Pre-cruise Ramblings...

[canadaman111]

My two cents on your drive -

 

Well, actually, let me give you a bit of background.....

 

We have driven to Florida at least once if not twice a year (and even occasionally 3 times in a year) since 2005. We started off doing the 2 day marathon drives (of 12 hours a day) but have more recently settled on 3, eight hour driving days.

 

1. If you need a specific kind of room (for you it's a room for 6, for us it's an accessible room for 3), plan out your drive and pre-book your hotels. Before needing the accessible rooms, we used to just stop "whenever" and look for a hotel. You know what I found? I was paying more for a hotel, and taking chances with staying at less than desirable places (there were times we had to check multiple hotels to find someplace with a room and rate we were okay paying). Now, I can check tripadvisor to ensure that I'll be happy with the cleanliness, amenities and room set up. I can ensure that I've found a good deal at a hotel I'm happy with. Want a pool for the kids? You can check ahead to know if it's indoor or outdoor and what the hours are. You want two queens and a pullout couch? You can book that - and not chance it ending up with a king, and a pullout because *technically* that hotel chain says that room can sleep 6. Want a kitchen or kitchenette? Or a hot breakfast in the morning? Yep, you can be sure of those things when pre-selecting your hotel. You can also plan your drive out this way - and figure out what restaurants are in the area - and for us, if there's a dunkin donut (coffee shop) nearby.

 

2. Pick a hotel chain and stick with it. If you're going to be staying at hotels for 4-6 nights, you have the potential to earn a free night from loyalty points. You may want to look at the Marriott brand - Staybridge Suites sleep 6 with 2 queens and a pullout couch. They also have Fairfield Inn and Suites and Residence Inns - some of these hotels sleep 6. They also offer CAA rates, and Marriott member rates. If Marriott isn't for you, there's also the Hilton Brands and the IHG (holiday inn). All 3 brands have multiple different hotel chains included in each brand. If you're looking to save money - Choice hotels has the comfort inn and suites, Quality inn, etc under them.

 

3. Pack a snack bag. Driving all day gives people the munchies. You can prepack a big back of snacks for a lot less than if you stop and buy. Fruit snacks, goldfish, individual bags of chips, granola bars all make good snacks. Once you're over the border, you can stop at a grocery store and pick up some pre-cut veggies and whole fruit (if you're bringing a cooler bag).

 

4. Pack a travel bag. Don't pull out all of your suitcases every night you go into a different hotel. Pack one bag with enough clothes and toiletries to cover your travel days. Leave the bigger suitcases for just the cruise. And when you're packing for the way home, do the same. And limit each kid to a specific bag that their "car stuff" needs to fit in (ipad, ipod, books, toys, etc).

 

Hope some of these tips help. :D

 

Thanks for the tips. I have considered prebooking. I am kind of torn on the subject and I definitely see your point when we need a specific room type. I hadn't considered staying with 1 chain to earn points for free nights. That is a good idea.

[BlondieB]

Congrats on booking your first cruise!!!! As a Texan, Galveston is my "home" port but we started sailing out of Miami last year since we'd done the Galveston itineraries ad nauseam. I just got off the Breeze in December and I have to say, I think she may be my favorite ship.

[BlondieB]

My two cents on your drive -

 

2. Pick a hotel chain and stick with it. If you're going to be staying at hotels for 4-6 nights, you have the potential to earn a free night from loyalty points. You may want to look at the Marriott brand - Staybridge Suites sleep 6 with 2 queens and a pullout couch. They also have Fairfield Inn and Suites and Residence Inns - some of these hotels sleep 6. They also offer CAA rates, and Marriott member rates. If Marriott isn't for you, there's also the Hilton Brands and the IHG (holiday inn). All 3 brands have multiple different hotel chains included in each brand. If you're looking to save money - Choice hotels has the comfort inn and suites, Quality inn, etc under them.

 

 

Best advice!!! Yes, pick a chain and stick with it. I'm Marriott loyal. After 10 nights you get a night free but you also earn points where you can find deals for X amount of points and a super low dollar amount. Ex: 5000 points + $40.

