Airport ?? for Summit to Hawaii

[Coolcruise02]

We are trying to get airfare in December to Los Angeles. Does anyone have pros or cons for the 3 airports? (Los Angeles, Long Beach or John Wayne)

 

I would like any opinions or experiences you have had with shuttle services, hotels and the time frames from airport to pier.

 

Thanks so much! :)

[julieanne]

Long Beach would be closest to the pier. LAX second. LAX is the busiest airport, therefore more flights and sometimes a bit cheaper. Many shuttle services available from all airports. As for hotels, you get your standards: Ramada's, Marriotts, etc......all fairly decent. I wouldn't fly into John Wayne in Orange County, too far.

[tcocktail]

We are trying to get airfare in December to Los Angeles. Does anyone have pros or cons for the 3 airports? (Los Angeles, Long Beach or John Wayne)

 

I would like any opinions or experiences you have had with shuttle services, hotels and the time frames from airport to pier.

 

Thanks so much! :)

 

Go to Long Beach. The baggage claim at LAX is a MESS!!!!!!! I was prewarned before going. United sent our bags on a different flight ( what happened to post 9/11 that all bags must be on the same plane) and the flight finally came in two hours later than our flight did. GO to LONG BEACH!!!

[gracecarmo]

We used Southwest, mainly because it was a direct flight from KC. We did not have any problems with luggage, but I agree that the LAX airport is very busy.

We used Super Shuttle to get to San Pedro and our hotel. Traffic was heavy (Friday afternoon), and it took 45 minutes to get to the hotel.

I will most likely do the same routine in Feb. for our Panama Canal trip on the Summit.

[LMKohler]

We used LAX for our March 26th cruise to Hawaii. This was our first time flying into and out of LAX. It is a very busy airport. You need to leave a lot of time for security. We picked this airport (instead of Long Beach) because American flies directly to LAX from the East Coast.

 

Since American moved our flight from 1:30 to 11:30 we opted to stay overnight at the Radisson which was a very nice hotel, is right at the airport and eliminated stress.

 

We stayed at the San Pedro Holiday Inn arriving on Saturday before our Sunday departure. They provided a van to the pier for embarkation. For debarkation, I had reserved a Super Shuttle van to take us back to LAX and it worked very well. We arrived back on a Sunday so it didn't take us long to get to LAX. We were off the ship by 8:50, got the van and arrived at LAX about 9:30 a.m.

 

It took our friends close to two hours to get through security on Sunday. They made their 1:30 flight. On Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. it took us over an hour. I would highly recommend on your return to use curb side check in. It is worth the extra money. We had no problems with claiming baggage on either end.

 

I hope this helps. You just need to be prepared and if your flights are after 1:00 you should have no problems.

[xtopher_66]

It is true that Long Beach is closer to the LA cruise ship terminal than LAX and has less hassles but it has limited flights from the east coast especially since AA pulled out.

 

We flew into LAX since we were using UA FF miles and it wasn't that bad during off hours (Sat and Sun morning). A taxi ride from the port to LAX was $45 (a little less since we split the cab) and we got there in less than 30 minutes which was faster than the Celebrity transfer coach bus.

 

Chris

[theduffys]

CoolCruise,

We have already booked Dec. air to LAX for Summit to HI. We will leave from Pit. but checked on Cleve. and Col. and found no direct flights to Long Beach (all were major hassles in fact). We are coiming in two days early (nephew in Long Beach to visit) and return flight is around 3pm on Sun. We will probably book either the Holiday Inn or the Crown Plaza in San Pedro. Both offer a "fly and sail" program that picks you up at LAX, drives you to pier for embarkation and drives you back to LAX after debarkation.

Which Dec sailing will you be on?

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks everyone for all the info! :)

 

theduffys... we will also be flying out of Pittsburgh. (can't get any good prices from Columbus) We live in southern Ohio about 30 min from Parkersburg and we can get to Pittsburgh in 2 1/2 hours. We are flying in a day early so we don't care too much about a direct flight.

[theduffys]

Just checked Orbitz and found flights from PIT to LAX are a lot cheaper than to Long Beach.

We are on the Dec 23 sailing. Will you be with us?

[theduffys]

P.S. Don't forget to check out Southwest Airlines out of PIT. You have to go to their website to see scheduals and prices.

[wvufan]

Hi Coolville:)

 

We just came back from 14 Summit r/t. We visited friends in San Diego before and after, so flew into and out of there. We paid about $200 plus taxes each round trip from Columbus on Southwest. Total was something like $438 or thereabouts. I think there were similar fares to LA. You got to keep monitoring the Southwest website. The flights for next December won't open up till fall sometime-you can register on their website and they will send you updates from time to time. We spent the night in Columbus the night before just so we wouldn't have to concern ourselves with traffic, etc, and used Priceline. We specified the airport area and I think we got a great place for something like $55 plus taxes. Most of them around there have free shuttle. Real nice flying out of Columbus. Quick and easy. If you decide to book Southwest, you can now check in 24 hours ahead of time and get boarding pass. When you check in at the airport, go to the line for folks doing their own baggage check in and it is a lot quicker. There are also folks to help you.

 

When we went, we changed planes in Vegas on the way out, and Nashville on the way back, but that all varies according to the time of day you go out.

 

We stayed the night before the cruise in Long Beach (got the Marriott Courtyard for $40 plus tax over Priceline). Taxi was $18 the next day. Long Beach is good place to stay.

 

Haven't been to Coolville since Saturday on the way to the Fur Peace Ranch. Ever been there?

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[Coolcruise02]

We will be getting off as you are getting on. We are on the 12/9 sailing. Hope you have a nice holiday cruise. :)

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks for all the info! We are flying out of Columbus for our next cruise and we have a brother and sister to stay with there. But, we have found some good prices out of Dayton and Pittsburgh in the past. Our daughter went to grad school and worked in Pittsburgh for a few years so she was our "hotel". She has since moved to Tulsa, so there goes our shuttle service. :)

We found some park and fly hotels there and it is easy for us to get to as the airport is on the west side. We have been watching Southwest for prices also.

How was the Fur Peach Ranch? I have heard of it but never been there. We "visit" Vienna about every weekend! My parents live there. :)

[tcocktail]

We used Black Label Limo, they charged us 29.95 for the trip to the pier in San Pedro. They used Lincoln Town cars and the service was outstanding. I think we all used LAX for either the cost factor or the FF miles. But beware there was an article in the Los Angeles times and on the news that they loose 10,000 bags a day. There is a depot on the East coast that they send the bags too when they are not claimed. The bags are auctioned off or sold to a liquidator. Flyers beware