Pre-cruise Ramblings...

[sixb0nes]

NO, that website does not allow you to mail the gift cards to Canada.

 

You can order them but they come as email certificates not actual cards.

 

We are from London Ontario and have also done a two day road trip to Miami and like most posters suggested, we packed a separate bag for the hotels and booked all hotels along the way. What we did not anticipate was the road construction as we only experience that from spring to fall depending on weather. It slowed us down some. Plus we traveled during March Break so lots of accidents and road closures. Not to dampen your enthusiasm we all voted to not do it again (children were 13 and 10 at the time). We have a smaller car (Focus) and we felt cramped/uncomfortable. Besides Miami we recently did do a 14 day cruise out of Baltimore - the drive was beautiful and very manageable. As for flights, I look to book from Flint, Detroit or Buffalo. I have done Spirit as someone suggested here and our flight was cancelled on our way home from New Orleans. Never flown with them since.

[winddawn]

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.

OMG! I can't imagine living like that. Yea, I live in the mid-south. We average about 6 inches snow a year TOTAL! And I still allow an extra day to get to the port if I cruise in winter months. Lol.

[winddawn]

love this post, I am the vacation planner in the family since our honeymoon 1970 to Niagara Falls, always did road trips but now just DW and I not as much. Have 2 cruises coming up August and November i booked them September 2015 have another booked April 2018 to Aruba always include insurance just in case to cancel. Have not planned a 2017 cruise DW wants to do a Road Trip. After your first cruise you will be addicted so enjoy the planning we all know how you feel.

Hope you enjoy Aruba. Their arid climate is really different than the Caribbean. It's like a desert climate in the middle of the tropics. Crazy!

 

I totally second that they will be addicted to cruising after this trip. I hope the winter weather doesn't get in their way though.

[canadaman111]

599 days until cruise

 

We spent a lot of time researching flying over driving last night. The wife is definitely on board. She wanted to fly right from the start. I don't really care either way. There are pros and cons to each. We had planned to drive Thursday, Friday, and arrive Saturday. Then cruise Sunday to Sunday. Then we would drive Sunday, Monday, and arrive home Tuesday.

 

The only direct flight showing up now is southwest out of Chicago. This would mean we would have to drive Friday to Chicago, fly Saturday, stay at an airport hotel or get shuttled to Galveston Saturday. If we stayed in a hotel by the airport Saturday then get shuttled Sunday morning.

 

I looked at a lot of different shuttle options. All are pretty costly....

 

While typing this I have realized one thing I like about driving is I control every aspect. Having to rely on airplanes and shuttles worries me a bit. I guess that is their business, and they wouldn't be in business if they weren't reliable.....

[evandbob]

The trip is booked and 2/3 paid for. There is no backing out of it now!!

 

The drive will be interesting. We bought a new mini-van since we booked with all the bells and whistles to help make the drive better. The way I look at it we get a 2 week vacation this way. 3 days there, 7 day cruise and 3 days back. We will never get that type of family time again.

 

indeed. Family trips are a great way to make (mostly) fantastic memories!

 

I did a 3 generation cruise on the Disney Dream when it 1st came out a few years ago, and my twins and g-kids still talk about it.

 

I'm looking forward to the next one!

[riffatsea]

IF you drive to Chicago and fly from there you will need a park n fly hotel pkg which allows you one night lodging and includes free parking for your vehicle for the length of your trip.

Not sure which airport hotels offer this but Google will give you some ideas.

You might find that renting a car in Texas and driving your family to the port from the airport comes out less expensive than a shuttle for all of you.

Again you'll have to compare and do the math.

[telebax51]

I agree the memories are priceless, what happen on this trip who did this on that trip i love the memories, but now just DW and myself retired no schedule to worry about. We try to do 3 cruises a year No Driving for us now let someone else do it i realized years ago while everyone in the car enjoying the sights i can't because i have to concentrate on the road so i missed out on the beautiful scenery. Don't get me wrong it was good while it lasted.