 

There are lots of hotel options on the island (I prefer hotels on the seawall) and that time of year will be low season so they'll be more reasonable. There are also options in Texas City and League City which may be even more affordable and only about a half an hour to the port. And I MUST stop is a place called Buc-ees. You'll come to one on I-45 in Madisonville (halfway between dallas and houston) or there's one before you get onto the island of Galveston. Yes, it is a gas station/convenient store but it's a sight to behold....just trust me on this one :D Their slogan is "we have the cleanest bathrooms in Texas" and they aren't lying. There's probably 50 stalls and always an attendant cleaning. I love taking first timers there, their face at the inside is hilarious.

[canadaman111]

Best advice!!! Yes, pick a chain and stick with it. I'm Marriott loyal. After 10 nights you get a night free but you also earn points where you can find deals for X amount of points and a super low dollar amount. Ex: 5000 points + $40.

 

There are lots of hotel options on the island (I prefer hotels on the seawall) and that time of year will be low season so they'll be more reasonable. There are also options in Texas City and League City which may be even more affordable and only about a half an hour to the port. And I MUST stop is a place called Buc-ees. You'll come to one on I-45 in Madisonville (halfway between dallas and houston) or there's one before you get onto the island of Galveston. Yes, it is a gas station/convenient store but it's a sight to behold....just trust me on this one :D Their slogan is "we have the cleanest bathrooms in Texas" and they aren't lying. There's probably 50 stalls and always an attendant cleaning. I love taking first timers there, their face at the inside is hilarious.

 

Thank you for these tips. Some one else told me about Buc-ees. I will need to remember that

[BlondieB]

Thank you for these tips. Some one else told me about Buc-ees. I will need to remember that

 

Buc-ees will change your life :D:D:D:D:D

[canadaman111]

Buc-ees will change your life :D:D:D:D:D

 

lol. I just got done checking it out online......

[dmdiver]

I'm the same way - once I have booked a trip, I am on CruiseCritic all the time. I love Breeze. Well, who am I kidding - I love most ships.

 

If your hotel doesn't offer free parking or shuttle to the port, Galveston Park n Cruise has indoor parking across from the cruise terminal - you will have to take your luggage on your own - no shuttle since it's across the street. Lighthouse parking has covered parking and offers a free shuttle from your car to the terminal. It tends to be a little cheaper as well. We've been perfectly happy with both - just like the indoor parking to keep the car cleaner.

 

As far as Buc-ees, they do have very clean restrooms. It's huge & you can pick up pretty much anything there from snacks to items you may have forgotten to pack. I think it's a bit over hyped, but a lot of people get really excited over it.

 

Depending on what time it is when you go through Fairfield on I-45, there is a place called Sam's Original Bar-B-Q that has a good buffet breakfast. Friends tell me their lunch is great. They also have a little gift shop & decent restrooms.

[ABQrobin]

The weather factor does scare me I will admit. But we are coming from Ontario where the roads are covered in snow and ice from November to March every year. The roads will get better the further south we get i am quite sure.

 

In some areas, yes, but is many NO. If you were staying at low altitude, and not driving through mountains, maybe they will be decent. You really need to look at your route, then look up weather history for those areas.

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

We have adult kids and my husband was not at all into cruising until I convinced him that our wedding should be on a cruise with our children as our attendants (my daughter lives 20 minutes from us and his daughter lives a 3 hour flight from us). The wedding was August 2014, we have 3 cruises since, have 2 more booked now and are planning to book another one when we are onboard the Vista in October.

 

Since aside from our wedding our kids don't join us, we still have a blast planning. I'm lucky hubby loves to indulge me so we spend hours in the evenings planning excursions, searching flights, getting to know folks on our roll call, whatever. We do book way out too, our Vista cruise has been booked for over a year and we have a Hawaiian cruise booked for December 2017, that we booked months ago.

 

I also haunt these boards at work...maybe you can get the wife excited about it with small celebrations....I know we are geeks, but we have fun having a toast when we hit the double digit mark (99 days until cruising) and the single digit mark (9) until sailing.

