Sailing out of Port of Miami - Driving from Ohio

[wrk2cruise]

When driving from NC we like to stay about 2 hrs north of the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area the night before and then make the easy 2 hr drive in the morning. We generally stay in the Port St Lucie area. We have not had issues with room availability and the rates are a a fraction of the FLL/Miami area during the busy season.

[Jyllie63]

When driving from NC we like to stay about 2 hrs north of the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area the night before and then make the easy 2 hr drive in the morning. We generally stay in the Port St Lucie area. We have not had issues with room availability and the rates are a a fraction of the FLL/Miami area during the busy season.

I was just looking at this today. It seems to be a good stopping place. So it is actually 2 hours (normal traffic) to Port Everglades? I was finding hotel prices quite a bit cheaper. We just have to decide if we want to park at the port or get a hotel in FLL with free parking. I think I'd rather park at the port so we can just get on the road and get home. The trip back will seem much longer than the trip down I'm afraid.

[wrk2cruise]

I was just looking at this today. It seems to be a good stopping place. So it is actually 2 hours (normal traffic) to Port Everglades? I was finding hotel prices quite a bit cheaper. We just have to decide if we want to park at the port or get a hotel in FLL with free parking. I think I'd rather park at the port so we can just get on the road and get home. The trip back will seem much longer than the trip down I'm afraid.

 

I leave 2 hrs but it's probably more like 1.5 to 1.75 hr to the port. I've not had bad traffic going to PE. Traffic between Fort Lauderdale and Miami can be bad. We also park at the port. We figure what we saved in hotel price more than makes up for the difference between on-site and off-site parking at the port.

[tartan cruiser]

I would watch the weather and allow extra time if necessary. Last year returning to Mn the freeway was completely closed in both directions in TN due to snow/ice and jack-knived semis. They just don't have the snow equipment we have in the North. Also a second for the Fort Pierce/Port St. Lucie area. I would book a hotel you can cancel up until 6 pm on day of arrival and then cancel if needed. We've found hotels in this area sell out early on weekends. Best Western Fort Pierce, and Springhill Suites Port St. Lucie have had the 6pm policy in the past. I like Port St. Lucie better but Fort Pierce is acceptable.

[Jyllie63]

Well, due to the Embassy Suites being the cheapest hotel we can find right now that has good reviews :) we booked it in Boca Raton. I'm still going to look for something cheaper and maybe a little more north of FLL but at least we have this booked as a back up. Any info on Boca Raton like great places to have dinner or how far from the beach we will be?

[Foosguy]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We're used to vacationing at the end of April, so I didn't even think about possible bad weather for our drive down in March. We do have flexibility and will plan on leaving in the morning. Also, we have decided to just park at the port. I like the added security that will give us.

 

I'm now wondering if we'll be able to just find a hotel on the way without having reservations made in advance. We will probably just drive until we're too tired to go any further, so we won't know where that will leave us as far as hotel for the night.

 

You all have helped us tremendously!

 

We are also from Cincinnati and have driven this route 5 times to catch a cruise in PC, FLL, or Miami... I recommend driving thru the night if you are up for it, as that leads to the most successful road trip with virtually no traffic anywhere...

 

We leave Cincinnati at 9:00pm, hit Atlanta at about 3:00am, hit Orlando around 9:00am, then FLL or Miami is 1:00pm. I have found these times to be the most successful if you feel safe to drive at night.

 

Kyle