[sonicbuffalo]

599 days until cruise

 

We spent a lot of time researching flying over driving last night. The wife is definitely on board. She wanted to fly right from the start. I don't really care either way. There are pros and cons to each. We had planned to drive Thursday, Friday, and arrive Saturday. Then cruise Sunday to Sunday. Then we would drive Sunday, Monday, and arrive home Tuesday.

 

The only direct flight showing up now is southwest out of Chicago. This would mean we would have to drive Friday to Chicago, fly Saturday, stay at an airport hotel or get shuttled to Galveston Saturday. If we stayed in a hotel by the airport Saturday then get shuttled Sunday morning.

 

I looked at a lot of different shuttle options. All are pretty costly....

 

While typing this I have realized one thing I like about driving is I control every aspect. Having to rely on airplanes and shuttles worries me a bit. I guess that is their business, and they wouldn't be in business if they weren't reliable.....

 

We have a long way to go before cruising again too!

[Foxinspace]

We take a taxi in Cozumel to Paradise Beach. Love our beach days there. In Grand Cayman there are a lot of inexpensive excursions you can book right at the pier. Jamaica makes me nervous so I stick to ship excursions there. We loved the Jamaican Bobsled on Mystic Mountain.

 

LOL, we were the opposite to this. Mexico made us nervous so we stayed in the port area wandered around, had lunch at one of the restaurants than back onto the empty ship to enjoy all the extra space.

 

Jamaica we took the shuttle into town and wandered the street until we found a person we liked who offered us a tour. My DH did the negotiations for that and we had a great time. He took us all over, gave us lots of history and we were back to the ship with time to spare. Heck I was 6 months pregnant and wearing a boot cast and we still decided to wing it as a port!!

 

To each there own.

 

I agree with Grand Caymen, there are loads of people at the port for excursions and likely as many without booths you can find if you go to the forum for that port.

 

If you are really nervous for your first cruise go ahead and book through the ship. Before you do though check out the boards here and see how you feel after some research.

 

Enjoy!

[ZoeyVictoria]

Chase Bank is offering a Marriott credit card that would give you 87,500 points if you charge $3,000 during the first three months. There is a wide range of Marriott properties, but you can almost always find a room for 15,000 points. There is an $85 annual fee, but you get a certificate for a free room on your anniversary date (when the annual fee is due). So for $85 now and $85 one year from now, you could probably have seven free nights in a Marriott at the time of your cruise.

 

Edited to add, in the U.S., not sure if the card is available to Canadians.

Edited July 6, 2016 by ZoeyVictoria

[winddawn]

599 days until cruise

 

We spent a lot of time researching flying over driving last night. The wife is definitely on board. She wanted to fly right from the start. I don't really care either way. There are pros and cons to each. We had planned to drive Thursday, Friday, and arrive Saturday. Then cruise Sunday to Sunday. Then we would drive Sunday, Monday, and arrive home Tuesday.

 

The only direct flight showing up now is southwest out of Chicago. This would mean we would have to drive Friday to Chicago, fly Saturday, stay at an airport hotel or get shuttled to Galveston Saturday. If we stayed in a hotel by the airport Saturday then get shuttled Sunday morning.

 

I looked at a lot of different shuttle options. All are pretty costly....

 

While typing this I have realized one thing I like about driving is I control every aspect. Having to rely on airplanes and shuttles worries me a bit. I guess that is their business, and they wouldn't be in business if they weren't reliable.....

The shuttle issue is one reason a lot of people won't cruise out of Galveston. You do have flexibility when you drive, but several days in a car with 4 kids can really be challenging. I've been on 37 cruises and I've never driven to a port. Heck, I hate to even have to drive to the airport. Lol. To me, vacation is just more fun if I can leave the driving up to someone else, and the time saved is time I can have fun in my embarkation city. You might find this recent thread helpful:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373213&highlight=galveston+shuttle

[BIGA961]

Hey canadaman111, I can't tell you how much I love this post! I'm the planner and I tend to overplan, and I love your spirit! Drive or fly, the point is getting there, and even with the worst case scenario and there's a storm, you seem to have plenty of time built in to overcome such a thing.

