Driving from the northeast or mid-atlantic region?

So, we booked a last minute cruise and have decided to drive. Google says it takes about 17 or so hours from our area (we live outside and slightly south of of Philadelphia) to Port Canaveral.

I kind of want to just long haul it - leave around 2 or 3 am and drive straight through - stopping here and there of course to eat, stretch legs, bathroom etc. If we do this and have little traffic we would arrive around 9-10pm in Cocoa Beach area - get a hotel - and be able to sleep a bit in the am before going to port.

My other idea is to leave Thurs after dinner (7pmish) and drive for 4-6 hours - whatever we can manage - and get a hotel in the VA/Richmond area. Wake up early-ish - still 10 more hours to drive so perhaps get into Cocoa around 6-8pm depending on stops. Again be able to sleep in a bit but then we are paying for 2 hotels (not really a deal breaker - just not ideal!)

Hubs has the idea to drive from 3 am until we hit the Georgia area on driving day 1. Next day check out early and drive the remaining 5-6 hours embarkation morning - so arrive at the ship around noonish. I think that may ruin day 1 of sailing as we would be tired (kids especially!)

So this is my long winded way of asking - what is your driving plan if you have driven to or plan to drive to port

So, we booked a last minute cruise and have decided to drive. Google says it takes about 17 or so hours from our area (we live outside and slightly south of of Philadelphia) to Port Canaveral.

 

I kind of want to just long haul it - leave around 2 or 3 am and drive straight through - stopping here and there of course to eat, stretch legs, bathroom etc. If we do this and have little traffic we would arrive around 9-10pm in Cocoa Beach area - get a hotel - and be able to sleep a bit in the am before going to port.

 

My other idea is to leave Thurs after dinner (7pmish) and drive for 4-6 hours - whatever we can manage - and get a hotel in the VA/Richmond area. Wake up early-ish - still 10 more hours to drive so perhaps get into Cocoa around 6-8pm depending on stops. Again be able to sleep in a bit but then we are paying for 2 hotels (not really a deal breaker - just not ideal!)

 

Hubs has the idea to drive from 3 am until we hit the Georgia area on driving day 1. Next day check out early and drive the remaining 5-6 hours embarkation morning - so arrive at the ship around noonish. I think that may ruin day 1 of sailing as we would be tired (kids especially!)

 

So this is my long winded way of asking - what is your driving plan if you have driven to or plan to drive to port

How about driving to St Augustine. It would be a long drive but leaving very early(3-4am) should put you there at about dinner time. Check into a hotel, eat dinner and get a good night's sleep. The next morning it should be about a 3 hour drive(maybe less) to PC.

We have stopped overnight in St Augustine 3 times, stayed at the Hampton Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn. It is a nice way to break up the trip.

We've made it to Jacksonville in about 11 hours from the same area (South Jersey) leaving at 2 a.m. I like this best since you avoid the mess on 95 thru Balt/Wash.

We're doing a similar trip to yours in April '15 to the Port of Miami, planning at this point to overnite in Jax and then do the last 5 hour leg to Miami.

11 hours in the car was plenty for all of us.

Hm, not a bad idea to get to Jax or St Augustine. Did not even think of that. Thanks :)

We are further south, it takes us about 10 hours. We usually leave the night before and stay around Savannah. When we get up we are about halve way there.

Have you considered spending two nights on the road?

You'd certainly be lots more rested when you get on the ship.

LuLu

So, we booked a last minute cruise and have decided to drive. Google says it takes about 17 or so hours from our area (we live outside and slightly south of of Philadelphia) to Port Canaveral.

 

I kind of want to just long haul it - leave around 2 or 3 am and drive straight through - stopping here and there of course to eat, stretch legs, bathroom etc. If we do this and have little traffic we would arrive around 9-10pm in Cocoa Beach area - get a hotel - and be able to sleep a bit in the am before going to port.

 

My other idea is to leave Thurs after dinner (7pmish) and drive for 4-6 hours - whatever we can manage - and get a hotel in the VA/Richmond area. Wake up early-ish - still 10 more hours to drive so perhaps get into Cocoa around 6-8pm depending on stops. Again be able to sleep in a bit but then we are paying for 2 hotels (not really a deal breaker - just not ideal!)

