LA residents - help needed!

If you can’t come in early and spend the night, then SouthWest is definitely the way to go. Cruises should always start with smiling faces, not frazzled ones.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks again for all the responses! Southwest it will be .... I simply forgot that they even flew into Long Beach and would like to avoid LAX at all costs. That flight for the previous week flies in and is scheduled to land at 9:45....which will give us a much higher comfort level of getting there on time. And heck, I may even make it to the lunch in the MDR after we board.

And, the way home, Jet Blue has a non-stop back into OAK at 4:30 PM so hopefully, no stress on that end either.

Your expert advice is most appreciated! :)

Why no love for SNA? I'd pick an airport with multiple flights into it (like SNA or the hated LAX) just in case there was a mechanical.

I've been on too many flights over the year that were cancelled. That is why I fly in the night before a cruise.

Why no love for SNA? I'd pick an airport with multiple flights into it (like SNA or the hated LAX) just in case there was a mechanical.

 

I've been on too many flights over the year that were cancelled. That is why I fly in the night before a cruise.

SNA is further away than LAX and you cannot land after 10p.

Another question for those who know Los Angeles well - 

I am taking my Mom on a Pacific Coast Cruise in May, departing on a Saturday from San Pedro. We are flying in to LAX on Friday around noon.

My Mom would like to go visit her sister who lives in West Hills and is home bound, on Friday when we arrive for a few hours. We'll get a hotel room for Friday night in the West Hills area, so that we can maximize time spent visiting my Aunt. We will make our way to San Pedro on Saturday mid-morning.

I have a feeling that our best option is to rent a car, but honestly, I am not the most comfortable with this thought. Although I can certainly drive, the idea of driving a different vehicle in an area I don't know well stresses me out.

Is there an option that would allow me to forego a car rental, such as all Uber for this, or is that ridiculous? Or is there an option that would limit my car rental drive, like get car from LAX upon arrival, visit Aunt, overnight in West Hills, and return to LAX on Saturday, and then Uber to San Pedro from LAX.

Just trying to put the logistics together in an efficient and low stress manner.....

19 hours ago, terry&mike said:

Another question for those who know Los Angeles well - 

I am taking my Mom on a Pacific Coast Cruise in May, departing on a Saturday from San Pedro. We are flying in to LAX on Friday around noon.

My Mom would like to go visit her sister who lives in West Hills and is home bound, on Friday when we arrive for a few hours. We'll get a hotel room for Friday night in the West Hills area, so that we can maximize time spent visiting my Aunt. We will make our way to San Pedro on Saturday mid-morning.

I have a feeling that our best option is to rent a car, but honestly, I am not the most comfortable with this thought. Although I can certainly drive, the idea of driving a different vehicle in an area I don't know well stresses me out.

Is there an option that would allow me to forego a car rental, such as all Uber for this, or is that ridiculous? Or is there an option that would limit my car rental drive, like get car from LAX upon arrival, visit Aunt, overnight in West Hills, and return to LAX on Saturday, and then Uber to San Pedro from LAX.

Just trying to put the logistics together in an efficient and low stress manner.....

I actually live very close to West Hills...

You could use Uber to get everywhere, but you are going to spend a lot of money on Ubers...

First realize there aren’t really any hotel options in West Hills...Chances are you are going to end up with a hotel in either Woodland Hills or in my town, Calabasas...which are, basically, just to the south of West Hills along the 101 Freeway...You would need rides from LAX to your hotel...and from the hotel up to your aunt’s house...and back...and from the hotel down to the port in San Pedro...The total distance would be pretty long.

Renting a car actually makes it all a bit simpler.  Depending on when your flight gets in (hopefully mid to late morning to avoid Friday rush hour), the drive is fairly simple...from LAX, take the 405 north to the 101...exit Topanga or Parkway Calabasas depending on which hotel you choose.  From a hotel in these areas, a drive to West Hills is all just surface streets through mostly residential areas.  Just use Waze or Google Maps on your cell phone to make sure you don’t get lost.

