Time to Airport

[JLBellaCC]

I am considering a flight that departs at 9:55am from LAX after our cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles- is that too early? This is our first west coast cruise and I worry about the LA traffic, in general, and the airport security lines since it will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

 

Thank you!

 

We have also never sailed Princess- we have sailed Royal, Celebrity, Holland and Carnival. Which ship is the Princess experience most similar?

[CruiserBruce]

Way too early. I wouldn't be comfortable with anything before 11:30. If you look on the West Coast Departures board, you will see a lot of info about flights, airport transport, etc.

 

Princess will have things in common with all those cruise lines. And some mildly different things as well.

Edited August 4, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[runnerodb83]

Yes, far too early. See if you can fly out of Long Beach airport which is about 20 mins reliably from San Pedro (where the ship docks). Smaller airport but shorter security and less distance to go. LAX is a solid 30-45 mins with light traffic - as if that exists in LA.

 

I would say that PCL wedges in between RCL and Celebrity but its quite close to Celebrity in many ways, and while service and food are on par with HAL, the experience is markedly different.

Edited August 4, 2016 by runnerodb83

[Kamloops50]

I am considering a flight that departs at 9:55am from LAX after our cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles- is that too early? This is our first west coast cruise and I worry about the LA traffic, in general, and the airport security lines since it will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

 

Thank you!

 

We have also never sailed Princess- we have sailed Royal, Celebrity, Holland and Carnival. Which ship is the Princess experience most similar?

 

I would never take a flight from LAX before noon or later. Princess usually starts to disembark around 7:30AM. Usually takes about 45 minutes to clear customs . The first groups are those that carry there own luggage.It is a good 60 minutes (mid week) to get to LAX . Check in and security at the airport can take about 2 hours .

[JLBellaCC]

Thank you for all your advice! I would love to fly out of Long Beach but the cost is way, way higher. So, with your suggestions, I found a flight that leaves LAX at 1:30pm. We always carry off our own luggage, and I know the other cruise lines you can request to be off first if you have an early flight, so maybe I could also do that?

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days- :( But, thankfully my drought is nearly over as our last cruise was in April.... I have been so anxious to book another. (We can't cruise/vacation during the summer due to our work.) Countdown is on!!

[Happy2cruise]

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days- :( But, thankfully my drought is nearly over as our last cruise was in April.... I have been so anxious to book another. (We can't cruise/vacation during the summer due to our work.) Countdown is on!!

Enjoy your first Princess cruise:)

[Pam in CA]

Disembarkation in San Pedro often doesn't start until close to 8am and that's for the first self-disembarkation groups. Going through Immigration and Customs can take 15-30 minutes. The airport is about 20 miles away and can take 45-60 minutes to get to from the pier. LAX is often gridlock with traffic and it can take 10-20 minutes to get from the entrance to your terminal. Checking in and going through Security can take 15-30 minutes. LAX is huge and it can take you another 10 minutes to get to your gate at a fast walk.

 

LAX recommends arriving at the airport two hours before your flight for domestic flights, three hours for international. Do the math. I wouldn't recommend any flight before Noon. You may wind up waiting at your gate but to me, that's preferable to missing your flight and the anxiety.

 

Here's a screenshot of the current traffic. I have found that with LAX metro traffic that Google time estimates are very optimistic.

[easyboy]

Thank you for all your advice! I would love to fly out of Long Beach but the cost is way, way higher. So, with your suggestions, I found a flight that leaves LAX at 1:30pm. We always carry off our own luggage, and I know the other cruise lines you can request to be off first if you have an early flight, so maybe I could also do that?

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days- :( But, thankfully my drought is nearly over as our last cruise was in April.... I have been so anxious to book another. (We can't cruise/vacation during the summer due to our work.) Countdown is on!!

Book another one with Princess. I'm pretty sure you will enjoy your first.:)

[Thrak]

Thank you for all your advice! I would love to fly out of Long Beach but the cost is way, way higher. So, with your suggestions, I found a flight that leaves LAX at 1:30pm. We always carry off our own luggage, and I know the other cruise lines you can request to be off first if you have an early flight, so maybe I could also do that?

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days- :( But, thankfully my drought is nearly over as our last cruise was in April.... I have been so anxious to book another. (We can't cruise/vacation during the summer due to our work.) Countdown is on!!

 

A wise decision. While I really don't like sitting around airports waiting for my flight it would be vastly worse to miss your flight!

Edited August 4, 2016 by Thrak

[capriccio]

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days

 

Just an FYI - on short (5 days or less) cruises many, if not most, of the passengers will be doing self-disembarkation so not everyone can be first off the ship :D.

 

We were on a 5 day cruise that was the second part of a B2B where the first cruise was 12 days so we had too much luggage to self-disembark and we were definitely in the minority. In fact, if I remember correctly, we had to specifically ask for assisted disembarkation. Once asked there was no problem with it and they provided the usual luggage tags and disembarkation information.

[RetiredNTraveling]

A wise decision. While I really don't like sitting around airports waiting for my flight it would be vastly worse to miss your flight!

