Transportation to/from airport, hotel & ship?

[OregonGirlie]

Our last cruise we flew into LAX same day as departure and had a motorcoach/tour bus (the big suckers) transfer to Long Beach (this was booked through Carnival and the air was booked through Carnival too). We had our 3 kids with us, no car seats, and it worked out ok - not ideal - but ok.

 

Now we're hoping to fly into LAX (book air on our own, not through Princess) - but arrive the night before possibly. So we need to get to the hotel (thinking Crowne Royal in San Pedro area because they have a free shuttle to the ship) from LAX somehow with 3 children. We will NOT have car seats. We have the FAA harness seatbelt add on's for them on the airplane ride so they'll be ok there. Their car seats (all 3 of them) are Britax Marathon - HUGE monsters - so we just can not possibly bring them with us. Super Shuttle and van/car services won't let you ride without car seats (obviously). I can't seem to find a bus service that takes you from LAX to San Pedro area.

 

How on earth do we get from the airport with 3 kiddies to the ship? We're open to staying the night before in LA/San Pedro, or flying in the same day of cruise departure. I don't want to spend a small fortune, but I don't know what to do.

[crusinmama06]

I can't give you specifics because I am on the East, not West Coast. But I can tell you to try to find a private car service that allows you to rent car seats. Whenever we do this, the car seats are usually $10 extra.

 

That would be the only way around it unless you lug the car seats. :(

[Nebr.cruiser]

I can't tell you about LA, but when we landed in Ft. Lauderdale with three kids under six we used a limo service to get to Miami; we didn't bring our car seats and though we asked the limo company for car seats, they weren't available. The limo did not require them. Maybe someone from California can tell you if the laws there are different re: car seats and vans/cars/limos, etc.

 

It's obviously not an ideal situation to go without car seats, but sometimes the logistics of bringing them makes it almost impossible. How old are the kids? If nothing else, maybe you could use the smaller booster type seats that sell for about $12. Better than nothing.

[lmkoz]

We're in the same boat (pardon the pun) and I have asked a similar question on another thread. What we are leaning towards doing (although not the cheapest option by far), is renting a car, bringing our car seats, and parking the car at the port. That way we have somewhere to leave our car seats as well as our winter coats etc. Hope that helps...