In All Seriousness

Have any of you ever missed a ship's departure due to either an accident, car breakdown, or traffic jam while driving to that port? I'm not talking about other instances such as flight delays, sickness, or just plain forgetting about the time. We are a little over 4 hours drive from Port Everglades in Florida. We were planning on renting a car and leaving about 8 am the same day for a 4 pm ship's departure. We also could drive to Ft. Lauderdale the day before and spend overnight although I don't know if the extra cost would be justified.

I have gotten a few opinions but would really like to get opinions from folks that have done this quite a few times. :)

Last cruise we got on by the skin of our teeth. Engine went on the car half way through the journey - totally unexpected. Wait an hour for a mechanic, then 30 minutes for him to say it was totally messed up and he would have to tow the car back to a garage and it could take 1-2 weeks to get the parts and fix, then we have to wait for a tow truck since the mechanic was just in a motorway callout car. We look at trains/coaches, nothing that can get us there on time. So we had to call a tax firm, now 2 hours outside of the port, and get a quote - then wait for the taxi to show up at the service station we were at, and then a frantic taxi drive to the port at a very high price. We had scheduled to be at the port by noon - we ended up there 15 minutes before last boarding and if we'd hit traffic on top, we would have missed it.

I was using my phone to try and find out how we could meet the ship at the next port of call because for a little while I genuinely thought we would miss the boat but the taxi driver knew it was a rush and did us proud.

We will still drive next time but will leave even earlier. Rather be waiting at the port or just get lunch somewhere nearby than risk it again. For a 4 hour drive I don't think I would stay overnight; just get up bright and early.

Almost, a friend had an accident at a resort that required a visit to the emergency room. The ship waited two more hours but had to leave because of the lowering tide. The friend pulled up just as the cruise was about to pull the gangplank.

I know that wasn't exactly your question, but we learned through this experience to take a ship phone number with us on shore. It took two hours, but when we finally got communication with the ship, Carnival bent over backwards to get our friend back on the ship. We ended up calling Carnival headquarters in the USA to get the ship, but if we had not contacted them, they would have left.

Burt

I personally would not take the chance and leave a day earlier. The cost of the room would be very small compared to losing out on the cruise!

I have two incidents. My cousin and her husband got to the pier at start of cruise in plenty of time to make the ship- about 2 hours before they had to be on board. But for some reason the ship left early! Forget why. So they had to fly to San Juan and wait until the ship arrived two days later. Think ship paid all their expenses as they were there in time.

Another time we met an older lady. She and her husband took a tour in Nassau. She wanted to shop when they got back but he didn't. So, he went back on board. She mixed up the time ship left and got to the pier to see her ship way away from the pier! Well they got her a hotel, her expense, she had to buy dinner & breakfast, her expense. They next day she was flown, via sea plane, to the next port, the ship's island. All of this cost them $1800!

We always plan to be back at least an hour before we must.

We drive to ports from the NC coast. When we have a cruise leaving Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Port Canaveral we always drive down the day before. We stay at the same motel in Cocoa every time. It is close to 95 and then we have a 4 hour drive to Miami or Fort Lauderdale- or right to Port Canaveral..

I lived in Ocala for more than 10 years and did many cruises out of Port Everglades. Although we sometimes drove the same day as the cruise, we often went down the day

before. The main reason as far as I was concerned was to avoid the stress of getting there on time. Sometimes we would rent a car to not worry about breakdowns and the rental car company would take us to the port. The hotels are rather reasonable, except for Spring Break when we don't cruise any way. Some hotels allow free parking while you are away on the cruise and include transport to the port - sometimes a small fee or tips to the driver.

We now live near Sarasota and still can cruise any of the Florida ports, only an hour and 15 from Port of Tampa.

I lived in Ocala for more than 10 years and did many cruises out of Port Everglades. Although we sometimes drove the same day as the cruise, we often went down the day

before. The main reason as far as I was concerned was to avoid the stress of getting there on time. Sometimes we would rent a car to not worry about breakdowns and the rental car company would take us to the port. The hotels are rather reasonable, except for Spring Break when we don't cruise any way. Some hotels allow free parking while you are away on the cruise and include transport to the port - sometimes a small fee or tips to the driver.

