Jump to content

LAX to San Pedro


ExDean
 Share

Recommended Posts

For our Hawaii cruise we plan to arrive a day early and stay at an airport hotel and stay a day post cruise at the same hotel . With a Princess transfer ($34/pp each way) could we give the an flight arrival number on cruise day and have them collect us at the terminal...the same for a return?

 

Also, are there better ways to travel from LAX to the port...various shuttles, taxi or if we get a pot of gold on St. Pat's day, a private limo? Seems like for $68 OW we could do better than waiting for the Princess bus to fill up.

 

Seasoned cruisers, what say you?

 

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless you are receiving free nights, or unless you arriving very late in the evening, I would not recommend staying at an L.A. airport hotel the day before the cruise. I would select a hotel in San Pedro, Crown Plaza, Doubletree, or the Sunrise hotel which is a more economic hotel. They are very close to the pier and all have free shuttles to the ship. This is what we have always done. We take one of the shuttle services from the airport to the hotel, Super Shuttle or Prime Time, around $20/pp. You can also select a hotel in Long Beach, a little further away and maybe no free shuttle to the pier.

 

On embarkation day you can also take one of the shuttle services from the pier to the airport hotel. The shuttles are lined up outside the terminal. You can also use Uber. Lyft, or taxi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I understand correctly, your first question is whether the hotel shuttle will pick you up at the airport after the cruise IF you choose to take some form of transportation back there. The answer is yes, and you won't need to provide a flight number in most cases (although many do ask for this on their web site). The usual instruction from the hotel is to collect your luggage and call them from your cell. They will specify an arrival point and pick you up in about 10 minutes. If it is a hotel that the bus just does continuous round trips, that's even easier. But yes, you can fake a flight number if you need to.

 

As to return transportation...Uber will take you from the terminal at San Pedro directly to the hotel--no need to get involved in the LAX mess and change to a hotel shuttle. It will also probably be a little cheaper for the Uber to not get into LAX proper.

 

The "protection" in using Princess transportation is minimal on your return trip and actually not a big deal if you are coming in a day before. I'd look at cost and convenience. Uber is about the same cost as a shuttle, and far more convenient. Again, the morning of the cruise, they'll pick you up at the hotel--no need to return to LAX on the hotel shuttle to catch Princess or Super Shuttle or whatever. I've never had a bad Uber experience in LA...I guess they exist, but I've been lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I understand correctly' date=' your first question is whether the hotel shuttle will pick you up at the airport after the cruise IF you choose to take some form of transportation back there. The answer is yes, and you won't need to provide a flight number in most cases (although many do ask for this on their web site). The usual instruction from the hotel is to collect your luggage and call them from your cell. They will specify an arrival point and pick you up in about 10 minutes. If it is a hotel that the bus just does continuous round trips, that's even easier. But yes, you can fake a flight number if you need to.

 

 

 

As to return transportation...Uber will take you from the terminal at San Pedro directly to the hotel--no need to get involved in the LAX mess and change to a hotel shuttle. It will also probably be a little cheaper for the Uber to not get into LAX proper.

 

 

 

The "protection" in using Princess transportation is minimal on your return trip and actually not a big deal if you are coming in a day before. I'd look at cost and convenience. Uber is about the same cost as a private shuttle, and far more convenient. Again, the morning of the cruise, they'll pick you up at the hotel--no need to return to LAX on the hotel shuttle to catch Princess or Super Shuttle or whatever. I've never had a bad Uber experience in LA...I guess they exist, but I've been lucky.[/quote']

 

 

 

We just took supershuttle $32 for 2 plus bags to our SP hotel. They had a free shuttle to port. Do not stay in LA. Too far and tons of traffic.

 

We got in late so we stayed at the vagabond it was OK it was cheap clean and had a free continental breakfast free shuttle to the port and right next-door was a really good inexpensive Japanese restaurant it’s served a purpose. It wasn’t fancy but it wasn’t a dump either and for just to eat and sleep it was perfect

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally agree that I would not stay in the LAX area....but OP posted that as their choice, so I took that as a "done deal." There are much great choices of hotels in the port area and you save the traffic and hassle of LAX.

 

If I had a choice, I'd definitely do the San Pedro area on the night before the cruise...Uber or supershuttle to the hotel, and many hotels offer a complimentary cruise shuttle.

 

After the cruise, I could make a case for an LAX area hotel--the traffic is horrible and it will be a pain to do anything other than stay in the hotel, but you'll be there and can take the hotel shuttle to LAX in the morning. If you want to enjoy your day, do a San Pedro hotel again and take Uber or Supershuttle back to LAX the next morning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ditto the remarks not to stay at LAX before your cruise. It’s not a nice area and its not safe to walk around. You will have a much better pre-cruise experience going to San Pedro and staying there. The hotels already mentioned are what I’d recommend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have taken the Super Shuttle twice from LAX to the Doubletree in San Pedro. We just waited around too long for the shuttle to arrive. About an hour wait each time. Cost was good, $17 pp.

I've had good and bad experiences with SuperShuttle--as noted, the "bad" was always the wait, which was sometimes far longer than promised. Uber will show you the wait time when you request one--typically 5-15 minutes, but I've had it be a little as 3 minutes. I've never had a bad Uber experience in LA, and the price is about the same as SuperShuttle for 2 people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless you are receiving free nights, or unless you arriving very late in the evening, I would not recommend staying at an L.A. airport hotel the day before the cruise. I would select a hotel in San Pedro, Crown Plaza, Doubletree, or the Sunrise hotel which is a more economic hotel. They are very close to the pier and all have free shuttles to the ship. This is what we have always done. We take one of the shuttle services from the airport to the hotel, Super Shuttle or Prime Time, around $20/pp. You can also select a hotel in Long Beach, a little further away and maybe no free shuttle to the pier.

 

On embarkation day you can also take one of the shuttle services from the pier to the airport hotel. The shuttles are lined up outside the terminal. You can also use Uber. Lyft, or taxi.

 

I agree! We had a dedicated Super Shuttle because we had 6 family members, which meant no stops. We chose Crowne Plaza on Hotwire, great deal, everything walking distance, and even have a free trolley on weekends. Did some research before, and couldn't see everything in S.P. Best part of our trip, and plan on doing that again! Tour museums within walking distance, and the Crowne has complimentary shuttle to ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro the night before our cruise - took an Uber from LAX for much less than a taxi. Price (I believe) for Super Shuttle is about the same for a couple, but - you have to wait for them to fill the shuttle and they do a route that can include several hotels for drop off. We had friends we were traveling with arrive at Lax the same time we did but arrived at the hotel more than an hour after us as the shuttle was much slower. Also grabbed an Uber this morning from the pier to LAX - easy peasy. Happy cruising!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we cruised on the Ruby in January, our flight arrived Friday evening, which can be a bad traffic time. We stayed at the El Segundo Hampton Inn and used their free shuttle to get there from the airport. It was in walking distance to a number of restaurants (including Rubio's, yum!) and a large supermarket, where we picked up our wine. We took a Lyft to the port for about $30 with tip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our American Airlines Flight Attendant daughter flew in recently to LAX on an overnight - AA put her up in Redondo Beach at the Crowne Plaza - - very nice and great restaurants. We went to dinner at Dominique's Kitchen a few blocks from her hotel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...