from Amtrak to Long Beach

We want to take the train to Los Angeles. Would there be any type of shuttle to Long Beach from the train station, or would we cab it?

A shared PrimeTime shuttle van from downtown LA (where Union Station is located) to the LA Cruise Ship terminal costs $54 one-way for 2 passengers.

A couple of weeks ago transportation from Union Station to the Port of LA discussed options which to LB may be similar.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2253551

You could also check the Metro rail system to see if that's an option. Although the Blue line ending in LB goes through some tough neighborhoods & I would hesitate to use it.

http://www.metro.net/riding/maps/

We want to take the train to Los Angeles. Would there be any type of shuttle to Long Beach from the train station, or would we cab it?

Okay...this gets tricky...

First, realize that the main train station in Los Angeles is Union Station--on the Northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles--Over 25 miles from the Cruise terminal in San Pedro. There really aren't any closer stations, for all practical purposes, as the Amtrak tracks run roughly Northwest to Southeast--towards Orange County and on to San Diego, not toward the Harbor...

You CAN ticket with Amtrak directly to San Pedro rather than to Los Angeles--but, what they do is to offload you from the train onto a bus...and the earliest arrival at San Pedro, IIRC, is after 4:00 pm, subject to frequent delays...

There is also a public bus that goes from Downtown to San Pedro--the #910 to the #405...But you have to change buses in Carson...and you need to walk a bit on either end...and it takes over an hour and a half...not a great experience...You can also take the Metro Blue Line to Long Beach...and two buses or a taxi from there...again, not real easy or practical while schlepping luggage...

That leaves you with the choice of a taxi, Uber, a car service or a shuttle service...

Check out Super Shuttle as they can give you a set price for either a shared shuttle or a private town car (they call it "Execucar" on their site)...Better to have a fixed price as taxis tent to just have that meter churning away and you end up with a larger than expected fare.

A BIG question is "When do you plan to arrive?"...The trains in these parts have been known to have some substantial delays at times...I would STRONGLY recommend planning to arrive at least the day before...and stay in a hotel in San Pedro...

ADD: I just looked it up on Super Shuttle's site...

https://reservations.supershuttle.com/Default.aspx?content=Rate

And they quote, for two people from Union Station to the cruise port in San Pedro, one way...

For a shared shuttle: $54

For Execucar Express: $75

Also figure in a tip to those fares...

For $75, I would use execucar--no additional stops for other passengers..."door-to-door" service...No sharing...

Which cruise line? Carnival sails out of Long Beach. All others sail out of San Pedro. You're asking about Long Beach and the answers are for San Pedro. All the above shuttles etc will get you to either port.

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If you're adventurous and are getting in early......

I'm taking the rails to Long Beach next weekend. Have done so for many cruises.

From Union Station

-Go downstairs and take either the Red or Purple line to

-the 7th street transfer station take

-the Blue Line to the Long Beach Transit Mall

-walk to the free Passport busstop at the SW corner of Ocean and Pine. It's in front of the huge white Art Deco-ish building

-get off at the Queen Mary. The Carnival Dome is a short walk away.

The Colored Lines will cost about $3 including a reusable TAP card. There are senior rates but you'll need to apply for that. Takes about 8 weeks to get. The Passport bus is free. metro.net

It will take about 2 hours to get to port from Union Station. These are commuter transportation. Pack light, we take carry on and a tote each. They go thru some of the roughest areas of Los Angeles. We take this for almost every cruise and haven't had a problem. I usually travel with my Mom (won't say her age but I'm a very young baby boomer) and Sister.

yes, it is Carnival out of Long Beach.

yes, it is Carnival out of Long Beach.

The Amtrak shuttle to San Pedro discussed on the other thread AstroFlyer linked also stops in Long Beach. After leaving LA Union Station is goes direct to Long Beach first, then San Pedro (opposite on return direction).