We now live near Sarasota and still can cruise any of the Florida ports, only an hour and 15 from Port of Tampa.

I imagine that you took the Turnpike all the way. Did you ever experience delays, accidents, or excessive traffic on the Turnpike, especially down near the Ft. Lauderdale vicinity? I would imagine that I-95 could be a problem and I would never chance it the same day on I-95. However, I don't think I've ever seen a major tie up on the Turnpike. Off course, I am not a frequent traveler to South Florida from Ocala.

For a 4 hour trip, I would simply leave early...very early to arrive at port by 10am or so...that will give you ample time should a problem occur....I couldn't justify the cost and extra packing a hotel would incur.

Almost, a friend had an accident at a resort that required a visit to the emergency room. The ship waited two more hours but had to leave because of the lowering tide. The friend pulled up just as the cruise was about to pull the gangplank.

 

I know that wasn't exactly your question, but we learned through this experience to take a ship phone number with us on shore. It took two hours, but when we finally got communication with the ship, Carnival bent over backwards to get our friend back on the ship. We ended up calling Carnival headquarters in the USA to get the ship, but if we had not contacted them, they would have left.

 

Burt

Where do you get a ship number? I don't remember ever seeing one, only the cruise line 800 number.

Where do you get a ship number? I don't remember ever seeing one, only the cruise line 800 number.

Emergency Phone Numbers for embarkation are generally found in your cruise documents/contract.

Emergency Phone Numbers for when in Port are generally printed in the ship's daily news letter left in your cabin each night.

I've driven from Melbourne FL to Port Everglades (177 miles) the morning of the cruise twice. Once on a Saturday, once on a Sunday, left Melbourne about 7:30 was on the boat by 11:30. If it's really a 4 hour drive, I would leave by 6. That should give you plenty of time to park or return the rental car.

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Emergency Phone Numbers for embarkation are generally found in your cruise documents/contract.

 

Emergency Phone Numbers for when in Port are generally printed in the ship's daily news letter left in your cabin each night.

Thank you, I will pay attention next time.

Almost, a friend had an accident at a resort that required a visit to the emergency room. The ship waited two more hours but had to leave because of the lowering tide. The friend pulled up just as the cruise was about to pull the gangplank.

 

I know that wasn't exactly your question, but we learned through this experience to take a ship phone number with us on shore. It took two hours, but when we finally got communication with the ship, Carnival bent over backwards to get our friend back on the ship. We ended up calling Carnival headquarters in the USA to get the ship, but if we had not contacted them, they would have left.

 

Burt

For those wondering about the ship's emergency number, the ship's newsletter for the port days should have the "port agent" listed on the first page. (at least on the cruise lines I've gone on) So if you have a problem while in port, that's the number to call. The port agent will have the number on board and the right contact name.

Missed several flights due to car and weather issues.

Never missed a cruise *knock on wood*

Have any of you ever missed a ship's departure due to either an accident, car breakdown, or traffic jam while driving to that port? I'm not talking about other instances such as flight delays, sickness, or just plain forgetting about the time. We are a little over 4 hours drive from Port Everglades in Florida. We were planning on renting a car and leaving about 8 am the same day for a 4 pm ship's departure. We also could drive to Ft. Lauderdale the day before and spend overnight although I don't know if the extra cost would be justified.

 

I have gotten a few opinions but would really like to get opinions from folks that have done this quite a few times. :)

First of all, if the ship really departs at 4:00, you have to be on board 90 minutes before departure. This means that you must be there by 2:30, not 4:00.

If you do insist on not staying overnight, why leave at 8:00. Get up really early and leave at 5:00 or 6:00 AM. That give you a bit more of a cushion.

BTW - if you stay at an inexpensive motel, how much can it cost - $75? I see Motel 6 at about $66 plus tax.

DON

I personally would not take the chance and leave a day earlier. The cost of the room would be very small compared to losing out on the cruise!

We are about 6 hrs drive to Ft Lauderdale and still stay at a hotel the night before a cruise. We can leave our car there and take a shuttle to the pier so the savings on parking helps defray the hotel cost. We are rested for boarding day and get to the ship in time for lunch.

I live about 3.5 hours from FLL. No way I'd go the day before. I'd rather get a good nights sleep in my own bed and leave for the port around 8:00 am. That allows plenty of time to change a flat or take a detour.