 

We also book early saver so I get a kick out of logging on to the fare checker and checking rates every day. Hubby thinks it's crazy that I check everyday, but I find it fun, and it always makes me look forward to the cruise even more, and honestly once the cruise is paid off and the excursions are booked I get excited about booking another....I have a cruise problem and I need help!

[joeyjpaul]

We also have 4 kids and are Driving from Ottawa Ontario Canada to Galveston. We have 233 days until we leave on the Freedom, where we have 2 adjoining ocean view rooms. We have relatives in Austin, so we have done this drive twice before.

 

My Wife can sleep almost any time of day and prefers sleeping in the van to her own bed sometimes, so we will do one overnight drive. I will drive during the day, when she will sleep, and she will drive much of the night. (Last time we went to Austin we did it from Ottawa in 43 hours straight, we were planing on stopping in Texarcana, but my wife was good for driving still, so we got to our relatives in Austin at 1:00 AM).

 

For the time that we do stay in a hotel, we usually do Super-8s or Econo-Lodges and get 2 adjoining rooms.

 

We are giving ourselves a whole day and a half extra for potential weather disruptions, and we will check the forecast in advance and we are prepared to leave a day earlier to miss an oncoming storm if that is practical.

[canadaman111]

We also have 4 kids and are Driving from Ottawa Ontario Canada to Galveston. We have 233 days until we leave on the Freedom, where we have 2 adjoining ocean view rooms. We have relatives in Austin, so we have done this drive twice before.

 

My Wife can sleep almost any time of day and prefers sleeping in the van to her own bed sometimes, so we will do one overnight drive. I will drive during the day, when she will sleep, and she will drive much of the night. (Last time we went to Austin we did it from Ottawa in 43 hours straight, we were planing on stopping in Texarcana, but my wife was good for driving still, so we got to our relatives in Austin at 1:00 AM).

 

For the time that we do stay in a hotel, we usually do Super-8s or Econo-Lodges and get 2 adjoining rooms.

 

We are giving ourselves a whole day and a half extra for potential weather disruptions, and we will check the forecast in advance and we are prepared to leave a day earlier to miss an oncoming storm if that is practical.

 

Amazing to see someone else just as crazy as us. Do you mind sharing with me the route you take down there?

[joeyjpaul]

I have the whole plan worked out down to the hour. I have us stopping at the Nashville zoo in both directions, but it may turn out to stop somewhere else. Nashville zoo is supposed to have a great playground for the kids to run around. My kids are going to be 11, 9, 9 and 5 turning 6 on the cruise when we cruise.

 

Tuesday Jan 24th

Work/School - Leave after Work

3:00 Ottawa to Belleville 2:30

5:30 Dinner near Bellville 1:15

6:45 Bellville to Windsor 5:15

12:00 Cross Border at Windsor 1:00

 

Wednesday Jan 25th

1:00 Detroit MI to Nashville Tn 8:00

9:00 Stops overnight and Breakfast - change to central time 2:00

11:00 Visit Nashville Zoo and have lunch 2:30

1:30 Nashville Tn to Little Rock Ar 5:00

6:30 Dinner and hotel near little Rock AR

 

Thursday Jan 26th

Option 1

8:00 Little Rock to Houston 7:00

Lunch, Dinner find someplace to run around, find hotel south of houston 5:00

7:00 Take in Weekday Mass Charismatic Center (Where a friend of ours is the Pastor)

 

Friday Jan 27th

Option1: Extra day around Houston and in case of bad weather

 

Sat Jan 28th Get on Cruise by

Sun Jan 29- Fri Feb 3rd Cruise

Saturday Feb 4th

 

Get off Cruise by noon

 

12:00 Galveston to Austin 3:45

3:45 Visit relatives in Austin

 

Sunday Feb 5th

Mass + visit

 

8:00 Drive Austin to Dallas 3:00

11:00 Bedtime snack / rest 1:00

 

Monday Feb 6th

 

