LAX Disembarkation

[Janet S.]

We are looking at next Spring's Pacific Coastal cruise on the Century. The best available flight home for timing and pricing departs at 11:00 am. I called Celebrity and they told me that flight would be fine since we arrive at 7:00 am. But before I buy the tickets has anyone made an 11:00 flight out of LAX with an arrival at 7:00 am (the port to airport is about 1/2 hour and they would make sure we would be an early disembarkation.) Thanks for any help.

[Kartgv]

If it's a week day, rush hour can extend until well after 9:00am (that's assuming it EVER ends!), so that could add substantially to your transit time. Keep in mind that a 7:00 am arrival time does not mean you can get off the ship at that time - we've never seen any disembarkation less than half an hour past the official arrival time. Can you carry your bags off the ship yourself or will you need to collect your bags at the pier? Also, how do you plan on getting to the airport from the pier? You're probably safest with a taxi or private car, as the ship's transportation and shared shuttles will wait for the bus/van to fill before leaving and may stop at several terminals before getting to yours. There's also the issue of security and baggage drop-off lines - you can never predict how long they'll be at any given day/time; we've cleared them in as little as 20 minutes and at other times taken almost an hour.

 

Bottom line - if everything goes perfectly, you'll make your flight. It anything goes wrong, you might not.

[Kartgv]

Just spotted this thread on the Princess board about recent delays in disembarking in LA - might be worthwhile reading before making a decision.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1932645

[mcrcruiser]

Recommend a later flight out ;).Best to rent a car from the San Pedro location of Enterprise with a GPS or bring a portable GPS . They have a shuttle at the pier to take you to their office for the rental --allow time ;).

 

You can turn the car in at the airport . you will make better time than any shuttle ;but 11 AM is far to close because of LA traffic conditions :o& the real time you can get off the ship & get your car rental;)

[Janet S.]

The cruise is a Sat to Sat one so we would disembark on a Sat. But I don't want to stress out about not making our flight to end a cruise. Thanks for all the replies and I'll look at later flights out. Thanks again!

[VegasMark]

There are a number of things that can go wrong, but I'd say you have a 99% chance of making that flight. If you can get off the ship first at 8 (usually it is sooner, but for the sake of argument), you should be able to zip through Customs. Make sure you carry your own bags off, or I wouldn't try this. Grab a taxi and I don't see why you can't be at the airport by 9. Yes there are occasions where the ship won't dock on time, Customs will search your bag, there will be traffic, etc. But if it were me, I'd get the 11am flight.

[JudithLynne]

We have gone from San Pedro to LAX many times in our 33 cruise history. On a Saturday it is very doable. We have yet to miss a flight and in fact have had time to spare. I would use a private shuttle. We use Zippy (Zippyshuttle.net) and have had great success. Use the express disembarkation and carry your own bags……

 

Judith

[riclop]

We are looking at next Spring's Pacific Coastal cruise on the Century. The best available flight home for timing and pricing departs at 11:00 am. I called Celebrity and they told me that flight would be fine since we arrive at 7:00 am. But before I buy the tickets has anyone made an 11:00 flight out of LAX with an arrival at 7:00 am (the port to airport is about 1/2 hour and they would make sure we would be an early disembarkation.) Thanks for any help.

If its a weekend you should make it , weekend very iffy.