 

Well said! We never book a flight before 12:45pm and preferably 1:30pm.

 

Just Mike

[Cruisin' Chick]

that's smart to change it. I don't think you would need to do self-disemb. Tuesday before Thanksgiving will be horrendous at LAX --I've experience that first hand.

[mattie00]

Good idea to change to at least 1:30 p.m. We were on a cruise that experienced 3 ships in at the same timeand there were also some problems with immigration processing such that people who had booked flights at 1:00 missed them. We were very glad our flight did not depart until 4:30 as we were not through immigration until 1:00 p.m. :eek: Ever since that experience we have never booked flights on disembarkation day...always at least a day later. We have also never again taken a cruise that disembarks in Los Angeles.

[Lucky TGO]

Don't take the chance I think that's to early.

Tony

[riclop]

I am considering a flight that departs at 9:55am from LAX after our cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles- is that too early? This is our first west coast cruise and I worry about the LA traffic, in general, and the airport security lines since it will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

 

Thank you!

 

We have also never sailed Princess- we have sailed Royal, Celebrity, Holland and Carnival. Which ship is the Princess experience most similar?

Not a good idea.

[jnc411]

I agree with everyone, that flight is way to early. I live here and you can never count on a specific time going to LAX, if the 405 is jammed up, it can take a long time, it only takes a small fender bender to mess things up, and just getting from the freeway exit to the terminal at LAX can be bumper to bumper also, 12:30 to 1:30 sounds much better.

Cori

[myfuzzy]

I always say....book a fight that convenient for you, then let everyone else move out of the way so you can make it!

[Cruise Raider]

Thank you for all your advice! I would love to fly out of Long Beach but the cost is way, way higher. So, with your suggestions, I found a flight that leaves LAX at 1:30pm. We always carry off our own luggage, and I know the other cruise lines you can request to be off first if you have an early flight, so maybe I could also do that?

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise- though it is just a shortie, just five days- :( But, thankfully my drought is nearly over as our last cruise was in April.... I have been so anxious to book another. (We can't cruise/vacation during the summer due to our work.) Countdown is on!!

 

You will be much happier with that decision, especially on a shorter cruise. It seems like everyone that takes a short cruise wants to walk off so don't deedle ... get one of the earlier walk off times in order to get out before the rush. LA traffic is also unpredictable ... you probably could have never made that earlier flight ... chances were slim at best.

[4cats4me]

I am considering a flight that departs at 9:55am from LAX after our cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles- is that too early? This is our first west coast cruise and I worry about the LA traffic, in general, and the airport security lines since it will be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

We have also never sailed Princess- we have sailed Royal, Celebrity, Holland and Carnival. Which ship is the Princess experience most similar?

 

 

 

OMG, no, don't do it. Book a flight that leaves around noon, preferably 12:30-1:00. Traffic awful. Unpredictable. Security lines horrendous (potentially) due to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving

Most people I know travel on Monday or Tuesday now in addition to Wed. Many people I work with take that whole week off now, so your plan just sounds too optimistic.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LeeW]

No one else has mentioned this, but Grand class Princess ships are pretty similar in feel to Navigator of the Seas. Food quite similar. No ice rink, of course. Food in dining room and buffet are similar. Buffet has much longer hours than Royal. Princess has a grill, pizza shop, and soft ice cream shop that are open on the Lido (pool) deck from around 11 to fairly late at night. Best fries on the ocean.

 

If you decide you like Princess, turn in a Future Cruise Deposit request (you do NOT have to stand in line to do this, unless you actually want to book onboard). Costs $100 per person and that acts as your full deposit on any cruise in the next two years - you do NOT have to pick the cruise at the time. Cost is charged to the same credit card as you are using for onboard charges but is charged separately. The FCD also gives varying amounts of OBC on that next cruise (depends on length and room category). OBC amounts are much better than Royal, and are the same whether you book onboard or later. The other advantage of Princess is that OBC is mostly stackable - loyalty, military, promotions, stockholder all can be used together.

 

Hmm - military. If you are US or Canadian active or prior military you get $50-$250 OBC on every cruise (depends on length). And you only have to apply once.

[satxdiver]

The other plus for buying a FCD is that at the end of two years if it was not used, Princess will give your money back. So except for possible Princess holding the money for two years, it is a winning proposition for you if you intend to possible go on Princess again in two years or less. I would also like to point out again that Princess allows you to stack OBC awards like FCD, military, stock holder etc. We always like to have at least two FCD each in our account so we frequently buy 2 or more each.

[easyboy]

The other plus for buying a FCD is that at the end of two years if it was not used, Princess will give your money back. So except for possible Princess holding the money for two years, it is a winning proposition for you if you intend to possible go on Princess again in two years or less. I would also like to point out again that Princess allows you to stack OBC awards like FCD, military, stock holder etc. We always like to have at least two FCD each in our account so we frequently buy 2 or more each.

Though 2 years is long not to be able to use it, I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for the info.