Can we make this flight?

[2Oregonians]

We will be on Sapphire Princess Mexican Riviera cruise. Our return flight home departs at 12:20 pm out of LAX. Can we make it? Our TA made the reservation, and it sounded good to me at the time. Then I discovered you can enter your flight info on your personalizer even if you didn't purchase it through Princess, and when I did, it said the flight was too early and we might not make it. I think we can request to get off in the first group. How early would this be, and do you think we can get to LAX in time for a 12:20 flight???

[JPRLHR]

We will be on Sapphire Princess Mexican Riviera cruise. Our return flight home departs at 12:20 pm out of LAX. Can we make it? Our TA made the reservation, and it sounded good to me at the time. Then I discovered you can enter your flight info on your personalizer even if you didn't purchase it through Princess, and when I did, it said the flight was too early and we might not make it. I think we can request to get off in the first group. How early would this be, and do you think we can get to LAX in time for a 12:20 flight???

 

Providing you dock at San Pedro on time then you'll have no problem. We were off the Sapphire by 08.15 and did not do self disembarkation. However there is of course always a degree of risk as nobody knows for sure that you'll dock on time.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

We would have had no problem making that flight out of LAX when we returned on the Golden on a Sunday but it would depend on traffic, TSA, if the ship arrived in port on time, if the ship got clearance from the port authorities on time, and what time you actually disembark.

 

We do self disembarkation and are the first group off the ship, had a delay waiting for our execucar to pick us up but traffic wasn't bad at all, TSA was having a bad day, and we still would have made your flight. We had a 3 hour wait for our 1:20 flight at the airport after clearing TSA.

 

You will probably be fine if you do self disembarkation or get into one of the first groups to disembark. If you arrive in port on a weekday that may create problems getting to the airport because of traffic. On a weekend you should be okay but LA traffic is unpredictable on any day of the week.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Personally, I wouldn't do it. I'd schedule a later flight, and then standby for an earlier one if you happen to arrive at the airport early.

 

There are just too many things that can go wrong.

Ships do arrive late into port every once in awhile

[boating girl]

It can be really stressful when you aren't sure you are going to make a flight home. It just kind of takes that wonderful vacation glow away quickly. I have been on a ship which did not get into port until 4 hours late. It was not a lot of fun trying to disembark with everyone else who

were also trying to make their flights or had already missed their flights.

I book at 2 or after now to give myself more time.

[Kinkacruiser]

Why not pick a later flight and do a shore excusion to fill in the time? The shuttle should drop you off at the airport at the end.

I don't like to stress out either, so never choose before noon flights on disembarking day.

[dfields1814]

You need to be at LAX no later than 10:20 - 2 hours before your flight. If you can disembark by say 7:20 that would give you 3 hours to clear customs and get to LAX. You should be enough time. However, a lot depends on the day you arrive in LA. If you arrive on a Sat. or Sun. there will be less traffic. You should have no problem.. if your ship arrives on time.... if you have no problem self disembarking .... if there is no problem at customs..... if you have no problem getting transpaortation to LAX... if (and it is a big if) there is no traffic problems (accidents/police investigations/bad weather etc., etc. etc.), ....if there is no traffic getting into LAX ... if there are manageable lines for check in and security at LAX. Me.... I would opt for a later flight and so I don't have to worry about it.

 

Paul

[talio1]

Personally' date=' I wouldn't do it. I'd schedule a later flight, and then standby for an earlier one if you happen to arrive at the airport early.

 

There are just too many things that can go wrong.

Ships do arrive late into port every once in awhile[/quote']

 

Ditto

:):)

[Near PDX]

You must be booked on the Alaska Air 12:20 flight from LAX to PDX. We will be on the Sapphire 12/04 MR cruise. I haven't made the air arrangements yet, but did look into using the new Princess air system. If you go there fro

the cruise personalizer as if you're booking their air it says they will not book a flight that leaves before 12:30. If they are comfortable booking 12:30 flights I don't see what 10 minutes makes if you can get off earlier. The next flight to Portland after the 12:20 leaves at 5:00. That's a lot of time to kill for the extra 10 minutes Princess factors in for the calculation of their safe departure time. I too will probably end up booking the 12:20 flight.

[cherylandtk]

eta-LOL, started this post, got interrupted by a neighbor and just came back and finished typing and then saw the above post which answers the first question...

 

Do you know what Princess' recommended flight time is? I could not find it online, but Carnival (which uses the port of Long Beach, about 6 miles and 10 minutes away) recommends 12:30 or later. If Princess' time is also 12:30, then your flight is doable, but you should take whatever steps you can to speed things up...early disembark, taxi or pre-booked shuttle instead of cruise transfers, etc.

 

I am guessing your flights are already booked, and the suggestions to take a later flight are not going to work...but if you can easily change the flights, I am also in the camp that prefers not to stress out about tight connections on that last day and would agree with those suggestions.

[cruiserbryce]

you should be just fine...there are plenty of transportation options that will be readily available and the trip to the airport doesnt take long

[gymjunkie]

You can go to the Purser's desk and ask for an early departure....

As soon as the ship clears customs, you get off first--usually around 7:00-8:00am. Princess gets you off the ship quickly.....short trip to LAX..

[Pam in CA]

We will be on Sapphire Princess Mexican Riviera cruise. Our return flight home departs at 12:20 pm out of LAX. Can we make it? Our TA made the reservation, and it sounded good to me at the time. Then I discovered you can enter your flight info on your personalizer even if you didn't purchase it through Princess, and when I did, it said the flight was too early and we might not make it. I think we can request to get off in the first group. How early would this be, and do you think we can get to LAX in time for a 12:20 flight???

