Port guide: Los Angeles, USA

Venice Beach, LA.Credit: Getty Images

Welcome to Los Angeles: capital of consumerism, city of freeways and fashionistas, home to movie wannabes and Hollywood stars.

Who goes there

Los Angeles is the gateway to the Mexican Riviera, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the South Pacific and Asia. Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean home-port ships here. Other regulars include Celebrity, MSC, Oceania, Regent Seven and Viking. In 2023, 219 cruise ships visited, and the port processed more than 1.3 million passengers. Note that Carnival has exclusive use of separate Long Beach Cruise Terminal.

Sail on in

Thanks to cinema and television, we all have a picture of this city in our minds – but you won’t get glamour on an approach by sea. Los Angeles port is at San Pedro, 30 kilometres south of downtown, and features vast shipping terminals along a huge stretch of coastline, which provides an industrial rather than romantic arrival in California.

Berth rites

Not much to be said about the World Cruise Centre. It processes you, sometimes slowly, and is unrelieved by distractions. Shuttles take you to the ships. If you have time to fill, Los Angeles Maritime Museum and the Battleship USS Iowa Museum are close to the terminal. As often in America, public transportation is convoluted, so best rely on cruise transfers, taxis or the airport’s LAX Cruise Shuttle.

Before and after

Many ships call into Los Angeles for the start or completion of a cruise, so consider a stopover, as you won’t otherwise see much. Hard to resist one of the survivors of Hollywood’s golden age, the Beverly Hills Hotel and its iconic swimming pool in which Marilyn Monroe, Faye Dunaway and Johnny Weissmuller (aka Tarzan) once splashed.

Going ashore

Pink mansions, stylish boutiques, palm trees, rollerblading blondes and strutting superstars: thanks to movies and TV, Los Angeles blurs reality with fantasy. Hit Hollywood for the Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and movie-memorabilia stores. Los Angeles does however have its serious cultural side, such as the architecturally spectacular Walt Disney Concert Hall, home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and world-class museums such as the Getty Centre and LACMA.

Don’t miss

If you’ve been before and seen the sights, or would rather just have a day’s fun in what is mostly a sprawling, unattractive city, then head straight to Universal Studios Hollywood. This popular theme park has animated shows and simulations of everything from an earthquake to an attack by Jaws and a car chase from the Fast & Furious franchise, as well as behind-the-scenes tours of movie lots.

Get active

You aren’t going to trek into Los Angeles for a workout, but you can paddleboard and windsurf in San Pedro near the cruise terminal, or head to Cabrillo Beach for a walk or swim. There are several public golf courses nearby.

Retail therapy

Downtown holds no interest to tourists, but this is where savvy locals look for bargains in the Fashion District, Chinatown and Olvera Street, which sells just about everything made in Latin America. Pedestrian-friendly West Hollywood has good art galleries and shops; down-at-the-heel Melrose Avenue is great for eclectic fashion boutiques. In Beverly Hills, swanky designer shops on Rodeo Drive will give your platinum credit card a workout; Wilshire Boulevard has posh department stores.

Further afield

Some cruise lines offer tours to relaxed, beachside Santa Monica and Malibu. Stroll much-filmed Santa Monica Pier with its Ferris wheel, aquarium and rollercoaster and you’ll have an odd feeling of deja vu thanks to movie scenes. As you head along the coast to Malibu you pass the multimillion-dollar beachfront “cottages” of movie directors and actors, and can admire the bold and beautiful strutting on the beachfront.