Disembarking in LA-

Hi All,

Just booked our first Princess cruise, I am just wondering how quickly we can be off the ship in LA once it's docked- does Princess all you to "express carry off" first thing, or something along the lines of carrying off your own bags once the ship is clear?

Yes, you can do self disembarkation as soon as the ship is cleared.

Hi All,

 

Just booked our first Princess cruise, I am just wondering how quickly we can be off the ship in LA once it's docked- does Princess all you to "express carry off" first thing, or something along the lines of carrying off your own bags once the ship is clear?

They have the option to immediately disembark to carry off your luggage which generally begins at about 7:30.

However that time can vary based on where the ship has sailed & from places such as South America it can take much longer for CPB to process passengers & their luggage.

All crew that have duties that take them ashore will be processed by CBP before disembarkation starts.

Obviously as above....the normal time you can disembark is about 7:30. I've seen CBP hold up a clearance till nearly 10:00. It happens, but not often. FWIW, I've experienced 2 (maybe 3) seriously delayed clearances in 38 cruises. Each was on an "unusual" cruise--trans-Atlantic, Panama full transit, and ???something else.

Hi All,

 

Just booked our first Princess cruise, I am just wondering how quickly we can be off the ship in LA once it's docked- does Princess all you to "express carry off" first thing, or something along the lines of carrying off your own bags once the ship is clear?

You have to be able to handle all of your luggage without help and have a free hand for the escalator. There's an elevator, but it's usually very busy.

Exiting the ship early is not the issue, the traffic at LAX is the thing that will make you miss that plane to Canada.

Exiting the ship early is not the issue, the traffic at LAX is the thing that will make you miss that plane to Canada.

We are actually thinking we might do the day Inn Disneyland :)

It’s just the short Vancouver to LA in Oct...

Early walk off normally begins around 7am. With early walk off you wheel all your own bags down the gangplank. No assistance. You will receive a disembarkation questionnaire in your cabin. You select the time you want to disembark. If you select something other than early walk off you place you large luggage in the hall the night before and pick it up after you go through immigration.

Note: If you are on a cruise that is returning from South America or some other cruise that was a one way sailing from a non-U.S. port then disembarkation can and will probably be delayed.

Does LA have EZ-Check for LAX?

Does LA have EZ-Check for LAX?

No.

San Pedro (LA) is a challenge for pax who arrive by air for the cruise. Not only are you facing time to get off the ship but the time it takes to get to your airport gate. After leaving the ship the first challenge is navigating the freeway system (sometimes referred to as a giant parking lot). There can be delays due to the volume of traffic, working on the highway and worse an accident. LAX has multiple terminals and once you get near the airport, the delays in getting to your terminal can be time consuming. Backups getting bags checked and particularly getting through security is the final challenge. Moral is to allow several hours. Last time we cruised out of San Pedro, our trip back to the airport went very smoothly while other times they were nail biting experiences.

Returned on the Emerald end of April from a 28 day South Pacific cruise ending in LA. Getting off the ship was a slow process and ran behind posted disembarkation times. We took a cab to LAX which dropped us right in front of the SWA curbside check in. Got to our flight on time but we factored in 2 extra hours to arrive at the airport . Another tip hire a porter to help w your bags .

We seem to always get off later than 7 30 even though we do self assist. Delays for clearing ship common on ships we are on