Is a 1:20 PM flight out of LAX reasonable post-cruise?

[Turtles06]

Hi folks, I haven't been to LA in a long time, and never on a ship, so I'm not sure where the port is in relation to LAX, nor what hassles might be involved at the port end. Our ship will be arriving in LA on Sunday morning, Feb. 5, 2017, after a Panama Canal cruise. (Scheduled arrival is 8 AM.)

 

Would it be reasonable to book a domestic flight departing from LAX at 1:20 PM? (We will have priority disembarkation, which means the first group leaving after the walk-offs.)

 

Is a taxi a good option for the transfer, and about how long on a Sunday morning should it take?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and help!

[Bruin Steve]

Hi folks, I haven't been to LA in a long time, and never on a ship, so I'm not sure where the port is in relation to LAX, nor what hassles might be involved at the port end. Our ship will be arriving in LA on Sunday morning, Feb. 5, 2017, after a Panama Canal cruise. (Scheduled arrival is 8 AM.)

 

Would it be reasonable to book a domestic flight departing from LAX at 1:20 PM? (We will have priority disembarkation, which means the first group leaving after the walk-offs.)

 

Is a taxi a good option for the transfer, and about how long on a Sunday morning should it take?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and help!

 

1:20 pm is perfect...with no need to rush to be the first off the ship...

 

I'll assume you are on a line other than Carnival, so you will dock in San Pedro. The port is 20 miles from LAX (Carnival docks in Long Beach, about 23 miles from LAX). The trip from the port to LAX is virtually all freeway...and though in LA there can be traffic any time, on a Sunday morning it will likely be nowhere near what it would be Monday through Friday. The actual drive should not take more than about a half an hour once you are in your vehicle. LAX always tells people to arrive at the airport rwo hours before a flight--but, in my experience, that is usually overkill. BUT, even allowing for those two hours, it means you would be at the airport by 11:20, meaning you should be on the road by about 10:50. Even if you called it 10:30 to be extra safe, you wouldn't need to be off the ship until after a leisurely breakfast.

 

I would usually avoid taxis in LA...You never know what the meter will run its way up to...My preference would either be to take an Uber or a car service (look at Execucar by Super Shuttle)...But, since you have plenty of time, you could even take a shared shuttle service like Super Shuttle or Prime Time Shuttle if you wanted to have a very cheap fare (around $17 per person)...Good luck...

[Putterdude]

Absolutely, you could likely walk to LAX and still make it. We have had great success over the years using Super Shuttle.

[VibeGuy]

I'll weigh in as a super shuttle non-fan. Nothin harshes my cruise-induced mellow like shared rides that aren't running on my schedule.

 

Use UberX and request it just as you head downstairs from customs and border protection. You'll have someone there in about five minutes and it will run $28ish assuming normal traffic. Unlike other services, if your driver doesn't show up, there are dozens more waiting mere minutes away.

 

One small caution: we've recently had a bad delay disembarking from a ship that didn't make a circle trip from LA; do actually take that offer of priority disembarkation - it may come in handy.

[Bruin Steve]

Use UberX and request it just as you head downstairs from customs and border protection. You'll have someone there in about five minutes and it will run $28ish assuming normal traffic. Unlike other services, if your driver doesn't show up, there are dozens more waiting mere minutes away.

 

I'll throw in one caveat here...

Uber is not necessarily a sure thing...

With the growing popularity of Uber...and with thousands getting off a ship at once, Uber runs into some issues...

We got off a ship in Fort Lauderdale about a month ago, clicked into Uber and got the message "3X surge pricing"!...So, what would have been a cheap $10 Uber ride was suddenly about $30! We took a taxi instead for $15 plus tip to FLL...

When we got home to LAX, we tried Uber again and found "UberX not available"...After several attempts, only thing that came up was UberLux...at $150-200...We quickly grabbed a Super Shuttle...

 

My advice is that, if you plan on using Uber, have a "plan B" ready in reserve...

[SadieN]

Shared shuttles are $17. Plenty available at San Pedro.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Turtles06]

Thanks everyone for the prompt and great advice! This is just the sort of stuff that makes Cruise Critic so invaluable!

 

(And yes, in terms of where we'll dock, we aren't on Carnival; we'll be on NCL.) A couple of follow up questions:

 

Does the Super Shuttle have to be reserved in advance?

 

And if we decide to go the car service route, I see that Bruin Steve has recommended Execucar. Anyone else to throw into that mix?

 

Thanks again, everyone!

[VibeGuy]

Getting an UberX from LAX is slightly dicey because the rules are in flux.

 

I've used them a half dozen times now from San Pedro and my longest wait for an X was 11 minutes and an XL 13. Contrast that with the issues people have reported in other threads with not being able to reach their reserved car service and you can reasonably draw some conclusions. If the fare is peaked high enough that it's cheaper to get a cab, get a cab.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Odds are there will be plenty of the SuperShuttle vehicles if you go the shared route. Hopefully many will be filled with those going straight to LAX.

 

If you go with Execucar, or other non-shared companies, you'll need to reserve a vehicle. Ask them what time they suggest for the pickup (many companies should be experienced with picking up from the Port of LA) and get a phone number for calling on your disembarkation day if there's a delay getting off the ship. Many drivers will know of a near by place to wait until they get a call from you.

 

I've seen traffic jams on the 405 even on a Sunday, but most likely you'll be fine getting off the ship even without priority disembarkation for an afternoon flight.

[Keith1010]

1:20 PM is fine.

 

If you want to consider a private vehicle I would recommend execucar at http://www.execucar.com

 

Keith