LAX airport transfer for Bliss Mexican Riviera: A cautionary tale

[BSR]

3 hours ago, roger001 said:

Yuck.   Was thinking about trying.  For the Haven price would expect excellence.  We’ve done suites on Jewel class before and enjoyed that. 

I was also in the Haven and had an enjoyable experience.  My expectations were met.

[milolii]

8 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Understood.  I use Uber a lot when I'm in cities other than my own.  Hoping the fact that I'll be leaving Sunday morning will be in my favor.  We'll see!

You are close to LAX-it. Ride share operators will be happy to pick you up and  avoid the Qs at LAX-it.  Getting to the hotel(assuming you land at LAX) may be more difficult.  

[phillygwm]

4 hours ago, milolii said:

You are close to LAX-it. Ride share operators will be happy to pick you up and  avoid the Qs at LAX-it.  Getting to the hotel(assuming you land at LAX) may be more difficult.  

The hotel has a shuttle so I should be OK there.

 

The other thing I'm considering for the trip to the port is a limo service.  Playing around last night, looks like I could get a van for $75, or $25 pp.  

[rfkeith10]

In your initial post, you mentioned taking a shuttle from the testing area to the check-in terminal.  Was everyone forced to take the shuttle or could you elect to walk?  I have a scooter and am curious how us folks are accommodated.  Thank you so much...Ray  

[drumming cruisers]

We did it once, ,,,,never ever again. Had the same experience as you. Waited hours for a bus, no where to sit.  We take taxis or Uber  now. 

[Shellbelle28]

20 minutes ago, rfkeith10 said:

In your initial post, you mentioned taking a shuttle from the testing area to the check-in terminal.  Was everyone forced to take the shuttle or could you elect to walk?  I have a scooter and am curious how us folks are accommodated.  Thank you so much...Ray  

I think people were allowed to walk if they wanted. It is actually closer to walk. Because of the one way traffic, the shuttle had to go all the way around the loop to stop at the check-in tent. Walking you can go against traffic. I think it might be more of a distance to go than it looks, however.  I attached a picture with approximate positions for the set up they had on our sailing.

[milolii]

10 hours ago, phillygwm said:

The hotel has a shuttle so I should be OK there.

 

The other thing I'm considering for the trip to the port is a limo service.  Playing around last night, looks like I could get a van for $75, or $25 pp.  

What a  wonderful way to start your cruise!  Do it! 

[Silver Girl]

12 hours ago, rfkeith10 said:

In your initial post, you mentioned taking a shuttle from the testing area to the check-in terminal.  Was everyone forced to take the shuttle or could you elect to walk?  I have a scooter and am curious how us folks are accommodated.  Thank you so much...Ray  

I traveled with my father who uses a Rollator. There was an accessible shuttle but it was out of commission and they gave him a choice of either walking to check-in or taking the regular shuttle.

[snorklinbarb]

@Shellbelle28, since you have such a good detailed description including waiting times surrounding your transfers, hope you pass comments along to NCL corporate so your sentiments can be heard.  And you could also send to the ship.  Maybe they can do something to help others not have to wait an eternity for a bus among disorganized circumstances.

 

Glad you enjoyed the ship and the Haven experience!

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, snorklinbarb said:

@Shellbelle28, since you have such a good detailed description including waiting times surrounding your transfers, hope you pass comments along to NCL corporate so your sentiments can be heard.  And you could also send to the ship.  Maybe they can do something to help others not have to wait an eternity for a bus among disorganized circumstances.

 

Glad you enjoyed the ship and the Haven experience!

I would tend to give NCL a pass on this.  We had a similar bad transfer experience in Seattle a few weeks ago.  In this Covid world with many refusing to work, the bus operators are stretched just like many others.  That said, even if the NCL transfers get back to more "normal," I think Uber and Lyft are quickly rendering the bus transfers obsolete.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Your experience was definitely not good, but I have to agree with what others have said that other cruise lines and ports do things a similar way. Sure, there may be some tweaks that make it better in some ports on some cruise lines, like having seating readily available and counting off passengers to make sure there are enough seats. In general though, there is usually a lengthy wait time, and that is why most of the time, we now choose to do our own transportation. There is peace of mind in taking the cruise transfer, and it’s fun being among cruise passengers, but the trade-off is the long wait that you will likely have. It’s definitely not the physically easiest option for people with limited mobility because you do usually have to walk more with it.