 

Hubs has the idea to drive from 3 am until we hit the Georgia area on driving day 1. Next day check out early and drive the remaining 5-6 hours embarkation morning - so arrive at the ship around noonish. I think that may ruin day 1 of sailing as we would be tired (kids especially!)

 

So this is my long winded way of asking - what is your driving plan if you have driven to or plan to drive to port

I could have written your post. We also booked a last moment cruise (Freedom of the Seas) leaving on July 27, next Sunday. I have driven this drive quite a few times. You are right...leave at 2 AM. We drove down to Phillies Spring Training in Clearwater, then took a cruise afterwards last year. We drove nonstop to the Jacksonville area and got there in the early afternoon...took a small nap, went to a nice dinner and woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to enjoy our day.

So my advice is to drive that far, and take a break for the night. Rooms in Florida in the summer are not expensive at all. We are leaving from Cherry Hill, and you can email me if you want at "Coochuck@comcast.net'. The first time we drove we stopped at Dillon SC, the next time we stretched it to Savannah GA, then Brunswick GA, and finally Jacksonville. Have also driven straight thru, and it does take a toll on you. Its better on the way back if you have a day to recoup, but going to a ship, I opt to take a breather the night before.

I live in Jacksonville if you need suggestions for hotels. I have driven

to Pt Canaveral several times over the years and it only takes 2 hours

from here to there:)

My sister and her family did the long haul version and it worked out fine. Left after supper, at the first pit stop the kids changed into PJs and they slept almost the whole time from dusk 'til dawn. Took them about 16 hours from Buffalo to Daytona Beach; I guess they drove cautiously through the Appalachians in the middle of the night. If you are reasonably confident your kids will sleep enough in the car, overnight drive followed by one night in hotel to recover sounds best.

You definitely want to time your trip trough the Northern VA portion of I-95 to avoid daylight hours. Fridays in summer are especially bad southbound from Noon until 9PM. Most days it is one long back up each way from Springfield to Fredericksburg because they are doing work on the HOV lanes. Check the following website close to your travel days for nighttime lane closures: http://www.vamegaprojects.com/lane-closures/

Nighttime lane closures can really delay traffic through the region. Consider taking 301 as an alternative from Maryland and cut over on RT 17 to catch back with 95, if there are lane closures on your travel day.

Have a good trip.

Thanks so much for all of the helpful info! Sounds like the Jax area is the general consensus for a stop over - not bad at all :) Not sure what the kids will do sleep wise - I am not worried too much about the 14 year old - she will just put her ear buds in and be fine. I plan to have lots of snacks and movies on the iPad for the 5 year old - but do hope that he eventually will sleep.

speaking from 16+ years of experience of driving 10 to 16 hours at a time with kids I would drive straight thru and leave at 9-10 pm on Thursday night. I say this because once our kids got to be about 5-6 years old they no longer slept in the car during the daytime hours. Your 14 yr old will be fine...earbuds and fully charged ipad/phone and they are good to go. A 5 yr old can only watch so many movies over a 17 hr time period. And most likely they will be up and excited about the cruise from the time it is daylight out.

We did a cruise out of Miami a few years ago before Christmas. We left on Thursday night at 10pm. We were going to leave at 3am but opted to just go ahead and hit the road. We were so glad we did. Got to Boca Raton for the night before the cruise late afternoon. Kids slept all night in the car and were never cranky. They were 12 and 14 yrs old at the time. Got up the next morning drove the 45 mins-1 hour to port.

Whatever time you decide to leave try to get at least within an hour or two of PC. It will make your departure day for the cruise much more leisurely.

Enjoy your trip!

Has anyone gone thru the construction mess along 95 in Virginia. If so what was your experience?

Has anyone gone thru the construction mess along 95 in Virginia. If so what was your experience?

