Fly in same day for San Pedro from San Jose??

[chinita415]

I know this is a constant question but please help me work this out.

 

We used to live 10 mins from the San Pedro port but never cruised out of there. Now we are in the Bay Area and have a Princess Mexico spring break cruise booked in April. We will be flying out of SJC to LAX. I have never been brave enough to fly in the same day on past cruises, going as far as eating fare for a European LLC flight from London to Rome. But I am tempted to do so this time. I can get the first flight out of SJC on Southwest around 6am and still have cushion if there are delay issues. Will be traveling with my husband, 1yo and both grandmothers (one of which has limited mobility so will rent a ECV on the cruise). Just seems like a waste of money and time to fly in the night before and stay at a hotel and all that transfer with baby/carseat/wheelchair. We will be using Lyft/Uber.

[Bruin Steve]

You will need a baby car seat whenever you fly in and whatever form of transportation you use to get to the port (and back afterward).

 

Yes, you should be fine with a 6:00 am flight...but, the problem I would have with that would be getting up at about 3:00 am to get dressed and drive to the airport and be there with time to check in and go through security etc.

 

The trade-off with flying in the day before is that you will be relaxed, well rested and have an extra day of vacation.  If you fly in late afternoon the day before, you can uber to the hotel, check in, go out for a nice dinner, get a good night’s sleep, sleep in a little embarkation morning and have an easy ride to the pier...Very little stress.  Is that worth the price of a night in a hotel?  To me it is...I’d pay just to not deal with a 6:00 am flight...but everyone is different.

[Keith1010]

I wouldn't do it.

Things can still go wrong.

 

I have seen things happen that are not anticipated.

 

Computer glitch impacting FAA, Airline, Aircraft.

 

Security breach impacting airport.

 

Earthquake, weather, etc.

 

Lost luggage.

 

Is it likely any of this will happen?  No.

 

Could it?  Yes

 

Worth taking the risk?  No IMHO.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Keith

[chinita415]

Augh...ok will fly in the night before to be safe. Just needed to talk it through like this. Yes we have a travel carseat and have used it on Lyft/Uber many times on trips. We will likely use 2 cars as I am not sure UberXL or LyftPlus can fit 4 adults and baby with luggage and stroller/wheelchair. 

 

Now will have to decide San Pedro vs Long Beach for the one night stay.  Will check out hotel prices. I know there isn't much around Port O Call.

[Philob]

5 hours ago, chinita415 said:

Augh...ok will fly in the night before to be safe. Just needed to talk it through like this. Yes we have a travel carseat and have used it on Lyft/Uber many times on trips. We will likely use 2 cars as I am not sure UberXL or LyftPlus can fit 4 adults and baby with luggage and stroller/wheelchair. 

 

Now will have to decide San Pedro vs Long Beach for the one night stay.  Will check out hotel prices. I know there isn't much around Port O Call.

Don't forget a few hotels will offer a shuttle, usually free, to the port into your matrix.

[chinita415]

I might just do Best West Plus on Gaffey in San Pedro. Shuttle to port available. Just did search of the usual hotels by the port and in Long Beach shows prices higher than I like to pay. Will check Hotwire as well.

Edited December 9, 2018 by chinita415

[chinita415]

Return flight options are 11:55am or 2:30p. I have always chosen later because I don't want to rush but we do end up waiting a bit. 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

If going the day before then why not drive?  Even a one way rental each way or RT with parking is probably cheaper than SJC parking and flights.  We fly out of SMF all the time and the trade off (time and cost) between flying and driving to southern CA is always debatable.  You could probably even drive down day of leaving at the same time you would have to leave for that 6:00 AM SWA flight out of SJC and be there by noon.  

Edited December 10, 2018 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[CruiseGal999]

17 hours ago, chinita415 said:

Augh...ok will fly in the night before to be safe. Just needed to talk it through like this. Yes we have a travel carseat and have used it on Lyft/Uber many times on trips. We will likely use 2 cars as I am not sure UberXL or LyftPlus can fit 4 adults and baby with luggage and stroller/wheelchair. 

 

Now will have to decide San Pedro vs Long Beach for the one night stay.  Will check out hotel prices. I know there isn't much around Port O Call.

I stayed here in October for 2 nights before my cruise with Princess out of San Pedro.  I got a rate of $151.xx per night/before taxes. 

