Cruising out of San Pedro (hotels, shuttles, and car rental info needed)

[tip]

"The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I are looking at a September sailing of RCCL's Mariner of the Seas out of San Pedro. We are veteran cruisers, but most of them have been the east coast, so forgive me for asking so many questions.

 

So far, it looks like we shall...

 

....fly Southwest from Manchester, NH to LAX on a Saturday (a day early)

...try to book a 3.5 star hotel via Priceline such as Doubletree or the

Crown Plaza in San Pedro (I have read that both provide shuttles to

the port) which would get us transportation to the port on Sunday

...extend our stay after the cruise for four or five days by renting a car

in San Pedro and exploring areas around LA and then heading down to

San Diego for more sight seeing and a flight home in the middle of the

week from San Diego via Southwest

 

So our questions...

 

1.) Do either of the hotels in San Pedro (Doubletree or Crown Plaza) provide a shuttle from LAX to the hotel? If not, what is the best way to get to the hotels from LAX?

 

2.) I thought that I had read that you could not rent a car at the pier in San Pedro on a Sunday when the ship returns (Enterprise is closed?). Is that true? If so, does anyone have suggestions?

 

3.) Any other advice?

[Cruisin' Chick]

"The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I are looking at a September sailing of RCCL's Mariner of the Seas out of San Pedro. We are veteran cruisers, but most of them have been the east coast, so forgive me for asking so many questions.

 

So far, it looks like we shall...

 

....fly Southwest from Manchester, NH to LAX on a Saturday (a day early)

...try to book a 3.5 star hotel via Priceline such as Doubletree or the

Crown Plaza in San Pedro (I have read that both provide shuttles to

the port) which would get us transportation to the port on Sunday

...extend our stay after the cruise for four or five days by renting a car

in San Pedro and exploring areas around LA and then heading down to

San Diego for more sight seeing and a flight home in the middle of the

week from San Diego via Southwest

 

So our questions...

 

1.) Do either of the hotels in San Pedro (Doubletree or Crown Plaza) provide a shuttle from LAX to the hotel? If not, what is the best way to get to the hotels from LAX?

 

2.) I thought that I had read that you could not rent a car at the pier in San Pedro on a Sunday when the ship returns (Enterprise is closed?). Is that true? If so, does anyone have suggestions?

 

3.) Any other advice?

 

I can answer no. 1: the SP hotels do not have a shuttle service from LAX to the port. But many people will book Supershuttle or one of the other shuttle services to pick them up at the airport and take them to the hotel.

[Donray]

"The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I are looking at a September sailing of RCCL's Mariner of the Seas out of San Pedro. We are veteran cruisers, but most of them have been the east coast, so forgive me for asking so many questions.

 

So far, it looks like we shall...

 

....fly Southwest from Manchester, NH to LAX on a Saturday (a day early)

...try to book a 3.5 star hotel via Priceline such as Doubletree or the

Crown Plaza in San Pedro (I have read that both provide shuttles to

the port) which would get us transportation to the port on Sunday

...extend our stay after the cruise for four or five days by renting a car

in San Pedro and exploring areas around LA and then heading down to

San Diego for more sight seeing and a flight home in the middle of the

week from San Diego via Southwest

 

So our questions...

 

1.) Do either of the hotels in San Pedro (Doubletree or Crown Plaza) provide a shuttle from LAX to the hotel? If not, what is the best way to get to the hotels from LAX?

 

2.) I thought that I had read that you could not rent a car at the pier in San Pedro on a Sunday when the ship returns (Enterprise is closed?). Is that true? If so, does anyone have suggestions?

 

3.) Any other advice?

 

Why would you stay in San Pedro after the cruise???????

 

You also need to car rental that will only drop off in San Diego airport??????

[tip]

Why would you stay in San Pedro after the cruise???????

 

You also need to car rental that will only drop off in San Diego airport??????

 

We will not be staying in San Pedro after the cruise, but want to rent a car to explore the LA and San Diego area . I recognize that we would have to pay a premium to drop off the car in San Diego.

[coffeefirst]

You may consider looking at Trip Advisor web site. Under the LA forums it has LA transportation FAQS. There are a lot of threads on sight seeing and hotels for pre/post cruising.

 

We called Enterprise to enquire about renting a car at the airport and returning it to the San Pedro Pier location. The representative told us that the returning the car to a different location is only allowed with airport to airport rentals. Avis had the same provision in place as well.

[bedfordmom]

That's interesting, I just called Enterprise today, to do a San Pedro to LAX return and they said it was OK but just a $40 surcharge.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Sometimes it's better to call the local office of a rental car agency to get answers about that office. The 800 number may not know the specifics.

[cattolica]

You might research one way car rentals from LAX to SAN (San Diego). Very often if you book an "airport to airport" one way car rental the drop off fee is waived. We have done this many times. I know you can do this with Alamo and possibly Thrifty car rental. It means taking a shuttle up to LAX after the cruise, but it could avoid the sometimes hefty drop off fee.

[PatriciaF]

Perhaps check out a Long Beach Airport to San Diego rental car. At least you would be heading towards San Diego from the port rather than the other direction.

 

SuperShuttle would probably be cheaper than a taxi.

 

Hertz many times doesn't have a drop off fee--but you usually pay more per day.

 

Checkout Hotwire for a good deal on car rentals. Or, the SWA website for car rentals--you could perhaps earn points to a free trip on SWA.

[coffeefirst]

Sometimes it's better to call the local office of a rental car agency to get answers about that office. The 800 number may not know the specifics.

 

 

I called the Enterprise local office and arranged a one way rental. There is a $40 drop off fee, but I felt it was worth it. We can avoid a trip to one of the airports the morning of our cruise.

[cruisefan14]

Question for Coffeefirst

 

So you booked one way rental from LAX to San Pedro location for Enterprise?

 

Did you book the entire rental via phone with San Pedro office or how did you book?

 

Do the rates reflect the higher LAX based rates or the lower San Pedro rates?

 

I am presuming $40 one way charge on top of one of these rate bases.

 

Thanks for your response, as I want to do same thing.

[coffeefirst]

Question for Coffeefirst

 

So you booked one way rental from LAX to San Pedro location for Enterprise?

 

Did you book the entire rental via phone with San Pedro office or how did you book?

 

Do the rates reflect the higher LAX based rates or the lower San Pedro rates?

 

I am presuming $40 one way charge on top of one of these rate bases.

 

Thanks for your response, as I want to do same thing.

 

Hi,

I called the San Pedro office. They asked me to call the LAX office, they gave me the direct line (310) 649-5400. They told me that the oneway rental must be booked over the phone and initiated from the pickup location. I explained what I needed and LAX generated a reservation. The $40 fee is in addition to the base rate (minus discounts), and is a one time charge (not everyday.)

 

The rate we received, was higher than the San Pedro rate. There is a $11 airport rental fee included. I did tell them that I would have the car at San Pedro at 9am. I think that would give them time to rent it to a returning crusier.

[GigCrusier]

Check out Long Beach. Much Nicer than San Pedro and more to do. $20.00 cab ride form Hilton In Long Beach to Ship in San Pedro. You can rent from Hertz at LAX and return the car in Long Beach just 3-walking blocks from the Hilton. Downtown Long Beach has experienced an amazing revitalization. The Queen Mary is a fun FREE way to spend a couple of hours or so to.