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Just off the Hi cruise this past Sunday and asked the gate keepers about check in times.

 

The priority building was starting check in at 9:15 (usually starts at 9:30.) FTTF was also starting at this time. The regular line gate keeper said that they'll check you in when you arrive, with the admonishment to check in next time at your chosen time.

In other words, not much has changed in Long Beach. Except many did follow the times and getting off and being picked up was much easier.

Thanks for the update Sadie! So it looks like as Platinum we can get there early. I hope your Hawaii trip was great! I have booked for Fall 2018. :)

Anyone have experience / reports back with the new staggered check-in time? First check-in is at 12:30, but what time can one actually arrive at the port?

We just returned from a California trip, flying into and out of LAX. We used a company called Sixt. They are an international company, with a small presence in the States. I have never had such a smooth, professional rental car experience! No lines. The shuttle driver took us immediately to the airport without waiting around for others. No pressure tactics to buy insurance, gas, etc. Car in great condition. Their prices trend a bit higher, but I was able to find a good deal on a third party site.

If you go to Vegas, see Beatles LOVE. It's fantastic!

Enjoy your trip.

There's an Avis on Ocean and Long Beach Blvd. The free Passport bus drops off one block from here.

 

 

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Thanks, I looked it up and found the route map. Appreciated!

Many thanks for answers thus far. I have one more transportation question. Post-cruise, where is the easiest place to pick up a rental car?

Ordinarily I'd say stay by the cruise port the night before, but with your daughter coming from UCSB it seems much simpler to stay by LAX.

 

She can take the Santa Barbara Airbus to LAX from the Santa Barbara airport. Once at LAX she can take a shuttle to the hotel you are staying at.

 

The train is a bad idea because that puts her in Downtown LA. Then she has to use the Flyaway Bus to get to LAX and then a shuttle to the hotel. Using the SB Airbus is the easiest option.

 

Next day I'd use UberX or ExecuCar Express to get to the port. ExecuCar Express is a class up from the regular SuperShuttle, which I think is awful.

 

http://www.execucarexpress.com/

Thanks for the tips!

What time are you getting into LA? If late, stay at LAX and get to port in the morning. Sunday morning traffic should be very light. If earlier, then stay near Long Beach. Queen Mary is fine if you like antiques. Many will stay at the Hotel Maya. There is a Carnival code floating around here. Think you have to call for this rate.

Could take taxi, Uber, Lyft, shuttle or execucar (Super Shuttles black car service.)

***

Your DD has a few choices. If she could get a ride to the LA area from Santa Barbara that would be great. Look on the ride board or other Uni-based ride program.

Wouldn't advise Greyhound. The clientele and stations are not great below San Francisco. She could try Bolt Bus or Mega Bus. IIRC both use Union Station as a hub. I've seen Bolt Bus there.

Amtrak is always an option to LA Union Station.

 

Getting from Union Station is a bit harder, but there are options.

She could take a taxi, Uber, Lyft, shuttle or execucar (Super Shuttles black car service.)

 

There are cheaper options--

If you're staying at LAX and she gets into LA the night before she could take the Flyaway ($8) Union Station to LAX, then the hotel shuttle.

 

If she arrives the early enough the day of she could take the LA Metro to Port of Long Beach. It'll take about 2 hours

From Union Station-- ($2.75, including TAP card.)

Red or Purple Lines to the 7th Street transfer Station

transfer to the Blue Line to Long Beach Transit Mall

Catch the free Passport bus at Ocean & Pine* to the Queen Mary and the Cruiseport.

We've done this many times to Long Beach. Warning we won't do this at night. Sundown will be just after 4pm. It goes thru some very rough areas of LA (Compton, Watts, South Central) We have never had any issues, three grey haired ladies. DD22 has taken this route by herself with no issues either.

 

http://www.lawa.org/FlyAway/content.aspx?id=10152

metro.net

http://www.lbtransit.com/Services/Passport.aspx

(*the bus stop is near the little line between the B and F on the map)

 

We are sailing with you. We would be taking the Metro to port if we didn't have to do a car exchange with Mom and Sis (They're getting off as we get on.) We will be taking the trains home.

 

See you onboard.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Glad to see you are on our cruise. Not much activity on the 'boards.' The Miracle is one of my favorite ships; definitely my favorite class. Have you done these ports before? Any suggestions for activities? It's all new for us.

Based on your one night prior arrival, I would go directly to Long Beach and stay the night there...Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric at the Pike, Renaissance, Westin, Maya Doubletree, Residence Inn Downtown, Hilton would be my choices in that order...

 

Probably just take a shuttle...SuperShuttle is fine and relatively inexpensive...or, if you want to avoid the sharing thing, use their Execucar service...

 

For your daughter, there is a perfect service: The Santa Barbara Airbus:

 

https://www.sbairbus.com/

 

The Goleta pick-up is right near the UCSB campus and I'm sure a friend could drop her off or the university may even provide a shuttle...They have direct frequent bus service to either LAX or to the cruise port. Were it me, I'd have her take the airbus to LAX and meet me there and shuttle with us down to Long Beach and spend the night. If her schedule doesn't permit, then she could take the Airbus directly to port the day of the cruise.

