Help please—One day at Universal before Carnival Cruise

[sophies*mom]

Hello!
My hubby and I are going on a Carnival Cruise out of Long Beach from February 25th-March 1st, which is Monday thru Friday.
I most definitely want to do one day at Universal, and all the advice regarding cruising says to come in at least a day before your cruise, so I figured that would work out nicely to do a day before we board the ship.
We are first time cruisers as well as newbies to Universal. I can plan a trip to Disneyland in my sleep but USH is new territory and I don’t have a clue where to start.
Our cruise departs at 6:30pm on Monday the 25th, not sure what our boarding time is yet though. I’m trying to think of ways to where we don’t have to spend multiple nights in a hotel just to make one day in the park work out, but I don’t even know where to start.
Any advice or thoughts/ideas appreciated! Our main focus will be Wizarding a World of Harry Potter so if we don’t get everything in, I’m okay with it as long as we get plenty of time there.

 

[Jaina]

If Harry Potter is your goal, I'm sure you'll have no problem fitting it all in. I would just go there first. I went with my three oldest kids in January, and we had a great time. It wasn't crowded, and we rode HPatFJ probably 6 times that day, often with a walk-on line. Make sure whatever bag you take with you is smallish (I had a small backpack) so you can stuff it in the lockers that are required, or you have to pay for a bigger locker. We didn't see any shows, but rode all the rides we wanted to at least once, and some several times. We got absolutely soaked on Jurassic Park, so if that's an issue for you, you might want to take a poncho with you.

This is some of the best advice I got about buying tickets:

Buy your tickets through your work. You will get early entry as it is very likely that your work as access to Universal Studios Hollywood's 3rd party ticket store. All tickets purchased from there get early entry.


If you want to make absolutely certain that you get early entry at the $95.00 rate go here:

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201701/5420/


Scroll down until you see Universal Studios Hollywood and click on Recreation Connection.

That link will take you to Universals 3rd party ticket store.

We bought them online, and didn't ask, but went to the early-entry line and had no problem getting in early buying from there. (This was in January, again) If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer just from our experience earlier this year!

 

[StageTek]

Universal is easy to plan because it's so much smaller than Disneyland. You can see everything in Wizarding World in a few hours. It's feasible to see what you want on your departure day. Check into a local hotel on the 24th - Monday morning check your luggage at Bell Service and get into the park first thing in the morning. You'll have seen all of Wizarding World (including breakfast and lunch at Three Broomsticks) by 1PM. You could even get in the Tram Tour. Skip lunch and you'll be finished by Noon.

Another possibility is check into a local hotel on the 24th early and spend Sunday in the park. You'll see everything. Then head to Long Beach Monday morning.

 

[oakleycat]

You can definitely do it in one day before your cruise. If you really want to do only one hotel night, do like StageTek says and go either Sunday or Monday. You can fly in Sunday morning and hit the parks that day (my preference, we've done this in Orlando before a cruise several times) or do Monday before heading to Long Beach but that will be more rushed.

 

[ExcitedMama]

HP is easy to do if you get there early. Ride a couple of times before the lines get long. If you are staying for the day leave when it gets crowded and come back again at the end of the afternoon. Just make sure you allow a ton of time for driving in LA. There’s no way you can go back and forth from USH to LB. That’s where I think you have to figure out what you want to do.

 

[agamble]

We just did a Carnival cruise in March this year, basically the week after you're going next year. We have Disneyland APs right now so we did that the afternoon before and morning of our departure.

Some thoughts. If possible I would go to USH on the Sunday. Traffic is bad in LA and it will take you 60 to 90 minutes to get to Long Beach from that part of a LA. You get to pick your arrival time for the cruise and it is pretty quick since times are spread out. Big improvement on how it used to be I've heard. But the latest check in time is around 3. With a 90 min drive you wouldn't have much time at Universal, especially if they didn't open until 10. So go on Sunday not Monday.

Whether you should do 2 hotel nights or not is up to you. Factor in how long it will take you to get to the park. Are you flying or driving? Can you be there at opening or will you get a late start if you don't have a hotel the night before. Vacations are expensive. You spend all this money. Will your vacation be a bit easier, more relaxed, and fun if you spend the extra $150 for another night at a hotel? Just things to consider.

Also, don't borrow a towel from the pool area on the cruise ship. Apparently they charge you. They give you a towel to use at the pool. I had mine with me but it was quite wet. So I borrowed a towel near the hot tub. Charged me about $10 to use a towel I gave back in less than 2 minutes. No sign or information letting you know you'll be charged. SMH.