hotel in LosAngeles??

[dollyo]

We are cruising out of LA on Celebrity on April 23 and we are looking for a reccomendation for a pre and post hotel stay. Can anyone help with a reccomendation and perhaps the rate that you were able to get. Thanks Sharon

[Happy ks]

If you are arriving just a day ahead, you may want to find a hotel in Long Beach, not Los Angeles. Do a search on Expedia there, it will give you several choices. If I were you, I'd opt for a stay on the Queen Mary, it's a delightful place to visit, the rooms are a bit old, but a fun experience! Not your typical modern hotel room.

 

How long post cruise and where do you want to visit, Los Angeles and surrounding areas are pretty spread out.

[user339993]

I'm researching the same thing for July. Looks like Coast Long Beach Hotel and Holiday Inn San Pedro might be good possibilities. I check tripadvisor.com for reviews. I'd like to get feedback from where you stay afterwards as you will be cruising before us. We're looking for a good value - not luxury for the one night though the Westin in Long Beach sounds heavenly I don't want to pay the $200 per night.

[user339993]

Question on this - our cruise is in July is it too early to book the hotel or should I wait????

[mtaylor04]

We want a very nice hotel preferrably with a nice room and bed, pool, restaurant, and in room movies. I don't care about the cost as it will be myself and two daughters and we don't want to leave the hotel.

 

We are currently booked at the Renaissance Montura Hotel near the airport but wonder if there is a nicer place by the airport.

 

We are sailing March 18th and will just be in the hotel one night pre-cruise

[petlover]

I would stay near the airport (assuming you mean LAX) ONLY if I was arriving late and just needed a bed for the night. There are much better locations....Manhattan Beach (near LAX) or Long Beach would be better options.

 

Also, unless you must.....you're better off flying into Long Beach airport. It is much much easier than LAX (it's terrible!). We live locally and avoid LAX as much as possible.

[mtaylor04]

Unfortunetly, it is $150 xtra per person to fly into long beach so we are going to be stuck flying into LAX.

 

We won't get in until 4 or 5 and with the time lag I can't imagine that we would be up late so we just thought we would stay at the airport so we could catch the shuttle to the pier the next morning.

 

If we don't stay at the airport how would we get to the pier? Are their shuttles that pick up in Manhattan Beach?

 

Mary

[GoodAsGold]

I just won a bid on Priceline for the Marina Hotel in San Pedro. (I knew it would be this hotel...or maybe a slight chance the Sheraton Harbor Hotel in SP. Either hotel is nice. Stayed at both in the past.) I have booked the Marina twice before thru Priceline. Even though it's 6 miles away in San Pedro, they shuttle you to the port in Long Beach for free. And, the parking is FREE while you cruise. They will also shuttle anywhere free within a 5 mile radius. We had them drop us off at the Acapulco for dinner the night before our cruise. Since we arrived when it was dark (and raining), we didn't care about doing any sight seeing. We mostly wanted a nice, 3-star hotel in a safe area close to the port. We got it! And, our car was parked in their lot for 10 days why we cruised at no charge.

 

This time I got it for $72 a night (we booked 2 rooms at that price.) Things are going up because we got the same hotel back in Spring of '03 for only $45 a night! Oh, well. We're dividing the rate by four women, so it's not so bad. :) I noticed in places like Hotels.com they're charging $99 a night.

 

http://www.marinahotelsanpedro.com/?gclid=CKCZgPPSq4IC

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We are cruising out of LA on Celebrity on April 23 and we are looking for a reccomendation for a pre and post hotel stay. Can anyone help with a reccomendation and perhaps the rate that you were able to get. Thanks Sharon

[kgr]

How far is Long Beach from LAX?

[catdancers]

Just returned from a holiday cruise and flew in and out of the Long Beach airport for the first time. Many cruisers really like the ease of the smaller Long Beach airport, but there are a couple things we feel people should know about before deciding to use this airport. First, there are no jetways, even for larger planes. Everyone must walk out onto the tarmac and climb stairs into the plane and vice versa. For some of us with limited mobility or strength, it is difficult to climb stairs, let alone climb them lugging your carryons. Secondly, the walkway to and from the plane and the stairs are outside and not covered. It was raining during our walk and ascent into the plane, so my hair was plastered to my head and we were damp and clammy. Thirdly, the baggage claim area is outside also, so waiting for bags in the rain can be uncomfortable.

 

Possibly the rain we encountered in Long Beach was unusual, but I thought cruisers should know about the airport situation if anyone in their party has mobility problems.

