Princess moves to Long Beach, CA???

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pmescala

Guest
It appears that the Carnival take over has taken another turn...According to yesterday's annoucement, Princess will no longer sail out of the Port of Los Angeles for Mexico begining in 2004; they will now sail out of Long Beach via the new Carnival terminal. Being a local, this move seems short-sided due to the lack of parking at the Long Beach terminal, and the longstanding relationship between Princess and Los Angeles. Has anyone else heard about this? Is this move only for the Diamond Princess, or will it impact the new Island Princess Hawaii departures as well? LA will sorely miss Princess...At least I will :)
 
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BurBunny

Guest
I understand it is only for the Diamond, and other departures will still be going from the Port of Los Angeles. Since the Long Beach terminal can only handle one ship a day, there are no current plans to put other Princess ships there. In fact, the press release had Dean Brown (Princess VP) reaffirming its relationship with the Port of Los Angeles.
 
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purplejc5

Guest
wow! We're going on the Diamond in March. First I heard of this. where can I find more info? Stupid question? We were going to fly into L.A., now would it be San Diego? Long Beach doesn't have a major airport, right?
Thanks for answering
Jacque
 
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ajdegumbia

Guest
Yes, in fact Long Beach does have a great little airport. Not a whole lot of flights but if Jet Blue serves your city I would highly recommend. Use to live in Southern Cal and loved using LB airport. Quick in and out location. Was actually built because McDonnell Douglas has the aircraft plant there.

In regards to other airports, LAX or Orange County. LAX would be closer, except depending upon your arrival time, LA freeway traffic lives up to its reputation.
(Been there, done that, got the t-shirt) you will just need alot of patience.

Have a great cruise.
 
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pmescala

Guest
The Long Beach terminal is located adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles, realitively speaking. It's about 5 miles south of the San Pedro/Los Angeles cruise terminal (cross two bridges and your there). If you fly into LAX, you'll be fine. Long Beach's airport is great, if you can find an airline that flys into it from your city. Not much is out there on this terminal change, but suppose Princess will have a press release shortly. I understand from previous messages that this impacts the Diamond Princess only. The Long Beach terminal is a converted facility that used to house the Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose" aircraft museum. It's a large Dome structure located next to the historic Queen Mary, which must provide a nice backdrop when you depart from this terminal. However, the parking is limited and conjestion into the terminal can be problematic. The Carnival Pride will be departing from this facility as well, but on Sundays since there is room for only one ship at the terminal.
 
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cruiser106

Guest
It is not only the Diamond. We are taking the Star Princess 10/24/03 and we were told it will be sailing out of Long Beach. Does anyone know any good hotels in that area?
 
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pmescala

Guest
Since that is the case, there are several hotels that I recommend in the area. Some have direct views of the Queen Mary and the cruise ship terminal. The Hyatt Regency, Hilton, and Renissance Hotels are the best in Long Beach and are moments away from the terminal. The Queen Mary is also an option; part of its current operation functions as a hotel. This might give you a "jump start" on your cruise by staying on a former ocean liner, to later board a brand new one. It's also directly adjacent to the cruise terminal the Star will be departing from. Have fun!
 
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KDS

Guest
Thank God Princess is moving to Long Beach. San Pedro is such a dump. I for one am very glad to see the new Long Beach Passenger Ship Terminal. I have been wanting this for years. Star and Diamond will both sail from Long Beach. I hope Carnival can find room for a second berth.
 
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pmescala

Guest
It's unfortunate that some feel San Pedro/Port of LA is a "dump". As a proud resident of San Pedro, it's well known to us "locals" that recently the Port of LA has less to offer to the average tourist than Long Beach. It's true, LA Harbor is industrial, but after all, it's the buisest commercial port facility in the U.S. Long Beach has come a long way in terms of tourist-friendly venues, but as LA gets it's own waterfront/commerical/entertainment construction started later this year, I hope that we can compete with our nieghbors to the south. However, in my humble opinion, San Pedro is not a "dump", but it's also not the prettiest place to sail out of; that I can agree with. :)
 
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