sailing on monarch...suggestions?

[katiebug the travel girl]

We are sailing out of the Port of LA. We fly into the Long Beach airport a couple days early and aren't sure where to stay (city wise)

 

San Pedro?

Long Beach?

Anaheim?

LA?

 

The hotel search engines are including areas such as costa mesa, inglewood, and orange county. I'm not that familiar with the area, but this seems wrong to me. Any suggestions?

[iTinKso]

Depends on what you want to do prior to your cruise. We have stayed at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro; left our car parked there and were shuttled over to the port. If you are planning to do touristy things, cruise and then fly out immediately after your cruise, you should stay someplace central to what your plans are. San Pedro off of the Harbor Freeway really isn't too close to anything. If you are thinking Disneyland, then stay in Anaheim and then drive to the port the morning of your cruise. You can board the Monarch around 11:30 and be onboard for lunch! Good luck with your planning and cruise.

[PhoenixCruiser]

My vote would go to Long Beach :D We stayed at the Westin and the harbor was within walking distance. They have several boat tours, restaurants and shops in the area.

 

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[luvn2travel]

Depends on how much time you really have...I made my way to Disneyland in Anaheim last week and found a really cool new hotel...the name of it was Hotel Menage...I liked it cause my wife and I wanted to go to Disneyland, but didn't want the hassle (or the price) of all those typical hotels. Hotel Menage is really a hip little boutique hotel right by Disneyland and Downtown Disney, plus the pool bar was great:p

[DrivesLikeMario]

As a Southern Californian, I'd stay in Long Beach if I were you. It's a nicer area than San Pedro and is still pretty close to the pier.

 

If you're really determined to go to Dland, then stay in Anaheim, particularly the Grand California Hotel (on the Dland property) if you have the money or if not, the Anaheim Marriott is a good reasonably priced hotel (about $99 a night with transportation to/from Dland). Anaheim is a good distance from the port - I'd guess about 45 mins. depending on traffic.

 

You can stay near LAX if you want, but frankly, it's not the best area. Get most of your traveling done and stay closer to the port. If you're looking for things to do in Long Beach, there's the Queen Mary and Ports O'Call nearby.

[cruiserbryce]

We stayed at a Doubletree prior to our cruise last December...it was in San Pedro I believe. It was very nice and extremely convinient

[critterchick]

Welcome to the sprawling metropolis known as Southern California, LOL!

 

As for the hotel locations, Costa Mesa is in Orange County, as is Anaheim. Inglewood is near Los Angeles International Airport, so it's geographically undesirable both for convenience and for ambience IMHO.

 

Where you stay depends on what you want to do for a couple of days, and whether you'll be renting a car (I recommend it). If Disneyland is at the top of your list, I'd suggest staying overnight in Anaheim, where it's located. Which hotel depends on your budget. Anaheim is about 30 minutes from LGB.

 

If you're a shopper who also wants to go to Disneyland, consider the Westin South Coast Plaza. You're not too far from Disneyland, and the South Coast Plaza mall is one that you dream about (or have nightmares about when your credit card bill arrives, LOL). It's a straight shot down the 405 (San Diego Freeway) from LGB.

 

Long Beach is a nice convenient location (and most of the major hotels chains are represented there with very nice properties), but if you have a couple of days, you'd be missing out on a lot of the LA "experience." Do a search on the Ports of Call threads and see what Bruin Steve and CurtJeromeWild have suggested to other posters - they have some great ideas!

[DrivesLikeMario]

Here's a link to the hotel CruiserBryce recommends:

 

http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=ZNIIAP3YNKTUICSGBJBNMQQ?ctyhocn=LGBSPDT

 

:)

[Happy ks]

It's totally dependant on what you want to do and see in your 2 days. I'd narrow that down first, trying to keep the perspective that traffic can be a nightmare and things always take twice as long as you anticipate. If you want to see LA, stay in LA, if you want Disneyland, stay in Anaheim as close to the park as you can get.

 

The idea of staying at the Westin and going shopping sounds good to me, I rarely get as far north as South Coast Plaza and it's only a 20 minute drive for us. Nordstrom Rack is across the street from South Coast Plaza, that can be a day in itself!

 

If it were me, I'd think about Long Beach. There is plenty to do right there, it's an easy cab ride to the hotel area, as well as the Port of Los Angeles. You don't say if your cruise is the Monday or Friday departure, if it's on Monday, Sunday Brunch at Queen Mary is always wondrful (note, get there early or plan a wait in line!). Curt has posted pics somewhere of a San Pedro tour. Here it is:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=614988

 

While searching for that link, I see you have found the West Coast departures board, you will find a ton of info there. A few people from LA are very active and helpful there. I stay in my corner in South Orange County :p

 

Have fun planning, we're now talking about a trip in your direction!