port of Los Angeles...Any suggestions?

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Okay, CJW. What is FCVDC? Fall cruise vacations from the District of Columbia? :confused: Inquiring minds want to know. Nancy

Ahhh...

It's Fantasy Class Verandah Deck Club!

(For my favorite class of Carnival ships, that I've somehow become the resident "expert" on...;) )

Just trying to help people out in any way that I can...:cool:

CJW

[Curt Jerome Wild]

CruisenChick,

Uh oh - why wouldn't you stay in Torrance? We are cruising to Hawaii in November and our TA has buses coming from Sacramento. The hotels in San Pedro were booked because of a Habitat for Humanity convention so she booked us all at the Hilton (now Doubletree) in Torrance.

I just want to clarify for morriscats here, so that you don't have a freak out...:)

Cruisin' Chick is just answering the OPs question, regarding flying into Long Beach and leaving from San Pedro, and that specifically...

(Crusin' Chick feel feel to clarify, or let me know I'm incorrect in my interpretation of your post above);)

 

For your situation specifically, that's a very nice hotel and a good area...

 

Here's a link to check it out:

http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=LAXTHDT

And then you have the Del Amo Fashion Center right across the street:

http://www.delamofashioncenter.com/static/node399.jsp;jsessionid=aMdTKtU1Ilk7oAczWs

 

So, very nice area if you have a TA or tour booked there, and will be arranging transportation...

Just not appropriate for the OP.

I hope that this helps, or eases your mind...

CJW

[critterchick]

CruisenChick,

Uh oh - why wouldn't you stay in Torrance? We are cruising to Hawaii in November and our TA has buses coming from Sacramento. The hotels in San Pedro were booked because of a Habitat for Humanity convention so she booked us all at the Hilton (now Doubletree) in Torrance.

 

Torrance is quite nice, it's just a little off the usual beaten path for cruisers because it's not near the port or an airport (except its own little airport for private planes). The Hilton/Doubletree is in a nice location, near the Del Amo Mall and not too far from Hermosa, Redondo or Manhattan Beaches (easiest to reach if you have a car).

[Bruin Steve]

I'm guessing the TA picked Torrance because everything in San Pedro was booked and they just started looking for hotels CLOSE to San Pedro in the direction of LAX...The next reasonably decent hotel one would find going in that direction would be the Hilton in Torrance...I don't think the TA specifically targetted Torrance for any other specific reason...

 

Torrance basically puts you about midway between LAX and the pier...It's basically an otherwise generic residential area most famed for its rather massive mall and surrounding shopping area--the Del Amo Fashion Square--over 2.5 million square feet--depending on whose statistics you use either the 2nd or 4th largest mall in the US...That and the US headquarters of two of the three largest Japanese automobile companies--Toyota and Honda...Oh, yeah...and a few oil refineries...It is also the city with the largest Japanese expatriate population in the US (Think the Toyota and Honda HQs have something to do with that?)...

 

The Hilton basically exists to house the folks coming to do business with Toyota, Honda and the oil companies...so, it's a fairly nice hotel...It's just not really convenient to a lot of tourist sites...except if your idea of touring includes shopping...It does pay to have a car or transportation of some kind...Redondo and Manhattan Beach are not too far away...but you are basically 10 miles from LAX and 10 miles from the pier...

 

If someone is just going to fly into LAX the night before and head to the ship the next morning, it's okay, I guess...but you are either going to need shuttles or taxis BOTH days and, unless you're just going to hang out at the mall, you'll need a ride to wherever you're going for dinner and to spend your evening...

[morriscats]

Thanks all for you info on Doubletree in Torrance. Our TA tried for the Crowne Plaza but everything was booked up in San Pedro. Since we will be on a bus most of the day we were just looking for a place to rest and get ready for our 15 cruise to Hawaii. The buses do take us to the pier and handle all our luggage so that is good. Sounds like a nice place.

[Nancyquilts]

Ahhh...

It's Fantasy Class Verandah Deck Club!

(For my favorite class of Carnival ships, that I've somehow become the resident "expert" on...;) )

Just trying to help people out in any way that I can...:cool:

CJW

Thank you - I like your version much better than mine. Nancy

[Cruisin' Chick]

CruisenChick,

Uh oh - why wouldn't you stay in Torrance? We are cruising to Hawaii in November and our TA has buses coming from Sacramento. The hotels in San Pedro were booked because of a Habitat for Humanity convention so she booked us all at the Hilton (now Doubletree) in Torrance.

 

Actually didn't mean to dissparage Torrance (sorry for the spelling...just getting on computer really late because I didn't want to risk frying the computer in our heat here). But as Curt and the others have said, we're trying to help people stay in areas practical for sightseeing, grabbing early flights, getting to the ports w/o a long, expensive taxi drive.

