Flight Time Home

[cactusrose]

Anyone who flew home from LAX after a Mexican Riviera Cruise. What was you flight time and did you feel rushed?

[karfest]

Our flight time was 12:20. Under normal circumstances this would have been perfect. BUT- we had many people on our ship who could not follow the rules so we didn't clear customs on time. The first group did not disembark until after 10AM! We had a car waiting, very little traffic, and the infamous LAX security lines were moving quickly so we just squeaked in on our flight.

 

That being said, I will be scheduling our next flight out at 1:00, just in case. At least there is really good people watching at that airport if you have to wait around for your flight. Also, have a pre-arranged ride as there were not a lot of taxis in the area.

[cactusrose]

Karfest,

 

What time did your ship arrive in port?

[karfest]

We arived at 6am and debarkation was to start at 9. First, the customs agents were 1/2 hour late which really backed up the lines. Then, there were many,many announcements for people who had not gone through customs. They will not clear anyone to leave the ship until everyone is accounted for. Things were getting pretty heated between the crew and passengers which was certainly not Princess' fault, if the government says no one is leaving that's pretty much it.

I've never run into this before, we have always been off the ship at 9am, we like early flights because we have to make connections and have a long ways to get home.

Several friends we met on this cruise missed their flights because they couldn't get off the ship on time or get a cab. (cab drivers were tired of waiting!) I think this is an unusual circumstance, but it was very stressful at the time.

[cactusrose]

I have a 12:00 noon flight and I just found out that the ship will be arriving in port at 7:00 AM instead of the scheduled 6:00 AM. My sister will have her car there, so we have our own transportation. Do you think I should change my flight to a later time?

[hcat]

Is this from San Pedro or other location? Any experience with ship's bus to the airport?

[tinydancer21]

Our flight time was 12:20. Under normal circumstances this would have been perfect. BUT- we had many people on our ship who could not follow the rules so we didn't clear customs on time. The first group did not disembark until after 10AM! We had a car waiting, very little traffic, and the infamous LAX security lines were moving quickly so we just squeaked in on our flight.

 

That being said, I will be scheduling our next flight out at 1:00, just in case. At least there is really good people watching at that airport if you have to wait around for your flight. Also, have a pre-arranged ride as there were not a lot of taxis in the area.

 

 

What time did you tell the car to be at the docks to pick you up?

[karfest]

We had the car arranged for 9:30. I was figuring 1/2 hour to the airport and was allowing plenty of time for security. (LAX recommends to arrive 2 hours before flight time) When it was obvious that we wouldn't be off the ship by then, we called xpress, they gave us the drivers cell number. He was cool with just waiting for us. We called him as we were racing off the ship- hubby thinks it was about 10:45- I lost track as I was already trying to figure out connections if we missed this flight!

 

Again, under normal circumstances, a noon flight gives you plenty of time. If your sister knows her way around you should have no problem- unless you have issues like we did. It's a gamble that would probably pay off (early flight) but be prepared just in case!

[GayleErmer]

Back in March, returning from our Diamond Princess cruise, we had a United flight scheduled for 11:20 am. The Diamond Princess arrived in San Pedro at 6:00 am. We were in the first group to disembark from the ship (Red 1 tags, which we requested from the purser's desk earlier in the week due to our early flight) at 8:00 am. We used the Supershuttle van service from San Pedro to LAX ($33 one way for two people). You can make reservations for the shuttle on-line, but since we were off the ship so early, there were plenty of vans waiting. We were dropped off at the United terminal at about 9:00 am. Checked in immediately (no lines), but then waited a little over a half hour in line at the security check point to get to our gate. Still had plenty of time to make our flight. So, if everything goes as planned, the timing is okay. But, having said that, I'm not sure I would schedule such an early flight again. There is a lost of stress involved in worrying about whether you're going to make it or not, and its not the nicest way to finish up a vacation. Incidentally, we shared a van with a family who scheduled a 10:25 flight out of LAX on Southwest - now that's cutting it close!

 

Gayle

[cactusrose]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I have a Southwest flight scheduled for 12:00 but am thinking about changing it to 1:25. The nice thing about Southwest is there is no penalty for cancelling a flight. They will credit you with the money and you can apply it on a future flight. I use them enough that this wouldn't be a problem. So, I need to make the decission by August 5th to cancel and rebook to get the super rates they are offering right now. If the ship was still docking at 6:00 AM instead of 7:00, I probably wouldn't be concerned.

 

It sounds like as long as I'm off the ship by 9:00 AM, I should be in good shape. But if something goes wrong, I will have to take a later flight anyway. Hummmmm. I think I'll ponder this for a few more days.

[cactusrose]

Here's what I did. Since Southwest has no penalty of canceling, I went ahead and booked a second return time. Now I have both 12:00 and 1:25. I can cancel whichever one I don't use and have the funds credited to my Ticketless Travel Funds account to use in the future. So I think I'm covered.