Earliest Time to Schedule Flight After Debarking San Pedro

[Want2cruise-now]

Arriving San Pedro on Discovery Princess Saturday October 5.  How early can I safely schedule a flight out of Long Beach or LAX?

 

[WildBlueYonder64]

LGB is much closer and easier to navigate than LAX. I would be comfortable booking a flight 11:30 or later from LGB, and 1:00 pm or later out of LAX. If you did have a 1 pm-ish flight out of LAX, I would definitely be off the ship no later than 9:00 am.

[lx200gps]

We've flown out of LAX three times post-COVID after disembarking at San Pedro, most recently last February. Each time, we did self-walkoff, getting off the ship by about 7:30AM to avoid the lines at the facial recognition cameras. Twice we used one of the waiting taxis, and the last time we called an Uber once we were outside. Each time, we were comfortably at LAX by 8:30AM. Keep in mind that each of these trips was on a weekend, when LA's famous traffic tends to be lighter. Also, leaving the ship very early also helps with traffic. That being said, the only problems we encountered occurred when we hit LAX, when the traffic was always horrific. On one trip last year, it actually took us longer to drive from the entrance to LAX to our terminal than it did to drive from San Pedro to the airport entrance. If we had the chance to fly from LGB (or even John Wayne) we would do it in a heartbeat to avoid LAX, but there are no usable flights for us, so we are stuck with the big airport ;o(

[Want2cruise-now]

Thank you both for the information. I have decided on a nonstop out of LAX at 2. I’m headed to the ABQ balloon festival(a long time dream of mine) after the west coast cruise. Can’t wait!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

11AM LGB, 12PM LAX, 12PM SNA.

[latebloomer56]

On 6/30/2024 at 6:38 PM, KeepCalmBearOn said:

11AM LGB, 12PM LAX, 12PM SNA.

Can't find the answer to this and didn't write it down though think it has been asked.

Would you know when the Princess transfers head to LAX after the cruise. It's a week day, know we should be fine with our flight but was looking to change to an earlier one.

Thanks as always for you help.

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, latebloomer56 said:

Can't find the answer to this and didn't write it down though think it has been asked.

Would you know when the Princess transfers head to LAX after the cruise. It's a week day, know we should be fine with our flight but was looking to change to an earlier one.

Thanks as always for you help.

As this is as much a Princess question as a West Coast Departures question, maybe try posting over on the Princess sub-forum as well? I'd also like to know the answer. We usually take an Uber from SP to LAX but I'd like to know how well the Princess shuttle works.

[latebloomer56]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

As this is as much a Princess question as a West Coast Departures question, maybe try posting over on the Princess sub-forum as well? I'd also like to know the answer. We usually take an Uber from SP to LAX but I'd like to know how well the Princess shuttle works.

I will thanks. I have the transfer going to the port as well that has time listed 10:00-11:00am. 

[julia]

The transfer busses leave once they are full.  This can be a quick and orderly process, where a few employees are keeping things moving along (ie, loading luggage, etc), or, it can be slow and chaotic, with long lines. Also, LAX has so many terminals, that I would hope the busses are separated by airline. 

[Need-a-vacation]

On 6/30/2024 at 3:38 PM, KeepCalmBearOn said:

11AM LGB, 12PM LAX, 12PM SNA.

Thank you for this.  I'm arriving Sunday 9/29 on Grand Princess. Itinerary says arrival at 6:15a.  I'm leaning towards a 10:50a flight from Long Beach.  Is that too tight?

Or maybe I just book it and plan to rebook to a later flight if there's a problem (it's southwest, so same day changes are less painful).

[jcc1025]

On 8/23/2024 at 3:46 PM, Need-a-vacation said:

Thank you for this.  I'm arriving Sunday 9/29 on Grand Princess. Itinerary says arrival at 6:15a.  I'm leaning towards a 10:50a flight from Long Beach.  Is that too tight?

Or maybe I just book it and plan to rebook to a later flight if there's a problem (it's southwest, so same day changes are less painful).

 

On 8/23/2024 at 3:46 PM, Need-a-vacation said:

Thank you for this.  I'm arriving Sunday 9/29 on Grand Princess. Itinerary says arrival at 6:15a.  I'm leaning towards a 10:50a flight from Long Beach.  Is that too tight?

Or maybe I just book it and plan to rebook to a later flight if there's a problem (it's southwest, so same day changes are less painful).

We live about 5 minutes from Long Beach airport. If all goes right, ship clears customes and no ssues with TSA at Long Beach. a  SW an 11am flight is possible. I hate the stress of hoping that everything goes right but if your willing to take the chance on rebooking you have a shot at that flight time. It takes us about 30 minutes to get home from Royal cruises when we cruise but we park at the airport so have figure your transportation options into the equation. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 8/23/2024 at 3:46 PM, Need-a-vacation said:

Thank you for this.  I'm arriving Sunday 9/29 on Grand Princess. Itinerary says arrival at 6:15a.  I'm leaning towards a 10:50a flight from Long Beach.  Is that too tight?

Or maybe I just book it and plan to rebook to a later flight if there's a problem (it's southwest, so same day changes are less painful).

 

I think 10:50AM is a little aggressive. When the ship arrives has little to do with when they start the walk-off disembarkation process. If you actually walk off by 8M, I think you'd be okay, but any hiccups and LGB doesn't have a lot of flights as back-up choices.

[Need-a-vacation]

3 hours ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

If you actually walk off by 8M, I think you'd be okay, but any hiccups and LGB doesn't have a lot of flights as back-up choices.

Thanks for the info.  I went ahead and booked the 10:50. I checked the backups - there's other later direct flights and lots of 1-stops later in the day.  I think as long as I'm in an Uber by 9a I should be ok?  I wouldn't try the ship transfers in this scenario since they're a bit unpredictable on departure times.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

31 minutes ago, Need-a-vacation said:

I think as long as I'm in an Uber by 9a I should be ok?

 

Yes, LGB is a very small airport, not many flights so not too bad or confusing.

[Need-a-vacation]

9 minutes ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

 

Yes, LGB is a very small airport, not many flights so not too bad or confusing.

Thanks. I have a very vague memory of getting off a princess cruise years ago and we had booked the later flight and then got to LGB in time for the early flight without even trying. But we couldn't get on it without paying a big fare difference.