How far do you drive?

[Olive1950]

Fort Lauderdale is 1075 miles away from where I live. But I ALWAYS drive.

 

I take into consideration the cost of gas, hotels, parking, and other essentials. Then I look at the cost of flying, added surcharges, and parking.

 

Usually the cost of driving wins. Hands down. Add to that the fact that I can bring as much luggage and toilet articles as I want to, along with the fact that the SUV knows the way, and I am primed to do it again in March when I do a 28-day Panama Canal cruise.

 

No-brainer for me....

[sail7seas]

Nvever, never, never...... :D

 

We will drive one hour to get wherever we are going. If we cannot get there in one hour by car, we fly. If we cannot fly, we do not go.

 

Early in our marriage, we had to travel from Army Base to Army Base and it involved long drives that we hated. We made a pact to never do that again. We have been married 43 years and we have kept that pledge. :D

 

[rvsullivan]

We do the 14 hour drive every cruise. Going to the ship we drive about 10 hours and get to the ship mid morning second day (allows for problems).

Coming home (last Sunday) I drive non stop, we are first off the ship and on the road by 7:30 or so and home by 9 or 10. I drive it solo, wife offers, I decline.;)

Cheaper by far, and we control most of the possible issues.

[YubaSutter]

We will fly if it is over 7 hours. It was really nice when we lived 5 miles from our home port. We had the next door neighbor drop us off at the port.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We would only drive to the port if we lived very close to it.

February -- snow storms -- you could be asking for a lot of road delays and accidents which could mean many hours on the road.

Four people -- one car -- suitcases and carryons?? You are crazy!!

[sail7seas]

We live in a small town in VA. Flying out of our town is crazy expensive. Driving to a bigger city and then flying is full of headaches. We have tried both in the past. We are cruising out of FLL on Feb 9th and we found a great deal on a 1 way flight home.

 

However, for the trip down to FLL we are DRIVING 15 HOURS. Are we crazy? We have flown down day of 2 times before and the last time the weather made us very neverous. My friend and I have talked the wives into the drive. We have not figured out any of the details of the drive yet. So I have a few questions.

 

Question 1 - Are we crazy?

 

Question 2 - Any tips on 1 way car rental?

 

Question 3 - Any tips on car rental drop off?

 

Question 4 - Would you leave early enough on Friday to get a Hotel in FLL or should we just leave Friday evening, drive all night and rest when we get on the ship? (We can't leave too early because we are already asking a lot of the Grandparents to keep the kids for 8 nights.

 

Question 5 - Would you consider driving like 10 hours Friday - get a Hotel then finish the drive Sat morning?

 

Any ideas and experiences are appreciated.

 

IMO....

 

If you do drive, plan to arrive by the night before you are to board the ship. Get any room, anywhere, but have the peace of mind to know you are in FLL in time to board the ship. Things happen on the road all the time. You'll be in a rental car about which you know nothing as to dependability etc Weather, traffic, flat tire..... anything can happen.

 

Arrive the day/night before.

 

Drive carefully and have a great cruise.

 

[Mharvey66]

We drive from southern Indiana to Tampa at least once a year, including cruises. Is alittle over 950 miles, we usually just drive straight thru and only stop for gas and food breaks. But we always get there the day before the cruise so we have time to relax before boarding, and gives us time in case we have road trouble to still catch the ship :)

[boone2]

Tell your BIL & SIL that it is only recently that we have decided to try driving to Southampton. We actually live in what used to be known as 'North Yorkshire' so not too far from your relatives.

 

Research on the net and then testing it.....we found a nice hotel in Southampton that is reasonably priced and has a supermarket nearby (very short walk). Drive to hotel taking a rest stop when needed. We then get a cab from the hotel to port the next day costing around 12GBP. Parking at the hotel is 5GBP per night.

 

So all in all, it has opened our eyes to driving to meet the ship. No luggage restrictions either.

 

Pete

They got a super break package but he just found it far more inconvenient than driving to Manchester and taking an all inclusive to Spain. She thought it was a great vacation We just don't understand it, we have to drive or fly to Florida, fly to Europe or - like in Feb -fly 14 hours to Buenos Aries. I would love to be able to take a train for a few hours, stay overnight and board the next day - and no luggage restrictions!!! I shake my head in disbelief

Terry

[Mrs.C05]

We live in FL so we have good options on departure ports. However, if we need to go anywhere and it is more than 12hrs, we will fly. I'd rather pay the price for the extra time, than drive and sit in a car for that long. Just my opinion.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

[Izzybeff]

My husband doesn't fly so we drive. We live in Iowa so anywhere is pretty much a long drive. Our longest trip so far was 22 days.

 

Two years ago my husband had an emergency surgery to have his appendix out. We had to delay a work trip by two weeks and had a cruise planned to Alaska two weeks after we were supposed to come back from the work trip. We ended up driving from eastern Iowa to New Mexico, spent 5 days there working. Then left and drove to Salt Lake City and spent 3 days visiting friends. Left there and drove to Seattle. Our friends flew out to meet us and we spent two nights in Seattle and then did a 7 night cruise. Got back, drove home stopping in ND to visit Mt. Rushmore and the badlands. All total we put 5200 miles on our car, went through 13 states and were gone 22 days. Anything less is a piece of cake.

