Walking into San Pedro Cruise Port (LA)

[Cruisekid25]

Hi there,

 

I'm interested in a princess cruise to Los Angeles next April and wondered if I chose a hotel close to the cruise port in San Pedro whether I would be allowed to walk in rather than get a taxi? Not been to LA before so just wanted to ask 😀. 

[RLK33853]

No problem in the past.  Have stayed at the Crown which is basically across the street and walked over.

[d9704011]

Yes, for sure.  Crowne Plaza is a an easy15 minute walk.

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, Cruisekid25 said:

Hi there,

 

I'm interested in a princess cruise to Los Angeles next April and wondered if I chose a hotel close to the cruise port in San Pedro whether I would be allowed to walk in rather than get a taxi? Not been to LA before so just wanted to ask 😀. 

You should post such questions on the port board.

[JF - retired RRT]

7 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Yes, for sure.  Crowne Plaza is a an easy15 minute walk.

There are a couple of hotels in the immediate area. Take a look at "hotels in San Pedro". There's one practically next door to CP that costs less $$.

[Greg4502]

Crown Plaza, easy walk. They also have a shuttle, that will take you to the ship.

[skynight]

Yes, you can. To the Crown Plaza it is a little over a mile walk. You might also e-mail the Double Tree. They may have a free pick up service. The Double Tree is a nice hotel further away, but still in San Pedro.

You should realize that while San Pedro is actually in the City of Los Angeles it is nowhere near the popular L.A. tourist sights and beach areas. It is closer to Long Beach. Check out the maps on line. 

[Bruin Steve]

3 hours ago, Cruisekid25 said:

Hi there,

 

I'm interested in a princess cruise to Los Angeles next April and wondered if I chose a hotel close to the cruise port in San Pedro whether I would be allowed to walk in rather than get a taxi? Not been to LA before so just wanted to ask 😀. 

We live about an hour from the port but prefer to spend the night prior in a local hotel to lessen stress in the morning...and also to take advantage of some park and cruise deals at times.  Last Princess cruise prior to the pandemic, we stayed at the Doubletree--very nice, beautiful marina view from our room.  But not walking distance to the pier or to most area restaurants.  Of course, we had our car, so we drove to lunch and dinner...but the hotel will shuttle you to area restaurants.

 

The Best Western is also outside of walking distance but will shuttle to the pier...but I find, though the hotel itself is nice, the location is fairly unattractive.

 

The Crowne Plaza is where we will be staying prior to our October Majestic Princess cruise.  We've walked from here to the pier before...and it is an easy 3/4 mile walk on flat streets with few roads to cross--about one short block to Harbor Blvd., cross the street, then along the water front past the USS Iowa to the terminal.  The hotel offers a shuttle, but, if you don't have an overwhelming amount of luggage and what you have is on wheels, it's easy to just walk.  There are also lots of good restaurant choices near the Crowne Plaza--like within two short blocks.  The San Pedro Brewing Co.--next block over from the hotel--is my favorite...Also the Green Onion (Mexican), Whale & Ale, Niko's Pizza and many more.

 

There are other hotels close to port--like the "Sunrise"--but I would not stay there based on some scary reviews...

[Astro Flyer]

Another advantage of the Crowne Plaza besides a short 0.7 mile walk to the cruise terminal is that it has more restaurants within a couple of blocks of the hotel whereas the DT only has one expensive restaurant nearby. Another CG advantage is being walkable to the ship because it’s been our experience that hotels shuttles to/from the ship can be very slow with long wait times & DT is a 3 times longer 2.2 mile walk.

[Astro Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

The San Pedro Brewing Co.--next block over from the hotel--is my favorite..

We followed your recommendation to go there & enjoyed it very much…thanks.

[skynight]

Cruisekid25. Are you sailing to San Pedro from some other place or sailing from San Pedro?

"I'm interested in a princess cruise to Los Angeles next April"

I think most of the responses assume from, but you mentioned to.

[Thrak]

Crowne Plaza and Doubletree both have a shuttle. As others have said Crowne Plaza is walkable. We stay at Crowne Plaza and are lazy so we use the shuttle rather than schlepping our luggage by hand. We love being able to make the short walk from CP to San Pedro Brewing Company. We usually also make a longer walk down to CVS or (I forget the other store) to pick up our carry on bottles of wine.

