LAX disembarkation time question

[Italy52]

We will be taking a short 5-day cruise to Mexico on the Royal Princess in February.  Has anyone encountered delays in disembarking from the Los Angeles terminal?  If so, were they extensive?  Trying to nail down a flight home.  Right now the Princess cruise itinerary shows the ship arriving Los Angeles at 6:15 AM.  We will probably use the Princess transfer program.  Thanks in advance for your help.

[Qcruise]

Only once did we get into port when they had to put the ship down at another pier at the end of Port O Call as it used to be.  They took us by bus to the regular area where two other ships were docked that morning.  Only happened that one time about 4 or 5 years back.  It added time to the debarkation process of course.  To be safe I would not book a flight any earlier than around noon.

[neverbeenhere]

Using Princess transfer, I would go for afternoon flights. 

 

[Italy52]

Thanks -- thought it might have to be an afternoon flight. 

[wheezedr]

You can consider earlier flights but then you will likely need to use Uber/Lyft or a cab.  We always do that as they are invariably less expensive than the cruise transfers and give you more control over timing.  

[jondfk]

If Long Beach airport is an option for you, I’d suggest it as the time to get there is far less than half the time to LAX.

 

We are on Royal now on the second leg of a B2B, ship was cleared of departing passengers by 9:45.  Back to backs were back onboard by 10:45.

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by jondfk

[Italy52]

Thanks for the new input, I appreciate it.  "jondfk" will look into Long Beach airport as well. 

[croozer]

I live in Los Angeles and have disembarked many times at San Pedro.  The last few years, disembarkation has been pretty smooth--the problem is the traffic in L.A., which gets worse every year. If you're lucky, it might only be 1/2 hour to get to LAX, or it can be an hour and a half.  Driving around the departure circle to your terminal can take 10 or 15 minutes, or it can take 45 minutes to an hour.  If you want to avoid stress, give yourself plenty of time.  

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, Italy52 said:

Thanks for the new input, I appreciate it.  "jondfk" will look into Long Beach airport as well. 

LGB is awesome!  I think there were 8 people in the security line last time we were there.

Quick cab ride from the pier.

[polmcs]

Our Vancouver to LA Cruise early next month is now scheduled to arrive 2.5hrs later than scheduled due to maritime speed restrictions in the San Pedro area, but our MR Cruise later in the month in and out of San Pedro shows no such delay. Luckily, we drive from the port, but I feel sorry for those that have to schedule flights home. 

[Haboob]

Stuff happens.  Stopping to rescue a sinking fishing boat, searching for a man overboard, "propulsion issues", fog, or just new regulations on slowing down to avoid whales.

 

Leave a generous pad of what-if time, or make it Princess' problem with EZ-Air.

[dfields1814]

Recently disembarkation at San Pedro as been pretty good. The Royal is using the terminal next door to the one they normally used due to the size of the Royal. However, one time a couple of years ago we did not get off the ship until after 10:30 AM because the ship arrived late due to fog. 

[Italy52]

14 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

LGB is awesome!  I think there were 8 people in the security line last time we were there.

Quick cab ride from the pier.

 

Do you remember how much the cab ride was from the port to LGB?

[Italy52]

Thanks everyone for your comments, they have been very helpful. 

[deultgen]

There are multiple 5 day Mexican cruises in February out of LA.  We have never had a problem with delays at the Port.

 

On the other hand, while traffic in the Los Angeles area is unpredictable, if you are on the one which disembarks on a Thursday morning you certainly will have much more of a delay getting to LAX from San Pedro during the week as opposed to a typical Sat/Sun disembark.  Good Luck 

[Colo Cruiser]

31 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

 

Do you remember how much the cab ride was from the port to LGB?

Cab is approx $30-$40

 About 25 minutes.

Uber/Lyft was approx $27 based on demand at the time.

 

[Italy52]

5 minutes ago, deultgen said:

There are multiple 5 day Mexican cruises in February out of LA.  We have never had a problem with delays at the Port.

 

On the other hand, while traffic in the Los Angeles area is unpredictable, if you are on the one which disembarks on a Thursday morning you certainly will have much more of a delay getting to LAX from San Pedro during the week as opposed to a typical Sat/Sun disembark.  Good Luck 

Thanks for your post.  We are very familiar with the travel times to LAX during the week/weekends as we used to live the SoCal area and would often travel to LAX.  I think we are going to opt for a Long Beach departure  since we will be leaving during the week.

[Italy52]

6 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Cab is approx $30-$40

 About 25 minutes.

Uber/Lyft was approx $27

 

Thanks for the reply.  I think we will opt for early walk off, take a cab and depart from Long Beach.

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Thanks for the reply.  I think we will opt for early walk off, take a cab and depart from Long Beach.

You will love it. 
It’s a breath of fresh air!  Lol

[aprilsp88]

14 hours ago, polmcs said:

Our Vancouver to LA Cruise early next month is now scheduled to arrive 2.5hrs later than scheduled due to maritime speed restrictions in the San Pedro area, but our MR Cruise later in the month in and out of San Pedro shows no such delay. Luckily, we drive from the port, but I feel sorry for those that have to schedule flights home. 

When did you receive the notice of scheduled delay? I guess there is no sea days in between Vancouver and LA, maybe the ship can't catch up in slower speed?

[Thrak]

16 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

LGB is awesome!  I think there were 8 people in the security line last time we were there.

Quick cab ride from the pier.

 

We're tired of LAX and have pretty much decided to use LGB next time we sail from San Pedro. LAX is a zoo. (Although it seems less crazy now that I've had the "fun" of experiencing ORD. That place is just nuts!

[polmcs]

6 hours ago, aprilsp88 said:

When did you receive the notice of scheduled delay? I guess there is no sea days in between Vancouver and LA, maybe the ship can't catch up in slower speed?

 

I got an email from Princess and one from my big box TA about 2 weeks ago. The Vancouver departure has also been brought forward an hour, so I’m guessing there is no slack in the voyage to make up for the time lost slowing down on the approach into San Pedro. The only thing I had planned that morning was breakfast at the hotel and then popping along to the Canadian Border Service Agency to have a retina scan done and tied to my Global Entry card to speed up future airport arrivals

 

I now plan on requesting being in the first walk off group at San Pedro as Avis in Long Beach will definitely be open by the time we dock on the Monday morning and I’m supposed to be working that day! 😉 Hopefully I’ll miss the Uber rush too! With the original 6AM arrival, my plan was to have a leisurely breakfast -still on the cards, and hang around till 8:10-8:15 and then get off, grab an Uber and be at Avis at close to opening time at 8:30.