Los Angeles: Flying in day of cruise or stay over night? (Oct 2018)

[newmexicoNita]

got a free cruise from my land casino.

one of the offers is an 8day Mexican Rivera on Bliss (Inside room) leaving from LA! :cool:

Fri 10/5/2018 - Sat 10/13/2018

I'm going solo.

 

1) the cruise departs at 5pm pst so that means the latest to check-in is 3pm.

I live in DC area, near Dulles (IAD) airport.

 

There's a nonstop flight from IAD to LAX on Alaska Air that lands at 11:39am pst.

there's also 2 United flights that lands at 10:09am and 11:09am pst.

 

i'm leaning on flying in day of cruise on the United flight that lands at 10:09am.

if there's a delay, i'm assuming i can get switched to the 11:09am landing flight for free.

Is it easy to go from LAX to the NCL cruise port using Uber/Lyft?

 

 

2) The ship returns at 8am.

There's a nonstop United flight at 1:20pm.

 

i plan to book NCL transfer from ship to airport.

or do it myself with Uber/Lyft since i only have 1 piece of luggage?

 

 

What do you think about my plans for flying in same day the cruise departs, and flying out the same day the cruise returns?

Or should i stay over night?

there was a time, many years ago we would fly on the day or saling but only it we lived on the east coast and we were going out of Florida. Now, even though it looks like you would have no problems, I still think flying in the day ahead is the only way to be safe from an unexpected delay. It is better to spend that extra $$ on a hotel than take a chance. 3 hours from landing to get to the port sounds like plenty of time, but LAX to San Pedro can be a total nightmare. Just gettng luggage at LAX can be a challenge. Play it smart, arrive a day in advance and enjoy a relaxing evening in one of the may airport hotel or stay in San Pedro. There are a couple of nice hotels not far from the port.

[DirtyDawg]

OP, if you can fly in the day before I would recommend that if you are risk averse. But I see you won the cruise through a casino site so I guess you are not that risk averse.;) Roll the dice and fly in the day of! Just think of it as starting your cruise casino moment at the airport and not on the ship.:D

 

And besides, it's a free cruise, if you miss the ship, just book a flight to Vegas and go to the casinos there.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I had to fly to L.A. same day from Boston due to work constraints. Couldn't get off on the previous day. I had NCL book me a nonstop from Logan to LAX. I arrived in plenty of time, but I was lucky not to have delays.

 

I also got transfers from the airport to the ship, not wanting to book anything on my own.

 

NCL also booked my return flight from Miami. This was a repo Panama Canal cruise from L.A. to Miami.

 

If I had my choice, I'd never fly in same day for that distance again.

[sergeant655]

i would fly in the day before. It can take about an hour to retrieve luggage if a belt breaks down at LAX and the traffic in LA can be really bad. It can easily take 60-90 min to get to the ship from the Airport. I would find a hotel in San Pedro or close by. It is the Columbus day weekend so people may head home from work early on friday. when returning to LAX if you find the TSA line for terminal 7/8 is long you can use the checkpoint at terminal 6 as terminals 6, 7 and 8 are all connected together once you clear Security. Staff will be able to let you know if the lines at 6 are short.

[kelib]

I would fly in the day before from the east coast. A few years back I was flying to LA from Philadelphia against very strong headwinds. The normal 5 hour flight ended up being more like 10 hours, including a stop in Denver to take on more fuel. I think it is a rare occurrence but it shows what could happen. I was also taking a crusie and if I had gone the same day I would have missed the ship.

[mking8288]

Speaking of "headwinds" :( :loudcry:

News flash ... Wildfire burning near the 405 Freeway in southern Calif, thankfully in the mountainous area, Ventura County, north of LAX - fueled by 85 mph, that's Hurricane Force, Category 1 wind. Hwy 101 - which pass thru downtown Los Angeles, just reopened, per news reporting citing CHP.

 

Thus far, it has NOT impacted air traffic in the area/region's airport ... for both departures & landings, yet. But, a 10 mile stretch of the 405 Freeway, maybe just 30 to 40 miles north of LAX in Bel Air, near Beverly Hills, NW of Santa Monica was shut down for hours on Wednesday morning. If and when that Santa Ana wind shift and spark more wild fires, who knows ... factor in delays flying in/out.

 

Unlike 30 + years ago, flying nonstop from the East to LAX is no longer taken for granted and those 737-800 and 900's just don't have the extra fuel range reserved to circle on a holding pattern off the airport in the Pacific ... oh, I missed those DC-10 and B767 days.

 

Anyone flying into LAX this weekend to cruise or what not, good luck !!

[scopewest]

Another Phoenix story, we decided to fly in the day of our cruise, flight leaving around 9 a.m., one hour flight to San Diego, short drive from airport to port, no problem; right? Except for the fact the Phoenix airport was at ground stop that morning for all incoming and outgoing flights due to fog.

 

After a couple of hours, the fog lifted and we were put on a later flight and (whew) made our cruise. We no longer take that chance and we fly in the day before no matter what port the ship is leaving from.

[john.everson.988]

I’m flying in the night before, and hanging out at the airport. Catching SuperShuttle the next morning around 10.

 

 

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