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Long Beach ???

Huck

By Huck,
in West Coast Departures

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Huck

Huck

Posted
Posted

We have booked a precruise stay at the Best Western, Long Beach(Long Beach Blvd) for our Oct. 22 Pride cruise. Can anyone tell me how safe the area is? Also is there a liquor/walgreens type store close by? And any restaurant recomendations? Thank You

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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We have booked a precruise stay at the Best Western, Long Beach(Long Beach Blvd) for our Oct. 22 Pride cruise. Can anyone tell me how safe the area is? Also is there a liquor/walgreens type store close by? And any restaurant recomendations? Thank You

How do I explain this?

Here's the problem... Long Beach is actually a pretty big city...like a population of over 500,000...You've got a fairly urban, fairly industrialized city...There are some really bad parts (North Long Beach, where it borders on Compton) and some really nice parts (Naples...in Southeast Long Beach)...You've got a fairly tourist oriented section (around the Convention Center, Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, etc.)...The rest of it is fairly ordinary big Western city stuff--middle class tract housing, redundantly boring commercial strips, office buildings, industrial parks, etc.

 

Where this particular Best Western is located is fairly mundane, not necessarily convenient...ot attractive or desirable...Not that it's completely undesirable...I mean, it's not in "gang territory", if that's what you're concerned about, but it's CHEAP (by SoCal standards) for a reason--It's NOT where I'd ever recommend you stay...

 

Pay a few bucks extra and find a hotel near the pier or near the convention center--that way, you'll be close to the local attractions, close to nicer restaurants, closer to the ship, etc. And you'll at least enjoy your stay. It's worth the small extra price...

 

For restaurants pre-cruise, my favorite would be Parker's Lighthouse:

 

http://www.selectrestaurants.com/parkerslight/

 

It's in Shoreline Village--which is a cute little tourist area of shops and restaurants right at the water's edge...with great views of the Queen MAry (and your ship when it's in port)...

 

Good luck...

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Jana White

Jana White

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Springbok is also really good. It is not on the Gladstones, Parker Lighthouse caliber, but really good food in a sports bar atmosphere. This is if you are looking for a little less expensive fare. But I agree, pay a bit more stay near the convention center and port area.

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scampi

scampi

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Huck, The Queen Mary Hotel is next door to the Carnival Cruise Terminal. They have a cruise special, $119 a night that includes a First Class stateroom and also a free self-guided tour of the ship. It is very convenient because they assist with luggage check-in the morning for your Pride cruise. I know because we booked the QM for our Sept. cruise even though we are locals. We checked out the QM, the restaurants, etc. & are looking forward to our evening there before our cruise. Here's the website: www.queenmary.com but to get the special prices call:

1-800-4372934 or 562-435-3511 for reservations. A credit card holds your reservation & you can cancel if you later get a 4 star hotel from Priceline.

There's a free Passport Bus that stops at the QM that provides transportation to the Pike area, Shoreline Village, Convention Ctr area, etc. or you can take an Aquabus to Shoreline Village/Rainbow Harbor area or Aqualink to Alamitos Bay ($1 or $3).

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Jana White

Jana White

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I agree with the above post completely. Staying on the Queen Mary for that price is a no brainer. The Aquabus is great to Shoreline Village and the aquarium, but the walk is also not bad. And you ship is right next to you.

 

Enjoy! Long Beach in the last 5 years has turned into an AWESOME desitination. I live just south of Long Beach and we take the Aqualink from our harbor to the Long Beach harbor. It is about a 30 minute trip and we can take our bikes. Then after a fun relaxing day in Long Beach harbor we bike back to our harbor (Alamitos Bay) a whole 5.5 miles. Lots to see and do.

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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We are looking at a Panama Canal Cruise for next year that has a Los Angeles departure. Can get a flight into Long Beach on JetBlue. Where do the Princess Cruises actually depart from?

For the most part, only Carnival departs from the Long Beach terminal...All other cruise lines depart from San Pedro...

...although Princess, having controlling interest now owned by Carnival, might someday decide to change...but for now, it's Pedro...

 

However, the Pier in San Pedro is only six miles from the pier in Long Beach (it's all really just one HUGE harbor with the city limits running down the middle)...

 

Long Beach is still the best airport to fly into if you can get a flight there--especially in light of all of the new security issues--LAX is one of the world's busiest airports and can be a total mess...

 

Long Beach Airport is a very small airport with few commercial flights and is about 5 miles closer to the pier in Pedro than LAX...Only problem is there will be no Princess transfers from Long Beach...Take a taxi...

 

Go for it...

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TheNYPlateMan

TheNYPlateMan

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I stayed at the Best Western Long Beach this past July 21 pre-cruise. Like the other poster said, its an urban area and where the hotel is located is not the best area. It's not a place you would want to walk alone at night in some cases, it depends on how you feel about safety.

 

However, the hotel itself was very secure, front desk staffed and really nice help. But on the same wave, the parked is unsecure.

 

I think good choice switching.

