Since 2003, Carnival Cruise Lines has been spreading good cheer among Long Beach and LA area residents and visitors by offering year-round cruise itineraries out of the Long Beach cruise terminal. For locals, the proximity of Carnival and the ease of embarking out of Long Beach provide a simple and complete vacation getaway–with no airfare required. For everyone else, Carnival’s place in Long Beach offers a perfect excuse to explore all the urban waterfront city has to offer.

If you haven’t taken a Carnival Cruise out of Long Beach, make 2008 the year. Here’s everything you need to know to find your way to an ideal cruise vacation. Go here to request a personalized, monthly update on Long Beach cruise fares by email.

Itineraries

Carnival offers three-day, four-day and seven-day itineraries out of Long Beach year-round. Three-day cruises run Friday to Monday morning, departing late in the afternoon and return early Monday morning. The ship docks in Ensenada on Saturday and spends all day Sunday on the ocean.

The four-day cruise leaves Long Beach Monday afternoon and returns Friday, stopping at Ensenada and Catalina Island in between. Both the three-day and four-day itineraries are aboard Carnival’s Paradise, which offers interior, ocean view and suite cabins.

Every Sunday, the Carnival Pride embarks on a seven-day itinerary that includes a day in each Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The Pride has interior cabins, ocean view cabins, balcony cabins and suites. Beginning on March 20, 2009, the Carnival Splendor will be taking over this route for the Pride; the Splendor is the newest and most extravagant Fun Ship in Carnival’s fleet.

Getting there

If you’re flying, arrange your flight into either LAX or Long Beach Airport. Both airports have plenty of rental cars available. The drive from LAX to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal is about 23 miles (see map here),
while Long Beach Airport is about 12 miles (see map here)

Many area hotels offer free shuttle service to the terminal. If you are staying in Downtown Long Beach, you can also hop aboard the Passport roundabout to get there–and that’s free too. There’s also the Long Beach Yellow Cab and its stylish, fun London cab.

And of course, don’t forget to pick up a Discovery Map! You’ll need it to navigate your way around Long Beach before and after your cruise vacation. Email us to get one ahead of time, or pick one up at the Long Beach Airport, the Visitor’s Center at The Pike, or your hotel.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 12:39 pm by Catherine Brock and is filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.