? transportation from San Pedro to Lax for early flight

We are booked on a LAX flight at 10:40 am for a cruise out of San Pedro. Princess won't let us use their bus as the flight is before 12:30 and the vans I called want to pick us up by 7:15 am which may be too early to be off the ship. Does anyone have any ideas of how we can get to LAX?

That's cutting it way too close.

The shuttle companies are giving you good advice. Taxis are available. What day of the week? Even Sundays are bad but during the work week it's horrible.

San Pedro is a good 30 minutes away from LAX, without traffic. Traffic inside LAX can be tied up as well. Worse if you are in the middle terminals- 3, Tom Bradley, 4, and 5.

Hopefully you're going to do self debark and have carry on luggage. Do your boarding pass onboard.

Hopefully everything will go perfectly for you and you will be able to make a 10:40 AM flight from LAX which I would never consider due to unpredictable traffic delays. ;)

Another option would be a cab however I don't know how much availability there is at the port during disembarkation although you may be able to pre-reserve a cab. I would guess that booking a limo would be quite expensive but a way to get to your flight on time. Part of the online documents Princess provides for all cruises is information about the embarkation and disembarkation ports which includes for San Pedro.

Here's what they say about San Pedro and taking a taxi to LAX:

Distance and Taxi Information

From/To - Los Angeles International Airport/Pier

Distance/Time - 18 Miles/35-50 minutes

Taxi Fare - US$65-US$70*

I would be too concerned about Murphy's Law and would strongly urge you to have a Plan B. What if disembarkation starts late (does happen, even if there's just one or two ships there)? What if there's a traffic jam on the 405 (as Sadie mentions, that can happen even on a weekend and on a weekend or holiday time, it's very rare there won't be a traffic jam)? What if there's long lines for security at LAX?

Do the self walk off with your luggage in the earliest group.

We do this everytime and grab a cab, (there are plenty).

Around $60. We usually catch a 9:35 flight, have been doing it for years.

As stated have a backup plan. ;)

There are two shared van shuttles that you can call.

Super Shuttle - BLUE colored van

Prime Time Shuttle - RED colored van

I am not advertising because these are the only shuttles that go to the San Pedro port and the Long Beach port.

Call info. for their telephone numbers or look it up on your computer.

They do show up early in the morning but you have to have a reservation if you want a sure thing. I prefer Super Shared van shuttle because they are more reliable. I always use the shuttles to take me to the cruise ports.

My best advise is to just take a taxi to the airport. You will be there faster. IT will cost you $40 - $50. dollars.

More advise..... Look to see if there is a later flight after your flight because if you are late the airline may be able to book you on their later flight. LucyR.

BEST TO JUST TAKE A TAXI if you are in a hurry. LAX is a major large airport. Pay for the convenience and PEACE OF MIND.

I've disembarked in San Pedro many times and often, the first self-disembarkation time is 8am. There's no way you could be picked up at 7:30am. It'll be rush hour so plan on at least 45 minutes to get to LAX. Just getting to your terminal could take 20-30 minutes. Check-in and Security could take 30 minutes or more, less if you're flying First Class.

LAX recommends arriving two hours before your flight for a domestic flight, three hours for international. Pretty much anyone local to the area with experience with LAX would advise you to book a later flight or make sure you have a Plan B. With a 10:30am flight, you'll need it.

Here's the disembarkation form from last March. As you can see, 8am is the earliest.

BEST TO JUST TAKE A TAXI if you are in a hurry. LAX is a major large airport. Pay for the convenience and PEACE OF MIND.

I agree a shuttle in this case could be an issue.

Last time at San Pedro we took Prime Time shuttle pre-arranged. We were among the first to walk off with all our luggage and the van was waiting. It filled quickly and we were on our way to LAX. That day (Friday) the traffic was flowing and we were at the terminal relatively quickly. We had a noon flight so we had plenty of time. It can be done if ALL goes well.

Pam is right about 8:00am being the first Walk Off group and that is IF Customs clears the ship promptly. We always do the early walk off but one time the ship was not cleared until nearly 9:00am. I understand it can even be later than that if things don't go well. Fortunately we booked a later flight so still had time for breakfast and Bloody Marys near our gate.:D:D

I just flew out of LAX today. Had an 8 am flight but got there at 5:30. Traffic outside the terminals was just as bad as any day. Security took 40 minutes. Checking in took 45. Since it was Jan 2, it may have been more crowded. This was for a flight to go to Miami and going on a cruise not disembarking from one but I still felt a little rushed. My personal opinion is that LAX is a nightmare any day.

OP- Which airline?

Shuttles can be problematic in the LAX Horseshoe. Your shuttlemates can be going to Terminal 1, Terminal 4 and Terminal 7. Horrible for you if you're going to Terminal 7.

