Long Beach, CA Question

[JRGAPI]

Hi Mates

I need information for the Long Beach port.

We are flying into LAX on 11/10/06 for our

cruise on the Carnival Pride on 11/12/06.

The Carnival web states that the Pride is based

at the Long Beach port.

I know November is still some time away, but I

like to plan my trips early.

We are planning on doing some sightseeing before

the cruise. Any suggestions?

I am planning on bidding on Priceline for a pre cruise

hotel. Which zone should I bid for, the Long Beach

Zone or the Long Beach Airport Zone? We usually bid

for a 4 or 3 star hotel. We have always had great luck

on Priceline in the Fla. area on all of our pre cruise hotels.

What is best way to get to these zones, taxi or shuttle,

and what is the normal price?

If anyone has any suggestions for me on a pre cruise

hotel, please let me know.

 

JR

[MBnancy]

I don't know anything about bidding for hotels on Priceline, but your best bet for a nice hotel in Long Beach is the Hyatt. It is located across from the water and shoreline village.

[Nanatravel]

We stayed at the Coast Hotel pre-cruise on 10/29/05. From LAX, I reserved Prime Time Shuttle @ $16pp each way. Super Shuttle is also an alternative but they would not take a reservation. Both vans won't leave the airport until full. You make several swings around the airport and to stops on your way to Long Beach, so don't be in a hurry. The Coast hotel is lovely; right at the peninsula where the Queen Mary is docked and the Pride docks. I wanted this hotel, so did not risk booking on Priceline. go to the Coast Hotel web site and check out their Stay & Park rate. Even though we did not have a car, the rate for our night's stay was cheaper ($145) than the AAA rate as it included breakfast, all taxes and transport to the pier. Outside the hotel, you can get the free trolley into downtown or the shoreline area of Long Beach. The trolley makes several stops, too.

Bon voyage

[ronrythm]

If your bidding on priceline, do Long Beach, not the airport area. You'll wind up closer to the port area which is nicer. As far as sightseeing and transportation, its going to depend on what you want to do. Long Beach is only 30 minutes from the Disney resort, 40 minutes or so from Universal Studios and Beverly Hills. If you want to do something like one of these I'd suggest renting a car. Several of the car rental firms have LB offices so you can pick it up at LAX and return it in LB. If you don't feel like traveling and want to stay close to the port area, there's the Queen Mary tours, http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/default2.html, http://www.shopthepike.com/ and www.shorelinevillage.com all easily accessible by the free Passport bus http://www.lbtransit.com/Services/ and the inexpensive water taxi on the same link is a great choice for a cheap waterfront tour. If you do this route, check out www.supershuttle.com or (my favorite) www.karmel.com for shuttle reservations. Karmel doesn't do the circle the airport routine and has provided great service. Prime Time has a poor reputation, getting cited for a lot of safety violations, due to poor upkeep of there vehicles and they got thrown out of all the local airports for a while due to lack of insurance. Taxi's are not a very good option here in So Cal.

Enjoy,

Ron