Sapphire, APR 22 Questions need answers please!!

[joyciegirl]

We leave April 22nd on the Princess Sapphire. We are first time cruisers. Should we fly into LAX or Long Beach airport? Someone suggested Long Beach, but I don't know why. We are arriving one day before our cruise. Are there shuttles to motels that have shuttles to the port? Where should we spend the night, based on your experience? There are probably more questions, but these are the most important for now...I will keep reading. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer!!! First-time jitters, you know :0) Remember your first time? I am just going to make my reserv. right on the Princess website...is this wise? Unwise? Our little northern CA town has no Travel Agency. Joyciegirl

[mtaylor04]

If your departure airport flies in to long beach then do so. Unfortunetly, my airport only flies to LAX.

 

Long Beach airport is smaller, easier to navigate and just more passenger friendly than LAX.

 

I would suggest that you go to this link and do a search for San Pedro, Long Beach or LAX. THere is lots of information on it about hotels, shuttles, taxi's and both lax and Long Beach.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=92

 

Since we have to fly into LAX we are staying at a hotel near the airport and then taking a Town Car shuttle to the pier.

 

Hope this helped

Mary

[DanJ]

By all means, as said, fly to Long Beach of you can. But since there are fewer flights, prices might not be as competitive to LAX. If you have to fly to LAX, then the time you get there might decide where you should stay. If you arrive in the evening, staying in an airport area hotel will be fine. We stayed at the Airport Hilton, had dinner at the Westin next door, and walked to Denny's down the street for breakfast on Saturday morning. There are restaurants at the Hilton, but they seemed a little higher priced. Hilton has a relatively cheap rate ($90-ish) if booked online and paid for at time of booking. But it's non-refundable.

 

If you arrive in LA earlier on Friday, it might be better to stay in San Pedro, since there is nothing to do near the airport. I haven't done a ton of research into San Pedro, but I got the impession there was some stuff to see and do in the Cabrillo Marina area. At the very least, the Island Princess will be sailing right by there on Friday afternoon, so that would be something to see. I don't think you will find any hotels down in this area offering shuttles from LAX to the hotel, but many will drive you to the ship. TAxi from LAX to this area is around 50 bucks, but likely would be more on a Firday afternoon. Our Saturday morning drive from the Hilton to the pier was 20 minutes.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Hi fellow NorCal Dweller! LAX is cheaper to fly into and there is no problem. If you decide to not use Princess shuttle service there are shuttle buses right outside after you claim your luggage. Going through on Southwest (our Cal airline of choice for the "cheap fares" and weekly emails) you will have to go through a walkway of new construction and down the escalator to pick up bags. Everything was fast. We went this way in July on Carnival and December on Sapphire. We took an early flight from Sacramento arrived about 11:00ish in LAX and took the shuttle for pier. For December we used Princess shuttle...(note-there is someone there to pick up passengers and they will take others not booked on Princess shuttle). In July since we traveled with DD and DSIL it was cheaper to use Super shuttle (same folk as San Francisco, Oakland, and Scarmento airport). Coming from Southern Cal I agree Long Beach airport is smaller and less congested but price wise LAX was the better deal. Enjoy your cruise!

[Pam in CA]

As the others have said, Long Beach is a smaller airport and easier to fly into. It's also more convenient to San Pedro. However, there are far fewer flights so that your flight options are greatly diminished; plus, it's generally a lot more expensive to fly into Long Beach.

 

If you plan to fly into LAX and have booked directly with Princess, you might plan on taking advantage of their LAX Marriott hotel package. It's a good deal: $59/pp and includes the free shuttle to the hotel, one night at the hotel, and transfer to the ship the next morning. Plus, you leave your main suitcase(s) in your room (locked) and they pick it up and take it directly to your cabin on the ship. If you're interested, you can call Princess and ask if they have the Marriott package available on that day. It's sold out well in advance so it's possible it's no longer available for your cruise.

[JORAY]

If you want to stay over night in San Pedro try the Holiday Inn -- They have a Stay & Sail package -- Room is $99/night and for $89 they have a service -- LAX to hotel to ship and when the cruise Ship comes back they take you back to LAX. (for two peole) They also have a package for one way transport LAX to ship only.

 

We are staying there this Friday 3/10/06 -- PS: Hotel is sold out and has been for a month! So it looks like a good deal but book early (you can always cancel by 6:00 PM for no charge) :)

[Moondawgie]

Joyciegirl, we have several people going on your trip ... join our roll call including meet n' greet.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=235943