Fly or Drive?

[ottergirl]

I was all set to fly to Miami from Chicago because it would be the quickest way to get to Florida from Chicago. Now I read that it would be wise to get there at least one day in advance. So, if the ship leaves port on Friday, I would fly out on Thursday morning. It is a 20 hour drive from Chicago, but my husband hates to fly. He will force himself, but would much rather drive.

 

So now I am contemplating driving. This will be in January. The flights would cost us about $500.00 combined. If we went ahead and drove 14 hours on Thursday, and then 6 more on Friday, we would safely make it to Miami by 1-2 PM, with a 5 PM departure.

 

I'm so confused. We could probably drive there for about $300.00, including hotel, gas and dinner/snacks for the drive. I would feel more in control driving... I'm petrified of having flight problems, esp. in January out of Chicago.

 

How much does it cost to leave your car for the duration of the cruise? How many of you have driven to port from far away?

[dforeigner]

I was all set to fly to Miami from Chicago because it would be the quickest way to get to Florida from Chicago. Now I read that it would be wise to get there at least one day in advance. So, if the ship leaves port on Friday, I would fly out on Thursday morning. It is a 20 hour drive from Chicago, but my husband hates to fly. He will force himself, but would much rather drive.

 

So now I am contemplating driving. This will be in January. The flights would cost us about $500.00 combined. If we went ahead and drove 14 hours on Thursday, and then 6 more on Friday, we would safely make it to Miami by 1-2 PM, with a 5 PM departure.

 

I'm so confused. We could probably drive there for about $300.00, including hotel, gas and dinner/snacks for the drive. I would feel more in control driving... I'm petrified of having flight problems, esp. in January out of Chicago.

 

How much does it cost to leave your car for the duration of the cruise? How many of you have driven to port from far away?

 

There are Pros and cons with both. Depending what vehicle you drive, it may be cheaper to fly than to drive. Keep in mind that you may want to stay at a motel as this drive should be done in two days. In addition there are meals to purchase in those two days. Also, do not forget the parking fee. Weather wise, there is always the possibility of road closures. Granted, you could have a blizzard and the airport shuts down. Chicago is a mayor hub. The odds of finding other flights are at your advantage. Hence, the reason of flying in a day early. Of course, flying a day early mean you need to spend the night at a hotel.

 

The call should be yours and your husband. There are many that do not fly because of phobia (being scared). Realistically, the odds of one dying are greater on the road than on a plane.

[Wilbo]

If you drive, give yourself extra time for weather conditions.

[CPT Trips]

We try to get to the port a day early because of concerns about travel delays. We follow this regardless of whether we fly or drive. Leaving in January from snow areas, you have to expect some problem and then be grateful when things go smoothly. If there is a winter storm, it will mess you up whether you fly or drive . . .

 

We have been lucky (knock wood) so far. But there was the time decades ago that we were driving to Ft Gorden GA in late March and hit a snowstorm in VA and NC. Va had both of their plows out on the interstate, but NC's plow must have been in the garage for it's end of season maintenance.

 

Do buy trip insurance!

[Keith1010]

If you want to drive I would still plan to arrive a day early. You just don't know if you will have any complications such as bad weather or problems with the car. So, whether you fly or you drive the best advice I can give is to arrive a minimum of one day prior to embarkation.

 

Keith

[okbowler]

As others have mentioned, weather can hurt you driving as well as flying. If you drive or fly you should get in a day early. If you do drive you would have three nights in motels, one coming, the night before, and one going home, plus meals for four days. On the other hand motels in Jan. in south FL will be expensive.As to flying ,check fares to FT. Lauderdale instead of Miami ,it is usually cheaper and about 45 min. from the port of Miami to FTL. It costs $15.00 a day to park at the port. Hope this helps. Bill

[ottergirl]

Duhhhh I did not even think about the extra time and money to drive BACK afterwards! Do you blame me??? LOL

 

I still think flying is the best option. Just quicker and less headache, and actually less costly in the end.

 

Thanks for the advice. It helped me weigh my options.

[okbowler]

I forgot to mention that there are shuttles that go from FTL to Miami port and are reasonable. There is a local named Bequia who's knowledge of the FTL and Miami area is almost encyclopedic. Her e-mail address is bequia2day@aol.com. I'm sure she can help if you need local help.:) Bill

[Coolmama_1]

I can't even begin to imagine a 20hr drive after the cruise. January weather can really be fickle!

[cruisead]

Hmmm. January? Chicago? Blizzards?

 

January? Tennessee/Kentucky? Ice Storms?

 

Flying is a much better idea. If you're stuck in the blizzard or ice storm you could be stuck in a motel for two days or more.

[Happy ks]

I cannot imagine driving to a destination trying to hurry like this. A 2 day drive each way, wear and tear on your vehicle, your body and your psyche. I also think it may take well over your 20 hour allotment, if you figure traffic delays or (like us) time getting lost :) !

 

Then, to spend more than twice as much as it would cost to fly? Many times we figure things to cost less than in actuality. You should figure at least 42 cents per mile, that takes you to a cost of $1150, then add on around $100 for parking, then a hotel room, one each way probably around $200. I don't count meals because you would eat no matter where you are, maybe spending a little more than usual. This is the real cost, not just the cost in fuel, you have to figure wear and tear on the car, tires etc...

