usviking

If you don't want to take a shared van...

We have been using ExecuCar's Business Express service to get from LGB to the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro. https://reservations.execucar.com/Default.aspx

If you prefer a taxi, I've been using the following website to estimate taxi fares: http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Long-Beach-CA

I also understand that taxi service may be available at a fixed-rate to a number of locations. I don't know about going to San Pedro but someone posted a while ago that fixed-rates are displayed inside the taxi.

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For what it's worth, we use the Execucar "business express" round trip LGB / Crowne Plaza whenever sailing out of San Pedro. Our experience is that it is a single party service in a mini-van. Service is always prompt and the drivers are professional. It is also our experience that there is no discount for booking round trip.

If Roadrunner provides you with acceptable service to LAX and another service is better for you from LAX, perhaps you can mix it up while still controlling your overall cost.

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Just wanted to let everyone know about another issue that could come up with the new Costco Travelguard Insurance preexisting conditions and future cruise credits.

 

Travelguard considers the date you purchase a future cruise credit as your initial trip payment date. So in order to get preexisting condition coverage you would have to buy a policy within 21 days of buying the future cruise credit. What is crazy is that at that point you don't have a cruise cost or date..I assume you would insure the trip for the cost of the future cruise credit and pick an date sometime in the future. Sounds like too much hassle to me. Here is the link to an article about this subject from the Trip Insurance Store website. They are a great source of information.

 

http://tripinsurancestore.com/initial-trip-deposit-date/

 

There was discussion about Travelguard and initial trip payments on the Holland boards.

This caught my attention. We use unspecified future cruise deposits/credits with Princess and have used Travel Guard exclusively the past few years -- whether direct or through Costco.

I just got off the phone with Travel Guard. The Travel Guard rep has informed me that Travel Guard has seen two types of future cruise credits. One is for a specified travel date in the future and the other is for an unspecified travel date.

If the credit is for a specified travel date then the date this credit is purchased becomes the initial deposit date.

If the credit is for an unspecified travel date then the date it is applied to a specific booking becomes the initial deposit date.

I urge anyone else with concern over this to call Travel Guard direct to make certain that we all get the same answer.

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I just called Travel Guard this morning. I was able to purchase the old Costco policy for our October, 2014 cruise that we booked in January, 2014.

If I understood the Travel Guard rep correctly, they are currently allowing the old policy to be purchased for bookings made prior to May 1, 2014. I don't know how long this will be available, so I purchased my policy today.

Thank you CC members for bringing this to my attention.

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Thank you for your info. I've never tried Priceline or Hotwire, so a little bit hesitate. Your response is really helpful. :)

Whenever planning travel to Vancouver, I follow the advice of Putterdude and other knowledgeable Vancouverite CC members. I have never been disappointed. For my most recent bids on Priceline, I followed Putterdude's advice at the following link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41759418#post41759418

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I have a question about bidding Vancouver hotel on Priceline or Hotwire. Does the websites charge you or the hotel? I want to know will there any foreign transaction fee by credit card company if the hotel charge in CAD... :confused:

I only have experience with Priceline. To my knowledge, my bids on Priceline have all been in US$. The winning bids for Vancouver, BC that I shared above reflect the exact amount charged to my credit card.

Looking at Priceline right now, I do see the opportunity to choose the currency to display prices. Options appear to be USD$, AUD$, CAD$, EURO, Pound Sterling. I do not know what impact there would be on your credit card for choosing one of these foreign currency options.

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Bid Date: 5/6/2014

Date: June 21, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Century Plaza Hotel & Spa

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: Granville Entertainment District

Site: Priceline

Price: $115.00

Taxes & Fees: $26.82

Total: $141.82

Bid Date: 5/3/2014

Date: June 6, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Century Plaza Hotel & Spa

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: Granville Entertainment District

Site: Priceline

Price: $125.00

Taxes & Fees: $28.57

Total: $153.57

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Otto Trattoria is NOW OPEN!!! Sorry for the typo. :(

Thank you, Wineaux. San Pedro is one of our favorite embarkation ports and your recommendations, insights, and comments are very much appreciated.

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Thank you for the replies. I'll contact Princess again.

I am not seeing the Travel Documents section on the right side panel of the Cruise Personalizer page for my two most recent bookings for voyages during October, 2014.