I did not know of this! Will have to look into

I did not know of this! Will have to look into

Please read my previous post. I live smack dab in the middle of this. It is a nightmare. Check the website for construction updates before you leave home. The Virginia DOT has a smartphone app called 511. It tells you traffic conditions several miles ahead. The app also links to traffic cameras along the route to see. Your co-pilot can check this out while en route. If there are delays or stopped traffic use your GPS to get you to US Route 1 parallels 95 all the way to Richmond. Once you are past Fredericksburg i95 should be pretty open.

PRIOR POST

You definitely want to time your trip trough the Northern VA portion of I-95 to avoid daylight hours. Fridays in summer are especially bad southbound from Noon until 9PM. Most days it is one long back up each way from Springfield to Fredericksburg because they are doing work on the HOV lanes. Check the following website close to your travel days for nighttime lane closures: http://www.vamegaprojects.com/lane-closures/

Nighttime lane closures can really delay traffic through the region. Consider taking 301 as an alternative from Maryland and cut over on RT 17 to catch back with 95, if there are lane closures on your travel day.

Have a good trip.

Please read my previous post. I live smack dab in the middle of this. It is a nightmare. Check the website for construction updates before you leave home. The Virginia DOT has a smartphone app called 511. It tells you traffic conditions several miles ahead. The app also links to traffic cameras along the route to see. Your co-pilot can check this out while en route. If there are delays or stopped traffic use your GPS to get you to US Route 1 parallels 95 all the way to Richmond. Once you are past Fredericksburg i95 should be pretty open.

 

PRIOR POST

You definitely want to time your trip trough the Northern VA portion of I-95 to avoid daylight hours. Fridays in summer are especially bad southbound from Noon until 9PM. Most days it is one long back up each way from Springfield to Fredericksburg because they are doing work on the HOV lanes. Check the following website close to your travel days for nighttime lane closures: http://www.vamegaprojects.com/lane-closures/

Nighttime lane closures can really delay traffic through the region. Consider taking 301 as an alternative from Maryland and cut over on RT 17 to catch back with 95, if there are lane closures on your travel day.

Have a good trip.

Sorry - you did say that! I must have not retained that info!! I am going to pass this along to the husband and father - in - law The inlaws have decided to join us on this cruise so I don't know how feasible my wanting to do a looooong driving stretch will be

Please read my previous post. I live smack dab in the middle of this. It is a nightmare. Check the website for construction updates before you leave home. The Virginia DOT has a smartphone app called 511. It tells you traffic conditions several miles ahead. The app also links to traffic cameras along the route to see. Your co-pilot can check this out while en route. If there are delays or stopped traffic use your GPS to get you to US Route 1 parallels 95 all the way to Richmond. Once you are past Fredericksburg i95 should be pretty open.

 

PRIOR POST

You definitely want to time your trip trough the Northern VA portion of I-95 to avoid daylight hours. Fridays in summer are especially bad southbound from Noon until 9PM. Most days it is one long back up each way from Springfield to Fredericksburg because they are doing work on the HOV lanes. Check the following website close to your travel days for nighttime lane closures: http://www.vamegaprojects.com/lane-closures/

Nighttime lane closures can really delay traffic through the region. Consider taking 301 as an alternative from Maryland and cut over on RT 17 to catch back with 95, if there are lane closures on your travel day.

Have a good trip.

I just loaded the 511 app....love it...thank you

We've done the drive from Virginia to PC and Ft. Lauderdale many times. While its only 10-12 hours for us I always plan to be able to spend the night at a hotel in the port city the night before. A couple times we haven't been able to leave until later in the day and still have chosen to drive straight through.

For us, it's a much more relaxing way to start a vacation...no rushing in the morning or fear of breakdowns or traffic.

We're not from the same area, but we did a cruise out of Tampa in January. Our first day of driving was a long day (11ish hours). We left just south of Indy around 5am & arrived in Valdosta, Georgia, about 6pm. The next day, we drove the EASY 4ish hours into Tampa. We were onto the ship quickly after dropping myself & luggage at terminal, while he took the car to long-term parking.

We're doing another cruise in January, but we sail out of Fort Lauderdale. Not sure if we're spending 1 or 2 nights out.

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!

