza from the Doubletree?

It is two miles between the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel, about a six minute drive. Both hotels provide shuttle service around San Pedro. I don't know how it would work for car rentals.

Andrea

This photo shows the Crown Plaza Hotel and the 6th Street trolley stop ...

We just did a one way rental using Enterprise from LAX to San Pedro last weekend. It worked out very well. There were 8 of us and we had two cars. Total for each family for two nights rental (Sat to Mon) including $25 drop fee was $72. Last year we got them to waive the drop fee but this year they wouldn't. Six of us got dropped off at the pier at 10:30 and were immediately able to check in and then went to wait in the platinum/diamond area while our husbands took the rental cars to Enterprise at the Crowne Plaza. They caught the shuttle back to the pier and arrived about 20 mins after us. They just had to go to the check in desk to pick up their Seapasses and that was it.

After the cruise we rented from the Hertz in Lomita because their rates were much better on that day and they have no drop fee (Enterprise charges $40 drop fee at LAX when picked up in San Pedro.) Our husbands left the ship around 8:30 am and shared a taxi to Hertz ($20 total including tip) picked up the cars and were back by about 9:45 to pick us up. Again, very painless although the selection of cars at the Hertz office in Lomita was very small.