Long Beach Hotel/Transportation from LAX

[Rolincook]

We are sailing the Pride in October. Arriving Saturday 6:00 PM LAX. Would it be better to stay near LAX and get a ride to the pier Sunday, or is it better to get to Long Beach the night before? Also, any hotel recommendations nearby in the Long Beach area? Also, does anyone know of any scheduled transportation from LAX to Long Beach. Any recommendations??

[jimbug]

I would 100% recommend the Coast Long Beach Hotel (http://www.coasthotels.com). It is just down Queensway Drive (1/2 mile?) from the Carnival terminal and the Queen Mary. It looks dated (70s) on the outside, but the rooms are surprisingly luxurious, clean, and well-kept. I would recomend using the SuperShuttle or the Xpress Shuttle (http://www.xpressshuttle.com) from LAX to the hotel (we used both on either end of the trip) - I think it would be around $15/pp one way, but you need to reserve Xpress ahead of time - they were definitely the cheapest and best. Right across the street from the Coast Hotel is a fabulous restaurant called The Reef. I haven't been there for lunch or dinner, but their Sunday brunch is to DIE for! Highly recommend - you will need to call Sun. morning for a reservation - we called around 9 am for a 10:30 reservation same day - their food beats the cruise food by a mile - and our cruise food was delicious, if that's saying anything! It's definitely a can't miss. The Coast also offers great views of Long Beach and the Queen Mary, Carnival ships, etc. Nice walkway around the water for just relaxing and taking pictures.

 

There are a few pictures from our trip (towards the bottom) that include the Coast Hotel:

http://www.convectionconnection.com/CRUISE/

[jimbug]

PS--if you look at the pictures, the Coast Hotel/Long Beach ones start at the very last picture on the 3rd row up from the bottom (the palm tree ones after the dark pictures).

 

The pictures of the Pride and the Queen Mary were taken from just outside the hotel - that's how close it is (I don't have zoom on my camera). They also offer a free shuttle to the pier. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

[zonemasconi]

the hotel offers free shuttle to the pier thats good info thanks.

 

I will be going on the pride on the 25 th of Sept so there was some issues I needed to address.

I am already booked at this hotel at a super price.

one of my questions would be is there a in hotel restaraunt as I only want to eat a small breakfast before boarding the ship.

[jimbug]

Yes, there is a hotel restaurant, and I believe they also offer room service (we didn't use either). I do recall seeing that the restaurant prices were reasonable and breakfast there was well attended. There are not any stores or other restaurants nearby (other than the Reef), so stock up on any last-minute purchases (soda, wine, toiletries, etc.) before arriving to the hotel.

[Kridder]

We also stayed at The Coast Long Beach the night before our cruise this past February. The hotel was nice and clean but we found the service (especialy in the restaurant) to be very poor. Also, the "free" shuttle is only available to those that book the cruise package. The lines for the shuttle for morning of the cruise were very long. We opted to call a cab and were at the terminal in a matter of minutes for just a couple of bucks plus tip.

 

We used Super Shuttle to the hotel the night before our cruise. Although it was cheap the drive was quite long (1 1/2 hours) as we had to drop off people along the way. We picked up the Super Shuttle after the cruise as well....it was a breeze and reservations are not required either way (always plenty of shuttles available).

[Rolincook]

Thank you so much -- we will reserve a room this weekend just to make sure we have a place close. I notice you are from Norman, OK? Enjoyed a weekend trip there when our son was at a flight school there several years ago.

[jimbug]

Yes, my husband and I call Norman home now. We both came here for college at OU and have stayed here since. It's a great town with great atmosphere...nice to meet someone on CC who knows where it is! :)