Los Angeles info please

[Gingee]

We plan to come in Los Angeles the day before the cruise to the Mexican Riveria. May stay a day after the cruise also. Can anyone give me information on a hotel that would be good to stay in that is centrally located as far as any tourism and/or port. We are going on Royal Carribbean. I am not looking for the Ritz as far as a hotel. Just something for a good price and clean and safe. Also, do they have tours to Hollywood if you don't have transportation? Anything special to see in Los Angeles?

 

Thanks

[kenish]

Gingee- For the short time you have, I recommend renting a car. Otherwise you will burn up a lot of time relying on transit or doing tours. Get a hotel in San Pedro which puts you in a good location to catch the cruise. There are quite a few threads on this board about SP hotels (and how to place Priceline bids), as well as rental car companies whose locations and hours make drop off in SP convenient.

 

The LA area is vast as far as geography and things to see and do. So it's very difficult to give a "shortlist" without knowing your what you are and are not interested in doing. Maybe a skim of a LA guidebook, this forum, or a tourism website will help you narrow things down.

 

Since you said you have a day afterwards, why not leave a day earlier. That will give you a full day to see LA pre-cruise. The plan in your post doesn't leave time for a very good visit so better to consolidate your time.

[Gingee]

As far as leaving earlier, we are leaving shortly after college finals as it is so I don't know at this point when our dd's finals will be.

 

We get in LA early morning the day before and have the day that we come from the cruise to explore.

[Cruisin' Chick]

As Kenish has stated, it's probably a good idea, given your limited time here, to whittle down what you are interested in doing.

 

Unless you're getting in extremely early the day before, you might have trouble getting a tour. But search the different threads here and you should be able to come up with companies that provide tours (and their websites). There may be specific areas and hotels that these companies will pick up from. A really good tour probably will last several hours because of the distance covered (the area of LA City and County is probably larger than some countries -- not really kidding here).

 

If you want to do the Hollywood thing, then maybe you can stay in Studio City/Universal City or Hollywood pre or post cruise. If you're into museums, you can stay in Westwood/Bel Air or Santa Monica and go to the Getty museum.

 

I would suggest getting the Southern California tour guide book from the Auto Club if you're a member, and flip through it to see what interests you (that's what I usually do when we're considering a trip).

 

Definitely check with the experts here first before booking a hotel as there are some dicey areas and dicey hotels. (my major advice: don't stay in downtown LA)

[Gingee]

What would be a good location for coming in Saturday morning (day before cruise) and wanting to do something like the Hollywood scene but having suitcases with us since we probably can't check into any place before early afternoon? Hopefully find a hotel in a touristy (easy to walk to attractions) but not far (and pricy) to catch the cruise the next day. We are also coming in on Amtrak. One of us my be flying in also.

[debi56]

Gingee, after we finish our cruise we are taking super shuttle and staying at the Holiday inn Express hollywood walk of fame - 1921 Highland Ave.

It is five mins from the kodak threatre, walk of fame, Graumans's Chinese Theatre, upon others. Well there we are thinking about jumping on the hop on hop off through starline and doing a tour. Check out their web site

their name dot com.

[Jen1000]

Most hotels will let you drop your bags even if your room is not ready yet. Call the local hotel before booking to confirm.

 

Not sure about your first post asking if there is anything special to do in LA. LA is a major tourist destination, there are tons of special things to do that you cannot do anywhere else, you will not be able to see anywhere close to all of it in 1 or 2 days.

 

Do a search of previous posts for LA hotels near those attractions and you will see several hotels repeatedly recommended.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

What would be a good location for coming in Saturday morning (day before cruise) and wanting to do something like the Hollywood scene but having suitcases with us since we probably can't check into any place before early afternoon? Hopefully find a hotel in a touristy (easy to walk to attractions) but not far (and pricy) to catch the cruise the next day. We are also coming in on Amtrak. One of us my be flying in also.

