Best transfer from LAX to cruise dock and which hotels, if any, provide shuttles?

[TiggerLuv2Cruise]

We are flying in the night before.  Is it best to stay near LAX and take an Uber to pier the next morning?  Or better to stay near the port?  I know carnival has transfers but hoping to find a better/cheaper way.  Thoughts??

[Itried4498]

Your most efficient and economical option will be to stay by LAX and take an Uber/Lyft the following morning.  The hotels include a free shuttle from the airport, and are much more economical than those by the water in Long Beach.  It’s a quick drive to the pier, and the driver can drop you and your luggage off directly on front of the porters.

 

Friday night traffic is way heavier, and you’d pay a premium to take a Uber/Lyft to Long Beach.  Then you’d pay a premium for your room, and would have to get to the pier the following morning.  A walk would be 1-2 miles, but you’d have to cross the bridge, and that’s not for the faint of heart.  Or you could walk to the free Long Beach bus that takes you to the pier, but that’s super time consuming.  
 

That said, if you’re looking for things to do, I’d rather be at the pier as there’s nothing by LAX.  Most LAX hotels use to participate in a free shuttle that went to Manhattan  each, but I believe that’s permanently closed.  You can explode using the local busses to get to nearby points of interest.

 

Speaking of public transit, if you have time to kill, on Saturday morning you could get to the Pier using public transportion (bus -light rail - bus).  It will take 2.5 hours or so but only closes a few bucks.  

[TiggerLuv2Cruise]

Thank you!  Great info.  We will probably just stay near LAX and take an Uber in the morning.

[ColeThornton]

1 hour ago, TiggerLuv2Cruise said:

We are flying in the night before.  Is it best to stay near LAX and take an Uber to pier the next morning?  Or better to stay near the port?  I know carnival has transfers but hoping to find a better/cheaper way.  Thoughts??

 

Check out the West Coast Departures forum.  Lots of good info on hotels/transportation.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

[Saint Greg]

If you decide to go to Long Beach straight from the airport I just recently updated my LAX-it information.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

When are you traveling? Time of year can make a big difference. What is your budget for a hotel?

[llvlp]

When American changed our flight to LAX the day of our cruise we decided to change it and arrive the night before.  Without consulting here first, we decided to go on to Long Beach that night, 3/11/22 by Uber. We are staying at the Long Beach Hilton who told us they have a free shuttle to the port.  This is our first time out of this port so no idea if this will prove to be the right decision.

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

38 minutes ago, llvlp said:

we decided to go on to Long Beach that night, 3/11/22 by Uber. We are staying at the Long Beach Hilton who told us they have a free shuttle to the port.  This is our first time out of this port so no idea if this will prove to be the right decision.

 

Uber might or might not be the best idea, given the hassles of the LAX-it lot, but going to Long Beach is a great decision and the Hilton is a nice, well located hotel.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

We flew into LAX and took an UberXL to The Doubletree in San Pedro.

They have a complimentary shuttle to the cruise port in the morning, which allowed us a bit longer sleep with no worries of getting to the port at our appointed time (10AM).

[famof4togo]

If you are sailing out of Long Beach, we like to stay at the Hotel Maya,...you can see the ship from your room when you wake up and they also have shuttle service to the cruise terminal.

[Angelbyte65]

We have booked with Princess, Jan 17,2023 for Panama Canal. This will be our first time going to LAX. Am I correct there is 2 port terminals? 
LAX and Ling beach?? 

[njhorseman]

48 minutes ago, Angelbyte65 said:

We have booked with Princess, Jan 17,2023 for Panama Canal. This will be our first time going to LAX. Am I correct there is 2 port terminals? 
LAX and Ling beach?? 

San Pedro (World Cruise Center) and Long Beach. They're only a few miles apart.  Long Beach is primarily used by Carnival so your cruise will likely depart from San Pedro.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

51 minutes ago, Angelbyte65 said:

We have booked with Princess, Jan 17,2023 for Panama Canal. This will be our first time going to LAX. Am I correct there is 2 port terminals? LAX and Ling beach?? 

 

I would refer to Los Angeles as "LA" so as to not confuse people since LAX is the airport or train station.

 

LA does have 2 ports, LA (San Pedro) and Long Beach and Princess cruises use World Cruise Center in San Pedro.

[Bruin Steve]

The combined Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor is, by far, the busiest port in the Western Hemisphere.  Physically, in terms of land area, it contains a combined 10,700 acres with 68 miles of shoreline.  Historically, the harbor spanned three cities--from west to east, San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach.  In the early part of the 20th Century, The City of Los Angeles annexed the cities of San Pedro and Wilmington in order to control the harbor.  Long Beach, a city of over half a million population today, remained independent and controls over a third of the harbor.

 

The World Cruise Center is located in San Pedro, on the Western edge of the harbor.  It has two main berths dedicated to cruise ships...and a third auxiliary berth a little way down the channel if needed.  All cruise lines other than Carnival use this facility.