 

I had a friend who used to live in Torrance and when I would visit her, we would go to the Del Amo mall. Don't know what else is going on there to entertain you on a pre-cruise visiti. I guess if you have a very large group, you can't exactly get your first choice of hotel, if there's other conventions going on (which I imagine there are some all the time in LA, Santa Monica, Bevery Hills...) But in general, wouldn't one want to find a hotel that is convenient for them when we talking about a geographical area such as Southern California?

 

BTW, HP 7 is still a multi-hanky read even the second time. Will be a h*** of a movie in a few years.

[Cuizer2]

Well, having read all the posts on this thread, I just wanted to chime in with my 2¢ worth ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cuizer2]

And this one is for Bruin Steve ...

 

 

That is Downtown LA. Can you point out the Presidio? I thought your post was very interesting, but I have two questions. Why did the Spanish put the Presidio in Downtown LA? :confused: I would have put it in Glendale. That way if they need to get to the San Fernando Mission, they could just shoot up the 5. If they need to get to the San Gabriel they could just head east on the 134. And if they need any supplies, they could just head over to the Glendale Galleria. :)

 

By putting the Presidio in Downtown LA they have to fight all that traffic just to get to out of Downtown, which can be especially hard if the Dodgers are at home, and they still end up riding past Glendale to get to San Fernando. As to San Gabriel, I would rather try to get to San Gabriel on the 134 than on the 10. :eek:

 

I think the Spanish made a mistake putting the Presidio where they did, thought it is close to Olvera Street, which is guess is a plus if you are Spanish. :D

 

My second question is, I can understand why all the little cities would want to become part of Los Angeles if Los Angeles has all the water, but that does not explain how Los Angeles ended up with Paris Hilton???

[Cruisin' Chick]

Wonder why the SF mission didn't get placed near Olvera Street then. Or was the 5 freeway built back in the late 18th Century?;)

[Cuizer2]

Wonder why the SF mission didn't get placed near Olvera Street then. Or was the 5 freeway built back in the late 18th Century?;)

 

President Eisenhower is responsible for the highway system. Its original purpose was to make troop movement easier.

 

As to the location of the SF Mission, I guess Olvera Street was only one half day's ride, so they kept going. Now of course, with traffic being what it is, Olvera Street is about one day away from both SF and San Gabriel.

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...Here's the real reason the Spanish settled on Olvera Street:

 

They didn't come from around here and neglected to read Cruise Critic...They thought it would be okay to stay downtown because they could catch the Blue Line down to Long Beach to pick up their ship in San Pedro...

 

Also, little known fact: The early Spanish loved Chinese food and wanted to be near the Dim Sum houses in Chinatown...except for Juan Batista De Anza--who loved the French Dip sandwiches at Philippe's...

[dobiemom]

katiebug the travel girl: Super shuttle dot com will take you to San Pedro pier. You just need to call them. You can't book online. Just in case you want to visit Disneyland. Are you traveling with kids?

[Cruisin' Chick]

Okay...Here's the real reason the Spanish settled on Olvera Street:

 

They didn't come from around here and neglected to read Cruise Critic...They thought it would be okay to stay downtown because they could catch the Blue Line down to Long Beach to pick up their ship in San Pedro...

 

Also, little known fact: The early Spanish loved Chinese food and wanted to be near the Dim Sum houses in Chinatown...except for Juan Batista De Anza--who loved the French Dip sandwiches at Philippe's...

 

I guess the early Spanish wanted to be close to the toy district too.

[Cuizer2]

I guess the early Spanish wanted to be close to the toy district too.

 

Mattel is in El Segundo, which is near LAX. So it is more likely that they settled in Downtown to get away from all the lead paint that Mattel is importing from China.

[cruisenwithchris1]

Bruin Steve,

Thanks for the History lesson! Really!

I have live in So Cal my entire life and my son (26) is a 3rd generation Southern California Kid. Although, I lived my first 20 years in Riverside County, my past 30 have been in Long Beach and I truly didn't know the story of our great neighboring City! I am embarassed sometimes when friends (especially from other Countries) come visit and I don't have the history like they do of their own home. Anyway, I will print out what you wrote (if that's okay) or maybe just memorize it when them come in December. I will feel so smart :)!

Are you a professor/teacher by any chance in history or geography?? You sure know a lot!

Take care and happy cruisen!

Chris

p.s. my vote is always for the West Coast Long Beach Hotel in Long Beach, whether you need the LA or LB port for your stay. The price is right, the location is right with great views (ask for water view) and the shopping/restaurants are not to far away.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Mattel is in El Segundo, which is near LAX. So it is more likely that they settled in Downtown to get away from all the lead paint that Mattel is importing from China.

 

I think Mattel is hq'ed in El Segundo is that they wanted access to the oil for the Hot Wheels.