San Pedro - Tour of LA?

We will be on a B2B cruise on Norwegian Jewel, docking in San Pedro from 8am to 4pm. NCL does not have any excursions for this port.

What are our options to see LA? Will there be any tour operators outside the terminal, or is there anything we can book in advance? We're also thinking that renting a car, but can we trust the driving times of GoogleMaps? How much safety margin do we need to add, to be back to the ship on time?

Any other suggestions?

You have less time than you think. If NCL is like the lines I've been on the B2B passengers are last off and first on around 10am. If you leave the ship earlier you have to get back to port before they close checkin, around the 90 minute mark.

What day of the week?

The 'normal' tourist areas (Hollywood, studio tours, Beverly Hills etc) are about an hour away from port and not close to each other.

And you never know what the freeways will be doing at any time.

Best to do any LA touring before or after your cruise. If you do decide to tour LA on this day best to head back around 1pm.

Alternatives----

USS Iowa is museum-ed at the other end of the pier. Just walk on over.

The San Pedro Trolley does a 1.5 mile run to Shoreline Village, a tourist area with restaurants and shops.

In Long Beach you will find the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary. Long Beach is about 30 minutes from San Pedro (~$25 taxi fare) and can take the free Long Beach Passport Bus between them.

If you decide to do both, go to the Aquarium first, take the Passport (busstop is to the right when you exit), then grab a cab back at the Queen Mary. I'd leave Long Beach no later than 2.

Thanks SadieN for the excellent advice.

Our stop is on a Thursday (Sept 25). I think we will go for Queen Mary and/or USS Iowa, and tour LA another time.

i have the same question, we are on a back to back but on Princess, we too would probably only have between 9 am and 3 pm to see some sights. Is it possible?

Well, LA hasn't changed position since I wrote a few days ago.:p Everything that the typical tourist wants to see is still an hour away and one cannot depend on having open flowing freeways.