Amtrack San Diego to San Pedro

[CruisinMermaid]

Has anyone taken the Amtrack from San Diego to San Pedro? I see on Google maps that the train station is only 0.2 miles away from the Port. I'm wondering if people have been successful using this form of transportation and did they get to the Port on time?

[CruiseRev]

San Diego to San Pedro requires a change in Los Angeles from the train to a dedicated Amtrak Bus. The busses and clean and reliable and usually not full. I don't know the connection times as the service is more related to the San Joaquin trains than the Surfliner.

[CruisinMermaid]

San Diego to San Pedro requires a change in Los Angeles from the train to a dedicated Amtrak Bus. The busses and clean and reliable and usually not full. I don't know the connection times as the service is more related to the San Joaquin trains than the Surfliner.

 

 

So if the schedule says it arrives in San Pedro at 1:30, that might mean the bus arrives at San Pedro at that time? I think we might be cutting it close. I want to give us some time to account of delays or any other unforseeable issues.

 

We might consider driving up there instead and leaving our car in the paid lot. Has anyone done this before? Is it safe to leave your car?

[Donray]

So if the schedule says it arrives in San Pedro at 1:30, that might mean the bus arrives at San Pedro at that time? I think we might be cutting it close. I want to give us some time to account of delays or any other unforseeable issues.

 

We might consider driving up there instead and leaving our car in the paid lot. Has anyone done this before? Is it safe to leave your car?

 

Lot is perfectly safe. Used it twice so far and will leave car this Sunday again.

[CruisinMermaid]

Lot is perfectly safe. Used it twice so far and will leave car this Sunday again.

 

 

I'm so glad to hear that! Is this parking lot walking distance to the ship? Trying to wrangle two little ones and some luggage might be hard to do if it's a long walk.

[zephyr17]

So if the schedule says it arrives in San Pedro at 1:30, that might mean the bus arrives at San Pedro at that time? I think we might be cutting it close. I want to give us some time to account of delays or any other unforseeable issues.

 

We might consider driving up there instead and leaving our car in the paid lot. Has anyone done this before? Is it safe to leave your car?

Not sure what you are looking at, but the most current published schedule has the first Amtrak Thruway bus going from Los Angeles to San Pedro (5702) arriving at the San Pedro Catalina Terminal at 4:15 pm, which is obviously way too late. The other arrivals are 5:55 pm, 8:25pm and and 11:35 pm.

 

1:30 pm does not line up with any bus arrival at San Pedro, or train arrival from San Diego into Los Angeles (although 571 does arrive at 1:15 M-F, and 573 arrives at 1:25 Sat-Sun).

 

As another poster mentioned, the schedules are more aligned with the San Joaquin service than the Pacific Surfliner service, so the buses go out of San Pedro in the morning to connect with the northbound San Joaquins, and go into San Pedro in the afternoon connecting from the southbound San Joaquins, which originate in Oakland.

 

There may be more service in the system for the future available on the website trip planner than in the current published schedule. But with the currently published arrival times in the timetable, the Amtrak Thruway bus service to San Pedro is not useful for cruising the same day.

 

BTW-the SPD "station" is a bus stop. No baggage, no tickets, no redcaps, no nothing.

 

Here is a link to the schedule:

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249213944925&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_W31.pdf

[Cruisin' Chick]

So if the schedule says it arrives in San Pedro at 1:30, that might mean the bus arrives at San Pedro at that time? I think we might be cutting it close. I want to give us some time to account of delays or any other unforseeable issues.

 

We might consider driving up there instead and leaving our car in the paid lot. Has anyone done this before? Is it safe to leave your car?

 

 

We have sailed out of the Port of LA (San Pedro) six times and have left our car in that lot for five times without any problems (the last time we hired a car service as we have 15-days worth of luggage to jam into our trunk -- no way).

 

We come from the north to the port, but I'm guessing that someone driving from San Diego would take the 5, to the 405, to the 710 (hopefully someone will post any changes to this plan if not the best), somehow get to the 110 going south -- you'll exit Harbor Blvd., but stay in the center lane on the offramp and go straight across Harbor Blvd. into the entrance of the World Cruise Center.

 

Then you'll drive by a guard booth (undoubtedly, there will be many other cars that you can follow). You'll see a marquee listing the cruiseships in port that day with their berth number. Follow the arrow up to the berths. When you get to yours, you can let out your passengers and luggage. Then drive down to the parking lot. You may be able to walk back up (some spaces are pretty close) or jump on the free shuttle that'll take you up there. If it's just you and the little ones, then you'll probably want to park and use the shuttle.

 

If it was me, I'll just drive there (depending on traffic, it should only take two or three hours) rather than dealing with the train and then a bus. You'll won't get there in time and even if you come in a day early and stay in a hotel, I would save the train trip (maybe on the Surfliner, etc.) until your kids are older and more patient.

