Cancel trip to Florida ?

[odysee]

We have all seen the devastation that Ian had on Florida ‘s West Coast and the physical and mental pain and suffering it is causing.  We feel for you and hope you can recover and rebuild in due time.

 

We have a trip planned to Florida in 5 weeks, driving from East to West, no special itinerary or reservations yet.  
Need some advice if it is better to cancel whole trip or what areas to avoid.  Will it even be possible to find hotel rooms that are not needed for the homeless ?

 

Going forth and back if it is better to stay away for a while, but then Florida s main industry is tourism and if that falls away ?

[cruisecam1]

Long time resident SE Florida here.    Five weeks out is too soon yet to plan, however, you can be fairly certain that SW Florida will not be close to allowing tourism yet.  It is decimated where storm came through.  Specifically Sanibel, Captiva area, Marco Island, Ft. Myers’s Beach.  Naples was badly hit as well but may be up and running by then at least in some capacity.  Hotels in area that are habitable will be used for reconstruction and restoration crews.  I am likely omitting other areas affected in SW as well.    Eastern Florida is fine from Keys all the way up the coast.  Western side of state from Tampa area going north SHOULD be ok by then as well.     Please carefully check on all of this prior to your trip.  Good luck!

[cangelmd]

I’m on the Gulf Coast, lived here for most of my adult life, (wow, I’m old).

The answer is that there will be resort type areas on the west coast that won’t reopen for months and some places, like Sanibel that will be inaccessible for weeks to months. But, they need your money and support. I would wait until one week post storm and start contacting your final destination. FLDOT or whatever it is in Florida, should have a website by then giving updates on road and bridge closures. Many properties, motels, etc, have websites now that will clearly state opening and status. The power company may have a website updating outages.

It all depends on where and why you are going on your trip. After Ivan, we sneaked over to Pensacola and took our friends a generator and brought their kids back to stay with us for a week. Technically, not all the bridges had been opened between us and them, but obviously some people were getting over. I would not advocate doing that for a pleasure trip.

[cangelmd]

Just now, cangelmd said:

I’m on the Gulf Coast, lived here for most of my adult life, (wow, I’m old).

The answer is that there will be resort type areas on the west coast that won’t reopen for months and some places, like Sanibel that will be inaccessible for weeks to months. But, they need your money and support. I would wait until one week post storm and start contacting your final destination. FLDOT or whatever it is in Florida, should have a website by then giving updates on road and bridge closures. Many properties, motels, etc, have websites now that will clearly state opening and status. The power company may have a website updating outages.

It all depends on where and why you are going on your trip. After Ivan, we sneaked over to Pensacola and took our friends a generator and brought their kids back to stay with us for a week. Technically, not all the bridges had been opened between us and them, but obviously some people were getting over. I would not advocate doing that for a pleasure trip.

And by contacting final destination, I mean checking on website. I wouldn’t try to call anybody, unless they are well outside the most impacted area.

[odysee]

Thanks a lot for input.

we d like to come, but don t want to be “disaster tourists” either.

[cangelmd]

I just re-read your original post. In 5 weeks, you should be able to go the Tampa area or further north, but it will be hard to get a hotel room. Come see us on the Panhandle, it’s beautiful up here.

[CaroleSS]

I would agree with most of what has been said. The causeway to Sanibel is gone, so that entire area would be a "no go". From Napes up to Tampa should be avoided, but the eastern coast would be ok as well as the panhandle. Just pack some patience and bring a smile!

[FlorenceItaly]

2 minutes ago, CaroleSS said:

I would agree with most of what has been said. The causeway to Sanibel is gone, so that entire area would be a "no go". From Napes up to Tampa should be avoided, but the eastern coast would be ok as well as the panhandle. Just pack some patience and bring a smile!

@CaroleSS Excuse the threadjack.  I see you are in Longboat Key.  We have a week booked November 12-19.  We love the area.  How did you all make out?

[deliver42]

Daytona, Port Orange, and Ormond beach are under water with no power right now.

[Fuzzy55]

We live in Lakewood Ranch FL which is Sarasota/Bradenton area. We had no damage to our home and lost a few shrubs. Sarasota is open as well as Longboat Key plus parts north including Tampa.  Just do not plan to venture to Venice or places south of there. Right now I75 is closed between mile post 191 and 178. Both Venice exits due to flooding. 

[Host Anne]

Another gulf coast resident here.  If you stay north of Sarasota  and avoid the east coast and central Florida locations that have been flooded you should come.  Do a little more research closer to your trip to see if any locations currently dealing with flood waters are in better shape.  But I think from Sarasota to the Florida panhandle would be fine to visit and there are lots of great places in these areas.

 

Good luck!

[Alakegirl]

Not sure how this thread relates to Celebrity cruising???

[odysee]

We will be coming off a Celebrity TA in Ft Lauderdale and planned on adding another 10-14 days in Florida.  Now we were wondering if it would not be better to fly back to Europe immediately or to fly to another US state ( not on South East Coast).