The Travel Documents section includes Print Travel Summary, Print Boarding Pass, Luggage Tags, and other documents, and Pre-Cruise Emails. The Boarding Pass and Luggage Tags for my two most recent bookings would not be available at this time, but I would expect the Travel Documents section to show on the screen with the Travel Summary, other documents, and Pre-Cruise Emails available to view/print.

The Travel Documents section is showing for my oldest booking, so it does seem to be selective as to when it shows.

I did call Princess. The rep did not understand why this Travel Documents section is not showing for my two most recent bookings and suggested that it probably becomes available closer to embarkation date. My recollection of prior bookings, however, is that this section was available without delay.

Is anybody else having a similar experience or have information regarding why this Travel Documents section of the Cruise Personalizer would not be showing?

Thanks.

My own guidelines:

1. No advance tipping (except for the porters taking our luggage). We usually don't do special requests' date=' but besides it seems like a bribe.

2. Keep autotips on. If service is bad, go see Passenger Services/purser's desk and try to get matter resolved asap, rather than waiting til later and then justifying stiffing the crew.

3. If any crew members have done exceptionally, figure out the extra tip on the last full day of the cruise (used to be all the tips were during the "stuff the envelope rite; so glad for autotips now).

4. Consider filling out "made a difference" type of cards for those in #3.

5. no local knickknacks -- if a crew member feels the need to buy a key chain, they can buy the one of their choice on one of their days off in port, using tip money. No food items, either, as they may be allergic (as Sail says above) or it might be something they don't eat due to dietary or religious concerns. Same thing for giving holiday cards -- they might not celebrate the same holidays as you.[/quote']

 

This sums up what DW and I have been doing.

 

Several crew members have shared that the "made a difference" cards are very important to them.

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Lately, I have been using Travel Guard, but do check competitive prices for each trip. I particularly like Travel Guard's "build your own" product that allows us to define our needs based on the individual trip. I've never made a claim (knock on wood) but they have been nice on the phone.

Some important concerns to me....

coverage for pre-existing conditions

reasonable medical evac coverage based on itinerary

"hospital of choice" for medical evac

reasonable medical coverage based on itinerary

primary or secondary medical coverage is based on itinerary

policy exclusions

deductibles

Some concerns not so important to me anymore since I'm more willing to self-insure...

trip cancellation

baggage

accidental death

You may want to check out the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

I learned a lot going through that forum when I first started cruising.

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Thank you for the speedy reply! Are the ways to check prices you mentioned a feature on Priceline?

Yes. Priceline allows you to view hotels in a "List View" that shows some basic pricing, view "Express Deals" that show some prices available without bidding, and to "Name Your Own Price" where you submit bids.

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I hope I'm posting my question in the right place. I've gained alot of good information on this thread. We're planning our first cruise out of San Pedro to Hawaii in March 2015. Weighing all the different options we've decided to use a park and stay option in San Pedro for the night before the cruise.

 

From my reading it looks like we should use Priceline for a 3.5 star in San Pedro. How soon should we try this bidding as we've not used Priceline before? And would I need to request the "park and stay" option or is this an automatic benefit?

 

Thanks!

My two cents...

Before using Name Your Own Price, I do check pricing in the List View and the Express Deals. Several times for other cities I have found a satisfactory price without going through the bidding process.

There are different philosophies regarding how far out one should begin bidding for hotels. Since I like everything is place as soon as possible, I generally start bidding at the time I make my cruise booking. Some make the case that you get better pricing the closer you are to the check-in date. I have held out increasing my bid until closer to check-in for other cities but always have a back-up cancellable reservation in place.

For what it's worth, below is my history of winning bids (before taxes & fees) for 3.5* in San Pedro (Area 5):

bid on 06/28/11 for 12/07/11 (162 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 06/29/11 for 11/22/11 (146 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 09/20/11 for 02/17/12 (150 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $65

bid on 09/20/11 for 03/03/12 (165 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $65

bid on 07/03/12 for 10/27/12 (116 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 07/03/12 for 11/26/12 (146 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 10/01/12 for 01/01/13 ( 92 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $95

bid on 09/30/12 for 01/16/13 ( 92 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $95

bid on 05/20/13 for 10/04/13 (137 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 05/20/13 for 10/19/13 (137 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 05/20/13 for 03/31/14 (315 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 06/19/13 for 04/29/14 (314 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 01/26/14 for 10/03/14 (250 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

bid on 01/26/14 for 10/18/14 (265 days to check-in) winning Crowne Plaza at $75

I do not believe that March 2015 is currently available on Priceline and do not know their general rule about how far in advance they will allow.