Hadn't heard of the sbairbus...Thanks! Sounds like there are going to be some decent options from which to choose.

Bus either private shuttle which runs to airports as well as in town or greyhound which is less expensive but has more limited stops are your best transit options. Do note that she is actually closer to Goleta and that the airport in SB is right next to the campus. Looks like your daughter is new to SB and I do not know your timing into LAX but there is another option. I went to school in LA while my wife lived in SB so I drove that trip literally hundreds of time. If your flight comes in by midday, consider renting a car. You can see where she lives, spend a nice evening in SB and then return to the port easily for your cruise. Of course if you are spending time with her after the cruise then you will see SB.

 

Finally maybe by then she will have met some locals for whom a drive from SB to LA is just a road trip and she can arrange a quick ride down. Crazy as it may seem when my youngest was a freshman at UCSB he and some buddies wanted Krispy Creams one night so they drove to LA for a couple dozen. Ah college kids.

LOL on the Krispy Kremes. Those are so popular here in ATL, but I prefer Dunkin' Donuts. :) DD is a grad student, so I think? hope? she won't have time for those kinds of trips. :) But it would be nice to meet some friends that she could transport to LA with. I know her favorite band is located in LA, and I have no doubt she will try to see them in a club date there.

I forgot about how close the airport is. She used that when she went for her campus visit. I can check to see what kind of cheap flight might be available.

One suggestion regarding your daughter. If that's right as finals are ending for the quarter' date=' she should book her ticket (for whatever mode of transportation) early (at least a month or so ahead). There will be plenty of other college students seeking transportation going back to LA. My daughter was coming from a college way to the north, taking Greyhound to SF, where we would meet her. Her last final was on a Friday so I told her to go to the bus station a few weeks early to buy her ticket for a Saturday departure and it was a good thing she did because the buses sold out for that day soon after.[/quote']

 

Oh, good point. I hadn't thought about that. Once I make a final decision on where we will overnight, I will definitely reserve her a ticket. Thanks!

Thanks for all of the great info and suggestions. I will start investigating.

To answer a couple of questions, our flight is due to arrive at LAX at 6:10 p.m., that is if all goes well and no delays. Daughter will be past finals (if she even has any, being a grad student, it will most likely be papers) and will have a flexible schedule to meet us either in LA or LB. We'll be accompanying her just shy of 2 weeks to get settled at beginning of term, as well as staying 10 days post-cruise, so lots of opportunity to visit SB and environs (yay!).

If any of that info changes anyone's advice, please share. I really appreciate the insight and help!

We are cruising out of Long Beach for first time Dec. 11. A couple of questions:

1) DH and I fly in from ATL to LAX on Dec. 10. Does it make more sense to transfer from LA to LB on Dec. 10 and stay at a hotel there? OR is it better to overnight in LA and transfer to LB the morning of Dec. 11?

2) Based on choice above, what are transportation options to get to the cruise port in Long Beach?

3) DD is joining us, traveling from UC Santa Barbara. Train, bus? Other options? Pros and Cons?

Thanks for any info anyone out there can provide!

Just today he sat down on the couch with a bottle of pancake syrup and was sipping it. No idea how I outweigh him!

That's hilarious! Is he related to Elf?

Continuing to enjoy your review.

Well I really do hope you and your daughter had a fantastic cruise, and certainly hope I didn't offend. We'd never attended trivia before, and had heard how seriously some people took it, but really didn't realize it. That is one intense room! I do agree that Carnival should have figured more out. The staff takes trivia much lighter than the guests, making it easy to cheat and it could certainly be organized better.

 

I hope you guys had at least a decent experience with Jimmy. He was fantastic for us, and really a breath of fresh air after having a flat out rude steward last year.

 

It's funny, I am being fairly open about our experiences, and I really hope Mr. Conquest and Ms Ice Cream don't happen upon my review or I'm going to get some heat!

Yes, we had a very lovely cruise. It wasn't our best, but not every time can be the best, right? I like what you said after your commentary about your challenging sea day. You just find the good things that you enjoy. I can't imagine any cruise being bad (aside from having to face a dangerous situation)! Some of the high points for us: 1) the cove balcony was really awesome - I liked being that close to sea level and took a nap out there twice; 2) delicious meals with superb wait staff in Crimson Dining Room; 3) great snorkeling off the beach in Roatan and 2 great excursions (Behind the Fun & Margarita and Salsa Making in Cozumel); 4) a cool experience sailing down the Mississippi River; 5) a good platinum/diamond party; 6) enjoyed music nightly by talented musician in piano bar (now that I see your pictures, I think I remember seeing you there too!). Compared to other stewards we've had, Jimmy would score near the bottom. He did do everything requested, eventually and begrudgingly. :) We gave him a small extra tip at the end, although not what we would normally leave. I'm glad you had a good experience with him. Overall, compared to other cruises, it seemed like the crew were not as happy and engaging as typical. It made me wonder about management practices on the ship. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

Lovely underwater pictures!