We drove from Captiva Island to Miami once and got there a day too early. LOL I have no idea how we screwed that up. Thank goodness we were a day early and not a day late.

We've driven several times without incident but it always crosses my mind how easy a major delay could happen.

I live in S Florida and have sat on the turnpike for more than an hour when there was a wreck. And remember that Ft Lauderdale has the port security that each vehichle has to go through, not like just breezing into the port in Miami. If I were you I would think maybe leaving an hour earlier, you can always take a nap in your cabin later when you are on board.

We leave at 10:30 to get to the port and we're only 15 minutes away! :D I'm a little nervous until we are actually onboard.

Wow! I haven't had this happen to me, but from reading everyone's stories it stresses me out. I guess sometimes I don't handle stress well, especially when it's completely out of my control. Say traffic, accidents, etc... I would absolutely not risk it.

The worst thing that has happened to us is our flight the day before was canceled and we had to work with the airline to get a different connecting flight and it was a mess. Then they lost our luggage..It all worked out in the end, but still. I just wouldn't want to start my vacation out stressed!! I would pay for the hotel no doubt about it!

We didn't miss our cruise but we did have a close call. We came down a couple days early to visit DGM precruise on an extended family cruise. We took 2 vehicles. My DM drove hers and we drove a rented minivan. On the morning of our cruise we just had to drive from Palmetto to Tampa. As we were driving on the highway a cooler flew out of the back of of a pick up truck in front of our minivan. It flew over the minivan and smashed into the front windshield on the drivers side of DM's car. She gave us call that she needed to pull over. It was smashed pretty bad. The good news was we were pretty close to the port so DH took over driving her car and we very slowly made our way to the port. Once there the Parking Lot attendants were a wonderful help. They were able to help DM contact someone to fix the windshield while we were on the cruise and help her contact the insurance company to get it covered. Wierd things can happen at any time. I'd leave a little early to give yourself some wiggle room.

Our most harrowing adventure was several years ago, getting to Freedom of the Seas. We were flying from California to Miami, through DFW. We hit bad wind shears in Dallas, got diverted and delayed. By the time our plane returned to DFW, our connecting flight was long gone, and the place was a total ZOO. As the winds were getting worse, we literally took the last flight out -- to anywhere, before the airport completely shut down for 24 hours. We ended up spending the night on the floor of the Nashville airport (and, I don't recommend those accommodations :eek:).

Luckily, we were originally booked to fly in a day ahead of our cruise departure. We did manage to get to Miami in time to catch the ship. However, we had NO idea where our luggage was, at that point. It finally caught up with us, half-way through the cruise -- thanks to the folks at RC!

I was all set,....I had to catch a bus from MA, going to NY. My girl and I had all the driving instructions to get to the bus terminal, yep, we had it all, except that we were lost,....totally lost. We had another person driving, and berween the three of us, we had no plan. I called the bus company, because we were allready late, but no answer. (It was sunday) I called the state police for directions, but still could not get our bearings. Rigt about now, you can guess that the trip was in the past, and we were heading back on the road. All of a sudden, the phone rang, and it was the bus company manager, who calmly led us to the bus yard. Yes, the bus DID leave, but he called it back. At the end, all was well, and the cruise was great. My gf beat the stuffing out of me, but I made it. Btw, the bus driver got a well deserved tip, and I am still using the same bus line again in sept. (A big thank you to Academy Bus Lines) R.A. and the Cat:D

We've had a few close calls, due to weather and traffic. We now, always leave at least a day early, it is such a stress reliever. When we fly overseas for a cruise, we stay overnight at the airport, just to relieve stress. On top of the overnight at the airport, we still arrive at our destination at least a day early (sometimes close to a week early so we can explore a new city). I am not missing the boat!:)

Thanks everyone for all of the input. Made the decision to leave northern Florida the same day as the cruise. We'll leave at 7:15 AM and take the Florida Turnpike all the way. A little over 4 hours drive to the Budget Car Rental at the port. Should be on board by noon. We do have alternative routes, to divert to, if there was any problem on the turnpike. Although, the Florida Turnpike has very few accidents and even fewer traffic jams. So, we should be fine.