San Diego back to LAX after Spirit Cruise

[cotton93]

Hi Guys,

 

Need help again, maybe going to book 8 day cruise on Spirit in November and have a couple of questions.

 

1. Good hotel in San Diego - reasonable price.

 

2. Best way to get back to LAX from San Diego after cruise (will not be hiring a car).

 

Thanks in advance :)

[Shystah]

Take amtrak, the station is right next to the cruise terminal and the price should be around 36 bucks. It will be a train and then a large bus but it will get you there.

[CRZCRAZY]

The Amtrak doesn't leave till 4:06 pm and then goes to Union Station. From there you have to take the Union Station FlyAway which is another $7 and about 45 more minutes after the bus leaves.

Why not just take Carnival's transfer to LAX?

 

As far as hotel, I'm not too sure what you consider too expensive, but I stay at the Holiday Inn San Diego Bay - it's right across the street from the cruise terminal and they have a great restaurant and bar. Also, there's good food across the street.

[cotton93]

Thanks, Holiday Inn looks ideal ..... will check out Amtrak. Carnival on their website is only showing transfers back to San Diego not LAX.

 

Cheers

[riffatsea]

It would make it much easier if you could just fly out of SAN (San Diego). The cruise port is right in downtown San Diego only about 2 miles from the SAN airport so of course that is the only one mentioned by the cruise line.

The train ride to LA takes 3 hours and then the flyaway bus to the airport so the transfer will take at least 4 hours of your time!

Some airlines fly commuter hops from SAN to LAX if you book that as part of your onward ticket. So I'd look at flying back to your home city from SAN.

[viaggi_per_mare]

Due to the incredible crowds at LAX, we opted to fly into Long Beach which a about 40 miles from LAX and closer to San Diego. It is a big enough airport that you do not need "puddle jumper", large planes fly into Long Beach. We found the rates from NY into Long Beach were better than flying into LAX and you will be a little closer.

[amc80]

I'm guessing there are also shuttles that would go to LAX. It would be more than the train, but be much faster. Is there a particular reason you want to fly out of LAX?

[Splinter]

I'm guessing there are also shuttles that would go to LAX. It would be more than the train, but be much faster. Is there a particular reason you want to fly out of LAX?

 

There are very few international flights out of SAN, and certainly none to Australia.

 

No, there are no shuttles from San Diego to LAX.

 

Commuter flights from San Diego to LAX are VERY expensive.

 

As above, taking the train & bus from San Diego to LAX will take you most of the day, and you cannot leave until the afternoon. This would mean having to stay in a hotel near LAX overnight and taking a flight the next day unless you have a red-eye flight.

 

For an international flight out of LAX, you MUST be at the airport 3 hours prior to your departure time.

 

You can also take the bus from San Diego to the LA area, but again, none go directly to LAX, so you would have to arrange to take a local shuttle or cab from the closest Greyhound station to LAX. It would take most of a day to get there.

 

Not sure why you are opposed to renting a car. This would by far by both the least expensive and fastest way to get to LAX from San Diego. Plan on a minimum of 3 hours for the drive taking into consideration day of the week and time of day (add another 30-60 minutes for any of it being during weekday rush hour, or for wrecks or construction on the weekends).

[critterchick]

Actually there are plenty of connecting flights - San Diego to LAX to Sydney. The prices for the randomly-selected date of 9/19 were $422 to $7598(:eek:). I would do that (the $422 option, I think:p). The time you have to spend at LAX waiting to connect is IMHO infinitely better than trying to get up to LAX on the road or by train. Or driving on the wrong side of the street. :)

 

Oh, and we made the "mistake" of arriving 3 hours in advance of a flight to Sydney. Because it departed late night, the Delta terminal was virtually empty. We had our bags checked (curbside; not all carriers will do that for international flights) and were through security in 10 minutes. But we'll make that mistake again because you just never know...

[riffatsea]

Agree with the above post! IF you book your flight from San Diego to Australia they will add the leg from SAN to LAX for a reasonable price. IF you booked that separately it would be ridiculously expensive! It is more time/cost efficient to fly the leg from SAN to LAX than to deal with the train or even a car.

[cotton93]

Thanks to all that have replied. Will now decide what we are going to do. :confused: