what to do in Long Beach

[ce_cruise]

Not cruising till Aug but was wondering what there is to do in Long beach? We will probally be checking into our hotel on Saturday afternoon.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated. By the way we are a family of 4.

[eastoftheboston]

There is a whole shopping and entertainment district right on the water where you can see the cruise port from. Restaurants, store, movie theaters, etc. There's also the Aquarium of the Pacific, which the kids will love. Trust me, there's plenty to do in that area alone! You can also rent bikes etc.

 

The name of that area with all the restaurants and stuff escapes me, but it's fun.

 

Have a great cruise!

[yogi2929]

The West Coast Departure Board has lots of info about Long Beach.

 

Aquarium of the Pacific is an wonderful suggestion.

A variety of touch tanks- tidal, shark, manta ray.

I love watching the jellyfish.

 

http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/

 

http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/exhibits/

 

It can be seen in as little as 2 hours, but I like to stay all day.

 

They will also hold your luggage in coatcheck. You can arrange to have a taxi or shuttle service pick you up there.

[Sargent_Schultz]

We did a full day LA tour with Sunseeker, but they seem to have shorter ones available.

 

http://www.sunseekertours.us/

 

Pictures from the tour:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/pride_08/lgb/lb2.htm

[onthehighseas606]

Tour the Queen Mary, I hear they have good food at the restaurant on the QM. There's tons of restaurants and a shopping village. You can take a taxi over to San Pedro, and there's another shopping village down there. I haven't been over on that side for a while. With the economy the way it is, I don't know if any new shops have opened over there.

[UpstateCruizer]

We loved our 2 day pre-cruise stay in Long Beach last year. As other's have pointed out you will find alot of information on the West Coast departure board.

 

We stayed at the Queen Mary and despite some of the negative reviews we absolutely loved it and would stay there again in a heartbeat. I would NOT pay for the tour they offer as you can tour the ship on your own at your own pace. Many people that were on the tour(during our stay) found it long and boring. I would definatly take the time to tour the ship as it gives you a better appreciation for how far cruise ships have come and a better understanding of what the original cruising world was like.

 

We loved taking the free transportation around town to the various shopping areas. It's always nice when you can hop on a trolly or a bus and relax while someone who knows the area is driving.

[okgirl]

Tour the Queen Mary, I hear they have good food at the restaurant on the QM. There's tons of restaurants and a shopping village. You can take a taxi over to San Pedro, and there's another shopping village down there. I haven't been over on that side for a while. With the economy the way it is, I don't know if any new shops have opened over there.

 

 

We've only sailed out of Long Beach once, but we stayed on the Queen Mary and on Saturday night went to their dinner theater. I think the show was called Tully's or something like that..... It was a really fun variety show and the waiters and waitresses participated between courses........Then there is a shopping area right there too.....

[ce_cruise]

Thanks for the suggestions. We just booked the Hilton, free parking basically pays for the room.

I like the idea of the aquarium and have also heard about Pike place, not really sure what is there.

[Shooty]

We did a full day LA tour with Sunseeker, but they seem to have shorter ones available.

 

http://www.sunseekertours.us/

 

Pictures from the tour:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/pride_08/lgb/lb2.htm

 

Those were great pics! Thanks for sharing. We are going on the Splendor in June and staying in LA for a couple days post cruise and plan on seeing all the things you did. I will check out sunseekers!

 

I have a question about one of your pics....what was that sandy looking dog thing? Please don't tell me it was a real dog.

[yogi2929]

The Pike is basically a mall.

 

http://www.thepikeatlongbeach.com/

http://mallimages.mallfinder.com/images2/DDR/mall-thepike/mimages/mallMap.pdf

[Cruisin' Chick]

We absolutely loved the Aquarium of the Pacific. And you can get your hands stamped to go in and out if you want. We took the bus (free) to the Shoreline Village for lunch. Then we went back for more exhibits and the movies there. Then walked back to the Shoreline for dinner (we felt really safe walking at twilight even with our 8-yr-old).

[MikeM]

We did a full day LA tour with Sunseeker, but they seem to have shorter ones available.

 

http://www.sunseekertours.us/

 

Pictures from the tour:

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/pride_08/lgb/lb2.htm

 

Just booked an all day tour with Ken at Sun Seekers. Sounds great!

Thanks for the heads up Sarg.

[PatriciaF]

Thanks for the suggestions. We just booked the Hilton, free parking basically pays for the room.

I like the idea of the aquarium and have also heard about Pike place, not really sure what is there.

 

Here's a link to the Pike's web site. http://www.thepikeatlongbeach.com/

 

It is named after the old amusement park in downtown Long Beach--with its world famous roller coaster and an original Looff carousel (Looff was headquartered in Long Beach--I don't think the building or sign is up anymore).

[ce_cruise]

Well it looks like our day is decided thanks to your map! Bothe the aquarium & The Pike are in the same area so we will do both. I also appreciate the history lesson on the Looff carousel.

[PatriciaF]

Well it looks like our day is decided thanks to your map! Bothe the aquarium & The Pike are in the same area so we will do both. I also appreciate the history lesson on the Looff carousel.

 

Unfortunately Long Beach no longer has a Looff carousel--one had been purchased for Seaport Village when it opened, but due to business conditions, it was sold to a venue in San Francisco.

 

Spends lots of money in my home town--we need the tax revenue! ;)