Seeing you're from British Columbia, I'm going to assume you'd arrive in LA on the Coast Starlight train at 9:15pm from Seattle? If this is the case, you'd connect with the 10:10pm shuttle from LA to Long Beach. In the event the Seattle train was late and missed the 10:10pm shuttle (last departure of the day), the Amtrak station services folks would taxi you to Long Beach (at their expense).

As Bruin Steve mentioned, trains can run late. Here's a link to the on time statistics for the Coast Starlight. In the last twelve months it's been on time 86% of the time. The good thing about including the shuttle ticket to Long Beach on your booking is that if you miss the bus due to a late-arriving train, Amtrak will take responsibility of getting you to Long Beach.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?longUrl=true&c=AM_Route_C&p=1237405732511&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245648567&overrideDefaultTemplate=OTPPageVerticalRouteOverview&tn=11

Again, this is just one of many options as others have mentioned.

If you're getting in at night take a shuttle. Do not take the trains. If taking the Amtrak bus into Long Beach, confirm where it drops off.

When we rode the train down the coast we arrived in the morning in Union Station.

If you're getting in at night take a shuttle. Do not take the trains. If taking the Amtrak bus into Long Beach, confirm where it drops off.

 

When we rode the train down the coast we arrived in the morning in Union Station.

The Amtrak Thruway Long Beach bus stop is at the Long Beach Transit Gallery, basically the same place the Blue Line mentioned above. I do not know how late the Passport bus runs.

I do want to say that the Blue Line runs through some very bad parts of town (heard of "South-Central"?), although the Blue Line itself is not bad, I would not really want to ride it late at night. The Amtrak Thruway bus skips all that. Your best bet is to ticket all the way to Long Beach using the Thruway bus, which is only a few dollars more than a ticket to LA, and Amtrak will "protect" the connection by providing a taxi, as mentioned by BEAV. The Amtrak "station code" for Long Beach is "LBC".

The Passport runs from 5:30a - just after midnight.

http://www.lbtransit.com/Schedules/Default.aspx?routegrp=37

I'd only take it during the day.

For reference, Uber is $28-$40 from Carnival to LA Union Station. It will take about 40 minutes, possibly 30 minutes if no traffic. Public transit is much less expensive, but a 2-hour trip through some sketchy areas but safe enough during daylight hours. So it's a balance of cost vs. convenience (BTW, a taxi will deliver neither). :)

For reference, Uber is $28-$40 from Carnival to LA Union Station. It will take about 40 minutes, possibly 30 minutes if no traffic. Public transit is much less expensive, but a 2-hour trip through some sketchy areas but safe enough during daylight hours. So it's a balance of cost vs. convenience (BTW, a taxi will deliver neither). :)

The Amtrak Thruway bus is not a transit bus, and runs straight from Union Station to Long Beach with no intermediate stops. It is also free or close to it from most points. The price from Seattle to Union Station and from Seattle to Long Beach is exactly the same when I checked the Amtrak website. It is also a guaranteed connection.

It is a hard thing to beat direct and free in my book.

The only issue is that you MUST be ticketed through to Long Beach by Amtrak on the same reservation, you can only ride the Amtrak Thruway bus when there is a rail travel segment involved due to California state law. So you would need to call Amtrak and have your reservation changed from LAX to LBC, which they should be able to do without charge.

I live in Long Beach and have taken the train between Union Station and downtown Long Beach many times. There are colorful characters on the train at all hours, but as a woman in my 60's riding alone I have never felt unsafe. Amused, annoyed, not unsafe.

When you get off the train at the end of the line, you are one block from the Renaissance Hotel at Pacific and Ocean. Walk there, order a drink from the bar and relax, then ask the concierge to call a cab to take you to the port or explain to you how the free shuttle works. This would work for San Pedro,too, just a longer taxi, over the bridges.

Have a great cruise!

Still don't see a reason not to use the Thruway bus connection, when it is pretty much free, designed to handle luggage, and goes to the same transit mall in Long Beach.