12:00 Dallas to Memphis Tn 6:45

6:45 Break stops overnight + Breakfast 2:00

8:45 Memphis to Nashville 3:15

12:00 Nashville Zoo and Lunch 3:00

3:00 Nashville to Knoxville Tn 2:45

5:45 Dinner in Knoxville 1:15

7:00 Knoxville to Bristol Tn 1:45

8:45 Hotel near Bristol Tn

 

Tuesday Feb 7th

 

8:00 Bristol Tn to Harrisonburg VA 3:45

11:45 Lunch 1:00

12:45 Harrisonburg VA to Hershey PA 3:00

3:45 Hershey Chocolate World (closes at 5:00) 1:15

5:00 Hershey PA to Wilkes Baree 1:45

6:45 Dinner near Wilkes Barre 2:00

8:45 Wilkes Baree to Watertown NY 3:15

 

Wednesday Feb 8th

 

12:00 Watertown NY to Ottawa On 2:00

Let kids stay home from school this day - but I can go to work

[Foxinspace]

We're a smaller family from TO. Fell in love with cruising on my Honeymoon in 2011. Amazingly we've done 3 now (I didn't think I'd be able to convince my family to keep cruising, they must love me!)

 

Our next cruise I booked 682 days out! I too haunt these boards on my work lunch. It's my "off time". My packing lists start multiple months out, and get revised dozens of times. I think you will find a great many like minded people on here.

 

I agree with the comment to pack separate bags for the trip up and down, leaving your luggage untouched for the cruise. It will take a bit more organization ahead of time, but will be well worth it when on the morning of the cruise you aren't running around to find bits and bobs that have gone astray and with 4 kids A LOT is going to go astray! There are many road trip blogs and tips (if on pinterest you will find loads of boards for this) definitely take some time on these.

 

I'll find some of my notes from my last cruise with my 3 year old and repost that advice as it might help with your 2 yr old.

 

Lastly... IF you and your family do love cruising as much as you think you will, check out sailings from Baltimore and NY. You can get much cheaper airfare to those destinations, rather than flying to Texas or Florida. While the airfare might not be as cheap as driving, it would allow you to limit the time you have to take off work, which might make it easier to plan your next sailing.

[Bases5]

I would plan a pre cruise cruise.

Practice makes perfect.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Congrats on booking your first cruise and welcome to the madness! Don't forget to check out the other forums for your ports of call too - it opens up a whole other word of questions and decisions! :)

 

Make sure you load the Carnival Hub app and plug in your countdown there too. Lucky for you the Breeze is already on there.

 

After all this excitement so far out, I almost guarantee you will be booking one (or two) cruises to hold you over until 2018. :D:D

[canadaman111]

We're a smaller family from TO. Fell in love with cruising on my Honeymoon in 2011. Amazingly we've done 3 now (I didn't think I'd be able to convince my family to keep cruising, they must love me!)

 

Our next cruise I booked 682 days out! I too haunt these boards on my work lunch. It's my "off time". My packing lists start multiple months out, and get revised dozens of times. I think you will find a great many like minded people on here.

 

I agree with the comment to pack separate bags for the trip up and down, leaving your luggage untouched for the cruise. It will take a bit more organization ahead of time, but will be well worth it when on the morning of the cruise you aren't running around to find bits and bobs that have gone astray and with 4 kids A LOT is going to go astray! There are many road trip blogs and tips (if on pinterest you will find loads of boards for this) definitely take some time on these.

 

I'll find some of my notes from my last cruise with my 3 year old and repost that advice as it might help with your 2 yr old.

 

Lastly... IF you and your family do love cruising as much as you think you will, check out sailings from Baltimore and NY. You can get much cheaper airfare to those destinations, rather than flying to Texas or Florida. While the airfare might not be as cheap as driving, it would allow you to limit the time you have to take off work, which might make it easier to plan your next sailing.

 

 

Thank you for the tips. Our little girl is 2 now. So she will be 4 when we cruise, but any tips you have that worked with your 3 year old would be greatly appreciated

[nunuc2000]

Well I hate to be the one that bursts your bubble... but you're going to find that after you've completed that first cruise, you'll want to cruise again, and again... and again!! :D It's called the "cruise bug", and many of us have it now. It's terribly contagious!!

