Hal dock in LA ?

[Ella2]

Just a heads up, I got my docs for the 4/18 Volendam cruise, and the pier is LONG BEACH, not San Pedro. :)

[Aussie Gal]

So which port is it for when we sail on the Veendam in September. The cruise calendar just says Los Angeles and as we haven't been to either Long Beach or San Pedro I cannot tell from the Webcam which port we will be at.

 

Grumpy, can you help me on this?

 

Thanks.

 

Jennie

[Atomica]

So which port is it for when we sail on the Veendam in September. The cruise calendar just says Los Angeles and as we haven't been to either Long Beach or San Pedro I cannot tell from the Webcam which port we will be at.

 

The Port of Los Angeles webpage says you are currently scheduled to dock at San Pedro.

 

http://208.179.220.201/calendars/Calcium37.pl?CalendarName=sanpedrocruiseship&Op=ShowIt&Amount=Month&NavType=Absolute&Type=Block&Date=2006/9/1

[ekerr19]

I thought HAL was using the San Pedro facilities too... :confused:

 

Copper - You might know this one, do you recall any of the ships during the 70's and 80's in Wilmington area? I thought I remembered my parents sailing on Cunard and Princess and for some reason Wilmington sticks in my mind...

[Aussie Gal]

Atomica,

 

Thanks for that. Can anyone tell me about San Pedro. How far is it to Long Beach and the old Queen Mary?

 

Jennie

[LAFFNVEGAS]

So which port is it for when we sail on the Veendam in September. The cruise calendar just says Los Angeles and as we haven't been to either Long Beach or San Pedro I cannot tell from the Webcam which port we will be at.

 

Grumpy, can you help me on this?

 

Thanks.

 

Jennie

 

Jennie, funny you should ask:) just two days ago on Monday I decided I better buy our tickets to Vancouver and return home from LAX because prices looked very good. So I had our TA call to confirm where the ship would be and since we were using HAL transfers would be OK to book at flight that left at 12:15 out of LAX. That we disembarked out of San Pedro and any flight after 12:00 pm was fine.

[Logoladytcs]

Ella2 - My daughter just called the Port of LA and the Volendam is coming into Long Beach on the 18th of April.

 

If you see someone sitting on her luggage, waiting patiently, that will be me!!

Barbara

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Lisa,

 

Have you been to San Pedro before? I am intrigued and am wondering how far out of L.A. this port actually is and what can one do there. I was hoping to see the Queen Mary at Long Beach.

 

Jennie

[Ella2]

Barbara, I'm glad you confirmed what my documents said. :)

 

If I see someone sitting on their bags, I'll wave to you. ;) It will be me and my tall 12-year-old daughter eagerly ready to board our first HAL cruise. :D

[Copper10-8]

I thought HAL was using the San Pedro facilities too... :confused:

 

Copper - You might know this one, do you recall any of the ships during the 70's and 80's in Wilmington area? I thought I remembered my parents sailing on Cunard and Princess and for some reason Wilmington sticks in my mind...

 

Laura; San Pedro AND Wilmington are both part of the City of Los Angeles and both incorporate parts of the L.A. Harbor. I'm not sure exactly how long the L.A. World Cruise Center (just south of the Vincent Thomas Bridge) has been around but it is quite possible that cruise ships also used berths in Wilmington prior to it being established. Nowadays, San Pedro (and Long Beach - different city and does not "belong" to L.A.) have the only two dedicated passenger cruise terminals. The Wilmington part of the L.A. harbor is for commercial use only.

Jennie, driving time between San Pedro and Long Beach cruise terminals (where the Queen M is docked) is only about 15-20 minutes over the Vincent Thomas and Desmond bridges depending on traffic

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Jennie, it has been a few years since we have been there. There are some shops in the San Pedro pier area that are simliar to Sea Port Village in San Diego if you have ever been there. I honestly forget how far Long Beach is from there but my guess is HAL excursions will be offering some type of travel over to Long Beach. For the fun of it I tried putting in my booking number for the cruise since we will be disembarking there and it said there were no excursions now available for this cruise. I am sure there might be some folks here from the Southern California area that might be able to give you more info. I just hope that HAL can get us to LAX in plenty of time I do know that it is about an hour or maybe more from San Pedro to LAX.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

John, I see you just posted the info:) Is HAL right that we should be OK with a 12:15 flight and disembarking in San Pedro? Oh Well I already bought the tickets thru United/Ted the price to Vancouver and LAX to Las Vegas was good and I thought I better grab it.

[Copper10-8]

Jennie, it has been a few years since we have been there. There are some shops in the San Pedro pier area that are simliar to Sea Port Village in San Diego if you have ever been there. I honestly forget how far Long Beach is from there but my guess is HAL excursions will be offering some type of travel over to Long Beach. For the fun of it I tried putting in my booking number for the cruise since we will be disembarking there and it said there were no excursions now available for this cruise. I am sure there might be some folks here from the Southern California area that might be able to give you more info. I just hope that HAL can get us to LAX in plenty of time I do know that it is about an hour or maybe more from San Pedro to LAX.

 

E-mail me if you need a ride from San Pedro to LAX - just did it for Ine in the other direction and will be picking them up this Sunday to go back to LAX;)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

John, I may just take you up on that:) We will stay posted as it get near to end of September.

 

Oh, Please tell Ine and Ton "Hi" for us. I should email you my cell number so you could call me and I could talk to them (but NOT in Dutch:D ) What time do you take them to the airport?

[ekerr19]

John - Thanks for the clarification - it's been more than a few years since I've lived there, but having been born and raised in L.A. county I feel sort of bad not remembering!!!