You could return the car to LAX and Uber or shuttle to the pier from there...but, you might as well avoid LAX and return the car in San Pedro instead (assuming there’s no hefty drop-off charge).  It will take you an hour or more to get there on a Saturday morning, but you’ve already paid for the car and it’s not much worse of a drive than going to LAX...You just head back down the 101 to the 405 south...pass LAX and head to the 110 south...exit Harbor Blvd.  Hertz and Enterprise are both right by the Crowne Plaza...3 or 4 blocks from the cruise terminal...

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

I actually live very close to West Hills...

You could use Uber to get everywhere, but you are going to spend a lot of money on Ubers...

First realize there aren’t really any hotel options in West Hills...Chances are you are going to end up with a hotel in either Woodland Hills or in my town, Calabasas...which are, basically, just to the south of West Hills along the 101 Freeway...You would need rides from LAX to your hotel...and from the hotel up to your aunt’s house...and back...and from the hotel down to the port in San Pedro...The total distance would be pretty long.

 

Renting a car actually makes it all a bit simpler.  Depending on when your flight gets in (hopefully mid to late morning to avoid Friday rush hour), the drive is fairly simple...from LAX, take the 405 north to the 101...exit Topanga or Parkway Calabasas depending on which hotel you choose.  From a hotel in these areas, a drive to West Hills is all just surface streets through mostly residential areas.  Just use Waze or Google Maps on your cell phone to make sure you don’t get lost.

 

You could return the car to LAX and Uber or shuttle to the pier from there...but, you might as well avoid LAX and return the car in San Pedro instead (assuming there’s no hefty drop-off charge).  It will take you an hour or more to get there on a Saturday morning, but you’ve already paid for the car and it’s not much worse of a drive than going to LAX...You just head back down the 101 to the 405 south...pass LAX and head to the 110 south...exit Harbor Blvd.  Hertz and Enterprise are both right by the Crowne Plaza...3 or 4 blocks from the cruise terminal...

Bruin Steve, Thank you so much for taking the time to post this information. I'm going to take your advice and rent a car from the airport and return it in San Pedro. It will make for the most efficient use of our time, and although driving may give me a bit of stress, I will alleviate the stress of sorting out several legs of transportation from Ubers or shuttles, so there is a positive.

Well, got my flights all booked at an amazing price to boot.  It is LAX, though ... we’ve lived through that before.  As of now, we are set to land at 7:30 AM, so will have plenty of time to get to the pier....maybe even too much time but figure we can always get a cup of coffee in the airport before heading to the pier.  

Since it is booked with southwest, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for better pricing on flights into Long Beach.... it was twice the price which is why I didn’t automatically book it.  

We got a 1 PM flight back out at he end of the cruise.  We might be doing walk off just to be sure that is enough time to get back to the airport.  I hate to think of sitting around until the late afternoon to get back home.  

Thanks for everyone’s advice!  

On 9/18/2018 at 3:49 PM, Cruise Raider said:

Hi all,

We are cruising out of San Pedro on a Saturday and I see Princess wants our flight in to land no later than 12:30. I know the traffic can be intense in Los Angeles but was wondering how bad it was on a Saturday.

As much as I love to have lunch when I first board, I can get a flight into Long Beach, which is so much less stressful than LAX, that lands at 12:45 PM and thinking this should not be a problem. But, I wouldn't think to book anything until checking with the experts here on Cruise Critic. Would that flight time get me in on time for a cruise that departs at 4 PM?

I know Pam in California always gives great advice so hoping she chimes in, as well as many others that may have some good advice.

Also, if this looks ok, would you also be able recommend if Uber or maybe one of the Shuttle services that picks up at Long Beach.

Thanks in advance!

