Potential Debarkation Times - San Pedro - May 2023

[Robroy]

We are on the May 11th Pacific Coastal this year with stops at Ensenada, San Francisco and Santa Barbara returning to San Pedro. Wondering what to expect in terms of when realistically we could get off the ship? Our flight home to Toronto was moved up to 12:20 from 2:15 and I'm hoping this will be enough time to make the flight. We don't have Nexus or AMEX platinum for expedited security lines and plan to book a car in advance but not sure what time to advise the driver when we'll be ready for pickup. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Rob

[Evolus]

As early as possible. You need to disembark, pick up your bags, go thru customs and then wait for a car to get thru traffic to pick you up. The airport is about one hour from San Pedro but you will be in morning traffic so could be longer.  You need to get there at least 2 hours before for an international flight..they actually say 3. The airport is massive and the traffic coming in with the construction is a mess at normal times but commute times even worse.   

 

I would ask the driver you book what they think about time.  A company called BEST VIP can help but they are expensive.

[Flatbush Flyer]

FWIW: we just finished the dirt of two segments on Regatta. Changeover day arrival in Sydney was delayed from 7 AM to 9:30 AM due to engine issues that morning on the way to Sydney. 

 

Needless to say, folks who didn’t plan a significant buffer in their airline reservations (similar to important precruise buffers of at least 2 nights pre-embark air arrival and minimum of 3 hour layovers) were screwed!

When it comes to cruising, looking for cheap early morning flights that leave no buffer is nothing more than “pennywise and pound foolish.”

 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Robroy said:

We are on the May 11th Pacific Coastal this year with stops at Ensenada, San Francisco and Santa Barbara returning to San Pedro. Wondering what to expect in terms of when realistically we could get off the ship? Our flight home to Toronto was moved up to 12:20 from 2:15 and I'm hoping this will be enough time to make the flight. We don't have Nexus or AMEX platinum for expedited security lines and plan to book a car in advance but not sure what time to advise the driver when we'll be ready for pickup. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Rob

Is it May 18th you disembark?

I am seeing one at 15:30  I would see if AC will put you on it instead

 I would rather  have more time hanging around the airport than stressing  about getting there

JMO

 

[Robroy]

Thanks for the input everyone. Certainly wasn't a matter of selecting a cheap early flight as we've cruised enough to know that we  always plan for a good buffer which is why I selected the 14:15 flight in the first place but Air Canada had other ideas and moved it back to 12:20.  I've seen some comments over the past few months that said noon might be doable from LAX but am having second thoughts - may just go for 15:30 to be safe.

Thanks again.

 

Cheers,

Rob

[jondfk]

Here’s a bit of experience from my side.  We arrived in San Pedro on Regatta 3x last year.  The first, terminating a trans pacific from Tahiti, the other 2 on Coastals of the sort that your booked on.

 

on our Tahiti arrival there was no immigration check as we’d been cleared upon arrival in Honolulu some days prior.  On the other hand we had ~75 Covid cases on board, STILL pax were leaving the ship by 8:30, with no pressure pushing us off early, we were still out of the terminal and in a cab by 9:15.  For the two Coastals disembarkation started shortly after 8 and we were in our car after leg #2 by 8:45.  
 

Make sure the ship knows you need to be amongst the first groups off, head directly to lax and I assume you’ll be fine.  Comfortable, perhaps not, but in time.  Final point, in our experience cabs are plentiful at San Pedro, Uber/Lyft is a bit hit or miss.

 

[Robroy]

Thanks for the input Jon. Imagining a potential worst-case scenario we decided to change to the 15:30 flight to avoid any stress or worry about traffic/accident situations.  Realized that by getting home a few hours later we could have a leisurely trip to the airport - have a nice lunch and relax which we have always done in the past. A better way to end a vacation than worrying about a missed flight!