You should be fine. The last passengers are off the ship by about 9:30am with most disembarking between 8 - 9am. That'll give you plenty of time to get to LAX, even if there is awful traffic. When I lived in the Boston area, I always made a 12:30pm flight with hours to spare. I'd make a reservation with SuperShuttle for 8:30am and I'd always be at the airport before 9:30am.

[highheel girl]

We will be on Sapphire Princess Mexican Riviera cruise. Our return flight home departs at 12:20 pm out of LAX. Can we make it? Our TA made the reservation, and it sounded good to me at the time. Then I discovered you can enter your flight info on your personalizer even if you didn't purchase it through Princess, and when I did, it said the flight was too early and we might not make it. I think we can request to get off in the first group. How early would this be, and do you think we can get to LAX in time for a 12:20 flight???

 

 

You will have no issue making that flight. IMO

We regularly take a 10:30 flight with no problems. ;)

[KruzPrincess]

I think you'll likely make it. I had a flight booked for noon and then paid to change to a later flight due to what everyone was saying about it being too early. I have anxiety issues and didn't want to worry. Well, we were late coming in due to fog and disembarked over an hour late. I had a late call since I had my later flight. Well, even with all that, I was to the airport in plenty of time for my original flight time. It was fine for me that I waited since I didn't have worries or anxiety, but I could have made it. Instead I spent several hours sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. Of course, you can never guess about traffic problems or such, but barring anything unusual you should be able to make it. My friend that cruised with me had an 11AM flight and made that.

[pegpowell]

Of course, there is the unexpected. Today in SF, the Sea Princess didn't tie up until 8:30-a good two hours after expected. The FIRST passengers weren't off until 9:30.

[2Oregonians]

You must be booked on the Alaska Air 12:20 flight from LAX to PDX. We will be on the Sapphire 12/04 MR cruise. I haven't made the air arrangements yet, but did look into using the new Princess air system. If you go there fro

the cruise personalizer as if you're booking their air it says they will not book a flight that leaves before 12:30. If they are comfortable booking 12:30 flights I don't see what 10 minutes makes if you can get off earlier. The next flight to Portland after the 12:20 leaves at 5:00. That's a lot of time to kill for the extra 10 minutes Princess factors in for the calculation of their safe departure time. I too will probably end up booking the 12:20 flight.

 

Very good points. Thank you. Yes, the flights going home were extremely slim. Are you from Portland? We're in rural Oregon City.

[2Oregonians]

Thanks so much for all your replies. I think we'll be ok. I will ask for self-disembarkation. As someone said, the ships are emptied by 9 or 9:30, so that gives us an hour to get there and make it to check-in. Shouldn't be a problem.

 

I have one further question. We have Princess transfers. Someone mentioned making our own plans instead of Princess -- why? Is that because Princess waits until the van is full before they leave?? Or??

[Near PDX]

Very good points. Thank you. Yes, the flights going home were extremely slim. Are you from Portland? We're in rural Oregon City.

 

 

My daughter lives in Oregon City. I live in McMinnville, which I consider Near PDX.

[Pam in CA]

I have one further question. We have Princess transfers. Someone mentioned making our own plans instead of Princess -- why? Is that because Princess waits until the van is full before they leave?? Or??

The SuperShuttle and Prime Time Shuttle vans leave as soon as they are full. Since the vans are a lot smaller, they are more frequent. The Princess busses leave when they are full so they take longer to fill. The shuttles are also less expensive. You can make a pre-reservation.

[cattolica]

We disembarked the Sapphire on May 1st this year. Had wanted to walk off with our luggage and found out they limit the number of passengers and it was all ready full. So, we were assigned a time of around 9am. Well, everything got held up....including the walk-offs. Usually the reason seems to be passengers who have not finalized their accounts, which is pretty common. This time we were sitting in our assigned lounge waiting, DH looked out the window to see LAPD officers "escorting" a male passenger off the cruise ship in handcuffs!!! It was after 8am before they started allowing the self disembarkation passengers off the ship and boy was that a slow process to watch out the window, it seems like the line never moved. Our group was finally called around 10:15ish. Luckily we were driving home, so it wasn't an issue, but there were lots of people who were going to miss those 10:30-11am flights.

Just goes to show that there is always something that can screw up disembarkation that you never expect.

[Cruisin' Chick]

There's always the possibility of a late disembarkation process or a major traffic accident on the 405. I wouldn't book any flight before noon just in case. Just because some people have posted that they made a 10:30 or 11:30 flight doesn't mean Murphy's Law won't bite you in the rear.

[2Oregonians]

The SuperShuttle and Prime Time Shuttle vans leave as soon as they are full. Since the vans are a lot smaller, they are more frequent. The Princess busses leave when they are full so they take longer to fill. The shuttles are also less expensive. You can make a pre-reservation.

 

Thank you, Pam. How will I know what time to make a reservation for Super Shuttle?

[Doug R.]

I find the general rule to be if you have to ask its too early, however just keep in mind stuff happens so be prepared with alternate plans just in case. Research and know the times of later flights to your destination. Our recent cruise on the Caribbean Princess ended with the ship hitting the gangways and breaking them. Our 8:15 am disembarkation ended up being 11:45 am. People in our lounge and bus to the airport were frantically trying to make new flight arrangements. Those who knew what the alternatives were had an easier time. Lucky for us we were only going to pick up our car, but if we had a flight before 2 pm or 3 pm we would have been out of luck.

 

Take a page out the Boy Scouts book---BE PREPARED!