Hotel needed for pre cruise in LA (San Pedro)

[rene194215]

I am not familiar with CA AT ALL! I am from the east coast and this would be the first time in CA. We are doing the 4 days cruise on Mon the 26th (Sept) and are flying in on Sat the 24th. We are looking for a hotel that is convinient to LAX, the port and also things to do... I would not mind seeing the Hollywood sign! But I am not sure if it is better to stay further away from the port or stay right near the port. I know traffic in CA can be bad but like I said I am not sure about whats best... Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

 

Also, we are flying out for a few night in Vegas right they day we get back. Is Long Beach airport better to fly out of then LAX?

 

Thanks!! I may have more questions as time goes on! I appreciate any words of advise!!!

 

Renee

[Sapper7]

I am not familiar with CA AT ALL! I am from the east coast and this would be the first time in CA. We are doing the 4 days cruise on Mon the 26th (Sept) and are flying in on Sat the 24th. We are looking for a hotel that is convinient to LAX, the port and also things to do... I would not mind seeing the Hollywood sign! But I am not sure if it is better to stay further away from the port or stay right near the port. I know traffic in CA can be bad but like I said I am not sure about whats best... Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

 

Also, we are flying out for a few night in Vegas right they day we get back. Is Long Beach airport better to fly out of then LAX?

 

Thanks!! I may have more questions as time goes on! I appreciate any words of advise!!!

 

Renee

Crowne Plaza San Pedro. You can walk to the terminal from here and there are some nice dining options in the area.

[PatriciaF]

Los Angeles is a big area--downtown, the Staples Center, the Music Center, MoMA, is not near Hollywood, Beverly Hills, UCLA, and other westside tourist destinations. In fact, due to traffic, it could take you a half hour to drive between the two. There is a subway, the redline, that will take you from downtown to Hollywood and Universal Studios. Disneyland is in Orange County (Anaheim) and probably 30 miles from San Pedro.

 

Are you going to have a rental car? Were you going to rely on cabs, public transportation? What specifically did you want to see? Price range for a hotel? With that info, some of the frequent posters here could provide more specific help.

 

If you were going to just come in the night before, I would recommend using Priceline to get a 3 plus star hotel, San Pedro only. You would usually pay around $70 a night. However, without a rental car, it would be difficult to get to most tourist destinations.

 

Search this board for Bruin Steve--he has some very good advice regarding where to stay and different price levels for those staying more than one night before their cruise.

 

The Long Beach Airport is about the same distance from San Pedro as LAX. It is smaller, very fast to get through security, and has Jet Blue whose prices are generally the same as Southwest to Las Vegas. The only advantage I see for LAX is more flight availability and, I think, SW allows two bags without charge and Jet Blue only one per passenger. But--you would have to verify this on their own websites.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I posted on the other thread, but I think the OP is going on Carnival as the Paradise does the 3 and 4 day cruise (usually other cruiselines do a shorter one from LA if repo-ing up or down from the northwest). Carnival usually goes from Long Beach, unless there's work being done on the berth there.

 

BTW on the other thread I recommended against staying in the LAX area, but I'm going to add downtown LA as another area to stay away from.

[sssung]

LGB is definitely a easier airport to fly in and out of than LAX! Luggage comes out a lot faster, all transportation are just steps away from the luggage claim, no congestion of cars, people and noise, lines are much much shorter than LAX for checking in. LAX sometimes have too many lines you have to be in, such as the line to check in, the line to take your luggage to x-ray, then the TSA line (can take up to 2 hours). Don't have to do all these different lines at LGB. If you can find suitable flight itinerary to LGB, LGB is the way to go for WAY less stress ;)

[Let'sGo!]

Rene, your post title says San Pedro, so I presume the port you are talking about is the one in San Pedro... so I too would suggest the Crowne Plaza there.

 

We have stayed there twice for the only two cruises we have taken out of SP and we have had no complaints. There are lots and lots of places to walk to for lunch/dinner.

 

I also recommend flying in/out of any airport other than LAX. On our last cruise we flew into John Wayne (Orange County). It's a smaller airport and much less traffic. If you want to fly to Las Vegas, I know Southwest Airlines flies in/out of there, and they don't currently charge for baggage.

 

As far as seeing the Hollywood sign and that kind of stuff... your best bet is to the rent a car and go sightseeing on your own, or look into a scheduled tour. We did it only because we flew in 2 days early, and felt brave with our GPS! Plus, I don't think the traffic was quite as bad on a Saturday.

 

Have a good cruise!

Ann

[Cruisin' Chick]

Rene, your post title says San Pedro, so I presume the port you are talking about is the one in San Pedro... so I too would suggest the Crowne Plaza there.