 

We've also drove to Vegas, Orlando for a cruise, and McAllen, TX to visi my BIL. My cruise out of NO in January is only a 15 hr drive. We've done it in one day before, but we won't this time.

[fleckle]

Nvever, never, never...... :D

 

We will drive one hour to get wherever we are going. If we cannot get there in one hour by car, we fly. If we cannot fly, we do not go.....

Our feelings are similar, but we consider the total time involved point-to-point both ways.

 

I hate long flights and hate long drives.

 

But I would much rather spend 4 or 5 hours stuffed into an airplane seat and get the misery over with in one day rather than suffering day after day crammed into a seat in a car.

 

At least you can get up, walk around, stretch, and use the bathroom on an airplane.

 

In a car, you need to stop the car and get out to do that, and each time you stop, it prolongs the total travel time even more.

 

 

If I absolutely had to drive to get to a cruise and could not go any other way, I guess the maximum time I would be willing to drive would be 5 hours.

 

But it would really have to be a wonderful cruise (at least 10 nights long) in order to get me to drive 5 hours each way for it.

[SadieN]

Wow.....you have opened my eyes. Being a UK resident i always assumed that you guys in the USA would use planes like we use public transport. Just jump on and go anywhere. I felt a little hard done by when i had to drive around 5 hours from home to Port of Southampton, but i will complain no more.

 

Some of the distances and time that you guys are willing, or have to, drive just to enjoy a cruise holiday is unbelievable. It is a damning indictment for flight costs that you have to drive.

 

Even driving 5 hours means i need to make a couple of rest stops along the way.

 

Pete

 

Difference is we are a car culture. In Los Angeles we speak of distance in relation to time, not mileage. If something is 30 miles away we say it is an hour away. We think nothing of hopping into our cars and driving long distances. The county I live in takes about four hours to drive across with no traffic.

 

Problem with many of the public transportation lines in the US is that they don't go where we need to go. Amtrak is cheap for a cross-country seat but expensive for a sleeper. The perception of those who travel on most Greyhound routes is not too complimentary:eek:.

 

Our family is lucky that we are close to a major commuter (train) route and can get (almost) door-to-door service from our house to the Port of Long Beach but not San Pedro. By car Long Beach is an hour, by public transportation it can take 3 hours.

[UpcountryTravelers]

When cruising from Florida, we drive from upcountry South Carolina, which is only a bit closer than from Virginia. NO WAY would we EVER drive in and plan to arrive the day of the cruise. We always drive down and arrive the day before. There are several hotels around FLL with a "cruise package". If you stay the night before the cruise, your parking is free for the cruise, and there is a free shuttle to the port, and back to your car when you return.

 

The boarding is much more fun when you are rested and ready to explore a beautiful Princess ship!! As you can see below, we have done it more than once or twice.

[Keith1010]

Driving is fine, but do not arrive on the day of the cruise. Arrive a day or more before hand.

 

Keith

[spookwife]

W

Question 1 - Are we crazy?

 

Question 2 - Any tips on 1 way car rental?

 

Question 3 - Any tips on car rental drop off?

 

Question 4 - Would you leave early enough on Friday to get a Hotel in FLL or should we just leave Friday evening, drive all night and rest when we get on the ship? (We can't leave too early because we are already asking a lot of the Grandparents to keep the kids for 8 nights.

 

Question 5 - Would you consider driving like 10 hours Friday - get a Hotel then finish the drive Sat morning?

 

Any ideas and experiences are appreciated.

 

 

1: yes

 

2: more expensive usually than a local one so use coupons from places like the Entertainment book

 

3: the only places that will have easy access are airports.

 

4:nope. worst way to start a vacation is to be cranky and tired after spending all that time in a car/traffic

 

5: only if the last bit was UNDER 2 hours.

 

if any destination is more than an 8 hour car drive, we fly. to us, it is WORTH the money to do so.

[spookwife]

Nvever, never, never...... :D

 

We will drive one hour to get wherever we are going. If we cannot get there in one hour by car, we fly. If we cannot fly, we do not go.

 

Early in our marriage, we had to travel from Army Base to Army Base and it involved long drives that we hated. We made a pact to never do that again. We have been married 43 years and we have kept that pledge. :D

 

 

DLI(well, NPS actually) to Meade. 9 days travel authorized. I still haven't recovered and that was 5 years ago.....

[Peery5]

We live in a small town in VA. Flying out of our town is crazy expensive. Driving to a bigger city and then flying is full of headaches. We have tried both in the past. We are cruising out of FLL on Feb 9th and we found a great deal on a 1 way flight home.

 

However, for the trip down to FLL we are DRIVING 15 HOURS. Are we crazy? We have flown down day of 2 times before and the last time the weather made us very neverous. My friend and I have talked the wives into the drive. We have not figured out any of the details of the drive yet. So I have a few questions.

 

Question 1 - Are we crazy?