[jillyaz]

Thanks for all the information in this thread. I have my flight & hotel for pre-cruise all taken care of now!

[dollyo]

Thank you for the great info from everyone. We haven't ever tried priceline but maybe its time. We actually will be in 2 days early so maybe a different location, something better for sight seeing might be what we are looking for. Any ideas of where to stay and what to see. Sharon

[kgr]

For those interested, my travel agent tells me that Long Beach is 22 miles from LAX. We are planning on renting a car from National at LAX on the 11th, visiting with our daughter at USC overnight and staying in LA (probably Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive...location wonderful, safe and actually not too bad pricewise), and driving to the Long Beach airport where we will drop off the car and take a taxi to the pier. At least this is the plan! It sounds more complicated than it is! I never have a problem with LAX and have learned to manipulate the traffic well...Sunday should not be a problem.

[stones902]

Can't speak for everyone but we returned from a Princess cruise from the San Pedro pier in November. I agree that Long Beach is an excellent location to stay pre or post cruise. There are nice restaurants, an excellent bus system downtown, a nearby high speed ferry to Catalina Island (great day trip), and I think the town is relatively safe. Having visited the Queen Mary, I can't say that I would want to have a room there...it's better for a day visit IMHO.

 

We stayed at the Hilton Long Beach for our pre-stay 3 days prior to the cruise. Our govt rate was $100/night. Downtown was a 10 minute bus ride (stop right outside the entrance to the property). There was also a health club (no extra $$) on premisis. We walked to the Catalina Shuttle and there was a liquor store about 2 blocks away (wouldn't go there at night however).

[minner80]

Did you fly into Long Beach? Was the Hilton within walking distance to any restaurants? How did you get to the pier from the hotel? Thank you. I just booked the Diamond Princess to Mexican Riviera. We have been on 7 cruises but they have all been to the Carribean, so I know nothing about the Pacific Coast. We like to stay in very nice hotels, would the Hilton be for us?

[stones902]

Did you fly into Long Beach? Was the Hilton within walking distance to any restaurants? How did you get to the pier from the hotel? Thank you. I just booked the Diamond Princess to Mexican Riviera. We have been on 7 cruises but they have all been to the Carribean, so I know nothing about the Pacific Coast. We like to stay in very nice hotels, would the Hilton be for us?

 

We flew into LAX rather than Long Beach. The ride from the airport to hotel was 20 - 30 minutes but really depends on traffic. There are restaurants on property and a chain restaurant called "Daily Grill" directly adjacent to the hotel. There are many more excellent restaurants in downtown Long Beach which was a short bus (or cab) ride away. We arranged a van from the hotel to the pier (cab would have been fine too) and the ride was only a short 10 -15 minutes. The Hilton is a very nice hotel and I would recommend it. It is located next door to their World Trade Center. It is a full service property rather than a business travelers hotel.

 

Keep in mind that the San Pedro Pier is closer to Long Beach than LA proper so staying in Long Beach makes a lot of sense.

 

I have also heard of several cruisers booking the Coast Hotel in Long Beach. We saw the property but it is somewhat isolated and according to my TA who is from the area is not as nice as the Hilton.

[minner80]

Thank you. Sounds good!

[CRUISAYEAR]

Hey "goodasgold" thanks for the info. I bid 3 star upscale San Pedro on Priceline and got the Marina Hotel for $82. By their website it looks like a really nice place.

[GoodAsGold]

That's great! I've liked it in the past and since they'll be renovating into a Doubletree Hotel, I imagine it will be even nicer in the future. Not sure how much of it will be done in the beginning of the year, though. We'll be there for a night in early April. I particularly like being able to park for free for the duration of the cruise. (If you have a car.) We'll have two this time.

 

Bon voyage to you!

 

Hey "goodasgold" thanks for the info. I bid 3 star upscale San Pedro on Priceline and got the Marina Hotel for $82. By their website it looks like a really nice place.

[cornellcindy]

....when you park for free at the Marina hotel, San Pedro, does the hotel give you a parking voucher or ticket for your car? Do you leave car information with the front desk?

 

Thanks, in advance,

Cindy

[GB Chicago]

Another option is to fly into John Wayne Airport (SNA) - equal distance as LAX but much less hectic

We are staying at the Renaissance in Long Beach - hope it is nice. Anyone know if there is a liquor store walking distance to stock up on the wine we shouldn't be bringing on board?