Catalina, Disneyland and the LA Sights Around a Cruise: Rent a Car or Skip It?

Two things move any row of that table. The first is head count: a rental that’s a bargain for four is a poor deal for one person — who should price a tour or the train first.

The second is the calendar. The San Pedro branches are closed on Sundays, and a Sunday drop-off there won’t work.

Either way, don’t rent a car just to park it in a $47-a-night hotel garage.

Catalina is the one plan where thinking about a car gets you nowhere — the island has none to rent, and no car ferry serves it. That settles it.

Sail from the World Cruise Center and Berth 95 is about a quarter mile off in a straight line, so a Catalina day around the cruise costs a ticket, not a car.

Long Beach changes the picture a little. Catalina Express’s terminal there is on Golden Shore, about 2 miles by road from the Carnival terminal, too far to walk with luggage. Budget for a ride, not a rental.

Start with the three where a car just adds hassle.

The Queen Mary sits beside the Long Beach terminal, the Aquarium of the Pacific is downtown, and the Battleship Iowa is in San Pedro near the World Cruise Center. A ride covers all three — though the Iowa keeps two closed days a week, so check it first.

The Getty, Griffith Observatory and Universal are another matter. At 30 to 35 miles out, the drive alone runs 44 to 47 minutes each way with no traffic — pick one or two, not all three.

Viator sells a Los Angeles city tour from both cruise terminals for $159 a person and up — so the price multiplies with your group. It runs 7 to 8 hours from a 9 AM pickup, and you’re either back at the ship by 5 PM or dropped at LAX at 4 to 4:30.

Norwegian’s LA tours that end at the airport are $99.99 an adult for about 5 hours — and only for domestic flights after 5 PM or international ones after 6. Royal Caribbean’s airport-transfer excursion pages both read “no longer available”, so skip them.

Set any tour’s price beside the rental you’d split before you decide, after multiplying the tour by your head count.

You can reach Disneyland without a car: Amtrak or Metrolink runs to ARTIC, and an ART bus takes about 30 minutes from there. The OCTA 50 bus runs from Long Beach to the resort but stops downtown, short of the terminals.

For two or more of you the car looks like the simpler plan — and the next section puts a price on it.

On your own, price the train and bus against the car before you decide.

Price the bigger car at $60 a day and one day comes to about $114 with parking. That covers the whole car — roughly $29 each at four people.

The Disneyland Express lists $135 each way — and per person or per car, the car undercuts it at these assumptions. Its page doesn’t say which.

For two of you the same day is about $104 at $50 a day — and a second day adds little beyond the daily rate.

Most of the work in a Disneyland day is the pickup and the return, not the drive.

If the timeline lands on a Sunday, work backward from the 2 PM close.

Search downtown Long Beach on Discover Cars, or LAX if that’s where you land, and read the pickup and return hours before you look at the price. A cheap car that’s closed when you bring it back isn’t cheap.

Buy Disneyland tickets on Disney’s own site for your date, and reserve the Getty’s free timed entry ahead if it’s on your list.