How far are you willing to drive?

[MikeandAmy]

Ok the wife and I are looking at the EPIC in late February or early March, has some great last minute prices. But the airfare is almost $500.00 person, so if we drive to Miami its 12 hours each way.... Would you do it???? :confused:

[Relax@Sea]

I drive from Chicago to Miami sometimes straight thru 21-22 hrs usually 2 to 3 Cruises a year.

[cliffd64]

12 hours is very doable... We once drove 15 to Charleston for a NCL cruise...

[huskerc]

That's probably the edge of my price & distance ratio. You have to figure in gas and parking, so it's not like it's free to drive.

[MikeandAmy]

That's probably the edge of my price & distance ratio. You have to figure in gas and parking, so it's not like it's free to drive.

 

Especially with these gas prices, they are getting higher and higher, I know we would be ok going thru Alabama and Georgia but once we hit FL I am sure they sky rocket...

[MikeandAmy]

I drive from Chicago to Miami sometimes straight thru 21-22 hrs usually 2 to 3 Cruises a year.

 

 

That makes me feel somewhat better about the whole drive thing.... We are debating doing this or going to Vegas for a few days....

[vols_159]

Ok the wife and I are looking at the EPIC in late February or early March, has some great last minute prices. But the airfare is almost $500.00 person, so if we drive to Miami its 12 hours each way.... Would you do it???? :confused:

 

I have.. East tn to miami = 14 + hours... will do it again

[dasmonkey]

I sail a lot out of NOLA which is a cozy 3 hour drive for me.

 

Any further than that and I am getting on jet.

 

I don't like being tired when I get there and I don't want to be looking at a loooooong drive after I get off the ship.

[russianmom]

I would say 12 hours is my max limit as well.

 

I hate riding in the car but $1000 for airfare makes me cringe!

 

We are sailing out of NYC this year to avoid airfare

[SuiteCruiser]

I've driven a couple of times from Canada :)

 

I like driving though, so may not be like most. Our in-laws are in DC, and we drive that without blinking an eye.

 

I definitely would drive for that distance.

[huskerc]

Especially with these gas prices, they are getting higher and higher, I know we would be ok going thru Alabama and Georgia but once we hit FL I am sure they sky rocket...

We actually just drove from Indy, which is 18+ hours. And yes, straight through.

 

Factors were: we really wanted to go on that particular cruise, and we were coming back on Super Bowl weekend, so there was literally nothing in terms of flights back. The only flights we could get were before we would have even been off the ship and those were $900/ticket.

 

Gas prices in FL were a bit higher than elsewhere but nothing drastic.

[Ontario cruise duo]

I say go for it. We drove from southwestern Ontario in November, 2005 to Texas to catch a cruise (it was supposed to leave from New Orleans, and then Katrina happened, and we were planning on driving to New Orleans as well). DH, myself, sister and brother-in-law. Of course, we did not drive straight. Two night stopovers each way. Really enjoyed the scenery (and the weather was great as well).

[PeleNipsy]

We're driving from Michigan to Miami before!

[Ontario cruise duo]

Forgot to mention, we also did the Epic in November, 2010. You will love the ship. Lots to do once onboard, that`s for sure!!:D

[johnmpcny]

I would dive it, wife would with me. If kids are with us no she would not drive it. Each hour is like 10 with them Kidding she would still do it to cruise.

 

We do drive to NYC about 5 hours and that is easy. We are 1hr from syr and takes 5 hours to do who air port thing now with TSA.

 

So we drive I would do 8-10 easy to avoid flying.

[ZoneHPH]

Ok the wife and I are looking at the EPIC in late February or early March, has some great last minute prices. But the airfare is almost $500.00 person, so if we drive to Miami its 12 hours each way.... Would you do it???? :confused:

 

I have only ever flown to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale when sailing NCL. Haven't tried sailing the other itineraries with other departure ports. With the cost of airfare, it just makes sense to sail out of NYC until our DD is old enough to pack and lug her own baggage. Our last 5 cruises have been from the Big Apple. Our first goal is to get her potty trained :D.

 

I guess if you have the vacation time to drive (perhaps you are retired, or have an insane number of vacation days to burn) and the cost works in your favor...why not? (oops...sorry for the RCI reference...:eek:).

 

But when the ocean is calling you (oh man...is that TWO RCI commercials in my post...:eek::eek:), I guess you'll do what's best for you in the end. And given the popularity of the "disgusting" thread, you'll have to expect the unexpected, as well as plan for annual events.

 

In the end, all you really wanna do is Cruise Like A Norwegian! (There! I made up for it!) Happy planning! :D

[SuiteCruiser]

I wish I lived 12 hours from Miami, I'd be doing weekend cruises all the time :)

[che5904]

We would without thought if we had the extra time. Our problem is we do not have the extra time to add onto our vacation.

 

We used to drive to West Palm Beach every few years with 2 kids in tow. We had great little travelers

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Six hours is about our max. We are lucky to live 3 & 4 hours from NO and Galveston, but beyond that, I'm flying.

[Got Tequila?]

We seldom fly to cruise...........instead it's a 2 hour drive to Bangor for us followed by a 11 hour bus ride. :eek: We do it a few times a year, so we're used to it now.........and the time on the bus flies by quickly now. :)

[SuiteCruiser]

We would without thought if we had the extra time. Our problem is we do not have the extra time to add onto our vacation.

 

We used to drive to West Palm Beach every few years with 2 kids in tow. We had great little travelers

 

Us too, my last 2 drives to FL for cruises was just me and the kids because my husband had to work. We drove across Canada with the kids when they were 3, and drove to Panama City Beach with them every year until they were in school.

 

All that to say, we are probably at the more extreme end of willingness to drive. Maybe it's a Canuck thing? We love our road trips :)

[I'manewbie]

We'll be driving almost 16 hours from DC to Tampa in 40 days or so. I can't wait! I like to drive and we have a Prius so it seemed to make sense to drive rather than pay for 3 flights. We're using marriott points to pay for a night in Savannah on the way down, night in Tampa, and a night in SC on the way home. I plan on enjoying the journey!

[Caliterp07]

No way, Jose!

 

My time is worth more than that. A 12-hour round trip drive is an extra 2 days off work for both of us compared to flying. I'd rather use my vacation days being somewhere rather than getting somewhere. I think my limit in the car is probably 4-5 hours, max.

[Mr and Mrs C]

We have been driving to Florida from Canada for the last 8 years with kids, about a 24 hour drive, the last 3 we have been doing an NCL cruise while there. Yeah it is a long drive, but we could not afford the air fare for the family. Gas and hotels are so much cheaper in the US compared to here! We also are gone for about 3 weeks so it is nice to have our own vehicle.

[Sam The Cat]

I take Amtrak from Buffalo spend the night in Albany then to NYC total Amrak time is almost 9 hours but avoid the high cost of NYC hotel