First time cruiser. Do I have enough time between debarkation and LAX flight?

[penthename]

Hi folks! Hope this is the correct section for this post.

My wife and I are going on our first cruise, and we're concerned about how much time we have between our debarkation and returning flight.

We're headed out on Carnival's Imagination June 25th from Port of Long Beach, CA. We get back Thursday June 29th 07:00 AM. We have a flight back home from LAX on Spirit Airlines at 11:55 AM. According to Carnival, for 7AM debarkations, they recommend flights be scheduled no earlier than noon from LAX, but according to their customer service, 11:55am should be fine.

I'm an anxious person, so I'm trying to make sure that we shouldn't have any concerns about having enough time to debark the ship and catch our flight in time. We plan on calling for an Uber or Lyft. We have not signed up for any early debarkation privileges. We rarely fly and do not have a TSA precheck pass. I do plan on checking us in to our flight as soon as I get cell service on debarkation day.

1) Do we have any reason to worry about how much time we have between debarkation and our scheduled flight?

2) How long does it normally take to get off the ship? What time should I reasonably expect to be able to be ready to be picked up?

3) Are Uber and/or Lyft reliable in picking us up from the Port of Long Beach? How long should we expect to wait after calling for a ride?

4) Anything we can do to speed up the process of getting from the ship to LAX? Anything we can do to speed up the process of getting to our gate as quickly as possible?

Thanks for any help y'all can offer!

[Crusingdiva62]

I hate flying out of LAX. They have construction going on right now and it's crazy there. Last month I got home 4 days before my luggage.

 

 

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[riffatsea]

Hi,

It would be a bit too close for me from LAX because you never know how traffic may be going to the airport. You have no cushion of time if traffic is bad.

Carrying your own luggage off the ship you should be out by 9-9:30.

I'd not wait to check in that AM . I'd use one of the on board computers to check in . There is a $5 computer pkg but last year it didn't let me go to my airline to check in so I just asked someone with the more expensive pkg to do it for me and I offered to pay them the $5.

Uber/Lyft/taxi etc should be at the port fast but again traffic is always the thing you cannot predict.

[SadieN]

Almost no waiting options are shared shuttles $17/pp (located bottom of parking structure) and taxis (IIRC $68flat, though it might be $60; located to the left as you exit the Dome.

 

LA traffic is so unpredictable, so is the airport traffic. We've had no traffic until we hit the tunnel, then we've had to wait.

 

Pack light, do Self Assist and be one of the first off.

 

Spirit has one of the worst Terminal positions at LAX, T5. No easy shortcut.

 

 

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[easyboy]

I agree with prior post to pack light, self disembark and get an Uber or Taxi to the airport.

 

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[riclop]

Spirit will be late anyway.

[penthename]

Just wanted to update this thread in case anyone else has similar questions.

 

With our cruise, we found out that we didn't have to do anything special to be able to leave early outside of meeting with other early leavers in the main lounge by 7am. We were able to disembark by 7:13am, called for a Lyft as we headed down the gangway towards customs, and managed to catch our driver just as we left customs at 7:25am. We then got to LAX by 8:18 and passed through check-in, baggage drop, and TSA by 8:53.

 

We were able to do this by going to the disembarking presentation on the ship the day before, ensuring we had everything packed and ready to go by 6:30am, carrying our own baggage off the ship, calling for an Uber or Lyft (they're faster and cheaper than the shuttle) and overall just planning ahead.

[cajunfla]

You can't plan for every contingency. Last week, a cruise ship was 2 hours late docking because a passenger had a medical emergency, and had to be airlifted off the ship. Who plans for that? Good luck.

[easyboy]

Just wanted to update this thread in case anyone else has similar questions.

 

With our cruise, we found out that we didn't have to do anything special to be able to leave early outside of meeting with other early leavers in the main lounge by 7am. We were able to disembark by 7:13am, called for a Lyft as we headed down the gangway towards customs, and managed to catch our driver just as we left customs at 7:25am. We then got to LAX by 8:18 and passed through check-in, baggage drop, and TSA by 8:53.

 

We were able to do this by going to the disembarking presentation on the ship the day before, ensuring we had everything packed and ready to go by 6:30am, carrying our own baggage off the ship, calling for an Uber or Lyft (they're faster and cheaper than the shuttle) and overall just planning ahead.

Glad you didn't encounter any problem. Thanks for updating us.