[lstone19]

Last cruise out of San Pedro, I took the Silver Line bus to the Harbor/Beacon Park and Ride Stop (right across Harbor Blvd. and Beacon St. from the cruise terminal parking lot) and walked the rest (about 1/4 mile). Looking at the line of cars trying to get into the cruise terminal parking lot, it was a very good decision (two ships totaling 5,500 passengers boarding that day).

[Grammy J]

We drive to San Pedro. If you stay at the Crowne Plaza, do you have to leave your keys with the hotel after you park your car? 

[Astro Flyer]

48 minutes ago, Grammy J said:

We drive to San Pedro. If you stay at the Crowne Plaza, do you have to leave your keys with the hotel after you park your car? 

Yes…in their park & stay package they park your care in their underground valet parking lot and the package also includes breakfast & shuttle to/from the cruise terminal.

[Bruin Steve]

3 hours ago, lstone19 said:

Last cruise out of San Pedro, I took the Silver Line bus to the Harbor/Beacon Park and Ride Stop (right across Harbor Blvd. and Beacon St. from the cruise terminal parking lot) and walked the rest (about 1/4 mile). Looking at the line of cars trying to get into the cruise terminal parking lot, it was a very good decision (two ships totaling 5,500 passengers boarding that day).

I am not sure where Larry was coming from (and, maybe more importantly, why?), but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone.  First of all, the "Silver Line" runs from El Monte to San Pedro via Downtown LA...or, at least half of its buses do...the other half end their run at the "Harbor Gateway Transit Center"--which is in Gardena on the border of Compton--really nowhere near the Harbor. And only half the buses are of the "Express designation" --which skip the stops at 37th St, Slauson, Manchester and Rosecrans--as it passes through some of the worst areas of the city...so, assuming one had a reason to actually stay in Downtown LA (or one of these other godforsaken areas)--which I completely recommend against, or if one came in on Amtrak, then, yes, one might have the opportunity to ride this bus--and one had better make sure to get on the right bus...

But, you might feel ill at ease trying to schlepp your luggage onto it...and expect looks of disdain from the locals who use this bus as their mode of transportation to get to and from work. 

[lstone19]

13 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I am not sure where Larry was coming from (and, maybe more importantly, why?), but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone.  First of all, the "Silver Line" runs from El Monte to San Pedro via Downtown LA...or, at least half of its buses do...the other half end their run at the "Harbor Gateway Transit Center"--which is in Gardena on the border of Compton--really nowhere near the Harbor. And only half the buses are of the "Express designation" --which skip the stops at 37th St, Slauson, Manchester and Rosecrans--as it passes through some of the worst areas of the city...so, assuming one had a reason to actually stay in Downtown LA (or one of these other godforsaken areas)--which I completely recommend against, or if one came in on Amtrak, then, yes, one might have the opportunity to ride this bus--and one had better make sure to get on the right bus...

But, you might feel ill at ease trying to schlepp your luggage onto it...and expect looks of disdain from the locals who use this bus as their mode of transportation to get to and from work. 

 

I'm not sure the why is important or even the where - it was just another data point to say that walking in from the street is allowed as the OP was concerned that they might be required to be in some sort of vehicle to enter the cruise port.

 

The rest of your rant is not worthy of a response except I'll point out that the Silver Line buses run on the Harbor Freeway, not on city streets, through the areas you think are so bad.

[IRMO12HD]

On 5/3/2021 at 5:52 AM, lstone19 said:

Last cruise out of San Pedro, I took the Silver Line bus to the Harbor/Beacon Park and Ride Stop (right across Harbor Blvd. and Beacon St. from the cruise terminal parking lot) and walked the rest (about 1/4 mile). Looking at the line of cars trying to get into the cruise terminal parking lot, it was a very good decision (two ships totaling 5,500 passengers boarding that day).

@lstone19I didn't see where your Silver Line bus trip originated?  Was it from the Harbor Freeway Station?  Did you happen to come from LAX via the Green Line?

[lstone19]

14 minutes ago, IRMO12HD said:

@lstone19I didn't see where your Silver Line bus trip originated?  Was it from the Harbor Freeway Station?  Did you happen to come from LAX via the Green Line?

 

I was staying the night before in an El Segundo (LAX area) hotel a block away from the Mariposa Green (now C) Line station. It was an easy walk for what I had, Green Line to Harbor Freeway, downstairs to the Silver Line level, and to the port.

[IRMO12HD]

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

I was staying the night before in an El Segundo (LAX area) hotel a block away from the Mariposa Green (now C) Line station. It was an easy walk for what I had, Green Line to Harbor Freeway, downstairs to the Silver Line level, and to the port.

