Sailing from LA

[walsky]

:confused: In Dec., we are sailing on the Island Princess to Hawaii. Queation is: Where is the ship docked? LA or Long Beach and how long does it take from LAX to the terminal?

[arlenemilt]

:confused: how long does it take from LAX to the terminal?

 

Anywhere from 30 minutes to infinity. :)

Arlene

[walsky]

Anywhere from 30 minutes to infinity. :)

 

Arlene

 

Thank you, Arlene. But do you get the ship in LA or Long Beach?

[Colo Cruiser]

It docks in San Pedro, about 10 minutes from Long Beach. We have traveled between LAX and the pier many times at all times of the day. Usually between 30-60 minutes.

A cab will run you about $45. :)

[arlenemilt]

Not LA. per se. Long Beach or San Pedro.

 

A.

[shoredreamer]

I think all ships leave from San Pedro with exception to Carnival which leaves from Long Beach.

[walsky]

Thank you all

[Pam in CA]

:confused: In Dec., we are sailing on the Island Princess to Hawaii. Queation is: Where is the ship docked? LA or Long Beach and how long does it take from LAX to the terminal?

Technically, Princess ships dock at the Port of Los Angeles, which is in San Pedro. San Pedro happens to be closer to Long Beach than LAX. It takes about 30 minutes or so to get from LAX to San Pedro. It can take longer with traffic.

[lois1112]

The Island leaves from the "world cruise center" in San Pedro.(all princess ships do...carnival leaves from LB)

[cruiserjanet]

Here's the website for the World Cruise Center in San Pedro www.pcsterminals.com/. It has lots of information.

[Tom O.]

If you don't already have your flight booked, consider the Long Beach airport. Much less hastle if you can find a decently priced flight (check the Jet Blue Website)

One other note. San Pedro is not really a city, it is a district of Los Angeles, like Brooklyn is a district of New York.

[DrivesLikeMario]

It makes a big difference. If you're coming into the Port of LA on a weekend, most likely your traffic will be very light unless our *wonderful* CalTrans workers decide they need to stand around on the freeway for a few hours and pretend to work. :D

 

During the week, if you leave the ship around 10 AM for LAX, the traffic won't be too bad, but before that, it could be very heavy.

[flamomo]

We flew in a day early and stayed a day after the cruise, which made for a much more relaxed embarkation and disembarkation. We used Princess' hotel reservations and stayed at the Airport Marriott for a very decent price, and the hotel was lovely. Princess transported us to and from the cruise terminal in San Pedro. Because our cruise began on a Saturday, our trip to the pier only took about 20 minutes. We really were expecting it to be longer. We returned to LA on a Sunday, so again, no traffic issues.

When we do this cruise again in 2008, we will do it the same way.

[SipeShape]

flamomo,Could you tell me more about the princess hotel reservations?Did the transportation come with the hotel room?I am thinking of doing the same thing.Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.Thanks :)

[hillslife]

Born and raised in Long Beach - the Airport Marriott is ok, but there is really nothing to do around it, although it is right adjacent to LB Airport. You might also look into the LB Hilton or Hyatt down on Ocean Blvd. They are beautiful hotels, overlook the water and there are lots of shops/food on Pine Avenue and Waterfront restaurants and shops in a Ports of Call type area....plus the Aquarium of the Pacific if you have the time.

 

Just a suggestion - of course these are more $$$ and not sure if Princess has a package with them or not, but you could book yourself and take a taxi or to San Pedro, which is right over 2 bridges from these hotels.

 

Good luck - enjoy

[Pam in CA]

flamomo,Could you tell me more about the princess hotel reservations?Did the transportation come with the hotel room?I am thinking of doing the same thing.Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.Thanks :)

If you book the Princess pre- or post-cruise hotel package, transfers are included with the hotel room. When we were there at Christmastime, it was $69/night/pp. A pretty good deal. You leave your luggage in your room while you go to breakfast. It's picked up and put in a loading area. When you go to board your bus to the pier, you identify your luggage and it's put on the bus. When you get to the port, you stay on the bus while they offload all the luggage, take it to the ship, and deliver it to your cabin. You don't have to touch or move your luggage from the time you leave your room for breakfast.

