Is a 12:25 flight from LAX doable

[jff50]

Our itinerary for a Princess MR cruise shows us arriving at 7 AM on Wednesday January 5th. Our choices for flights out of LAX are for 12:25 and 3:05. How doable is the 12:25 flight midweek?

[CaseyJr]

Figure an hour to get to LAX (probably less) and the recommendation that you should check in two hours before your flight. That means that you should be off the ship by 9 am or so for a 12:25 flight.

[jff50]

Figure an hour to get to LAX (probably less) and the recommendation that you should check in two hours before your flight. That means that you should be off the ship by 9 am or so for a 12:25 flight.

Wondering if an hour to LAX is realistic for a mid-week morning.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I used to work in West LA, not too far away from the 405 freeway (which is the freeway that you would take up to LAX from the Harbor freeway). We were about five miles or so from the airport at that point. Sometimes I would walk out to make a cola run to 7-11 or go rustle up some lunch on a day I didn't brown bag it, and could see how congested the freeway was. Even around 11 or 12, there could be bumper to bumper traffic. If there's construction, an accident, or even a car pulled over by the CHP (looky loo behavior kicks in), things get backed up.

 

So here's what you hope will happen:

1) the ship gets into port on time (most likely)

2) customs and immigration goes quickly and on time. And there isn't some passenger from some country not heeding any PA call to the passenger services desk -- which would delay the process

3) that you're in one of the first groups to get off the ship

4) getting your transportation to the airport goes smoothly

5) no accidents or construction on the way to the airport

6) the security lines at LAX move quickly

 

So it's quite possible to make that flight. But there is a reason (known as Murphy's Law) why the cruiselines always recommend that flights out of LAX be booked for after 1pm.

[jff50]

Think I'm inclined to do the 3:05 flight, just to be sure.

[Keith1010]

I would do the 3:00 PM flight.

 

In the perfect world I would do a 1:00 PM flight but you don't have that option.

 

You need to plan for a one hour drive to the airport. It might be shorter but one hour is good. You should plan to get to the airport 2 hours before your flight. Yes, 2 hours. This is LAX.

 

But then there is the unknown. Ship arrives in port late. Also, the ship is cleared late which happens from time to time at all USA ports.

 

Go with the later flight and that way you enjoy the cruise and you will not worry about rushing off the ship.

 

Keith

[cruiserbryce]

you should be fine but I would still try to be in one of the first groups off the ship in the am

[amc80]

If it were any other airport, I'd say go for it. But LAX is a giant pain, not to mention the traffic. Three hours is worth the peace of mind.

[Keith1010]

you should be fine but I would still try to be in one of the first groups off the ship in the am

 

I never like the "you should be fine" because that is the risk. If there is a delay arriving or a delay in customs everything can be thrown off. I have seen this happen at this port and actually in most USA ports so I would not recommend to someone else to take this flight.

 

LAX is a very busy airport on top of everything and one that is best to get to 2 hours prior to the flight.

 

Keith

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would never say "you'll be fine" either. One time in San Pedro, the disembarkation process for our sailing started late because customs and immigrations officials boarded the ship late (and there was only one other ship in port).

[critterchick]

I'd take the risk. If you're a US citizen you won't need to clear immigration (and we've never had to wait for everybody else to report). You just disembark the ship, collect your luggage and will be on your way.

 

I would, however, make sure to be among the first to disembark. You get priority if you're Platinum or Elite, or you could take your own luggage off and skip the bag collection. If you aren't P/E and don't want to pack lightly enough to manage self-debarkation, make sure that you are scheduled to be in the first "regular" group off the ship.

 

I would also arrange for a private car pickup - we use Apex Transportation; others use Execu-Car. They cost a bit more than a cab, but if there is an accident or construction on the 405, they can take an alternate route without your incurring any additional meter fees. And they won't potentially stop to drop somebody else off along the way, as might happen with a shuttle service.

 

Things can always go wrong. We were on a cruise out of Barcelona where the ship didn't even dock until 5:00pm, so noon vs 3:00 didn't even matter. We try to fly out the next day when we can, but if not, I take a noon flight when I can.

[kenish]

I'd take the risk. If you're a US citizen you won't need to clear immigration (and we've never had to wait for everybody else to report).

 

Although true, the fact is you are *very* dependent on non-citizens to report and clear Immigration. Nobody disembarks until everyone has been cleared. This board and others are full of reports on disembarkation delays because someone didn't report. I've been on a few cruises where loud, shipwide PA's have called the same surname(s) every 5 minutes for a half hour or more. How they could miss the calls is beyond me!

[Cruisin' Chick]

I always wonder what the reasons are: not hearing the announcements (like, all of 'em?), not understanding, hiding????

[critterchick]

Well, they only make the announcements in English (in my experience). Since they're usually paging a non-US citizen, it's possible that they didn't understand the announcement. Or realize that it was their name being called...:rolleyes:

 

We were on Radiance once when a single person was paged over and over again. We had already cleared immigration in Vancouver, so this must have been somebody who had exceed his or her duty free limit onboard the ship. We were delayed two hours. But we were still off the ship by 9:00.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You would think that Princess can obtain the translation of "Please report to the ..." in many languages. They will know the passenger's home country, so they could attempt to do the PA in that country's language.