 

So, your actual cost is more like $1500 vs. $500 for the flight. That's not figuring in the extra days you may have to take off work for this type of plan. I'd rather save my vacation days for something fun, not driving in a car :rolleyes: .

 

Of course, I'm not crazy for any drive over 4 hours, I go crazy driving anywhere. I'm not real fond of flying either, but given these options, to fly will always win out. Some people actually love to drive to get places, I'm definitely not one of those :)

[celbercrz333]

Another option - go to Lorton, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington DC and get the autotrain. It lets you off near Orlando. Then drive down to Miami.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Why go in January when tranportation to and from Miami seems to present problems for you. Unless you have a sentimental reason...birthday, anniversary or it is the best time for you because of work, there are months when ships cruise round trip from ports much closer to Chicago (NYC, Cape Liberty NJ, Baltimore, New Orleans, and even Tampa Florida) to name some of these ports.

 

There are some wonderful cruise deals in November and April when driving to ports would not overwhelm you.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[improvgirl]

We are road-trip people and have ruled out cruises from Miami for that reason. We live in Indianapolis and it would take us at least 16 hours to get to Port Canaveral, despite what Mapquest would say, and Miami is so much further south.

 

You never know what the road will be like, weather, traffic, construction, wrecks, whatever, so you would definitely want to be spending the night in Miami before the cruise, so you're really talking about 2 nights hotel on the way down there, plus at least one night on the way back. If you go somewhere like NY, or even Tampa, you could most likely drive it in one day, and then only have one night's hotel room going down there (the night you spend in the port city).

 

I love to drive and wouldn't do it any other way if I didn't have to, but that's why I am considering the other ports mentioned by the above poster for my first cruise.

[ottergirl]

I am going to look and see the prices for April. It is our anniversary then, and maybe we will find something we want that we could drive from. Thanks for the advice. I wanted to go in January for three reasons. The weather here is so bad that it would be lovely to escape for almost 2 weeks from the nasty winter in Chicago, it would be during that "blah the holidays are over and we still have a lot of winter ahead" time, and the cruises are less expensive, which matters to us also.

[hajekfam]

We live in the Chicago area and this year alone, have taken trips to Florida (Ft Myers)- both driving and flying. We drove down in March because we have a new convertible and wanted to get a chance to use it. We found that it cost about the same to drive or fly (we fly Southwest). It takes us about 20 hours to drive to Ft. Myers in good weather (don't tell anyone but hubby does drive quite a bit over the speed limit). We usually make it as far as Chatanooga the first night. The time difference and the ability to arrive refreshed is the benefit of flying.

Flying in a day gives you a cushion to allow for bad weather. Plus you arrive, get a good night's sleep and board relaxed and refreshed instead of weary from traveling. We realized after a few cruises that arriving on boarding day was a wasted day for us - the hassles and stress of travel wiped us out and we weren't able to really enjoy ourselves and the nighttime activities.

If you do decide to drive, you might want to drive down a day earlier arriving in Miami the day before your cruise so that you can rest and relax espeically after all that driving.

[ottergirl]

I did search for cruises in April to see what is available, but I still really prefer the 9 day southern Caribbean cruise offered through NCL in the winter. I think I will stick with this and make sure to purchase travel insurance just in case, but many people fly every day, so we will take our chances and hope for the best. Yes, we will for sure fly out at least one day ahead of time, if not two night ahead of time. I want to start this trip relaxed, and for me that is the only way possible. We will just hang out in Miami for the day :) I can think of many other less fun ways of spending the day, ummmm like being back in the office.

 

Thanks for the reassuring words. I am looking forward to escaping Chicago after the holidays. Chicago around Christmas is amazing, but man can the winters be cold and windy while walking downtown at 8AM when it is 10 degrees below zero with the wind chill and a good stiff breeze is blowing with just a bit of snow and ice pelting me in the face- that good stiff breeze that sucks the breath right out of a person. LOL Yeah, sitting on the beach for over a week drinking a coco loco will seem like a dream at that time! I don't need to travel tropical right now- we have 90s here in Chicago-land ;) I'd appreciate it so much more in the winter.

 

We live in the Chicago area and this year alone, have taken trips to Florida (Ft Myers)- both driving and flying. We drove down in March because we have a new convertible and wanted to get a chance to use it. We found that it cost about the same to drive or fly (we fly Southwest). It takes us about 20 hours to drive to Ft. Myers in good weather (don't tell anyone but hubby does drive quite a bit over the speed limit). We usually make it as far as Chatanooga the first night. The time difference and the ability to arrive refreshed is the benefit of flying.

Flying in a day gives you a cushion to allow for bad weather. Plus you arrive, get a good night's sleep and board relaxed and refreshed instead of weary from traveling. We realized after a few cruises that arriving on boarding day was a wasted day for us - the hassles and stress of travel wiped us out and we weren't able to really enjoy ourselves and the nighttime activities.

If you do decide to drive, you might want to drive down a day earlier arriving in Miami the day before your cruise so that you can rest and relax espeically after all that driving.