Parking in Long Beach

[Vegas_family]

Hi,

 

we will take our first cruise next week out of Long Beach. We are driving there since we live near by in Vegas. What is the parking situation at the port? Should we leave the car at the hotel? Wouldn't it be easier to unload from the car directly on place?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[CarrieBl]

We stayed at The Coast Hotel for 2 days prior and left our car there. They transport you in their private shuttle bus and when you return, you call and they come for you in 5 minutes. It was great!

 

The Carnival parking garage was really hectic and noisy, so we appreciated packing our car and getting the kids situated for the drive in the quiet hotel parking lot. We also were able to freshen up in the Coast restroom, grab a USA today and some drinks for the ride home to AZ.

 

By the way, the Coast told us to go at 10:40 and Carnival would get us on the ship by noon most likely. It was true! We were sipping drinks right before noon.

[Winyf]

Hi,

 

we will take our first cruise next week out of Long Beach. We are driving there since we live near by in Vegas. What is the parking situation at the port? Should we leave the car at the hotel? Wouldn't it be easier to unload from the car directly on place?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Im from Southern California and have sailed on the Pride twice now. Both times we have parked at the parking structure at the terminal. No problems what-so-ever! I think it was $98 for the week to park. We arrived at the port around 9am to do the early check-in at the Queen Mary and both times we were off the boat by 9:30am at the latest. We just unpacked the car right there in our parking spot, took the elevator down to the ground level, and handed our bags over to the porters. Easy as that! Then we proceeded to the check-in area.

 

Hope this helped! Have a GREAT time!!!

[BigMember]

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[WayneAndMarian]

Can someone give me the contact information for The Coast Hotel.

[VentureMan_2000]

The Coast Hotel is pretty expensive for a 3 star hotel... like $200.

 

We are staying at the GuestHouse Inn, another 3 star hotel that has Park and cruise. Cost: $85.

 

We have stayed there before on our Pride cruise about 1.5 years ago and took advantage of their Park & Cruise program. We enjoyed the stay enough that we booked it again for our up-coming cruise on the Pride in May.

 

Effectively, we can stay a night at this hotel for a bit less than parking would cost at the Port... and leave our car parked at the Hotel for free. It's like a fee hotel stay if you consider we'd be paying the same just for parking at the port.

 

We are driving down Saturday morning, and staying at the Guesthouse Inn in Long Beach. As I said, we did this last time. You stay the night, and they let you leave your car parked at the hotel for the duration of the cruise. They will shuttle you to the Long Beach Port for free... and pick you up for free too, if you are willing to wait for them. A Taxi back is faster.

 

You would pay the same amount to park at the Port for a week as the cost of the hotel. It's a very relaxing way to start off your vacation... arriving a day early and sitting by the pool.

 

The Hotel is the GuestHouse International Inn. It's a Best Western type hotel... perfectly fine for one night, but nothing to write home about... kind of like the hotels surounding Disneyland. The pool is very nice... we just sat around the pool in the sun and had cocktails and swam. We plan on doing more of the same on this trip.

 

Oh... the hotel is right near the Long Beach University campus... about 6 miles from the Port. But it's in a nice safe area, with lots of shopping and malls about a mile away... should you need to purchase anything you forgot. There is some restaurants and fast food around too.

 

You can find them on the net at guesthouselb dotcom.

[OceanDreamin]

Ventureman: What a great tip about that hotel!!! I had looked at the Coast Hotel, and it was going to be twice what it costs to park for the week, so figured we would drive or take a shuttle. This is a much better deal, and I think I'm going to book it.

 

Do you need to make special arrangements with Guesthouse Inn to leave your car there for a week? It is a special "Stay & Sail Package" like at the Coast Hotel?

 

Thanks in advance (and thanks for your reply to my debarkation time question, too.:) ).

[VentureMan_2000]

It's really not advertised on their site. You just tell them when you arrive that you will be taking advantage of their Park & Cruise.

 

Last time we did this, they just took down our licence plate number and name... and I think we put a sticker or something on our on our dash too... but I can't remember now.

 

Tell them you will need a ride to the Port in the morning, and get a reserved time. The shuttle is only a minivan that seats 6... maybe seven.

 

As I said, this is only a 3 start Best Western style hotel... outside corridors, nothing fancy, but it has everything... refridge, micro, coffeemaker, TV, hair dryer, etc.

 

Also, they have a decent continental breakfast spread in the morning... including fresh waffles...:D

 

It appears that the only people who have posted negatively about this hotel are folks wanting a 4-Star Hilton type hotel for a 2-Stat to 3-Star price.

 

Also, this Hotel is about 5 miles from the Port, not big deal though. It's on Pacific Coast Hwy.

 

One last note... I may plan on taking a cab back to the Hotel instead of waiting for the return shuttle. You need to call the Hotel to have them come pick you up. They don't just wait for you at the Port.