[shoredreamer]

Is the princess package per person so if there were 4 in your party it would be $69 x 4 per night? or is it $69/night. Thanks

[flamomo]

flamomo,Could you tell me more about the princess hotel reservations?Did the transportation come with the hotel room?I am thinking of doing the same thing.Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.Thanks :)

 

 

Hi,

Yes, the transfers were included. There was not a separate charge for them. We paid about $65 each for each night there. The hotel is beautiful. There is a coffee bar, a casual restaurant and a nicer restaurant in the hotel.Another poster said there's nothing to do in that area, but we were not looking to sightsee. We did walk up the street in front of the hotel to a Denny's about 3-4 blocks away. It was daylight time and a number of other Princess guests were also out walking to the fast food places and Denny's. The concierge desk provides all kinds of restaurant info.

We got on the Marriott's shuttle at the airport to get to the hotel, and used it again the day we left to get back to the airport. Very convenient.

The transfers to and from the ship were fine. We were picked up at the hotel about 1:30 PM, were at the pier about 2 PM, and onboard within an hour. It was quite busy at the terminal, but everyone was very excited about it being the day to sail, so there was a lot of chatter among the group in line.

I flew from Florida and my travel friend flew from Ohio, we met at LAX, hopped the shuttle to the hotel, and it went from there.

[andreadan]

San Pedro has two lovely hotels, the Crown Plaza and the Doubletree, both providing courtesy transportation to pier, about a five-minute drive. If you're not acquainted with the area, please visit http://www.sanpedro.com for more info. If you don't already know, this is a world-class "working" port, the second largest in the nation.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just so you know, San Pedro is mostly industrial (there is a residential area in the hills).

 

If not taking advantage of the Princess shuttle, make sure you let your taxi or shuttle service know that you want to go to the World Cruise Center (probably will be pier 92 or 93 or around that number). The two ports are not that far apart but getting from one to the other, if a mistake is made, can be time-consuming with our infamous LA traffic, as well as not that simple (involves a bridge and a freeway).

 

BTW, we went on a day trip to Long Beach (it's about an hours drive from us) -- haven't been there in many years. We went to the Aquarium and the Shoreline Village. Very nice area. There's a little cruise memobrilia shop in the Village and we had a nice visit with the owner -- talked about cruises, of course.

[flamomo]

Someone mentioned Airport Marriott being in LB.I know nothing about LB or what might be there.

 

My most recent post was referring to the Airport Marriott at LAX.

[Pam in CA]

Is the princess package per person so if there were 4 in your party it would be $69 x 4 per night? or is it $69/night. Thanks

It's per person since it includes the transfers.

 

We rented a Hertz car at the airport, visited family in the area for the day, drove to the hotel late at night, checked in, dropped the Hertz car off in the hotel parking lot and put the keys and Express Check Out form in the slot in the hotel lobby. It couldn't have been easier or more convenient.

[Tom O.]

Someone mentioned Airport Marriott being in LB.I know nothing about LB or what might be there.

 

My most recent post was referring to the Airport Marriott at LAX.

 

A previous poster (from Long Beach, just like me), thought that when someone was refering to the Airport Marriott, they meant the one in Long Beach. But, like you said, the reference was to the LAX Marriott.

There is a Long Beach Airport Marriott, but it does not provide any shuttles to any cruise ports.

 

A previous poster mentioned that Los Angeles (San Pedro) is the second busiest in the country. Long Beach is the busiest. But even though there is a city boundary between them it is in reality one single port. The combined L.A./Long Beach port is the busiest port in the world. As your ship leaves the port, you will usually see several ships anchored outside the breakwater waiting for a chance to unload their goods. I have at times seen as many as 50 ships anchored out there.

[SipeShape]

I am a little confused. I would be flying into LAX and not LB. Because the cost is about $100 cheaper per person from Hartford. I have already booked our cruise through our TA without the flight. How do I make reservation through the LAX Marriott and still receive the Princess package deal? Do I contact Princess?:cool:

[critterchick]

Your TA should be able to do that for you.