 

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxap-los-angeles-airport-marriott/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

[Philob]

12 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

If going the day before then why not drive?  Even a one way rental each way or RT with parking is probably cheaper than SJC parking and flights.  We fly out of SMF all the time and the trade off (time and cost) between flying and driving to southern CA is always debatable.  You could probably even drive down day of leaving at the same time you would have to leave for that 6:00 AM SWA flight out of SJC and be there by noon.  

This is what we did, drove from SF to the DoubleTree in San Pedro.  Free shuttle to the port and you can leave your car there for free.

[chinita415]

My husband hated the long drives along I5 as we did it for years prebaby when we lived in SoCal (San Diego and LA) and came home to visit. Would prefer to fly. We flew down recently to go to Disneyland. 

[Philob]

3 hours ago, chinita415 said:

My husband hated the long drives along I5 as we did it for years prebaby when we lived in SoCal (San Diego and LA) and came home to visit. Would prefer to fly. We flew down recently to go to Disneyland. 

What and miss out going through Coalinga? 

[chinita415]

17 minutes ago, Philob said:

What and miss out going through Coalinga? 

 

Eww...... We forget to turn on air to recirculate sometimes. 

 

Yeah driving down with a minivan with 2 grandmas and a baby does not sound fun to us. We will just fly in the day before and relax. We might even rent a car for the first day to do something in LA and drop it off in San Pedro and check out our old neighborhood. (used to live 10 mins from port). If we don't, there is a Hawaiian fast food place by the BW Plus which would work well for us too. 

[wheezedr]

15 hours ago, chinita415 said:

 

Eww...... We forget to turn on air to recirculate sometimes. 

 

Yeah driving down with a minivan with 2 grandmas and a baby does not sound fun to us. We will just fly in the day before and relax. We might even rent a car for the first day to do something in LA and drop it off in San Pedro and check out our old neighborhood. (used to live 10 mins from port). If we don't, there is a Hawaiian fast food place by the BW Plus which would work well for us too. 

Just for fun I will toss in another option .  I have flown in day of, driven down day of and for my last cruise out of San Pedro we drove down day before.  The difference is that I also get bored with I5 so we elected to go 101.   Lots more options to stop and many places that get you close in to  the LA basin so that your day of cruise drive is quite short.  I believe we stayed just off 101 in Oxnard that trip.  Had so much time to kill in the AM that we drove down to LA and caught a movie before embarkation.  Left right after cruise and took I5 for speed on the way home.  Eliminates all the airport rigamorole and really a nice route to go.  Just another thought for you.

[chinita415]

1 hour ago, wheezedr said:

Just for fun I will toss in another option .  I have flown in day of, driven down day of and for my last cruise out of San Pedro we drove down day before.  The difference is that I also get bored with I5 so we elected to go 101.   Lots more options to stop and many places that get you close in to  the LA basin so that your day of cruise drive is quite short.  I believe we stayed just off 101 in Oxnard that trip.  Had so much time to kill in the AM that we drove down to LA and caught a movie before embarkation.  Left right after cruise and took I5 for speed on the way home.  Eliminates all the airport rigamorole and really a nice route to go.  Just another thought for you.

 

Yeah had thought of that too. Will run it by my husband to see what he thinks. We don't have a car big enough for all of us and our stuff so would need to rent a minivan. 

[Splinter]

With all your luggage, people and equipment, I would opt for a shuttle from the airport (Supershuttle has wheelchair accessible shuttles) rather than take Uber or Lyft. Reserve ahead of time. With 5 people and need for wheelchair transport, you are likely to get a private shuttle van at the shared van price.

[chinita415]

On 12/12/2018 at 10:29 PM, Splinter said:

With all your luggage, people and equipment, I would opt for a shuttle from the airport (Supershuttle has wheelchair accessible shuttles) rather than take Uber or Lyft. Reserve ahead of time. With 5 people and need for wheelchair transport, you are likely to get a private shuttle van at the shared van price.

I like the flexibility of calling Uber or Lyft. I can stay with baby and my mom in one car and my husband with his mom and the wheelchair. She can walk but just not long distance. Have done Lyft at airports and Miami Port with baby and installed carseat in minutes. I hate waiting around for shuttles. I think 2 Lyft/Uber cars will be about the same price as a shuttle for all.

 

We are still toying with flying in same day with that 6am flight. I bought Southwest flights the night before but can change. IF we do end up coming the day before, I will change us to the Crown Plaza at Redondo Beach. At least ocean view and something to see and do. I would have booked Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach but they have a 2 nights minimal on that weekend. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by chinita415