I cannot comment on how parking is arranged since we fly into LGB for our cruises out of San Pedro.

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I certainly agree with Bruin Steve's assessment of the Best Western Of Long Beach (1725 Long Beach Blvd). DW and I stayed there the first two times sailing out of San Pedro because they offered free airport and cruise terminal shuttles, the Best Western brand, and we did not know any better. Then, I discovered Cruise Critic. We are now big fans of bidding for 3.5 stars on Priceline which, thus far, has put us in the Crowne Plaza.

Unless I'm mistaken, pthardy is referring to the Best Western Plus San Pedro Hotel & Suites (111 S Gaffey St). But, if memory serves me, CC members who are familiar with San Pedro continue to rate the Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree over all other hotels in San Pedro - especially since these two hotels can usually be obtained at a reasonable price using Priceline.

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Here's a link to a recent discussion that may answer your questions...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1976152

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I have been satisfied with the estimates provided by using Taxi Fare Finder

http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Seattle

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Bid Date: 1/26/2014

Date: Oct 3, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Crowne Plaza

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: San Pedro

Site: Priceline

Price: $75

Taxes & Fees: $18.52

Total: $93.52

Bid Date: 1/26/2014

Date: Oct 18, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Crowne Plaza

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: San Pedro

Site: Priceline

Price: $75

Taxes & Fees: $18.52

Total: $93.52

Note: Express Deals showed $85 for 3.5 stars in San Pedro for both Oct 3 and Oct 18. Bid $65 on 1/25/2014 for Oct 3 - rejected. Bid $70 on 1/25/2014 for Oct 18 - rejected.

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..... If I choose to sail with non elites, I gladly join them in their waiting area. I don't think it makes that much difference in time to get onboard.

I agree.

Our next voyage out of San Pedro in April will be our first time to sail with non elites. After reading other comments regarding this subject here on CC, DW and I already decided that we will join them in their waiting area.

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Are you able to walk from the Enterprise car drop off in San Padro to the cruise ship port in San Padro. On a map it appears quite close. How long would it take if you could walk it and how far is it?

I have walked from the Crowne Plaza (next door to the Enterpise office) to the pier a number of times. This is without luggage while DW is resting in the hotel room. Google maps walking route says .8 miles in 17 minutes. This amount of time seems about right but it would depend on your walking speed.

I actually find this route to be an enjoyable walk but I don't believe that I have ever been in San Pedro on a bad weather day. The weather on your travel day may or may not impact the time.

I have seen the Enterprise office next to the Crowne Plaza busy during times right before and right after a cruise. So, you may want to plan accordingly for the drop-off process. And now that I'm writing this, it comes to mind that they may have a shuttle to the pier.

Two new restaurants should be open March 2014 in Downtown San Pedro. Trusela's Italian restaurant will be moving into the old Limani's location (which was the old Papadakis restaurant) and a sports bar is moving into the old 7th Street Chophouse location. Both will be great additions to the already existing restaurants we have in Downtown. I will give an update when they open and how the food and atmosphere are.

Thank you, Wineaux. Your recommendations are appreciated.

We will be there on March 31 and look forward to learning more about these two -- especially Trusela's Italian.

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They may not let you into the terminal that early. I believe that there is some limited bench style seating along the sidewalk. However, it might be quite busy along that sidewalk due to the disembarkation of the voyage before yours.

If memory serves me, there is some seating across the roadway just under the road ramp going to the second level. It might have been where the employees were taking their smoke breaks.

If nothing appears promising as you drive through and walking with your luggage is acceptable, one possibility is to be dropped off at the Catalina Bistro just around the corner at Berth 95 http://catalinabistro.com/.

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While I cannot comment on the Best Western Tuscan, DW and I stayed at the Radisson on the wharf (250 Beach St.) for several days prior to our cruise last March. We found the location convenient and walked to Pier 35 with our luggage on the day of embarkation.

We used ExecuCar sedan service pre-cruise to get from the airport to the hotel and taxi post-cruise from the pier to our hotel by the airport. Next time, I would use ExecuCar post-cruise.

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CC member Wineaux (a San Pedran) recently updated his recommendations for dining in San Pedro in the following post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40735842#post40735842

We have found his recommendations to be very helpful.

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