1 day/nt postcruise in L.A. ?

[rjscott]

Following our NCL southbound coastal cruise, Sat, Oct 1, my husband and I will have 1 day/nt in L.A. prior to our flight home the next day at 1PM from LAX. This is our tentative plan; take a shuttle to a hotel in the LAX area (considering Four Points Sheraton, Sheraton Gateway, Renaissance or Radisson) and drop bags. Take a Starline hop-on/hop-off tour of sights we want to see(red route primarily). If done with tour in the afternoon, return to hotel, and take Ocean Express shuttle later to an area for dinner. Take hotel shuttle to LAX in A.M.

Thoughts/opinions on our plan?

[pvmkmyer]

The Ho-Ho bus does not go anywhere near LAX so you'd have to arrange to get to the bus somehow. There really isn't anything to see or do near the airport; I would not stay there. If you don't want to be too far from the airport then I would plan to stay in Santa Monica. It's only about 8-9 miles from the airport. A taxi to the airport will cost you about $35, plus tip, or you can arrange for a shared van shuttle service, such as Super Shuttle, but I think it will work out about the same for 2 people as a taxi.

 

From Santa Monica you can catch the Ho-Ho bus and take them wherever you want to go. In the evening Santa Monica is loaded with restaurants, you can walk along the water, watch the incredible sunsets, and do some shopping. There's loads to do in the area.

[Jen1000]

Re think your plan. The HOHO bus does not go to LAX so you will need another shuttle or cab to get to a stop from your hotel. There are tours from LAX area hotels but you need to check times and make sure you will already be at the hotel when you will arrive.

 

Consider a rental car or staying at a hotel close to a HOHO stop if that is where your interests are.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

Following our NCL southbound coastal cruise, Sat, Oct 1, my husband and I will have 1 day/nt in L.A. prior to our flight home the next day at 1PM from LAX. This is our tentative plan; take a shuttle to a hotel in the LAX area (considering Four Points Sheraton, Sheraton Gateway, Renaissance or Radisson) and drop bags. Take a Starline hop-on/hop-off tour of sights we want to see(red route primarily). If done with tour in the afternoon, return to hotel, and take Ocean Express shuttle later to an area for dinner. Take hotel shuttle to LAX in A.M.

Thoughts/opinions on our plan?

[SadieN]

The area around LAX is mainly industrial/hotels/parking lots, etc. Not anywhere you would want to stay for more than overnight to catch an early flight.

 

Forgot to mention the entertainment in the area - usually places only men go. ;)

[tytan]

We had a late flight out of LAX after our Carnival cruise a few years ago we used the Carnival shuttle from Long Beach to LAX, dropped our bags at the airport and took the public transit bus from LAX to Santa Monica for the afternoon.

 

You can walk from the terminal at LAX to the public bus area and the ride to Santa Monica took about 20 to 30 min if I remember correctly.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would echo the posts about not staying by the airport. I would recommend staying by there if you had an early flight the next day, but 1pm is not early.

[rjscott]

Thank you all so much for all the advice. This is why I decided to post and ask. I will be checking out hotels in Santa Monica instead. My husband is not keen on driving in L.A.(although we have done so in the past) That is why we thought we'd do a tour this time with our short time in town.

Thanks again!

[ourturn]

At the top of this page ( on my computer anyway ) There is an ad for Sunseeker Tours. What a great deal. They will pick me up at the ship, handle the luggage, do "LA In A Day Tour" & then take us to the airport ( LAX ) at the end of the day. Have you looked at them? I got very good customer service from them & paid nothing in advance.

[PatriciaF]

Thank you all so much for all the advice. This is why I decided to post and ask. I will be checking out hotels in Santa Monica instead. My husband is not keen on driving in L.A.(although we have done so in the past) That is why we thought we'd do a tour this time with our short time in town.

Thanks again!

 

Bruin Steve who is a frequent poster on this board offers this as an alternative to LAX especially if the Santa Monica hotels are too pricey:

 

One of my picks is the Radisson Culver City...it's 3 miles north of LAX but they do have a free LAX shuttle...and there is lots of shopping, restaurants, movie theaters...and a major mall in the immediate area...

 

http://www.radisson.com/culver-city-...-6306/caculver

 

But--if your heart is set on being on the HOHO bus line--this won't work.

[rjscott]

Thanks for that Patricia. I had seen BruinSteve's suggestion of the Radisson elsewhere on the boards as I was searching for alternative ideas, and it looks like a good possibility. I'm not 100% on the HO-HO bus; we've done those in other cities and enjoyed them, but we've been to L.A. before and have seen many of the highlights. Just thought it might be a good way to see some specific sights w/o having the hassle of driving and parking (and by hassle, I mean arguing with my husband on our last day of vacation ;)).

Thanks again.