Return flight time out of LA?

[wampuscat7]

First time cruising on the West Coast, and first time cruising on NCL, so I hope this isn't a dumb question. When we've cruised Carnival or Royal Caribbean, they gave us recommendations for when to book our return flights (e.g., don't book a return flight before noon out of Fort Lauderdale). I don't see anything like that on the NCL site. Can anyone tell me the earliest I should book a return flight out of LA? Arrival in LA is scheduled for 7 am aboard Bliss. Am I safe if I book an 11 am flight?

[complawyer]

safer if you book 1-2.  or even later.  never know what l.a. traffic will be like, you may arrive at 7:00, but dont know how long it will take to to disembark, clear customs (if necessary) and most airlines like you to check in at least 2 hours prior to departure. 11 might be cutting it close, give yourself a little breathing room

[www3traveler]

9 minutes ago, wampuscat7 said:

First time cruising on the West Coast, and first time cruising on NCL, so I hope this isn't a dumb question. When we've cruised Carnival or Royal Caribbean, they gave us recommendations for when to book our return flights (e.g., don't book a return flight before noon out of Fort Lauderdale). I don't see anything like that on the NCL site. Can anyone tell me the earliest I should book a return flight out of LA? Arrival in LA is scheduled for 7 am aboard Bliss. Am I safe if I book an 11 am flight?

I have done several cruises out of San Pedro and do not book cruises before 2 P.M.   LA freeways and LAX can be a nightmare.

[mking8288]

12 minutes ago, wampuscat7 said:

First time cruising on the West Coast, and first time cruising on NCL ... Am I safe if I book an 11 am flight?

This isn't a silly Q - you can look up & see/get plenty of localized help at the Destination subforum for West Coast/LA region ... but, short answer - is absolutely do NOT book that 11 am flight, even if you have escorted/priority disembark to leave the ship.

 

LAX and freeway traffic in that region is just mad crazy and unpredictable even with 6 to 8+ lanes on each side of the highway and dedicated HOV lanes.  Getting thru the airport, check-in/security & screening can take extra time these days - you will have zero time for errors, delays & the unexpected.  Find & book an afternoon or evening (yes, I hate but love those hours) flight - depending on your connections, if any.  

 

We fly eastbound, typically only non-stops, coast-to-coast for those 5 hours and prefer to find those around 3 or 4 pm ... boots touch the ground around midnight EST/EDT.  

Edited November 19, 2021 by mking8288

[wampuscat7]

Thank you all for the advice! I forgot there was a West Coast/LA forum. I'll peruse that as well. 

 

We normally get a flight from Miami/FLL around noon or 1, so I'll bump that back a bit for LA. Hubby was hoping to get home a little earlier, since it's a Sunday-Sunday cruise, but better safe than sorry!

[roger001]

Of all the airports that suck, I've had some of the worst delays at LAX.  I've arrived at the SWA terminal to find a line out the terminal door and down the street.  Then after check in, finally then having to check you own baggage in a separate spot.  But then...out the door again to get in a long security line that goes down the street.  You just don't know about that place.  And others have mentioned the street traffic.  So it's kinda like, "do you feel lucky".  

[wampuscat7]

How much quicker (timewise) is it from Long Beach airport to the port? Seems less chaotic than LAX. 

[seemoreroyals]

Sunday for us was not that bad getting back to LAX.  We had a flight around noon, maybe a few minutes earlier if I recall correctly, had no problems, made it with time to spare.  We paid in advance for NCL shuttle and made sure we walked our luggage off the ship and were on the first bus to the airport. 

[milolii]

24 minutes ago, wampuscat7 said:

How much quicker (timewise) is it from Long Beach airport to the port? Seems less chaotic than LAX. 

Can you get good flight options and pricing out of Long Beach?  If so, that would be a definite option.  I agree Sunday is different than a weekday. 

[wampuscat7]

1 minute ago, milolii said:

Can you get good flight options and pricing out of Long Beach?  If so, that would be a definite option.  I agree Sunday is different than a weekday. 

Pricing is about the same to Long Beach vs. LAX, but on a different carrier. Hubby prefers the LAX flights because of his status on the airline, but for a relatively short flight, I don't think it matters much. 

 

We did upgrade to Haven for this cruise, since we had FCC from our canceled 2020 cruise. Not sure how much that matters in terms of disembarkation time. (Also our first time in a suite, so all kinds of new stuff going on.) 

[debenson0723]

1 hour ago, wampuscat7 said:

How much quicker (timewise) is it from Long Beach airport to the port? Seems less chaotic than LAX. 

I usually fly in morning of the cruise when going from Phx to Lax but with it being the beginning of the holiday and the airlines being so screwy lately, I decided to go to Long Beach tomorrow for my cruise on Sunday. Looking forward to flying in and out of a smaller airport for a change.

