Touring Los Angeles and Hollywood on a Princess Cruises’ Excursion from Long Beach

by Janis on November 5, 2014

During my recent 7-day California Coastal cruise on the Star Princess, I booked a shore excursion through Princess Cruises to tour Los Angeles and Hollywood during the port call in Long Beach, California.

The tour, which cost $69 per person, was focused on the Chinese Theatre, Olvera Street and the Los Angles Farmers Market.

After boarding our coach and driving from Long Beach, we stopped at Olvera Street in the oldest part of downtown Los Angeles. The city was founded in 1781 by Spanish settlers just southeast of here near the Los Angeles River. The town was named El Pueblo de Nuestra Seí±ora Reina de los íngeles as the marker in the photo above indicates.

We had about 30 minutes to walk around this historic area which today is mainly a pedestrian alley with both indoor and outdoor shops.

Back on the bus, our tour guide pointed out various sites in downtown Los Angeles before we headed to Hollywood.

Once at Hollywood Boulevard, we got off the bus for about an hour to walk around. Our guide first pointed out key sites, and then we had time to explore on our own.

First, we got a good photo-op view of the Hollywood sign.

We could walk along part of the 1.3 mile long Hollywood Walk of Fame, and find our favorite “stars” among the more than 2,500 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

We got to view the outside of the TCL Chinese Theatre, the most sought-after theater for movie premieres.

Most fun here is to find the hand prints, foot prints and signatures of your favorite stars in the concrete slabs in front of the theater. There are more than 200 different ones.

Gregory Peck’s was one was another favorite of mine.

Back to the bus, our next stop was at the Los Angeles Farmers Market. Here we had more than an hour to find lunch among the hundreds of restaurants, shops and food stalls.

I chose the Banana Leaf restaurant that features Malay and Singaporean cuisine.

Back on the bus once again, we headed to the famous shopping district of Rodeo Drive. This was a view from the bus, as this tour does not stop here.

Finally, we headed back to the freeway to the Port of Long Beach. This was a good day to do a tour as Long Beach is the first port of entry on the California Coastal cruise itinerary after Ensenada, Mexico. Since the ship is re-entering the United States, everyone on the ship must get off and clear customs. With a ship of 2,600 people, that can be a long wait if you aren’t planning to go anywhere.

Another option in Long Beach is to tour the Queen Mary.

After a long day of bus riding around Los Angeles, I was ready to head back to the comfort of the Star Princess.

This shore excursion was detailed and reasonably priced, and gave a good overview of the highlights of Los Angeles and Hollywood. It is, however, a lot of time riding on a bus, and viewing sites from the bus, or standing outside of them.

Have you visited Long Beach via a cruise ship? What did you enjoy doing while in port? Please share in comments below.

Are in considering a cruise on Princess? Check out these other posts on my recent California Coastal Cruise on the Star Princess:

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