Edited October 1, 2022 by odysee

[Arizona Wildcat]

31 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Not sure how this thread relates to Celebrity cruising???

It doesn't directly except lots of cruises from Florida and many Florida posters that can provide information. 

I am Director of an antique car museum.   Have had no luck so far getting info on Edison Ford Museum.   Hopeful. 

[Homosassa]

Please come to Florida.

 

Now more than ever we need your money from the high room tax and extremely high cost traffic tickets.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, odysee said:

We will be coming off a Celebrity TA in Ft Lauderdale and planned on adding another 10-14 days in Florida.  Now we were wondering if it would not be better to fly back to Europe immediately or to fly to another US state ( not on South East Coast).

What were you planning on doing with your time in FL? Sightseeing, beaching, combination? Ever been to the Keys?

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, Alakegirl said:

Not sure how this thread relates to Celebrity cruising???

I guess you can report it if you find it offensive.

[GonzoWCS]

15 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I guess you can report it if you find it offensive.

Dig it!

 

Cheers

[odysee]

26 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

What were you planning on doing with your time in FL? Sightseeing, beaching, combination? Ever been to the Keys?

We have been several times incl one drive to Key West.  Just thought of spending couple of days in FLL/Miami area, then drive West and up along the Mexican Gulf to Tampa where we could fly back from.  A combination of beaching, sightseeing, shopping and make stops of a couple of days each; don t like to have different accomodations every night.  
Seems like we have to rethink routing.

[Gracie115]

21 minutes ago, odysee said:

We have been several times incl one drive to Key West.  Just thought of spending couple of days in FLL/Miami area, then drive West and up along the Mexican Gulf to Tampa where we could fly back from.  A combination of beaching, sightseeing, shopping and make stops of a couple of days each; don t like to have different accomodations every night.  
Seems like we have to rethink routing.

 

Yes, I think so. The west coast from just south of Tampa to well past Naples won't be ready for tourists in 5 weeks.  The hotels that are open will be taken by workers, people whose homes have been damaged/destroyed and insurance agents.  Key West all the way up the East coast and Central Florida to the Panhandle will be fine.  Yes, a few of those areas, Ormond Beach, St. Augustine, Daytona had some flooding and power outage issues but they should be recovered for the most part in 5 weeks.  

 

 

[CaroleSS]

8 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

@CaroleSS Excuse the threadjack.  I see you are in Longboat Key.  We have a week booked November 12-19.  We love the area.  How did you all make out?

I do think things will be back to "normal" by then. There are boatloads of terrific lines(people) from all over that have come to help. We are on the north end and have water, but no power. The south end has both. I don't expect it to be much longer before we are up and running again.

 

We had trees come down, but there are lots of people out cutting, pruning and removing the debris. We will be "ship shape" in no time!

 

The one thing that really struck me was the water levels. We expected a huge storm surge, but got the total opposite! The storm sucked all the water OUT of our canal! We only had about a foot of water (if that) and the bottom was exposed in some areas! It was quite odd! If the storm hadn't been so intense, I should have pulled out a shovel and cleaned the oysters and barnacles off the seawall and dock pilings! 😜

 

last night we took the puppers out one last time before bed and took a moment to look up. Without the "light pollution" we could see bazillions of stars, it was very pretty!

[CaroleSS]

55 minutes ago, odysee said:

We have been several times incl one drive to Key West.  Just thought of spending couple of days in FLL/Miami area, then drive West and up along the Mexican Gulf to Tampa where we could fly back from.  A combination of beaching, sightseeing, shopping and make stops of a couple of days each; don t like to have different accomodations every night.  
Seems like we have to rethink routing.

If you've not been to St. Augustine, it is a must see! Pretty town with tons of history.....a bit schticky/touristy in places, but a really fun place to spend a few days.

[FlorenceItaly]

53 minutes ago, CaroleSS said:

If you've not been to St. Augustine, it is a must see! Pretty town with tons of history.....a bit schticky/touristy in places, but a really fun place to spend a few days.

I agree.  It is another one of our favorite places.  Along with LBK we will be staying 4 nights in St. Augustine.

And, yes, the KEYS are a must.  Last year we spent 3.5 weeks there.

[Nancycat]

The treasure coast was luckily not affected by Ian, 

[hcat]

We just got power back today in Venice...flood waters are receding. Many trees are down , roads impassable.. Glad we were not there  during the storm..but we will have some damages to address.

 

An extended visit to Fla could be  very nice post cruise,  but OP would  need advice from a Fla TA or local travel guide. Many places will be ok, but other popular tourist places like Sanibel Island will take a very long time to come back.  Much depends on how things go, and  OPs interests..

 

Island  of Venice  and areas nearby  are  beautiful ..lovely beaches, shopping , dining etc...most intact or coming back strong.    Tampa itself has  much to offer...

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by hcat