[don't-use-real-name]

Consider an alternative airport (and the fares) -

 

Santa Ana - Orange County 

a distant San Diego 

Long Beach won't work need to make a connection or fuel stop small aircraft

Yes - you have more distance to cover but the traffic is more favorable and small

airports less hassle 

 

You have 4 time zones (3 hours difference) of travel - Pacific - Mountain - Central - Eastern

5-6 hours of flight time eastbound tailwinds may reduce that to 4-5 hours

Leave at 1pm PST arrive east coast 9-10 pm EST

 

If you have a walk-off with luggage and a charter motor coach waiting leaving at 9 am 

 

7 miles from World Cruise terminal San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles)

Hwy 110 (Harbor Fwy) to the junction 405 (San Diego Fwy)

6 miles from junction of 405 to 105 (Century Fwy)

1 mile from junction of 105 to Sepulveda Boulevard and into the Airport mega-plex

with its 9 terminals all in a loop

TOTAL 15 +/- miles

 

Alternate cruise terminal - - - - -

5 miles from the Carnival Cruise lines terminal (next to Queen Mary) Port of Long Beach

Hwy 710 to the junction of the 405

11 miles the 405 to the 110 

1 mile to Sepulveda

TOTAL 18 +/- miles

 

 

Google Maps

 

Cruise terminals - bottom center right

LAX Airport - upper center left

Zoom in for more details 

 

 

 

So factor in 60 miles an hour (a mile a minute) 

now all that is hunky dory - you aren't filming the Fast and the Furious movie

speeds in excess of 100 mph expecting to arrive at the airport at 9:15 am 

 

It will be more like 10 am or later.

 

You are supposed to check in for your flight 2 hours early and in that

time check your luggage get thru the TSA gauntlet and arrive at your

assigned gate 30 minutes before departure.

 

Good Luck with that !

 

Do you have that travel insurance that applies in the more in likely event of nothing can go wrong ?

 

This is why it is suggested to consider your flight to be after 1 pm

 

Been there -

Done that -

 

I have Priority getting off of NCL

Taking a Taxi

TSA Pre-Check

Delta Airlines priority - check-in-boarding

 

And I would not entertain anything before noon. 

 

[BirdTravels]

We would have no issue with booking an 11 am flight. You have to self-disembark to mitigate the risk of slow baggage handling. The slowest part of the trip is when you are actually in the airport (which is realllyyy slow, esp if you are flying out of United at the end of the terminal). 

Edited November 20, 2021 by BirdTravels

[Blueberry89]

I’ve done a 10:00 am flight on a Saturday morning before. We were among the first to walk off on our own and were to the airport by 8. 
 

I would not necessarily recommend it but with limited connections our only other option was getting home at 2am so we decided to risk it. It was not without a few anxious moments for sure. Thankfully nothing delayed the ship’s arrival into port or we really would have been hooped! 

[phillygwm]

I just got rebooked on to an 11:00 flight out of LAX.  I do have TSA Pre Check (usually, because I have Global Entry) and just got Clear as well, which I've registered for (did the biometrics etc) but have never actually used.  Hopefully, those allow me to bypass most of the lines.

 

I've booked the NCL shuttle but not sure what time that starts.  If needed I could just walk off as soon as the ship is cleared (7:00?) and hope for an Uber or Lyft once I clear Customs.

 

Advice?

Edited November 20, 2021 by phillygwm

[MoCruiseFan]

We sailed the Joy in Dec 2019 to the Riviera.  Our flight home from LAX was 1:41 am.  We were there in plenty of time.

[seemoreroyals]

11 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

I just got rebooked on to an 11:00 flight out of LAX.  I do have TSA Pre Check (usually, because I have Global Entry) and just got Clear as well, which I've registered for (did the biometrics etc) but have never actually used.  Hopefully, those allow me to bypass most of the lines.

 

I've booked the NCL shuttle but not sure what time that starts.  If needed I could just walk off as soon as the ship is cleared (7:00?) and hope for an Uber or Lyft once I clear Customs.

 

Advice?

 

I think our shuttle left for LAX no later than 7:30.  

 

ETA - It may have been closer than 8.  It's been a couple of years but I remember that we arrived with time to spare for our pre noon flight.

Edited November 20, 2021 by seemoreroyals

[Carnac767]

You could make it.   I flew out of LAX for years when I was a United pilot.  Even if there's a backup on the freeway, there are plenty of alternative routes to get you to the airport.  

[complawyer]

why cut it close and take the chance?  book a later flight and breathe easy

[MoCruiseFan]

18 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I should hope so.  That's quite the wait!

Key stuck.  That was 11:47am