How far are you willing to drive to a port?

[flagger]

So how far are you willing to drive to a port? Our next move to the SE US is going to take us within about a 11-12 hour drive of Miami and maybe 7-8 of Port Canaveral.

 

On one hand not having to face such a drive after a cruise might make flying worth it, but pricing airline tickets for three people keeps going up with the demise of such carriers as Independence.

 

So how long of a drive are you willing to make for a cruise?

[teedee]

Once we drove from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale for a Century cruise and I would NEVER do that again. Even though we got there a day early we were still so tired the next day when we got on the ship. I've also driven to Jacksonville to get on a ship, much easier drive from Atlanta at around 5 hours, I wouldn't mind doing that again, but that's probably my limit.

Terri

[wizard-of-roz]

:) We're driving from Los Angeles to Seattle, in September, to Cruise the Northwest. A total of 1,122 miles. "Mapquest" says it will take us 17 hours and 16 minutes to get there. Hah!!!! We're giving ourselves 3 days to drive, arriving in Seattle on a Saturday. We'll take Saturday and Sunday to investigate pikes market and sights in Seattle and then we cruise on Monday. We're looking forward to the road trips, both to and from; we'll enjoy the scenery and sights along the way, we'll get "books on tape" from the library, some really "smooth" traveling music and renew our friendship! We did this through Europe. We flew into Zurich and drove to Paris. I love haveing the convenience of my own car and the option of going where I want, when I want. Enjoy your drive, turn it into an adventure!

Happy Traveling,

The Wizard of Roz:)

[Ships R Great]

We're driving from D.C. area to Miami to cruise Zenith, with a stop in Atlanta to see friends and then Jax for my mother's 97th birthday. But we'll drive straight home after the cruise. Will probably take three leisurely days to do it. But generally I would not drive that far, especially for a five day cruise. (I would not take a five day at all if it were not for already being in Jax and friends are flying down to cruise and then drive back with us. Our B2B on Zenith in Dec. was ideal.)

[tuggers]

By the time you factor in gas, parking, overnight, etc. I think you would be better flying. FLL is 450 miles from me, all interstate, but I fly. Actually sometimes I fly north to go south (through Atlanta) or over to Jax and then to FLL. You won't be near ATL flagger but can you go north a little and hit one of the major airports?

 

When are you moving, BTW?

[flagger]

Ms. Flagger leaves tomorrow for our new city. She will hit the ground running and start house hunting this weekend. Cocoa and I follow next weekend and spend all of the long weekend house hunting and then we fly back.

 

So I don't know when we are moving. For our December 2007 cruise, we are honestly thinking of driving since we are combining a WDW visit with the cruise. Remember I have lived in Texas where five hour drives are considered daytrips. ;) And considering we are driving 1800 miles to our new home whenever we move, it is something we have thought about.

 

When she had to, Ms. Flagger used to get up early and drive from Charlotte to North Atlanta because it was just as fast as flying when you consider traffic, getting to the airport and where Hartsfield is located in comparison to where her then office was located.

[bulldogmom]

hmmmmm, about 200 miles would be my limit! LOL I'm not one to ride in a car though. We live about 100 miles up I-75 from Atlanta and I hate to even drive to Atlanta to the airport! As expensive as gas is we would spend just about as much money driving as what we do flying. Especially since Miami would be a 2-day drive and we'd have to stop and get a room.

[PTCRUISER57]

We are driving from Salt Lake to Seattle in July (850 miles one way) cost for gas is 85.00 dollars and a room for 100.00. Taking two days so as not to rush. Total for round trip maybe 700.00 with meals and parking, cost of airline tickets for three is about 1730.00 Thats a bit of a savings. With the savings maybe a balcony??

[flagger]

One other thing for our consideration is not having to deal with luggage weight limits when you drive. Also you can do any shopping for items you want to bring aboard, liquor, water, soda at home - box it up, slap a room label on it and it gets delivered to your stateroom.

[vaccardi]

Same as any trip. Up to four hours is a drive. Four to nine is a tossup. Nine plus is a drive.

[geoherb]

We're in Raleigh, N.C. We loved being able to drive to Norfolk for our recent HAL cruise. It's a shame they're not scheduling more cruises from there. Our limit is probably about six hours. Baltimore would be as far north as we would drive and Savannah as far south.

 

When we retire and don't have to rush, I can see driving to Fort Lauderdale. But for now, it's too long a drive.

[TEXASMUNK]

Done Ft Worth to Miami.....a couple of times.

 

But, I drive the entire State of Texas making sales calls so 5 hours from Ft Worth to Houston is nothing. I also make a run three times a year from ft Worth down to Baton Rouge, then back through Beaumont/Houston.

 

No big thing. We always stop in Tampa and visit family.

[wvufan]

We have driven from West Virginia to Florida twice for cruises (basically a two day trip) and made the journey part of the vacation. We took our time and visited Savannah and St. Augustine, and took 1A down the coast of Florida a lot of the way. One time we detoured on the way home and visited the Biltmore in NC followed by a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stayed with relatives in Vero Beach over night and then took the Connections bus to the ship itself on cruise day. We were very relaxed and in vacation mode before we ever got on the ship.

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[Druke I]

San Francisco is just under 100 miles from our home, and that is as far as we will drive for a ship.

 

Amtrak works well for Seattle or Vancouver, and LA or San Diego. Much as I dislike flying - that is how we get to other ports.