Good review. We were on the same cruise. Really enjoying all of your detail, and it's fun to see experiences from another perspective, to see what was similar and dissimilar. We also had Jimmy. He must have used all his energy to give you good service. LOL! I had similar observations about the increased ship size (compared to Fantasy and Spirit and even Conquest -LOL!, great description of your dining room experience), but public areas being about the same. Having cruised a good bit on Carnival, we're pretty good at avoiding the "herds," but it was very challenging on the Dream. I'm glad we had a cove balcony, which I really loved (and was the reason we tried this ship). One final note, related back to my comment about perspectives, it was my daughter you were describing at the Harry Potter trivia. She wasn't upset that she 'lost' - she was frustrated that the other team seemed to have cheated on one of the questions, which seemed rather silly, as they were a huge team of people playing against one person. She doesn't play a lot of trivia, just Harry Potter and Beatles, but we still often see people cheating. Aside from that, she has so many ships on a stick, that we're considering selling them on eBay. :) Charlie was really funny, and we enjoyed her for Beatles trivia, as well.

Alright everyone, I was looking at the Fun times, and realized I totally omitted something from Sea Day #1 that was worth adding:

 

We decided mid-day to attend Harry Potter trivia. We are both avid fans of the series and figured we might be competitive. Well we weren't the only ones, and struggled to find a seat at trivia.

 

Once we found a few chairs, we waited just a few minutes, and Charlie, a member of the entertainment staff got to the mic. She described herself as a blond midget from London, and insisted that cockney was the only way to speak. Therefore all references to her beloved series would be to "Airy PoTTa" and not "Harry Potter." Threats of Dementor attacks were directed at anyone who didn't speak "propA englishhhh." She then reminded everyone that cookies were as good as correct answers. Jase arrived around this time with a handful of cookies for her, which she then doled out points at random for the cookies. She. Was. Hilarious!

 

The trivia itself kicked our collective butts, and we realized that we didn't know nearly as much about the series as we thought. While people watching though, we noticed that about half the group was having a very fun time, and the other half was intensely scribbling answers as if that ship on a stick were made of solid gold. In the end we scored 4 out of 15 points, and had a blast. We felt sorry for one woman in front of us who scored 15 points, lost in a bonus round, and appeared furious she didn't win trivia. As we left, it was clear that her and a few others were going to be firmly planted at trivia for the duration of the cruise. Never understood that. It was a good 20 minute event, but not a reason to spend thousands of dollars on a cruise.

 

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, prepare for sea day 2!!

Fun Times from December 2015 shows tea time in Scarlett Restaurant, deck 4.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2294811&page=2

Based on my previous Carnival cruises, there will be a tea time at 3 on every sea day. Sometimes there is live piano music, depending on the ship.

Sailing on Dream in 3 weeks. Enjoying your review and looking forward to the rest. Thanks!

Did it a few years ago. It was great. May be some challenges organizing. Depends on how many volunteers and availability, and they are working on "island time" :). Here is a thread on it with reviews and information. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851069

(An aside ... We have done this type of program in London and Paris as well. Always a wonderful experience.)

Thanks for this great thread! My DH and I really want to do this tour on the Dream in January, and all the information is very helpful.

 

NOOOO! Don't say that! I thought I'd look at the new menus and saw that the chilled fruit soups were still all there. I have every one of them when offered. That's one change I don't want to see. What I really want is Beef Wellington again! It was always my favorite dish and then, naturally, was one that was dropped several years ago.

 

Back to the review - looking forward to your thoughts on Aruba and Curacao.

I hope you are right. On the Liberty a year ago May, our menu was very similar to this one I found posted (we were on a Southern, not a Western). Don't appear to be any cold soup choices, although I do remember that I had strawberry soup one night. I've seen reference to the menus continuing to be tweaked.

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/AT_AF/liberty/western/libertyWestern.htm

Thank you that was very helpful.

Regarding the new menu, I've been on a couple of ships that had it. I didn't feel it was a big plus or minus either way. However, one thing for me that disappointed with the new menu was that they had fewer offerings of the cold soups. I really enjoy those. The old menu has them almost, if not every, night. Change happens. No big deal ... I don't have to plan it, cook it, or clean it up, so it's all good for me. :D

Enjoying the review so far. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to do a review! Sailing on Sunshine in early September ....

Day 5 St. Kitts and our 25th Wedding Anniversary!

I have to say I was a little hesitant about St. Kitts due to the shopping and excursion talk where they kept reiterating about only shop in Carnival sponsored shops and only use Carnival shore excursions. I was picturing Belize the first time we went and it was a crazy place. We had booked a tour of the island through Thenford Grey Tours. Cruise critic and Trip Advisor had rated them very high.

Glad you enjoyed your tour with Thenford's company. We hired him a few years ago, and it was great. Very professional! That ride up to the fortress is quite memorable. :)

Thanks for providing the email for dining room requests. A dear friend is working on our September Sunshine sailing, and we are trying to arrange to be in his section before we get on the ship. Thanks too for your review!