 

I'm excited for you!! Sounds like you're a major planner like me - my hubby just shows up at the door with a packed suitcase when I say "Hunny, cab is here to take us to the airport!" LOL!!

 

As for where to stay along the way or in Texas, I strongly recommend you look at Embassy Suites by Hilton. Not the other Hilton hotels, but specifically Embassy Suites. There isn't one in Galveston, but there is in Houston, less than a 2 hour drive to Galveston. Embassy Suites are our choice whenever we can book them - ALL stays with Embassy Suites include 2 room suites that sleep 6 - 2 queen beds in the bedroom plus pull out sofabed for 2 in the living room - free wifi, free open bar manager reception for 2 hrs in the evening that provides alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, like fries, nachos, goldfish, pretzels, etc., free hot breakfast, great pool scene, etc., and then the morning of the cruise, you can take the last relatively short drive to Galveston and park at the port. We've used Embassy Suites in several different US cities, including Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Dallas, and will again October in Los Angeles. Generally we pay about $150-$180 US per night, and we think it's really good value considering everything they throw in for free with our stay.

 

If you can map out your drive so that you can hit other Embassy Suites on your way south from Ontario, even better!!!

 

Have a blast with the planning, and hope the cruise is the icing on the cake for all of you! :)

 

Celine

[canadaman111]

Well I hate to be the one that bursts your bubble... but you're going to find that after you've completed that first cruise, you'll want to cruise again, and again... and again!! :D It's called the "cruise bug", and many of us have it now. It's terribly contagious!!

 

I'm excited for you!! Sounds like you're a major planner like me - my hubby just shows up at the door with a packed suitcase when I say "Hunny, cab is here to take us to the airport!" LOL!!

 

As for where to stay along the way or in Texas, I strongly recommend you look at Embassy Suites by Hilton. Not the other Hilton hotels, but specifically Embassy Suites. There isn't one in Galveston, but there is in Houston, less than a 2 hour drive to Galveston. Embassy Suites are our choice whenever we can book them - ALL stays with Embassy Suites include 2 room suites that sleep 6 - 2 queen beds in the bedroom plus pull out sofabed for 2 in the living room - free wifi, free open bar manager reception for 2 hrs in the evening that provides alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, like fries, nachos, goldfish, pretzels, etc., free hot breakfast, great pool scene, etc., and then the morning of the cruise, you can take the last relatively short drive to Galveston and park at the port. We've used Embassy Suites in several different US cities, including Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Dallas, and will again October in Los Angeles. Generally we pay about $150-$180 US per night, and we think it's really good value considering everything they throw in for free with our stay.

 

If you can map out your drive so that you can hit other Embassy Suites on your way south from Ontario, even better!!!

 

Have a blast with the planning, and hope the cruise is the icing on the cake for all of you! :)

 

Celine

 

 

Thanks Embassy suites looks great. i will have to see if they fit into our route

[texancoyote]

Check out the Comfort Suites in Galveston. They have a $15 parking and shuttle deal if you stay with them. Book any and all your hotels through their websites. If anything goes wrong and you need a refund it will make it easier. The hotels also appreciate it more. I used to work at a different Comfort Suites and third party sites were a pain to deal with for refunds.

[Warm Breezes]

Well I hate to be the one that bursts your bubble... but you're going to find that after you've completed that first cruise, you'll want to cruise again, and again... and again!! :D It's called the "cruise bug", and many of us have it now. It's terribly contagious!!

 

I'm excited for you!! Sounds like you're a major planner like me - my hubby just shows up at the door with a packed suitcase when I say "Hunny, cab is here to take us to the airport!" LOL!!

