Will I make it for 11:15 am flight?

[ABCruiser]

Am excited for our first Princess cruise on the Sapphire in May. Just wondering if we can make it on time for a Saturday 11:15 am flight out of LAX when the ship comes into port at 7:00 am. I've done a mid morning flight with other cruise line we've been on but do not know about Princess disembarkation. Appreciate any input. Thank you

[Princess Patches]

You are cutting it very close with an 11:15 flight. It is possible to make it, but I would see if you can get a later flight. LAX guidelines are to arrive 2 hours prior to your flight to make it through check-in and security lines. So you should be at LAX by 9:15 a.m. for an 11:15 a.m flight. If everything goes perfectly the earliest you can be at LAX is about 9:30-9:45 a.m.

 

I disembarked the Sapphire last October on a Saturday and drove my sister to LAX. We got to LAX at 9:40 a.m. and everything went perfectly. We did the early self-disembarkation (carry your own bags off the ship) and left the ship at 8:15 (with the first group off). Although the ship arrives at 7:00, they do not start disembarkation until about 8:00 a.m.. Customs went quickly and smoothly. We got our car in the parking lot and there was not a single car in line to leave the parking area. We whisked out of the parking lot quickly. The freeway was clear as a bell.

 

If anything goes even slightly wrong, such as late disembarkation, customs holdup, long wait for your transportation to the airport, freeway traffic, etc., you will not make it. I would not want that stress, but if you decide to keep the early flight then I recommend early self-disembarkation and a taxi to LAX.

[ABCruiser]

You are cutting it very close with an 11:15 flight. It is possible to make it, but I would see if you can get a later flight. LAX guidelines are to arrive 2 hours prior to your flight to make it through check-in and security lines. So you should be at LAX by 9:15 a.m. for an 11:15 a.m flight. If everything goes perfectly the earliest you can be at LAX is about 9:30-9:45 a.m.

 

I disembarked the Sapphire last October on a Saturday and drove my sister to LAX. We got to LAX at 9:40 a.m. and everything went perfectly. We did the early self-disembarkation (carry your own bags off the ship) and left the ship at 8:15 (with the first group off). Although the ship arrives at 7:00, they do not start disembarkation until about 8:00 a.m.. Customs went quickly and smoothly. We got our car in the parking lot and there was not a single car in line to leave the parking area. We whisked out of the parking lot quickly. The freeway was clear as a bell.

 

If anything goes even slightly wrong, such as late disembarkation, customs holdup, long wait for your transportation to the airport, freeway traffic, etc., you will not make it. I would not want that stress, but if you decide to keep the early flight then I recommend early self-disembarkation and a taxi to LAX.

 

Thanks Princess...I'll work on booking the next flight at 12:40 pm then

[TipsyT]

We walked off the Coral with our luggage on Tuesday morning and had enough time to go out for a nice breakfast before getting to LAX 1.5 hrs early for an 11:30 flight. Traffic will be the real deal breaker/maker here.

 

By the way, Norma's on Century has great breakfast and is just down the street from LAX.

[gertz]

11:30 is doable but everything need to go ok. Think 12:30 is a better choice.

[Princess Patches]

Thanks Princess...I'll work on booking the next flight at 12:40 pm then

 

Good, that is much better. Now you can even enjoy a lovely breakfast in the ship's main dining room prior to disembarkation. So much less stressful.

[lcmslady]

So, you all think a 12:30 or 1:00 flight is do-able out of LAX?

 

We are looking at a flight in this time frame but other posters have said 'no way'. Our other options aren't until much later in the afternoon which gets us home very late.

 

We will be disembarking on a Wednesday morning BTW.

 

Thanks for your opinons!

[arrice2]

Am excited for our first Princess cruise on the Sapphire in May. Just wondering if we can make it on time for a Saturday 11:15 am flight out of LAX when the ship comes into port at 7:00 am. I've done a mid morning flight with other cruise line we've been on but do not know about Princess disembarkation. Appreciate any input. Thank you

 

It can be done. We took a 11:25 flight out of LAX, and sat for 1 1/2 hours in the airport.

 

But I wouldn't do it again. We got a group of 8 passengers from the Roll Call and booked an exclusive van from Prime Time Shuttle. The earliest we could schedule departure from the ship was 8:30. Prime Time (and I think the others) have vans staged outside the terminal, so as soon as we showed up at the curb, they called a van from the parking lot for us. We were loaded and at the airport at 9:30.

 

Everything went exactly right, except that I lost some sleep the night before.

 

Good luck with whatever you do.

[arizonaperson]

Am excited for our first Princess cruise on the Sapphire in May. Just wondering if we can make it on time for a Saturday 11:15 am flight out of LAX when the ship comes into port at 7:00 am. I've done a mid morning flight with other cruise line we've been on but do not know about Princess disembarkation. Appreciate any input. Thank you

 

I see you live in Canada and probably after the cruise flying back there?

Princess's guidelines say if you are doing your own airfare, earliest flight time is 1:30pm for International and 12:30pm for domestic travel. This is for disembarking in San Pedro.

Will you make it sooner,probably, but this is what the Princess website says.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I have been on some cruises out of SP, and on at least one of these, the disembarkation started very late (and this is due to customs and immigration and not Princess). There are various ways that Murphy's Law can kick in which is why all cruiselines that use the Port of LA recommend any flights out of LAX be after 1pm. Most likely noon will be all right, but do you really want to stress over this after your wonderful vacation?

 

Even on weekends, I've seen traffic jams on the 405, and now with construction going on (it's farther north of the airport, but could still affect traffic...and this weekend that portion of the freeway will be closed at least at night but maybe even during the day) I just would not risk missing a flight. If there are earlier flights, keep that info handy and maybe you can switch to an earlier flight if you get there early enough.

 

As for those getting in on Wednesdays (BTW, the Golden Hawaiian cruise is excellent), you'll have work rush hour traffic to deal with, and it's more of rush day, even at noon.