 

Question 2 - Any tips on 1 way car rental?

 

Question 3 - Any tips on car rental drop off?

 

Question 4 - Would you leave early enough on Friday to get a Hotel in FLL or should we just leave Friday evening, drive all night and rest when we get on the ship? (We can't leave too early because we are already asking a lot of the Grandparents to keep the kids for 8 nights.

 

Question 5 - Would you consider driving like 10 hours Friday - get a Hotel then finish the drive Sat morning?

 

Any ideas and experiences are appreciated.

We also live in a small community in Virginia. We usually use Amtrak and had booked round trip to FLL for our cruise departing Dec. 29 but there was some last minute track repairs so on our return trip we would have had to ride a bus for 10 hours before boarding the train in Jacksonville. Didn't relish that idea so we decided to drive. It's just shy of 900 miles one way so we are leaving the morning of Dec. 27 and driving to Jacksonville. Then we will proceed the remaining 320 miles the next day for our overnight stay in FLL prior to the cruise the next day. I kind of enjoy driving as it allows myself and my DW time to discuss ideas about the upcoming cruise plus the fact that we can stop when we want to for R&R. Even though we have been married almost 30 years, I still enjoy the closeness and conversation of a long trip.:)

[whitecap]

We also live in a small community in Virginia. We usually use Amtrak and had booked round trip to FLL for our cruise departing Dec. 29 but there was some last minute track repairs so on our return trip we would have had to ride a bus for 10 hours before boarding the train in Jacksonville. Didn't relish that idea so we decided to drive. It's just shy of 900 miles one way so we are leaving the morning of Dec. 27 and driving to Jacksonville. Then we will proceed the remaining 320 miles the next day for our overnight stay in FLL prior to the cruise the next day. I kind of enjoy driving as it allows myself and my DW time to discuss ideas about the upcoming cruise plus the fact that we can stop when we want to for R&R. Even though we have been married almost 30 years, I still enjoy the closeness and conversation of a long trip.:)

 

Peery5, quick question: when you used Amtrak, did you book regular seats or get the sleeper room? We've wanted to try Amtrak but the sleeper room is so expensive and neither of us wanted to sit in a regular seat for 25 hours.

[Peery5]

We always get a sleeper. It's considered 1st. class so meals are included in the cost of the rail fare. The coach seats are pretty comfortable plus you can get up and move around, go to the beverage car and even get off the train at stops which require a lengthy (20-30 minutes) layover. But since we always have had to board around 9:30 pm in Raleigh, NC it was nice to read for a few minutes then hit the sack for 8-9 hours before breakfast. We have been traveling Amtrak for 15 years exclusively and this is the first time we have had to cancel.

[JDinWA]

I like to drive and hate flying so that generally skews my decisions toward car when feasible.

 

As a general tool, I've found this online calculator to be helpful: http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/ (If the link vanishes because of board limitations, just do a search on "fly or drive calculator") It's an online calculator that lets you input different factors then produces a result that tells you how much time door-to-door each method would take and how much each would cost.

[RVRCLC]

It's about 1500 miles from here to any east coast or west coast cruise port.

We ALWAYS drive to any port, and we never drive non-stop.

The time it takes to drive, lodging along the way, and arriving at least a day early are just a part of the vacation plan.

We are retired, but it was the same when we were working.

 

Driving and Packing are the same!

Driving: If we don't have the time we go somewhere else.

Packing for the cruise: One carry-on bag - what does not fit does not go.

Then there is one more small bag for the driving part of the trip, it does not go on the cruise.

[sprint180]

drive 4 hours to the airport then fly all way to the port, it sucks!

[Nebr.cruiser]

drive 4 hours to the airport then fly all way to the port, it sucks!

 

Where are you in Nebraska? Must be out west; that's even farther than we have to drive! Yeah, it's not fun to have to fly everywhere are endure multi-day car trips. We live west of Norfolk.

[sprint180]

Being from Nebraska I drive 4 hours. To the airport that is. Then fly where ever.

[Diller12]

We live in a small town in VA. Flying out of our town is crazy expensive. Driving to a bigger city and then flying is full of headaches. We have tried both in the past. We are cruising out of FLL on Feb 9th and we found a great deal on a 1 way flight home.

 

However, for the trip down to FLL we are DRIVING 15 HOURS. Are we crazy? We have flown down day of 2 times before and the last time the weather made us very neverous. My friend and I have talked the wives into the drive. We have not figured out any of the details of the drive yet. So I have a few questions.

 

Question 1 - Are we crazy?

 

Question 2 - Any tips on 1 way car rental?

 

Question 3 - Any tips on car rental drop off?

 

Question 4 - Would you leave early enough on Friday to get a Hotel in FLL or should we just leave Friday evening, drive all night and rest when we get on the ship? (We can't leave too early because we are already asking a lot of the Grandparents to keep the kids for 8 nights.

 

Question 5 - Would you consider driving like 10 hours Friday - get a Hotel then finish the drive Sat morning?

 

Any ideas and experiences are appreciated.

-

Me and the wife have done the one way car rental twice before and it works great.