8 hour drive to Enchantment 3 nt cruise

Hi guys need advice.

 

My husband and I have sailed carnival twice and now we want to try RC.

 

We have limited time and a child to leave with grandma so a short cruise is our only option.

 

We could sail carnival 4 days and have 3-6 hour travel time spending on whether we chose Charleston Ectasy or Jacksonville Elation. (Carnival offers Thursday -Monday 4 night cruises letting us only take 3 vacation days at work!)

 

To get to RC Enchantment, we would have to choose the 3 night cruise, and we are looking at an 8 hour drive. (RC 4 night cruise would require an entire weeks worth of time off off work since all of theirs are Monday to Friday- so that is out for us. :/)Is it worth it to drive 8 hours and cut one night short just to sail RC??? Any words of wisdom??

Any words of wisdom??

 

 

Going in with proper expectations helps. This will be our 4th d cruise doing the same thing. Except we drive 14-16 hours to Port Canaveral or Tampa.

 

We enjoy each other's company after 37 years of marriage and enjoy the road trip. We also leave plenty of time both ways so we are still rested going back to work. For us, 4 day cruises starting on Monday work well. We get up early Saturday morning and drive 80% of the way, stopping a few hours away from port and having a nice dinner and usually hotel pool swim. The next day we get up early to arrive in port around noon. I also find it enjoyable to go the a port restaurant on Sunday and watch those ships leave. Our 4 day gets back on Friday morning and if weather permits we drive the entire way back getting home just after midnight on Saturday and having Saturday and Sunday to rest up. If you like, look at my profile and find the threads I've created and read my last two road trip reviews. Enchantment coming up and I am looking forward to doing it again.

 

 

Last year's planned 4 days on Majesty became a 3 day because of Huricane Irma. but we still had a great time.

Hi guys need advice.

 

My husband and I have sailed carnival twice and now we want to try RC.

 

We have limited time and a child to leave with grandma so a short cruise is our only option.

 

We could sail carnival 4 days and have 3-6 hour travel time spending on whether we chose Charleston Ectasy or Jacksonville Elation. (Carnival offers Thursday -Monday 4 night cruises letting us only take 3 vacation days at work!)

 

To get to RC Enchantment, we would have to choose the 3 night cruise, and we are looking at an 8 hour drive. (RC 4 night cruise would require an entire weeks worth of time off off work since all of theirs are Monday to Friday- so that is out for us. :/)Is it worth it to drive 8 hours and cut one night short just to sail RC??? Any words of wisdom??

I would not drive 8 hours (16 hours both ways?) for only a 3-night cruise on one of RC's older ships. I'd wait until you could spend a week on an Oasis class ship.

I would take the shorter drive. We have sailed RCCL, CCL, and NCL. IMO, there is little difference between them, especially for a short cruise.

I agree with Bob.

Would not drive 8 hours for a 3 day cruise unless it was an Oasis ship. (and I was out for 7 days!)

We’re your previous Carnival cruises short ones one those ships? If you have previously enjoyed short cruises on those ships, I’d say stick with what works, especially since it is a shorter drive for a longer cruise.

 

A three night weekend cruise is apt to to be a party cruise on any cruiseline.

That 3 night on enchantment won’t give you the feel of a full length Royal Caribbean cruise. So, I’d suggest you take the easy cruise for this short cruise, and try another cruiseline sometime when you can spend a whole weeks worth of vacation days.

I have sailed on Ecstasy 4 time and Majesty 3 times and always have had a good time even though they are both older and smaller ships. I would never drive 8 or more hours for the 3 night cruise on Majesty. I haven't sailed on Elation so can't comment on that ship but i wouldn't hesitate to do a 4 night on Ecstasy.

This sounds silly ....but it has seemed to me that the ship ride out from Jax was so much rockier than sailing from PC. So in my head I was thinking id have a less rocky ride If we went all the way to PC. Is this just completely untrue??

This sounds silly ....but it has seemed to me that the ship ride out from Jax was so much rockier than sailing from PC. So in my head I was thinking id have a less rocky ride If we went all the way to PC. Is this just completely untrue??

Pretty much completely untrue. You could have a smooth or rocky ride from any port. There's no guarantee that PC would be any more or less rocky.

 

There's no way I'd drive 8 hours for a 3 night cruise on any ship.

I would not drive 8 hours (16 hours both ways?) for only a 3-night cruise on one of RC's older ships. I'd wait until you could spend a week on an Oasis class ship.