 

I remember Ports Of Call used to be nice and I think that's the area Lisa is referring to in one of her above posts, but a friend told me it is nothing like I remember it in the 80's, which is a shame...

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Laura, it has been quite a few years for us as well since we were at Ports of Call. Who knows maybe it is not there anymore. I do remember it being nice and a fun way to spend an evening. Last time we were there was two days after Christmas in 2004 when we went on the Monarch of the Seas for a seocnd time. Barely saw the area but it looked like there was still shopping near there.

[Copper10-8]

John - Thanks for the clarification - it's been more than a few years since I've lived there, but having been born and raised in L.A. county I feel sort of bad not remembering!!!

 

I remember Ports Of Call used to be nice and I think that's the area Lisa is referring to in one of her above posts, but a friend told me it is nothing like I remember it in the 80's, which is a shame...

 

Laura, Ports 'O Call Village is still there and used to be a fun place to visit (kinda like Sea Port Village in San Diego like Lisa mentioned). Unfortunately, it has been going downhill for the last ten years or so with the majority of store leases being allowed to expire without replacements. There is not much left in the way of shops. You can still take a harbor, whale watching and/or dinner cruise from there. There are also still about 3-4 restaurants open as well as a fish market but overall, it's not a very inviting place for cruise pax and/or residents alike. Not part of Ports 'O Call but right next door to Acapulco restaurants is the L.A. Maritime Museum which is an interesting place to visit.

[Aussie Gal]

Laura;

Jennie, driving time between San Pedro and Long Beach cruise terminals (where the Queen M is docked) is only about 15-20 minutes over the Vincent Thomas and Desmond bridges depending on traffic

 

John,

 

Thanks for that information It is a great help and I can see that we will be able to get to see the Queen Mary in September. :)

 

Jennie

[tickleddpink]

I thought HAL was using the San Pedro facilities too... :confused:

 

Copper - You might know this one, do you recall any of the ships during the 70's and 80's in Wilmington area? I thought I remembered my parents sailing on Cunard and Princess and for some reason Wilmington sticks in my mind...

 

Atomica - well, I'm not Copper 10-8, but I live very close to San Pedro too. Back in the '70's cruise ships used to dock at the end of Wilmington Ave. in Wilmington (yeah, all part of the city of LA). I went to a bon voyage party ON the ship that one of my theatre professors had for his "gang" prior to a cruise to Mexico in 1973. Around the same time a friend came home from a semester at sea (with a college whose names escapes me) and I was there with her family to meet her.

 

Unfortunately, I don't remember the cruise lines or the names of the ships. But you sure were right about Wilmington & cruise ships!

 

I agree with many of the posters about Ports o'Call going downhill. It used to be a great place to hang out.

 

Cheers,

Jane

[Copper10-8]

Atomica - well, I'm not Copper 10-8, but I live very close to San Pedro too. Back in the '70's cruise ships used to dock at the end of Wilmington Ave. in Wilmington (yeah, all part of the city of LA). I went to a bon voyage party ON the ship that one of my theatre professors had for his "gang" prior to a cruise to Mexico in 1973. Around the same time a friend came home from a semester at sea (with a college whose names escapes me) and I was there with her family to meet her.

 

Unfortunately, I don't remember the cruise lines or the names of the ships. But you sure were right about Wilmington & cruise ships!

 

I agree with many of the posters about Ports o'Call going downhill. It used to be a great place to hang out.

 

Cheers,

Jane

 

Hey Jane; thanks for the info about the old Wilmington terminal:) Learned something new from you today which is always good! I did not become a L.A. resident until 1975 but was not into that type of cruising then;)

[sandydownunder]

Hi Jane,

We'll be making a stop in San Pedro in September on the Veendam. We want to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA.I love Frank Gerhy's architecture. Is San Pedro very far from downtown LA? Would you know how much a taxi might be? Is there a public transport option ?

 

I'd appreciate anyone's input.

 

Sandra

[Grumpy1]

Just a heads up, I got my docs for the 4/18 Volendam cruise, and the pier is LONG BEACH, not San Pedro. :)

And that even agrees with the Long Beach Port calandar! http://208.179.220.201/calendars/Calcium37.pl?CalendarName=longbeachcruiseship&Op=ShowIt&Amount=Month&NavType=Absolute&Type=Block&Date=2006/4/1 Looks like CruiseCal.com is wrong on that one.

[Himself]

About 8 years ago I did a re-positioning cruise on the old Westerdam ( the one purchased from Homeric and streched out a hundred feet. We had a port of call in L.A. and docked at the San Pedro dock

[Copper10-8]

Hi Jane,

We'll be making a stop in San Pedro in September on the Veendam. We want to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA.I love Frank Gerhy's architecture. Is San Pedro very far from downtown LA? Would you know how much a taxi might be? Is there a public transport option ?

 

I'd appreciate anyone's input.

 

Sandra

 

Sandra, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 135 N. Grand Ave which is roughly 25 miles north of the port in Downtown L.A. Depending on traffic (meaning the freeway can be transformed into a five lane parking lot depending on the time of day) it can take you anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour down the Harbor/110 Freeway to get there. Stay away from rush hour traffic meaning don't plan on leaving until 9-9:30 AM. A taxi should cost you between $38 and $48 total (for up to six pax). Public transportation from the Cruise Center is problematic at best. Besides a taxi, you can order something like Super Shuttle to come pick you up in San Pedro.

[sandydownunder]

The Super shuttle sounds like a good idea as some people will be leaving the ship in LA and others joining to go through the Panama Canal & Amazon River to Tampa. Shuttles may well be in the area bringing people to and from the ship. Next question:

How do I contact them?

 

Regards,

Sandra