[flashdog_1]

I am 90 miles south on I85 from Hartsfield AP Atlanta. I usually have driven there, parked in off airport parking lot, taken the shuttle, and gotten to FLL at 11 and on the ship when they let me.

 

I have also driven to Palm Beach to visit friends and had them drive me to the port. One night recovery time after the drive seemed to be adequate. But staying up partying with friends could exhaust us, so we don't think we will do it again. It's an 11 hour drive to FLL.

 

But recently the airfares have sky rocketed and I am going to drive to Tampa with my daughter to take Veendam in March. We will overnight in a motel there and take a shuttle to the ship. We will see if an 8 hour trip exhausts us too much. if it does not, we will do the same for our November Zenith cruise. If it works, we will do it again March 07 for another Zenith trip.

 

The more people in the car, the more economical driving becomes.

[Garrick]

we've driven from st louis to Miami before for a cruise. I guess that's maybe 18 hours

[debshomespun]

Our second cruise, we drove 20 hours, from NE Ohio to Miami, with 2 teenagers, in a 4 dr. sunfire! Only way we could afford to take both the kids with us. Then, the following year, we drove down to New Orleans w/BIL & SIL (overnite trip, 16 hrs. drive straight through), and have since started flying. Definitely much easier!

 

Would we drive the 20 hrs again to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area for a cruise? You bet your bottom dollar we would, but with the price of gasoline now, we just search the web for air deals, and hope they have them when we plan to fly!

[greeneg]

We've driven from Charlotte to Jacksonville twice to take cruises on the Zenith. We've also gone from Charlotte to Charleston, SC for a Galaxy cruise. I might consider Tampa, but probably not Miami or FLL.

[poetic license]

When I was living in the D.C. area, I had a 2 hour commute each way to and from work. So a little driving isn't much of a deterrence to me.

 

Consider the hassles of airports: The driving distance to yours, plus add time to park and drag your bags to the terminal, an hour for check-in and security, what you can and can't carry on, how your luggage is manhandled, the cost of parking for a week or more, then add the recent spike in airfares. Then there is the flight itself: How many times have you had a screaming baby right behind you?:eek: Or the guy in front of you inclines his seat into your chin? :mad: Or the six people who boarded before you carried on two bags apiece, plus attaches and laptops and there isn't a sliver of overhead bin space for your measly tote bag? :mad::mad:

 

It would take a driving distance GREATER than 8 hours for me to fly to a port. Less than that, and I can usually be at the port sooner than if I had flown, and not have all the attendant hassles. While driving can be fatiguing, flying is stressful these days. I'll take a little fatigue over needless stress any day. I did drive to Galveston for a GALAXY cruise, and I was AMAZED at how pleasant it was. The drive was a shade under four hours, and I parked outside the port in a private lot that included a wonderful shuttle and luggage handling. It was effortless!

 

Spending an overnight en route would greatly diminish the attractiveness of driving to the port for me. I would hate the hassle of having to shuttle bags to and from the hotel, finding a decent place to eat, unpacking and repacking. Looks like the only places I can drive to and avoid this are Galveston, Houston, and New Orleans. Sadly, X won't have any ships at any of these ports after this spring, so this is a completely esoteric exercise for me, but maybe it will help someone else weighing the pros and cons of driving vs. flying to port.

 

Cheers,

[KBC73]

We have driven twice to ports. The first to Baltimore and the second to Charleston SC. We travel with another couple and make a nice road trip out of it. On the trip to Baltimore third couple from the Charleston SC area met us in Baltimore. She new the itinerary but all he know was we were going on an 11 night cruise on the Galaxy. We were well on our way to Charleston before he realized that was our first stop. He was upset, but took it in good stride.

 

Kevin

[ocngypz]

Anything out of Boston, NY or NJ, I take the bus.

 

With the price of gas.. parking and tolls.. it doesn't make sense otherwise.

 

Celebrity bus is free for Zenith. RT bus to Boston for me is $36, plus two cab rides I have another charter service which does the NY transfers for $50 round trip.... Still haven't figured out what to do yet about the new Red Hook pier. I am hoping the charter service will offer $50.00 rt rates as well.

[Stardoggy]

We live in Oklahoma and have driven to Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Port Canaveral in order to all four get to go. We have had some of the best times ever on our way to the ship. We tell funny family stories, etc. and snack all the way! Then in the wee hours of the night, my husband and I have lots of time for thougth-provoking conversation and drink lots of coffee. Our method has been to leave after work and drive straight through. We then spend a night in a motel and rest up before getting on the ship. We love to cruise and go at least once a year. My husband and I did fly to Boston last fall to get on the Jewel of the Seas, and the flight, layover and hauling bags through the airport left lots to be desired to me. Travel by car has lots of appealing qualities to my family. Since I live in Oklahoma and a ship will never sail from here, for our four, it's generally the car.:)

[catmand]

L.A. ......................maybe San Diego from the San Francisco Bay Area. We train to Seattle. We're really spoiled being 45 minutes from S.F. port

[JNLROSE]

Geeze, I posted a reply & it disappeared! I said--since we live in the middle of nowhere, we "need" to mostly fly so it behoves us to do a LOT of internet research for the best flights! We usually get GREAT results from AA whether it be free miles or "buy for real" fares! They seem to service our area better than any other airline.:D

[trcori]

If we lived in Vegas again, I'd drive to LA or San Diego for a cruise.

But that's it.

From here, the only other comfortably driveable port is Vancouver, B.C. (three hours depending on the border traffic). We did that for our first Alaska cruise -- TR