Los Angeles Cruise Port in San Pedro

Los Angeles’ cruise ships dock at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, the harbor district at the city’s southern tip, under the green span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge; three to five minutes’ walk south along the waterfront, the battleship Iowa is moored as a museum, and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum fills a 1941 ferry building further along.

The World Cruise Center under the Vincent Thomas Bridge

The World Cruise Center stands on the main channel of the Port of Los Angeles, at the western end of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, with container cranes working the terminals across the water. Berth 92 handles Norwegian and Royal Caribbean, and Berth 93 Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Cunard and several smaller lines; Carnival sails from its own terminal across the harbor in Long Beach, beside the Queen Mary. The terminal itself has no bag storage, so bags leave with their owners. Harbor Boulevard runs along the waterfront outside, with a promenade on the water side heading south past the battleship toward downtown San Pedro.

The battleship Iowa, moored three minutes from the gangway

The USS Iowa is moored at Berth 87, three to five minutes’ walk south of the cruise terminal along the waterfront. Launched in 1942, she served in the Second World War, carried President Franklin Roosevelt across the Atlantic on his way to the Tehran conference in 1943, and went back into service in Korea and through the Cold War, before opening here as a museum in 2012. The self-guided tour climbs through the decks past the 16-inch gun turrets, the bridge and the crew’s quarters, and takes two to three hours.

The ship opens Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, and closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A battleship ticket is $29.95 for an adult; cruise passengers who show their itinerary get a discount on tickets bought in person at the ship, and lockers on site take bags during the visit.

The Los Angeles Maritime Museum in the 1941 ferry building

The Los Angeles Maritime Museum stands at the foot of Sixth Street on Harbor Boulevard, about 20 minutes’ walk south of the cruise terminal along the waterfront promenade. Its building is the old San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building, built in 1941 in the Streamline Moderne style, with curved corners and a tower over the entrance, from which ferries once crossed the channel to Terminal Island before the bridge opened in 1963. Inside are ship models, diving gear and the history of the harbor; it opens Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5pm, for a suggested donation of $5.

Bags at the San Pedro cruise terminal

With no storage at the World Cruise Center, bags travel with their owners off the ship. The battleship’s lockers cover a visit there, and for a longer day, a luggage storage point elsewhere in Los Angeles is the alternative, with the bags dropped on the way into the city and collected on the way to the airport.

Los Angeles International Airport is 45 to 60 minutes by road

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is about 20 miles north of the World Cruise Center, 45 to 60 minutes by road and longer in rush hour, so allow at least three hours between leaving the battleship and a domestic departure. A taxi costs roughly $70 to $100, rideshares are similar, and shared shuttle companies run between the terminal and the airport. Public transit isn’t practical with bags: Metro’s J Line bus links San Pedro with downtown Los Angeles in the daytime, but reaching the airport from it takes several changes.