 

As for where to stay along the way or in Texas, I strongly recommend you look at Embassy Suites by Hilton. Not the other Hilton hotels, but specifically Embassy Suites. There isn't one in Galveston, but there is in Houston, less than a 2 hour drive to Galveston. Embassy Suites are our choice whenever we can book them - ALL stays with Embassy Suites include 2 room suites that sleep 6 - 2 queen beds in the bedroom plus pull out sofabed for 2 in the living room - free wifi, free open bar manager reception for 2 hrs in the evening that provides alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, like fries, nachos, goldfish, pretzels, etc., free hot breakfast, great pool scene, etc., and then the morning of the cruise, you can take the last relatively short drive to Galveston and park at the port. We've used Embassy Suites in several different US cities, including Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Dallas, and will again October in Los Angeles. Generally we pay about $150-$180 US per night, and we think it's really good value considering everything they throw in for free with our stay.

 

If you can map out your drive so that you can hit other Embassy Suites on your way south from Ontario, even better!!!

 

Have a blast with the planning, and hope the cruise is the icing on the cake for all of you! :)

 

Celine

 

We also choose Embassy Suites when possible with Homewood Suites a close second. Both are in the Hilton family so we use Hilton Honors Program and earn points when booking them.

[asalligo]

My Wife also finds cruising a waste of money and I love it so much. I am constantly talking about when we can take our next. I also am always planning even though we are 268 days out.

[Missywantstotravel]

626 days until Cruise

 

 

 

I forgot to mention in my first post which cabins we had booked. We booked connecting rooms on deck 1. Deluxe OV rooms 1232, and 1234. The ones with 2 bathrooms in each. I am sure the 4 showers will come in handy with 6 of us....

 

 

 

So I have been thinking a lot about the drive lately. We live in southern Ontario. About 3 hours from the USA border at Sarnia/Port Huron. Our plan is to leave here at 6am or so and get to the Indianapolis area night 1. The second day we would leave early again and plan to get to the Texarkana area for night 2. The 3rd day we could leave later and sleep in a bit with a 5-6 hour drive to Galveston from there. I think we will pre-book our hotel in Galveston or maybe just before the island. But I don't think we will pre-book the first 2 nights. That way we are not locked into where we have to drive to. If we want to go further or maybe not as far we can do what we want. The problem is there are not many hotel rooms that can hold 6 people. So I plan to find every hotel on the whole route that can hold 6 in a room, so that we can just call the nearest one when we want to stop and hope they have an available room.

 

 

This is coming from a Texan here. Be prepared the longest part of the drive will be when you are actually driving through the state. It goes on forever! Also, I know you are looking for two years from now, but we have been getting a lot of rain in April-June lately. East Texas all the way down to Houston keeps flooding and washing out roads. You might want to look into this and plan around the possibilities.

 

 

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[jbhcw]

We also choose Embassy Suites when possible with Homewood Suites a close second. Both are in the Hilton family so we use Hilton Honors Program and earn points when booking them.

 

 

We also use the Hilton Honors program and I downloaded their app...we had to spend an extra night on the road on our last cruise last week..and it was very easy to find a Hampton inn...call them to ask a question....book a room and get a good rate...you can even check in now on the app and pick your room!

[fivemonkeysplus1]

I completely understand! 3 of my kids are getting to go on their first cruise ever in 367 days! Seems like forever but I'm already all cruise all the time. My mother in law paid for my dh, my stepson and me to go on a cruise in 2014 and I've been longing to take the other kids since. It's a costly vacation but I'm graduating from college then and hope to be employed soon after. We only live one life :D

[Crusin Hogs]

just a warning get caught in heavy traffic ,accidents , road construction , a drive across Houston can be 2 hrs plus , Also traveling in the south in winter , We do not have the plows and salt trucks like they do in the north .Not as many anyway , We get more freezing rain , than snow , I'm in Arkansas ,we get snow ,ice ect , Everything shuts down ...We stay home ! It will melt in a day or 2 .. We stay at The Inn at The Waterpark in Galveston ,It is their off season in the winter ,Great rates , free parking , free shuttle to and from the cruise ship terminal . We have stayed here 3 times now .. Memphis to Little Rock I-40 is a bad stretch of road , Lot of accidents ,no service roads next to the highway , wreck ,contruction ect , You set and wait .. This 150 miles can become a 3 to 5 hr ride ... 1 winter the Arkansas national guard had to rescue people from this stretch due to iced over roads , wrecks everywhere ,, just somethings to consider , traveling in the winter