[Gingee]

Okay I guess I need to be more specific. We have done the Disney and Universal studio thing in Florida. Would like to do the Hollywood thing. I just picked up a book on Los Angeles. Looking for recommendations. Come in on a train the day before at 8 a.m. Haven't checked out the station location but would like to be centrally located for the cruise but for the Hollywood stuff (if possible). Any recommendations?

[Gingee]

Okay, I did a little search. Do you want to stay in Hollywood downtown for the attractions or is it kind of a creepy place at night? Is it far from the cruise terminal (Royal Mariner)?

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you look at a map, you'll see that San Pedro (where the port is) is a distance from Hollywood, some 30 miles or so south of Hollywood. So if you stay in Hollywood for the day before, you'll have to book a shuttle (the hotel won't shuttle you that far) to the port. Definitely check out the hotel threads here before booking (I wouldn't completely trust tripadvisor or other sites) for recommendations as some hotels may be dumps or in dicey areas.

 

If you are going via Amtrak to Union Station, you should expect to get a taxi (or prearrange with Supershuttle or some other shuttle service) to go to you hotel. Do NOT stay around Union Station.

[zephyr17]

Haven't you been posting on the discussamtraktrains board?

 

Anyway, if you are arriving on the Southwest Chief, you'll be getting in early in the morning, and there is nothing wrong with Union Station itself (there is a more than sufficient security there) or the area in the daytime. If you are going to Hollywood and Highland (Kodak Theater, Chinese Theater, aforesaid Holiday Inn, Hotel Roosevelt), you can catch the Red Line subway right at Union Station and it will take you right there quickly and much more cheaply than a cab. The subway is relatively new, clean, and safe.

 

You'll have to figure out if you want to stay in Hollywood or close to the port. As Cruisin' Chick pointed out, they are not at all close to each other.

 

Downtown Hollywood can DEFINITELY be creepy at night, although it is better than it was when I lived there (79-81). And it is a LONG way from the port (30+ miles).

[Gingee]

What is supershuttle?

 

Yes I have posted on the Amtrak site also. I am just trying to figure all this out.

Would like to aim towards some place close to all the sites but still not be too far from the port on Sunday. We would like to see some things on Saturday and then when we get off the ship on Sunday head towards a spot where we can see some more things and maybe either stay in the area or have easy access to it. Our train does not leave until I think 5:30 Monday night.

[Jen1000]

It is a shared van shuttle service. There are many companies. As others have posted you can get a shared van for your trip from the hotel to the port on Sunday. If you stay in the Hollywood area the idea of the subway from Union Station is great. My Dad takes it frequently between those areas without a problem. Union Station is very lovely to see as well.

 

Another option, especially after the cruise because you will have almost 2 days of touring, is to rent a car. Rent near the port and return near Union Station.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

What is supershuttle?

 

Yes I have posted on the Amtrak site also. I am just trying to figure all this out.

Would like to aim towards some place close to all the sites but still not be too far from the port on Sunday. We would like to see some things on Saturday and then when we get off the ship on Sunday head towards a spot where we can see some more things and maybe either stay in the area or have easy access to it. Our train does not leave until I think 5:30 Monday night.

[debi56]

Gingee, we are taking super shuttle from the ship to Hollywood after our cruise, the cost is $60.00 for the two of us. Go to their web site and you can get a quote on where you want to be shuttled to. supershuttle dot com.

[zephyr17]

There is no way to split the difference between staying in Hollywood or downtown LA and San Pedro. The area between downtown LA and the port is "South Central" which you may have heard of.

 

You need to choose one or the other.

[kenish]

Gingee- Repeating the suggestion / request made by others and me to get a guidebook such as Frommer's on LA and do some reading. It will help you focus on what interests you. Also get a good LA map (AAA should have one) and get an idea of where things are located relative to each other.

 

I'm trying to help, because it looks like you're caught in an understandably confusing wild goose chase. You will save a lot of time, money, and frustration by figuring out what you do and don't want to do, figuring out where to visit that meets those needs, and only then should you figure out where to stay.