There are two shared van shuttles that you can call.

 

Super Shuttle - BLUE colored van

 

Prime Time Shuttle - RED colored van

 

I am not advertising because these are the only shuttles that go to the San Pedro port and the Long Beach port.

 

Call info. for their telephone numbers or look it up on your computer.

 

They do show up early in the morning but you have to have a reservation if you want a sure thing. I prefer Super Shared van shuttle because they are more reliable. I always use the shuttles to take me to the cruise ports.

 

My best advise is to just take a taxi to the airport. You will be there faster. IT will cost you $40 - $50. dollars.

 

More advise..... Look to see if there is a later flight after your flight because if you are late the airline may be able to book you on their later flight. LucyR.

Actually, any land transportation company will pick up from either port and take you to any place (airport, hotel, home, etc.). But if you have any flight booked before noon, I would definitely not go with a shared vehicle. There could be passengers on that van who may be headed for destinations other than LAX, and then you'll be stuck if LAX is not within the first few stops.

But I definitely agree that if it's between SS and PT, I would pick the earlier because I found PT is be unreliable. Again, though, I wouldn't jump on a shared vehicle if time is important. And definitely, I wouldn't end a relaxing cruise with a stressful ride to catch a flight.

Do the self walk off with your luggage in the earliest group.

We do this everytime and grab a cab, (there are plenty).

Around $60. We usually catch a 9:35 flight, have been doing it for years.

As stated have a backup plan. ;)

Thanks for your response. We planned to pre-reserve a cab but you say there are plenty of cabs at the pier? We plan to walk off with our luggage as early as we can.

OP- Which airline?

 

Shuttles can be problematic in the LAX Horseshoe. Your shuttlemates can be going to Terminal 1, Terminal 4 and Terminal 7. Horrible for you if you're going to Terminal 7.

we're fllying on a Sat. with Southwest

Thanks for your response. We planned to pre-reserve a cab but you say there are plenty of cabs at the pier? We plan to walk off with our luggage as early as we can.

Being the first group off there will not be hoards outside the terminal yet.

There have always been plenty of cabs.

Our December 20 disembark started around 9:00am and was running a little late for some reason. They said it was due to immigration not being ready. It could have been due to leaving 2 hours behind schedule from Cabo also.

For the first time we decided to use Uber. We were only going to Long Beach but it was about half the price of the taxi we took the last time. One downside if you are in a hurry - it took about 15 minutes for the driver to get there.

Do the self walk off with your luggage in the earliest group.

We do this everytime and grab a cab, (there are plenty).

Around $60. We usually catch a 9:35 flight, have been doing it for years.

As stated have a backup plan. ;)

I agree. Don't bother scheduling a shuttle, just walk off and grab a cab is the fastest way.

Mike:)

And good luck. Keep in mind that there's a good chance that you'll miss your flight... Traffic is a nightmare at any time on the 405.

It could take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours to get to LAX.

When I disembarked on December 6, the first walk off group disembarked around 9:00 a.m., which would make you miss your flight.

You need to reconsider.

And good luck. Keep in mind that there's a good chance that you'll miss your flight... Traffic is a nightmare at any time on the 405.

Agree. A stressful way to end a vacation.

I think that many of the times provided may be rather optimistic.

We have made a 10:30 flight twice out of San Pedro...

But

It was from Torrance 6 miles away

I was security

DW was the gate agent

I was Captain

If we got there late ... "our" plane wasn't leaving without us.

Trying to leave the ship at 8 anything and getting to the airport 2 hours before a flight from LAX that starts boarding at 10:10 will likely be a challenge.

ok you have all convinced me to change my flight. It will cost a little more and we'll be sitting in the airport for 4 hours but I guess we won't have to worry about missing our flight.

ok you have all convinced me to change my flight. It will cost a little more and we'll be sitting in the airport for 4 hours but I guess we won't have to worry about missing our flight.

Very smart decision!

Be prepared to feel like you are being held hostage by the staff who really don't care whether you make your flight or not. Even if you do get off and want to take their shuttle, be prepared to have it stop at every single terminal and to be waiting at the pier until the bus is full.

They required our flight information and yet refused to let us leave when we were supposed to get off. Even when we were "finally" escorted into the theater with constant "red one" only, just about everyone in the line had tags that were clearly not walk off.

ok you have all convinced me to change my flight. It will cost a little more and we'll be sitting in the airport for 4 hours but I guess we won't have to worry about missing our flight.

Likely a choice that you will be happy with.

You may not be spending as much time sitting at the airport as you think as you now have some options to exercise like...

Enjoying breakfast.

More leisurely exit the ship.

Wander around the decks one last time.

And probably some others.