Making the plane

[Musky Ike]

We are schdeuled on the Golden Princess, arrival at LA on Nov. 3 is supposed to be at 7:00 am. I booked a return flight out of LAX at 11:55am The princess tells me that they suggest flights after 12:30pm and disembarkation can take 4 hours! What are our chances of missing the plane?

[CruisinChris]

Arrival on a cruise ship means arrival of the ship. The ship must clear immigration and then begin offloading luggage and then passengers. It can take a while for all of this to occur. You should also factor in traffic to the airport, and time for the horrible security at LAX. Your chances are fair of making your flight.

[spongerob]

The Princess reps are always going to give you very conservative information. It sometimes happens that the ship is late coming in, or there might be delays with immigration and/or customs inspection, so they leave themselves some wiggle room.

 

Assuming the ship is on time, there are two routes you can follow. One is to use self-disembarkation, where you carry all your luggage off the ship yourself. You have to sign up for this. The other thing you can do is get into one of the early disembarkation groups by submitting your flight information to the ship's staff using the form provided on board. You'll probably also want to arrange your own transportation.

 

In most cases you can easily make flights a little earlier than Princess recommends, but you also have to remember that in doing so, you are assuming some amount of risk of delay that Princess will probably not take any responsibility for.

[seahorse]

I would not take the chance.

[spongerob]

I would not take the chance.

Is that for Los Angeles in particular, or just in general?

[sackman]

If my memory serves, the LA port is not that far away from LAX. Maybe 10 miles or so. I think you'll be fine.

[seahorse]

Is that for Los Angeles in particular, or just in general?

In general. Most cruise lines do not want you to make air ressies until 1 or after. I have seen too many glitches in arrivals of ships........from fog to immigration and don`t get me started on TSA security lines at ANY airport:mad:

[cherylandtk]

If my memory serves, the LA port is not that far away from LAX. Maybe 10 miles or so. I think you'll be fine.

its more like 20 miles, but depending on traffic that can take up to an hour and half to drive. Typical time would be about 30-45 minutes.

 

If OP takes the flight, be sure to arrange private shuttle service to LAX or take a taxi. Don't wait around on the Princess buses.

[carqueen1]

I was stuck in LA traffic in Feb trying to make a 12:30 flight and barely made it due to traffic and LAX security...Don't risk it!! LA can be a mess!!:D

[Musky Ike]

Thanks for the information. It would cost me $200.00 to change the departure to a later flight. If I don't, I guess that we could be spending some time in LAX waiting for the next available. Two of the last three flights I've been one have been delayed but this one is bound to be on time.;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

As someone who spent plenty of time on the ol' 405 and has seen it bumper-to-bumper even on a Saturday (which is the day of the week you're talking about), I would recommend having a good back-up plan. Even if the ship starts disembarkation on time (which isn't a guarantee ever) and you manage to get self-disembarkation or get into the first group to get off the ship, you still need to get to LAX and still need to get thru security there.

[spongerob]

In general. Most cruise lines do not want you to make air ressies until 1 or after. I have seen too many glitches in arrivals of ships........from fog to immigration and don`t get me started on TSA security lines at ANY airport:mad:

Thanks, Ann. You make a good point. Most of the time I book a little later for exactly those reasons. It is possible to book earlier flights, and we've done it, you just have to be aware of the potential problems that you mentioned. The way things are going these days, I'm more inclined to follow your advice even in places where we have been successful getting earlier flights.

 

The insufferable thing is, I saw a report on the news this morning that a new air traffic control system, which has been badly needed for years, will not be in place until 2020. Your tax dollars at work...:mad:

[Lady Librarian]

I'm with many of the other posters, don't chance it. Take a later flight.

[greatam]

Thanks for the information. It would cost me $200.00 to change the departure to a later flight. If I don't, I guess that we could be spending some time in LAX waiting for the next available. Two of the last three flights I've been one have been delayed but this one is bound to be on time.;)

 

If you miss your flight and do not notify the airline in advance, you ticket will be canceled. Depending on the goodwill of the airline, you may still be charged a change fee to get on a later flight. Technically, the airlines (other than a couple) can make you purchase a "walk up fare", which is really expensive, IF you miss your originally scheduled flight.

 

My guess-you have a 70% chance of making the flight. But you will have to arrange your own transportation so it is there IN ADVANCE of your departure from the ship, KNOW your way around the airport, use online check in on the ship, outside baggage drop off. Then go direct to security. If you stand in line inside to check in, you will have very little chance of making the flight.

[mytime53]

Your destination and the airline might make a difference in the advice, since you have already bought the tickets and would have to pay $200 to make changes. If there are plenty of flights later in the day (enough the planes aren't usually full) and you are on an airline that allows it, you can take your chances and just catch a later flight. Check with your airline on what their policy is for missed flights due to other transportation problems.

[ggprincess2004]

You would be fine if your port was FLL, but in LA you may be cutting it a bit close. The port itself is not consumer friendly IMHO, and the distance to the airport is not insignificant, esp. given notorious LA traffic. Security at LAX can be tough. If you can possibly book a later flight so you can relax about it, that would be the way to go.

[seahorse]

Thanks for the information. It would cost me $200.00 to change the departure to a later flight. If I don't, I guess that we could be spending some time in LAX waiting for the next available. Two of the last three flights I've been one have been delayed but this one is bound to be on time.;)

 

I would pay the $200.00. Too much stress at the end of a vacation.

[vacapam]

Just flew through LAX 2 weeks ago. Traffic + security = nightmare. Can't agree more that you should have a backup plan. Keep the airline phone number on speed dial so that you can call from the end of security for more options - that what we had to do.