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Jana White

Jana White

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Walk your heart out. I recommend it in the evening after a nice dinner in one of the small intimate restaurants. There is no a bad one in the bunch. There are lots of people out walking and it is very safe and beautiful. Yes, you can take a gondola, but you need not.

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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My apologies to everyone for continuing off topic in this thread...

 

Not exactly on point, hey Bruin Steve, I see you were on Nautica just before us. So, was it good for you? Ours was the best cruise ever and we've done 24.

Joe,

I posted a review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=388756

 

It was a very good cruise...but I wouldn't call it my "best cruise ever"...That award still goes to my 2003 Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Millennium.

 

Basically, the food was excellent...the service was good, but well short of the level of service on Millennium. A lot of that has to do with the design of the cruise--different waiters every meal on Nautica means they don't keep up with the little personalized things--so I had trouble getting my usual constant refills on iced tea...but they were also not as attentative overall.

 

The entertainment on Nautica is also somewhat lacking--amateurish at times. Again, it's a product of doing entertainment for 680 passengers as opposed to 2000--the economies of scale and also the capacity of the ship's theater's stage and backstage.

 

Also a product of the smaller scale, there was simply far less to do--fewer activities, less entertainment, etc.

 

And there was a complete lack of food availability during off-meal hours...After dinner, all you could get was room service--and I'm used to heading up top for a midnight slice of pizza (Nautica's pizza, only available during lunch, wasn't very good anyway).

 

But, basically, the amenities, activities and entertainment is what you give up on the smaller ships. What I like about the Celebrity M-Class ships is that you get all that stuff and really don't give up the space, comfort and roominess. The Celebrity M-Class actually have a BETTER space-to-passenger ratio than the Oceania ships!

 

All that said, we still enjoyed the cruise immensely. The itinerary was fabulous, the cabin comfortable, the cabin stewards excellent...and the ship was extremely nice. I would gladly cruise with them again if the itinerary was one we want...But my line of choice is still Celebrity.

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southbayer

southbayer

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OK, the short direct answer to your question is.........Stay only in the "Immediate" downtown area, and I mean Immediate. I am on this same sailing with you, and I booked at the "Coast Hotel LB"... Its the closest to the port, bout 1/8 mile away... They have a package that let's you stay the night, and leave your car parked there for the duration to your cruise... Also they give a free shuttle to drop you off, and pick you take you back to the hotel.... Not bad, many many other cruisers stay here. Good luck

We have booked a precruise stay at the Best Western, Long Beach(Long Beach Blvd) for our Oct. 22 Pride cruise. Can anyone tell me how safe the area is? Also is there a liquor/walgreens type store close by? And any restaurant recomendations? Thank You
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Mimi and Pops

Mimi and Pops

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We have booked a room at The Westin - 333 East Ocean Blvd. - Long Beach thru Priceline - for one night pre-cruise in October. I have seen posts on here about the Hyatt and the Hilton - no one has mentioned The Westin. Is this a "safe" area? Has anyone stayed here before? Any recommendations for restaurants for dinner that night. We plan to take a cab to the San Pedro Pier the next day - how much would this cost - or any other suggestions on how to get to the Pier. As to the cost for the hotel - we booked it thru Priceline @ $85. + tax. Look forward to hearing any advice any of you might want to give. Thanks.

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Luxana

Luxana

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This is one of the hotels where Celebrity books its cruisers. We are booked on the Summit repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver next May. I tried the Queen Mary hotel, but they are fully booked for May 11, the date we arrive. The ship leaves May 12. What rate did you get on Priceline for the Westin? Celebrity charges $127 per person.:eek:

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  • 3 weeks later...
Mimi and Pops

Mimi and Pops

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This is one of the hotels where Celebrity books its cruisers. We are booked on the Summit repositioning cruise from LA to Vancouver next May. I tried the Queen Mary hotel, but they are fully booked for May 11, the date we arrive. The ship leaves May 12. What rate did you get on Priceline for the Westin? Celebrity charges $127 per person.:eek:

 

We are paying - thru priceline auction - $85. + tax total for one night. :)

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SoCalCruiserGal

SoCalCruiserGal

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Hi there Huck!!!! There's a whole gang of that will be cruising with you on the Pride, October 22. If you have a few minutes, drop by our boards and say hi!!!! Some of us will be staying at the Courtyard as well the night prior to our sail. We even have a big group of us meeting the night before for dinner.....

 

Hope to see you around!

 

Stacey

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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Hey Bruin Steve,

I retired about 4 months ago and I want the trips I've taken to look like the trips you've taken. I'm impressed!

What can I say...I guess I'm very fortunate...I've got a pretty good job and I've been around at it long enough to have 5+ weeks of vacation a year...When I take vacation, I really feel a need to get away and I've found cruising is one of the best values and one of the most stress-free forms of travel...I actually wish I could afford to cruise more...

 

...and I hope that I can afford to continue to cruise at least as much when I retire (probably another 13 to 15 years from now)...

 

I think that's the dream of a lot of us on these boards--to be able to retire and afford several nice cruises a year...

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