 

Regarding the best place to do the ocean, honestly I'd probably do a beach day at both Montego Bay and Cozumel. I wouldn't try to do Dunn's River Falls from MoBay, simply because you're looking at riding a bus for a couple hours, and after your drive to the port and then being on the ship for 2 days, your tribe is going to want to get in that sea they've been looking at for a couple days! Doctor's Cave Beach in MoBay is really nice, safe, and it's easy to access. There are busses that go directly from the port to that beach, and it costs $6 or $7 per person each direction. Dunn River Fall's is really nice if you get rerouted to Ocho Rios, which is what my October cruise did, but I wouldn't try doing that from the other side of the island.

 

Good luck, I can't wait to follow your ramblings!

[telebax51]

The shuttle issue is one reason a lot of people won't cruise out of Galveston. You do have flexibility when you drive, but several days in a car with 4 kids can really be challenging. I've been on 37 cruises and I've never driven to a port. Heck, I hate to even have to drive to the airport. Lol. To me, vacation is just more fun if I can leave the driving up to someone else, and the time saved is time I can have fun in my embarkation city. You might find this recent thread helpful:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373213&highlight=galveston+shuttle

 

I agree with you Winddawn as mt previous post leave the driving to someone else, i did enough driving when the kids were young, some of my friends don't understand why i don't drive myself to the airport i have a service pick me up from my home and when i return they are there to take me back home now thats what i call a Vacation.

[canadaman111]

Hey canadaman111, I can't tell you how much I love this post! I'm the planner and I tend to overplan, and I love your spirit! Drive or fly, the point is getting there, and even with the worst case scenario and there's a storm, you seem to have plenty of time built in to overcome such a thing.

 

Regarding the best place to do the ocean, honestly I'd probably do a beach day at both Montego Bay and Cozumel. I wouldn't try to do Dunn's River Falls from MoBay, simply because you're looking at riding a bus for a couple hours, and after your drive to the port and then being on the ship for 2 days, your tribe is going to want to get in that sea they've been looking at for a couple days! Doctor's Cave Beach in MoBay is really nice, safe, and it's easy to access. There are busses that go directly from the port to that beach, and it costs $6 or $7 per person each direction. Dunn River Fall's is really nice if you get rerouted to Ocho Rios, which is what my October cruise did, but I wouldn't try doing that from the other side of the island.

 

Good luck, I can't wait to follow your ramblings!

 

Thank you for the kind words. I really enjoy writing this thread. The info i am getting is invaluable!!

 

Thanks for reading!!!

[dan4182]

Thank you for the kind words. I really enjoy writing this thread. The info i am getting is invaluable!!

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!!!

 

 

If you fly SW you will land at Hobby Airport on the Southeast side of Houston, app. 45-50 miles from the cruise terminal. There are shuttles available to/from the airport to the cruise terminal and back to the airport.

 

We live NE of Houston and know the area really well.

 

Contact me at: dan4182@aol.com if you ave any questions.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[pureromancegirl]

How happy was I, that after finding your thread last night- you had an update tonight when I logged in! Very much enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[canadaman111]

How happy was I, that after finding your thread last night- you had an update tonight when I logged in! Very much enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thank you very much. I am enjoying putting new posts whenever I have something interesting to add...

[canadaman111]

If you fly SW you will land at Hobby Airport on the Southeast side of Houston, app. 45-50 miles from the cruise terminal. There are shuttles available to/from the airport to the cruise terminal and back to the airport.

 

We live NE of Houston and know the area really well.

 

Contact me at: dan4182@aol.com if you ave any questions.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thank you. I will keep that in mind.

[winddawn]

I agree with you Winddawn as mt previous post leave the driving to someone else, i did enough driving when the kids were young, some of my friends don't understand why i don't drive myself to the airport i have a service pick me up from my home and when i return they are there to take me back home now thats what i call a Vacation.

Thanks for the tip! I could certainly see myself doing that too.

[Vagabond Knight]

We booked the cruise we're going on next week over a year ago. At first the time goes very slowly, but that's OK 'cause I don't want to wish my life away. However, the last three months, when you're making the list of what goes in the suitcase, and what arrangements you need to make for the house/cat sitters, and what you have to shift over to someone else at work, fly by like Christmas morning. Suddenly, it's two days before you leave and you think you might have a heart attack from the anticipation, the excitement, and the "What am I going to forget???" worries. But vacations with your kids make such awesome memories. I'm sure you're all going to have blast!