 

I really don't understand why the class of ship would make a big difference. I will admit that I have not sailed an Oasis class ship, but we love Freedom class and several others that we enjoy. Why does everyone think Oasis is the be all/end all of cruise ships?

I would go with the shorter drive and longer cruise. Less vacation time

Edited June 24, 2018 by molly361

8 hour drive for a 3 day cruise. No Way.

 

I wouldn't even bother with a 3 day cruise if that is all I could do. Wait until you can get more time.

 

Also, I wouldn't drive 8 hours for a 7 day cruise anymore...

I would opt for the longer 4 day cruise and the shorter drive time. We have cruised on Carnivals short cruises (4 or 5 days) and have always enjoyed them. I would not cruise on any smaller ship during Spring Break though😄😄

8 hour drive for a 3 day cruise. No Way.

 

I wouldn't even bother with a 3 day cruise if that is all I could do. Wait until you can get more time.

 

Also, I wouldn't drive 8 hours for a 7 day cruise anymore...

 

 

I would have to disagree with skipping a short cruise. Not everyone can take over one week off of work and a 3 day holiday on a ship for total relaxation sounds like more fun than staying home😄

No...3 days is not long enough to make that sort of trip...16 hours on the road....nope. Take the one that leaves 3 hours from you...now THAT's doable!

Going in with proper expectations helps. This will be our 4th d cruise doing the same thing. Except we drive 14-16 hours to Port Canaveral or Tampa.

 

We enjoy each other's company after 37 years of marriage and enjoy the road trip. We also leave plenty of time both ways so we are still rested going back to work. For us, 4 day cruises starting on Monday work well. We get up early Saturday morning and drive 80% of the way, stopping a few hours away from port and having a nice dinner and usually hotel pool swim. The next day we get up early to arrive in port around noon. I also find it enjoyable to go the a port restaurant on Sunday and watch those ships leave. Our 4 day gets back on Friday morning and if weather permits we drive the entire way back getting home just after midnight on Saturday and having Saturday and Sunday to rest up. If you like, look at my profile and find the threads I've created and read my last two road trip reviews. Enchantment coming up and I am looking forward to doing it again.

 

 

Last year's planned 4 days on Majesty became a 3 day because of Huricane Irma. but we still had a great time.

You were on the one cut short by Irma?

 

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I really don't understand why the class of ship would make a big difference. I will admit that I have not sailed an Oasis class ship, but we love Freedom class and several others that we enjoy. Why does everyone think Oasis is the be all/end all of cruise ships?

Cause she's awesome. You should give her a try

 

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Stick with Carnival! Longer cruise and shorter drive.

 

Hope you have a great time!

Well.....we are in your same situation. We only have a short window for a cruise this year (adults only) and we ended up choosing 3 day Enchantment. It is a 7 hour drive for us as well and we are platinum with Carnival so we may regret our choice but we haven't sailed with RCCL since 2006 so we wanted to change it up a bit. HOWEVER, if my husband had the xtra day to take a Thursday to Monday cruise we would have chosen the JAX cruise vs. driving that far for 3 days. We are leaving Thursday night and wont get to port canaveral until about 1:00 a.m. and then the long drive home.

I really don't understand why the class of ship would make a big difference. I will admit that I have not sailed an Oasis class ship, but we love Freedom class and several others that we enjoy. Why does everyone think Oasis is the be all/end all of cruise ships?

Because the OP was familiar with Carnival and was weighing the cost of the 8-hour drive to go on Enchantment to "experience" RC. Enchantment is not all that much different than the Carnival ships that have the shorter drive. Oasis would be much different.

Cause she's awesome. You should give her a try

 

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I agree 100%!!

 

And I am one who would not drive 8hrs for a 3 day cruise...

I agree 100%!!

 

And I am one who would not drive 8hrs for a 3 day cruise...

We didn't embrace the short cruise until I got transferred to Orlando. Even easier from CB

 

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I really don't understand why the class of ship would make a big difference. I will admit that I have not sailed an Oasis class ship, but we love Freedom class and several others that we enjoy. Why does everyone think Oasis is the be all/end all of cruise ships?

 

I amend my answer Rick, I include the Freedom Class in my response! It was a wonderful ship!

I would have to disagree with skipping a short cruise. Not everyone can take over one week off of work and a 3 day holiday on a ship for total relaxation sounds like more fun than staying home[emoji1]

I have to agree with this. I would drive 8hrs for 3great days of fun and relaxing. We are flying for a 4 day cruise. A lot think we're crazy but we weren't planning on any vacation but we were able to fit in a mini holiday. So if OP can drive instead of fly, even better.

 

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Why not fly?