 

We have stayed there twice for the only two cruises we have taken out of SP and we have had no complaints. There are lots and lots of places to walk to for lunch/dinner.

 

I also recommend flying in/out of any airport other than LAX. On our last cruise we flew into John Wayne (Orange County). It's a smaller airport and much less traffic. If you want to fly to Las Vegas, I know Southwest Airlines flies in/out of there, and they don't currently charge for baggage.

 

As far as seeing the Hollywood sign and that kind of stuff... your best bet is to the rent a car and go sightseeing on your own, or look into a scheduled tour. We did it only because we flew in 2 days early, and felt brave with our GPS! Plus, I don't think the traffic was quite as bad on a Saturday.

 

Have a good cruise!

Ann

 

Okay, one more time. If the OP is going on the Paradise (which does the 3 and 4 day cruises), she will be leaving from the Port of Long Beach and not the Port of Los Angeles, unless the following calendar is wrong (again, note what it says on the calendar):

 

http://www.sanpedrocalendar.com/scripts/calcium310.pl?Op=ShowIt&CalendarName=longbeachcruiseship&Op=Sh

 

The Spirit will be leaving from San Pedro, but that ship isn't listed on the OP's upcoming cruises.

[Let'sGo!]

Patty - you clearly are the winner at reading between the lines.

I simply read her post: Hotel needed for pre cruise in LA (San Pedro).

 

Consider me scolded for reading what I thought was so clear.

Now I remember why I've stayed away from CC so long ;).

 

Ann

[Cruisin' Chick]

I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that the OP was going on Carnival, so all the posting about San Pedro hotels is not necessary and could be confusing. Reminds me of my hubby when he makes a leap of logic and I try to get him into the right direction, info wise, but to no avail.:rolleyes::eek: So I wasn't being sarcastic, just trying to get the OP pointed in literally the right direction so they and others won't be wasting their time checking out hotels that they might not want to book (well, they could book the DT or CP, but probably not want they want in this case).

[rene194215]

Hi all, thanks for all the info and I am sorry if I confused anyone! From what I saw on Carnivals sight, it says this cruise is to leave Los Angeles (Long Beach), CA and when I would type in port of Los Angels online it would bring me to the port in San Pedro. I am guessing from the posts that I maybe looking into the incorrect port?:confused: I really am confused now. Since the cruise line has Long Beach, the cruise is going from there? I did not know there were 2 ports??

 

Sorry for the confusion all! If anyone can un-confuse me I would appreciate it!

[PatriciaF]

Carnival probably has Los Angeles (Long Beach), so people know it is sailing from the Los Angeles area--but sailing from the Port of Long Beach rather than the Port of Los Angeles (in the area of the city called San Pedro).

 

These ports are side by side and are frequently combined in the media when talking about volume of commerce, etc., as the Long Beach/Los Angeles Port.

 

The posters just want to make sure you get to where you need to go. You don't want to be in San Pedro and then find you are a $20 cab ride to your ship or vice versa.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi all, thanks for all the info and I am sorry if I confused anyone! From what I saw on Carnivals sight, it says this cruise is to leave Los Angeles (Long Beach), CA and when I would type in port of Los Angels online it would bring me to the port in San Pedro. I am guessing from the posts that I maybe looking into the incorrect port?:confused: I really am confused now. Since the cruise line has Long Beach, the cruise is going from there? I did not know there were 2 ports??

 

Sorry for the confusion all! If anyone can un-confuse me I would appreciate it!

 

Carnival probably has Los Angeles (Long Beach), so people know it is sailing from the Los Angeles area--but sailing from the Port of Long Beach rather than the Port of Los Angeles (in the area of the city called San Pedro).

 

These ports are side by side and are frequently combined in the media when talking about volume of commerce, etc., as the Long Beach/Los Angeles Port.

 

The posters just want to make sure you get to where you need to go. You don't want to be in San Pedro and then find you are a $20 cab ride to your ship or vice versa.

 

You shouldn't feel bad at all. Carnival was being confusing in mentioning Los Angeles. As Patricia says, they may have their reason for mentioning LA just to bring home the point they are talking about Southern California, but IMO it complicates things for passengers who may book hotels based on location. It isn't bad to be in San Pedro the night before a cruise out of Long Beach...it's just not necessary, considering that there are some nice hotels in LB that will shuttle you to the Port of LB.

 

My second post wasn't directed toward the OP as I can see where the confusion was coming from. And I became concerned that many kept adding to the confusion, rather than looking at what she had written and realizing she was given the impression that she was leaving out of SP.