 

That's one thing I made sure to do when my kids were growing up... take them on vacations, short and long, spontaneous and well-planned. We called them "adventures." Sometimes our adventures were a few hours long, sometimes a week or two. They were not always grand or expensive, but they were time together seeing new places and doing new things and being goofy together. Eventually, I bought a timeshare so we'd pretty much have to take a "real" one week vacation each year, even if it was to spend a week on the beach that was 20 minutes away. We also took vacations where we spent a night here, a night there, and worked our way through a few neighboring states by staying at cheap (sometimes a little scary, ha-ha!) motels. We've done cars, trains, planes, and some years ago, I took them on their first cruise. We have so many wonderful memories, and it's fun to reminisce about the places we've been, the things we've seen, and funny things that have happened on our vacations. They can still crack me up when they talk about the "mustard drill" [sic] on their first cruise. Just make sure to take lots and lots of photos... not just the posed photos, but also the casual, candid shots when you can capture the kids in wonder of what they're seeing and experiencing. A tip on this... the scenery shots seem really cool at the time, but they've been taken a million times by a million people, and other than posting them on FB to make others jealous, they don't mean a whole lot later on. Make sure that most of your pics have someone in your family in them. Those shots make much better memories.

 

Great family adventures (vacations) can really plant the seed for inspiring future adventures as the kids grow up and on their own. Warning: You may be creating future cruise addicts, ha-ha! My kids were definitely bitten by the travel bug. One majored in Hospitality Management in college and is the general manager of a timeshare resort. The other quit her job as a high school counselor and has been traveling the world with her husband (a sci-fi writer) as a travel blogger. Right now, they're on a Viking River cruise along Portugal. Wonder if they had a "mustard drill" before they left port....

Edited July 7, 2016 by SunsetPoint

[arpie05]

I admire you driving that far. For me the 10-12 hour drive is the max I can handle. Another hotel to consider is Drury Inn they have suites that have a separate living room w couch and bedroom which can have 2 Q. Since you are driving you could bring an air mattress and just get one large room. Embassy Suites are Hilton and have the separate living area. There's lots of things you will learn on here. -- like bring laundry soap so u can do a load of underwear will save space in packing.

[BIGA961]

We booked the cruise we're going on next week over a year ago. At first the time goes very slowly, but that's OK 'cause I don't want to wish my life away. However, the last three months, when you're making the list of what goes in the suitcase, and what arrangements you need to make for the house/cat sitters, and what you have to shift over to someone else at work, fly by like Christmas morning. Suddenly, it's two days before you leave and you think you might have a heart attack from the anticipation, the excitement, and the "What am I going to forget???" worries. But vacations with your kids make such awesome memories. I'm sure you're all going to have blast!

 

That's one thing I made sure to do when my kids were growing up... take them on vacations, short and long, spontaneous and well-planned. We called them "adventures." Sometimes our adventures were a few hours long, sometimes a week or two. They were not always grand or expensive, but they were time together seeing new places and doing new things and being goofy together. Eventually, I bought a timeshare so we'd pretty much have to take a "real" one week vacation each year, even if it was to spend a week on the beach that was 20 minutes away. We also took vacations where we spent a night here, a night there, and worked our way through a few neighboring states by staying at cheap (sometimes a little scary, ha-ha!) motels. We've done cars, trains, planes, and some years ago, I took them on their first cruise. We have so many wonderful memories, and it's fun to reminisce about the places we've been, the things we've seen, and funny things that have happened on our vacations. They can still crack me up when they talk about the "mustard drill" [sic] on their first cruise. Just make sure to take lots and lots of photos... not just the posed photos, but also the casual, candid shots when you can capture the kids in wonder of what they're seeing and experiencing. A tip on this... the scenery shots seem really cool at the time, but they've been taken a million times by a million people, and other than posting them on FB to make others jealous, they don't mean a whole lot later on. Make sure that most of your pics have someone in your family in them. Those shots make much better memories.