Didn't cruise out of San Pedro, cruised out of Long Beach on a Saturday.  I took a flight the day of and landed, picked up luggage and got to the port in about 1 1/2 hours.  We took Super Shuttle and it worked out great for us.  We were there earlier than our check in time. 

13 minutes ago, LuckyStar said:

Didn't cruise out of San Pedro, cruised out of Long Beach on a Saturday.  I took a flight the day of and landed, picked up luggage and got to the port in about 1 1/2 hours.  We took Super Shuttle and it worked out great for us.  We were there earlier than our check in time. 

Thanks ... I booked an early morning flight into LAX instead.  I would rather fly into Long Beach but it was twice the price.  Now, I have no concerns over making it in time.  

Like 1emerald1, I live 2 hours E of San Pedro and the daughter & I will drive in the day before our March Hawaii cruise over coming in the morning of the cruise  as we never know if there will be traffic delays. Happy to learn you have an earlier flight, you will be more relaxed too.

Bruin Steve I do pray you have not been affected by the horrible fires near you. 

Gay

Thanks, Gay...

Yes, we are under mandatory evacuation.  Right now, we’re in San Diego...and I’m not sure where we are sleeping tonight...just know we won’t be let back in until at least tomorrow at the earliest...I assume we’ll still have a home...I hope.

I pray for you and everyone affected and do hope your home is safe.

Gay

i live in north east la, and i am a big fan or driving down the day before and staying in long beach or san pedro. i like being able to wake up and get a nice breakfast and not have to deal with a bunch of freeways before getting on the ship.  

 i also do fly in the day before when i have to fly, as i would for florida departures, but i have family there, so it isn't a big deal for me. i've just had too many flight delays to feel comfortable flying the same day as cruise.

i'm sorry you are evac'd Steve, and i hope your home is safe.  these fires are scary.  i have friends and family evacuated as well.  

5 hours ago, vampiress said:

i live in north east la, and i am a big fan or driving down the day before and staying in long beach or san pedro. i like being able to wake up and get a nice breakfast and not have to deal with a bunch of freeways before getting on the ship.  

 

 i also do fly in the day before when i have to fly, as i would for florida departures, but i have family there, so it isn't a big deal for me. i've just had too many flight delays to feel comfortable flying the same day as cruise.

 

 

 

  

I can appreciate that but I would rather not even cruise out of LA if it entails staying an extra day beforehand.  The only reason we will fly in a day or two early is if we sail from the east coast.  I always purchase the insurance so if we miss the embarkation due to a flight cancellation or extreme delay, we are reimbursed.   

We were able to get a very early morning flight down to LA (non-stop) from the bay area that arrives at 7:30 AM,  so now think we should be fine.  There shouldn't be any extreme weather conditions to worry about in April.  

But, thank you for the suggestion,  though.  I do appreciate you taking the time to post.    

i totally understand.  we consider it starting out vacation early, and we get the hassle of packing a day before hand over with with no stress because we really have no set time to be at the hotel.  but i also have friends in LB i can meet up with for dinner.  it some how relaxes us before getting on the boat.  air travel, even short trips raises my blood pressure, they have managed to make it so unpleasant with all of the security theater.

14 hours ago, vampiress said:

i totally understand.  we consider it starting out vacation early, and we get the hassle of packing a day before hand over with with no stress because we really have no set time to be at the hotel.  but i also have friends in LB i can meet up with for dinner.  it some how relaxes us before getting on the boat.  air travel, even short trips raises my blood pressure, they have managed to make it so unpleasant with all of the security theater.

We feel the same way.  Getting to the port a day early definitely allows us to board the ship in a more relaxed mood and excited and ready to go!  We always have at least 5 hours in air travel to get to our port, so this is double important for us.

Other then a red eye, traveling from Calif, I can't get to FLL/MIA leaving at 6 AM, any earlier then 4 to 4:30 PM . By the time I get to the hotel it going on 5 so not much time to relax but still better then trying to come in the day of a cruise. I have also come in 2 days early so I have the extra day to relax.