This really isn't a bad trip if you plan it right. Hopefully you have a nice van where passengers can sort of stretch out.

I'd definitely start around 8 p.m. and just power your way through the night. There isn't anything going on at night and you can keep a steady speed while making your way down, stopping for only gas/coffee and restroom/stretch breaks.

By the time the morning rush hour hits, you should be somewhere in South Carolina where you can stop and get breakfast. From there it's easy

Personally I think Jacksonville is too far away from Port Canaveral to settle there for the night . . . for that matter, so is St. Augustine. You've just done all that driving . . . why subject yourself to another 2 hours the morning of the cruise . . . get it out of the way. I've driven from Fort Lauderdale to Port Canaveral the morning of the cruise and I absolutely hated it and you are talking about a similar drive from Jacksonville to Port Canaveral.

Furthest away I'd be is Daytona Beach but I'd suggest Cocoa Beach as the ideal location . . . or Titusville if you don't mind not being on the beach for the night. Hotels close to the port are fine also, but you have a car so you don't have to be ham-stringed with the port hotel traffic.

If you have 6 people going, it's really a no brainer to make the drive. So much money saved over airline tickets that could be used for ship/port expenses.

On the way back I'd pick a city on the east coast to spend the night in and just do it. Savannah, Myrtle Beach . . . there are a couple of good options. Then be back home Sunday afternoon (assuming a 7 day cruise).

It'll be fun.

We're not from the same area, but we did a cruise out of Tampa in January. Our first day of driving was a long day (11ish hours). We left just south of Indy around 5am & arrived in Valdosta, Georgia, about 6pm. The next day, we drove the EASY 4ish hours into Tampa. We were onto the ship quickly after dropping myself & luggage at terminal, while he took the car to long-term parking.

 

We're doing another cruise in January, but we sail out of Fort Lauderdale. Not sure if we're spending 1 or 2 nights out.

 

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise!

I'd do 2 nights out if you are wanting to leave at a similar time as your last trip. You could once again drive into somewhere in Georgia the first night, get a good night sleep, eat breakfast and make the drive within an hour of the Fort Lauderdale area and have a relaxing evening and feel refreshed in the morning. If you can leave at a similar time as the OP or at least a few hours earlier than 5 a.m. . . . then I think 1 night out could do it, although you'd have a similar drive as the Valdosta/Tampa drive was the morning of the cruise.

The traffic mess in the VA area is a nightmare, and I would avoid it during peak times/rush hour/daylight areas at all cost!!! When driving down south, whether to the Orlando area, Atlanta, or Miami, I usually try to leave around 2-3am like you, and go to sleep in the early evening, after packing up the car. My problem is that I'm so excited, after around 9:00 or so, I can't sleep any longer, so I hit the road then. I drive from SJ into Delaware, through MD, and try to get as far south pass DC and VA as possible. I usually make it to the VA rest area in Woodbridge/Manassas before I need to take a stretch/mental/restroom break. We also may switch off drivers at this point, or the same driver will keep going for a few more hours or so. We then try to get through NC/SC, which seem like the longest states to drive through to us. Then through GA and onto FL, stopping several times, to switch drivers, or to stretch our legs, etc. If we are very tired, we'll pull into a truck stop or rest area to grab a few hours sleep before heading on. I like to get to where I'm going, so I usually don't stop for long time, or overnight at a hotel until at at my destination.

I think that is my issue with taking a few days to get down there! I just want to get there - I don't want the drive to seem to take FOREVER if it is spread over a few days. With some coffee and good tunes I know I could make the drive most of the way through ... Not sure about the hubs or the inlaws though

Thanks everyone again for the suggestions. We timed it perfectly to get through Richmond before 11pm. Kept driving through the night and will be in PC in about 2 hours now :). Not fun by any means but better to just get it all over with.

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Thanks everyone again for the suggestions. We timed it perfectly to get through Richmond before 11pm. Kept driving through the night and will be in PC in about 2 hours now :). Not fun by any means but better to just get it all over with. [ATTACH]322817[/ATTACH][ATTACH]322818[/ATTACH]

 

Have a wonderful cruise and a safe drive back home!