 

Carnival built a separate facility in Long Beach, approximately 6 miles away, on the eastern edge of the harbor--utilizing the geodesic dome originally built to house Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" airplane as a terminal.  To get from one terminal to the other, the shortest route crosses two bridges and "Terminal Island", spanning the ocean side of the harbor.  The Carnival terminal hosts Carnival ships only for embarkation/disembarkation, but occasionally also hosts other Carnival Corp. affiliated lines for intermediate port stops.

 

Since you are on a Princess cruise, you will be departing from the San Pedro facility.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Bruin Steve

[Itried4498]

On 3/2/2022 at 10:55 AM, famof4togo said:

If you are sailing out of Long Beach, we like to stay at the Hotel Maya,...you can see the ship from your room when you wake up and they also have shuttle service to the cruise terminal.

 

Lots of suggestions for this hotel, but you can infer from the OP's post he/she is on a budget, so it's worth pointing out that the Hotel Maya runs about $350 - $450, including all taxes & fees, with the higher price generally charged on weekends.  Through Priceline or a similar discounter, you can find an equivalent hotel near LAX for around $150 -- and $120 for a clean 2* property that includes a light breakfast.

 

If the OP is taking the Panorama, note that Friday night traffic in the Los Angeles area is usually bad,  car shares are in high demand and fares can be painful.  A few weeks ago, I pre-arranged an Uber from my office in the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood-area to LAX for about $40.  The driver cancelled, and I ended up having to accept a rate of about $175.  Personally, if I was looking to save money, I'd be far more comfortable making the ride on a Saturday morning.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

35 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

Lots of suggestions for this hotel, but you can infer from the OP's post he/she is......

 

The "OP" was last here a month ago. People are now answering questions for "topic hoppers", who have additional/different questions.

[Bruin Steve]

To further add to what Scott said, the OP is cruising in "Early April", so, for the Panorama, that's likely April 2...so a little over a week away.  By this time, I am sure they've long ago chosen their hotel...I just hope they chose wisely.

 

For everyone else, I generally do not recommend staying at LAX unless either one has a very early flight the next day...or arrived VERY late at night.  For most people, you need to realize it's a very industrial area with little in the way of restaurants or things to do.  And really don't look for hotel bargains claiming to be near LAX...Many of those are in a fairly bad neighborhood on the other side of the 405 from LAX.

 

Yes, you will likely pay a little more for a nice hotel in San Pedro or Long Beach (though not necessarily...it depends on dates and on how early you book) but it may well be worth it...there is more to see and do in the harbor area...and far more restaurant choices...and you will have a completely stress-free embarkation morning, already being very near your ship.

[richstowe]

I booked a July Princess cruise assuming the port was Long Beach . Wrong . Regardless we booked a funky hotel called the Hotel Royal there for 3 nights . Very reasonable with excellent reviews .

My issue is that after the cruise we wish to  travel for 4 days .There doesn't seem any great alternatives other then Ubering to  LAX , picking up a rental and then dropping it off when we leave for home . A one way car rental from around the port to LAX is very expensive . I discovered something called FlyAway Bus Service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Long Beach but it seems to be Covid discontinued .

Any suggestions ?

Edited March 29, 2022 by richstowe

[Itried4498]

1 hour ago, richstowe said:

I booked a July Princess cruise assuming the port was Long Beach . Wrong . Regardless we booked a funky hotel called the Hotel Royal there for 3 nights . Very reasonable with excellent reviews .

My issue is that after the cruise we wish to  travel for 4 days .There doesn't seem any great alternatives other then Ubering to  LAX , picking up a rental and then dropping it off when we leave for home . A one way car rental from around the port to LAX is very expensive . I discovered something called FlyAway Bus Service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Long Beach but it seems to be Covid discontinued .

Any suggestions ?

 

If you desire to rent a car, you can utilize public transportation if you're looking to save on the Uber fare.  It'll take you 75-90 minutes to get from San Pedro to LAX or 90-120 minutes to get from Long Beach to LAX, depending on the route you take.  Google Maps would be the best resource to use.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, richstowe said:

I booked a July Princess cruise assuming the port was Long Beach . Wrong . Regardless we booked a funky hotel called the Hotel Royal there for 3 nights . Very reasonable with excellent reviews .

 

You do know that most of their rooms do not have bathrooms in the rooms, right?

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, richstowe said:

My issue is that after the cruise we wish to  travel for 4 days .There doesn't seem any great alternatives other then Ubering to  LAX , picking up a rental and then dropping it off when we leave for home . A one way car rental from around the port to LAX is very expensive.

 

Try booking through https://www.rentalcars.com/

 

They usually don't have drop fees, or very low drop fees.

[richstowe]

7 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

You do know that most of their rooms do not have bathrooms in the rooms, right?

We picked one with .