Thanks; that's what I was hoping to hear.  I'm flying into LAX and am planning on taking that same route.  Did you have any issues taking luggage on the bus?  I'll have a small backpack and a carryon size suitcase (with rollers).

[lstone19]

15 minutes ago, IRMO12HD said:

Thanks; that's what I was hoping to hear.  I'm flying into LAX and am planning on taking that same route.  Did you have any issues taking luggage on the bus?  I'll have a small backpack and a carryon size suitcase (with rollers).

If that’s all you have, you’ll be more than fine. I did it with a 29” suitcase (on wheels) and a carryon bag. Getting then on the bus was not a problem. It was a Saturday morning.

[IRMO12HD]

14 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

If that’s all you have, you’ll be more than fine. I did it with a 29” suitcase (on wheels) and a carryon bag. Getting then on the bus was not a problem. It was a Saturday morning.

Thanks!  Was there a place to put your suitcase, or did you bring it to your seat?  I'll be doing this about 3 pm on a Thursday; hopefully there won't be a crush with rush hour. 

[lstone19]

3 minutes ago, IRMO12HD said:

Thanks!  Was there a place to put your suitcase, or did you bring it to your seat?  I'll be doing this about 3 pm on a Thursday; hopefully there won't be a crush with rush hour. 

 

I don't remember. I think I was able to site but don't remember if there was a place to put the suitcase of if I just held on to it next to me. It was over two years ago.

[Bruin Steve]

17 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

Thanks; that's what I was hoping to hear.  I'm flying into LAX and am planning on taking that same route.  Did you have any issues taking luggage on the bus?  I'll have a small backpack and a carryon size suitcase (with rollers).

 

17 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

Thanks!  Was there a place to put your suitcase, or did you bring it to your seat?  I'll be doing this about 3 pm on a Thursday; hopefully there won't be a crush with rush hour. 

Again...As a local, I will tell you that VERY FEW locals would ever advise you to take that route...

First of all, on a Thursday afternoon, arriving at LAX at 3:00 pm, yes, you will find a "rush hour" crush on public transportation.  That Silver Line (now called J Line) of the Metro is used by poorer working class people who have no cars and depend on that Metro line to get to and from their jobs.  It will not be easy.

Second, from LAX, you will need to catch the Green Line Shuttle--which departs from a stop near Terminal 5...and, once you actually find that stop and wait for a shuttle, will take you an additional 12-15 minutes to get you to the Metro Green Line stop in El Segundo...From there, you will take the Green Line to the Harbor Gateway Transit Center in South Central Los Angeles, making 7 stops along the route...There, you will have to switch from the train to the Silver Line BUS...and make 7 more stops on your trip to San Pedro...where it will deposit you almost half a mile from the pier at 1st and Beacon.

So you will drag your luggage--even the small amount you may have--from whichever terminal you land at across the airport to a shuttle bus...then to a Metro train, then to a public bus...and then a half a mile to the pier.  If everything goes like clockwork--You actually land at 3:00 on a Thursday, you get your luggage quickly--or have carried it on, you are close to the Green Line Shuttle stop at LAX, a shuttle arrives immediately when you get to the stop, the Green Line train is loading just as you get to the Aviation/LAX Green Line station in El Segundo, you quickly find the bus at the Harbor Gateway Terminal...and there's lots of room and you get onjust as you find it...and you walk quickly to the pier...it will still take you well over an hour to make the trip...

Chances are that NOTHING will work out that well...Your flight may arrive late (fairly standard at LAX), you may get lost somewhere on the route, you may just miss the last shuttle, the last train, the last bus.  Is your ship leaving that day?  If so, you could be cutting it WAY TOO CLOSE and miss the ship...

Again, I advise against gambling with public transportation in LA...Get an Uber/Lyft...or a shuttle...or, if your time is really close, consider a car service that can pick you up at the curb...Get door-to-door service that will take you right from the airport to the ship.  Good luck...

 

Also, BTW, I would advise against flying in 3:00 on the day of your cruise...especially on a weekday... 

[lstone19]

Despite my own experience, I agree with the above. If this is at 3pm on the day of cruise departure, you’re already at risk of missing the ship. Your goal is to get to the ship ASAP, not find the cheapest way there. I’d dare to say you need to be completely rethinking your travel arrangements. IIRC, most Princess cruises from San Pedro need everyone on board by 4pm.