[CannonFodder]

We come from the north to the port' date=' but I'm guessing that someone driving from San Diego would take the 5, to the 405, to the 710 (hopefully someone will post any changes to this plan if not the best), somehow get to the 110 going south -- you'll exit Harbor Blvd., but stay in the center lane on the offramp and go straight across Harbor Blvd. into the entrance of the World Cruise Center.[/quote']

 

Almost - Take the 5 North, to the 405 North to the 110 South. Don't take the 710!! That'll get you to Port of Long Beach and the rest of Carnival Cruise Lines. (I guess the Carnival Spirit will be berthing out of San Pedro while the rest of the fleet berths out of Long Beach - Boy, I bet that's gonna cause some confusion with people running to get to their ship in Long Beach and then finding out that it's leaving out of San Pedro!)

[EdSails]

We come from the north to the port' date=' but I'm guessing that someone driving from San Diego would take the 5, to the 405, to the 710 (hopefully someone will post any changes to this plan if not the best), somehow get to the 110 going south -- you'll exit Harbor Blvd., but stay in the center lane on the offramp and go straight across Harbor Blvd. into the entrance of the World Cruise Center.

[/quote']

 

Actually, I agree with Patty----that's my favorite way. When you reach the end of the 710 the right lanes go to Terminal Island. A nice scenic drive over two bridges, including the scenic Vincent Thomas Bridge, and the offramp for Harbor Blvd. goes right into cruise center. You'll be able to see your ship as you cross the bridge. Nice drive!

[CruisinMermaid]

I couldn't check the train schedule for the date we're travelling because it's too far out, but just browsing through the schedule for several different dates and it shows an arrival for Los Angeles (Union Station) for 1:15. If we have to jump on a bus afterwards then we're defnitely not going to make it. Seriously looking at just parking our car in the paid lot now.

[zephyr17]

I couldn't check the train schedule for the date we're travelling because it's too far out, but just browsing through the schedule for several different dates and it shows an arrival for Los Angeles (Union Station) for 1:15. If we have to jump on a bus afterwards then we're defnitely not going to make it. Seriously looking at just parking our car in the paid lot now.

As noted in my prior post, the Thruway bus connection for that train does not get to San Pedro until 4:15 pm, which is way too late.

 

However, there are 4 earlier trains each day, arriving at LA Union Station at 8:50am, 9:50am, 10:50am and 12:15 pm. For those, though, you would have to find your own way from LA Union Station to San Pedro, as the first Thruway bus is the one leaving LA Union Station at 2:50 pm and arrving San Pedro (Catalina Terminal) at 4:15 pm.

 

BTW-If you want to know the times into San Pedro, you should not put Los Angeles in as the destination as shown in your attachment, but San Pedro. You can also use station code "SPD".

 

Again, for your convienence, here is the link to the current timetable for the Pacific Surfliners. Both the train schedule and that for the connecting Amtrak Thruway bus service are listed there.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249213944925&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-disposition&blobheadervalue1=attachment;filename=Amtrak_W31.pdf

[Cruisin' Chick]

Almost - Take the 5 North, to the 405 North to the 110 South. Don't take the 710!! That'll get you to Port of Long Beach and the rest of Carnival Cruise Lines. (I guess the Carnival Spirit will be berthing out of San Pedro while the rest of the fleet berths out of Long Beach - Boy, I bet that's gonna cause some confusion with people running to get to their ship in Long Beach and then finding out that it's leaving out of San Pedro!)

 

Actually, I agree with Patty----that's my favorite way. When you reach the end of the 710 the right lanes go to Terminal Island. A nice scenic drive over two bridges, including the scenic Vincent Thomas Bridge, and the offramp for Harbor Blvd. goes right into cruise center. You'll be able to see your ship as you cross the bridge. Nice drive!

 

 

Thanks. We have never driven to LB or SP from the south, just the north. But I do remember going the wrong way leaving an event at the QM years ago, and landed in Bell or someplace like that.:o But getting to the port of LA isn't hard at all other than the traffic. We're considering using a car service again for our next cruise, but padding in extra time for the construction on the 405, just so we don't have drive.

[CruisinMermaid]

 

 

 

BTW-If you want to know the times into San Pedro, you should not put Los Angeles in as the destination as shown in your attachment, but San Pedro. You can also use station code "SPD".

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I did type in the code for San Pedro when I searched the Amtrak schedule. It always draws up Los Angeles. Nonetheless, we've decided to drive up and park at the paid lot to avoid the hassles of a train and bus since a lot of people have had positive experiences leaving their cars there.

 

Thank you for your help.

[lovevacadays]

I couldn't check the train schedule for the date we're travelling because it's too far out, but just browsing through the schedule for several different dates and it shows an arrival for Los Angeles (Union Station) for 1:15. If we have to jump on a bus afterwards then we're defnitely not going to make it. Seriously looking at just parking our car in the paid lot now.

 

As others have posted, your best bet is driving up and leaving your car. I've done the Mexican Riviera cruise at least 8 times and have parked my car a few times. I even parked my brand new car there. I understand your concern but I have never had any problems. All the ships are close to the parking lost area so you should be fine with little ones. Just take your time walking and looking out for some of the crazy taxi drivers.

 

I honestly believe you will be less stressed driving up and parking than doing the Amtrak and bus thing and worrying about arrival time, etc. You don't want to start your cruise stressed out;);)

 

Whichever you decide, enjoy your cruise

 

 

OOps - sorry - I didn't see you made the decision to drive. I guess my post is just another confirmation! Have fun