 

Great family adventures (vacations) can really plant the seed for inspiring future adventures as the kids grow up and on their own. Warning: You may be creating future cruise addicts, ha-ha! My kids were definitely bitten by the travel bug. One majored in Hospitality Management in college and is the general manager of a timeshare resort. The other quit her job as a high school counselor and has been traveling the world with her husband (a sci-fi writer) as a travel blogger. Right now, they're on a Viking River cruise along Portugal. Wonder if they had a "mustard drill" before they left port....

 

Good stuff! I think of family vacations as investments, and the incredible memories are the dividends down the road. The other day I decided to keep a journal of our vacations, and I listed everything that we'd done over the years, or at least I thought I had. It seems that I had forgotten the overnight and weekend trips--and they were very valuable in the minds of my kids! My kids are 17 and 19 now, and we're about 6 weeks from the empty nest, so my advice is to make memories with them while you can!

[canadaman111]

Good stuff! I think of family vacations as investments, and the incredible memories are the dividends down the road. The other day I decided to keep a journal of our vacations, and I listed everything that we'd done over the years, or at least I thought I had. It seems that I had forgotten the overnight and weekend trips--and they were very valuable in the minds of my kids! My kids are 17 and 19 now, and we're about 6 weeks from the empty nest, so my advice is to make memories with them while you can!

 

Never thought of vacations as investments. But I agree. Even though they seem so expensive at the time. When they are done you never regret spending the money to make those memories. For us having kids going off to college in the next 3 or 4 years it is now or ever for us. Once they are off to college I assume it gets much harder to make vacations work.

[winddawn]

We booked the cruise we're going on next week over a year ago. At first the time goes very slowly, but that's OK 'cause I don't want to wish my life away. However, the last three months, when you're making the list of what goes in the suitcase, and what arrangements you need to make for the house/cat sitters, and what you have to shift over to someone else at work, fly by like Christmas morning. Suddenly, it's two days before you leave and you think you might have a heart attack from the anticipation, the excitement, and the "What am I going to forget???" worries. But vacations with your kids make such awesome memories. I'm sure you're all going to have blast!

 

That's one thing I made sure to do when my kids were growing up... take them on vacations, short and long, spontaneous and well-planned. We called them "adventures." Sometimes our adventures were a few hours long, sometimes a week or two. They were not always grand or expensive, but they were time together seeing new places and doing new things and being goofy together. Eventually, I bought a timeshare so we'd pretty much have to take a "real" one week vacation each year, even if it was to spend a week on the beach that was 20 minutes away. We also took vacations where we spent a night here, a night there, and worked our way through a few neighboring states by staying at cheap (sometimes a little scary, ha-ha!) motels. We've done cars, trains, planes, and some years ago, I took them on their first cruise. We have so many wonderful memories, and it's fun to reminisce about the places we've been, the things we've seen, and funny things that have happened on our vacations. They can still crack me up when they talk about the "mustard drill" [sic] on their first cruise. Just make sure to take lots and lots of photos... not just the posed photos, but also the casual, candid shots when you can capture the kids in wonder of what they're seeing and experiencing. A tip on this... the scenery shots seem really cool at the time, but they've been taken a million times by a million people, and other than posting them on FB to make others jealous, they don't mean a whole lot later on. Make sure that most of your pics have someone in your family in them. Those shots make much better memories.

 

Great family adventures (vacations) can really plant the seed for inspiring future adventures as the kids grow up and on their own. Warning: You may be creating future cruise addicts, ha-ha! My kids were definitely bitten by the travel bug. One majored in Hospitality Management in college and is the general manager of a timeshare resort. The other quit her job as a high school counselor and has been traveling the world with her husband (a sci-fi writer) as a travel blogger. Right now, they're on a Viking River cruise along Portugal. Wonder if they had a "mustard drill" before they left port....

Your kids are very lucky indeed to have parents who get it. :-) Thanks for sharing!

[telebax51]

Once my kids were all grown and off on there own its was time for DW and myself to make memories just the 2 of us, our first vacation was to Disney go figure but is was like going on our first Anniversary. The memories never stop when they were kids, when they were teenagers, and also adults, It will be easy to make vacations work because of the memories they produce either with or without kids.