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JustJoeyTravels Guide: Atlantis LA-Mexico 2026 Cruise
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Flying into Los Angeles (Pre-Cruise)
For those from outside of SoCal
Flight & hotel planning is included free if you booked your cruise with JustJoeyTravels!
Even if you want to make the booking by yourself, I’ll research and plan out the best flights and hotel options specifically for you. 👦🏻
🛄 Airports
LAX - Los Angeles International Airport
The massive and default airport for LA. You’ll easily find non-stop flights to LAX from every major city. LAX is centrally located: about 20 miles to the cruise port and 13 miles to West Hollywood. Traffic can get gnarly, especially when getting dropped off for departures.
LGB - Long Beach Airport
LGB is the closest airport to the cruise port (~15 miles) with way less traffic than LAX. The best choice if you find a convenient flight here and want to stay near the port before the cruise.
BUR - Hollywood Burbank Airport
A good option if you plan on staying in West Hollywood or the surrounding area before the cruise, assuming there’s a convenient flight here from home.
✈️ Booking Flights
Book whichever flights you want, but heed these warnings:
Always fly in the day before the cruise (or earlier)
Touching down the morning of the cruise means that flight delays or cancelations can cause you to miss the ship! ☠️
Avoid morning flights the day the cruise ends, especially out of LAX
Flights before 9 AM are not happening. Mid or Late morning flights can work if you get off the ship early.
Traffic in the LAX terminal area is usually horrendous (speaking as an LA local). Even if you don’t hit traffic going to LAX (that’s a big if), you could be stuck in the terminal area for 20 minutes, depending on which terminal your flight departs from.
An exception for flying out of Long Beach Airport (LGB), which is closer to the port and doesn’t have the terminal traffic issues of LAX.
🛌 Where to Stay
Let Joey find the best hotel for YOU
No, I’m not gonna just send you to a Courtyard Marriott when there are dozens of great hotels here 🤣 Start your vacation right by staying in a hotel that’s best for you. I’ll curate the top options for your preferences and travel schedule.
This is a free service if you booked this cruise with JustJoeyTravels or if you make your hotel booking with JustJoeyTravels.
Torrance
Roughly halfway between LAX and the cruise port, Torrance is a suburb that’s about a 30 minutes drive to both. This area is my top recommendation for those flying into LAX the day before who want to have the most hassle-free stay before their cruise. There’s a good selection of hotels that are close to shopping and dining.
Long Beach
If you want something close to the port but a bit more vibrant than Torrance, Long Beach is the ticket. There’s more entertainment and attractions here and Downtown Long Beach is highly walkable. If you’re flying into LGA, there’s no real reason to stay elsewhere, unless you want to explore other parts of LA.
LAX Airport
Staying closer to LAX can be a good option for those flying in late the night before the cruise and just want to get to the hotel ASAP.
West Hollywood
As one of the biggest gay neighborhoods in the US, there’s a ton to see and do here. All the gay bars and clubs, the iconic Sunset Boulevard, the famous Runyon Canyon up in the Hollywood Hills...and that’s just scratching the surface!
Just keep in mind that WeHo is over 30 miles away from the cruise port: if traffic is bad, it can take over an hour.
🚕 Getting Around LA
I recommend one of the major ride-services such as Uber or Lyft. From north of LAX up to the Hollywood Hills, driverless Waymo rides are also a good option (you can’t have Waymo pick you up from the airport yet, though).
LA actually has a pretty big metro subway system. The problem is that LA is so big that the subway doesn’t serve a lot of areas.
© 2026 JustJoeyTravels LLC
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