Traveling from Housotn, TX to Port Canaveral, any tips??

My family of 4(myself, husband, 16 and 12 yo sons) are planning to drive from Houston to PC for our Christmas Eve cruise. Our plan is to leave Friday, stop at some point for the night. Finish up on Saturday for a night in PC. Cruise leaves on Sunday.

We travel often but this will be our first road trip for this length of time. And ideas, tips, recommendations? Flying is not an option. Any recommended hotels along the route and also in PC that have park n' cruise specials. Or would it be more effective to park at the port. This will be my 6th cruise, 1st time leaving from a FL port so any information would be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you all. Thanks :D

Depends on how long you can sit in the car

We did it but took a few days as DH is the driver

I would get as close to the top of Florida as you can on day 1

Pack lots of snacks/water & stop every few hours & walk around/pit stop etc...

Leave as early as you can on Friday

Google can draw up a route & you can judge your progress from there

My family of 4(myself, husband, 16 and 12 yo sons) are planning to drive from Houston to PC for our Christmas Eve cruise. Our plan is to leave Friday, stop at some point for the night. Finish up on Saturday for a night in PC. Cruise leaves on Sunday.

 

We travel often but this will be our first road trip for this length of time. And ideas, tips, recommendations? Flying is not an option. Any recommended hotels along the route and also in PC that have park n' cruise specials. Or would it be more effective to park at the port. This will be my 6th cruise, 1st time leaving from a FL port so any information would be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you all. Thanks :D

Check out the Residence Inn in Cape Canaveral. They have true two bedroom suites and have a park & cruise package.

This is a good plan.

I think the only issue might be weather which is not something we can predict.

Keith

I-10 will always be backed up eastbound going over the Mississippi in Baton Rouge, unless it is during the night, and there is not really any way around it. Also, the I-10 tunnel in Mobile. Just ad some extra time.

when you get to Florida you get to decide if you want to go I-75 and the turnpike to Orlando then SR-528 to PC

or

stay on I-10 to Jax and just run south on 95

With us living near PC & wife being from Mobile, and both kids having gone to college that direction I've driven this route MANY times in the last 10 years. While 75 and the turnpike looks shorter and quicker, in reality the difference is minor and unless there is some compelling reason we opt for the 95/Jacksonville route. Unless you LIKE paying tolls there is little reason to use 75/turnpike ...

Between Tallahassee and I-75 there ain't much along I-10 .... hotel options are few (in comparison) ... they exist but are spread out ... and even gas can be a long while between stations

when you get to Florida you get to decide if you want to go I-75 and the turnpike to Orlando then SR-528 to PC

 

or

 

stay on I-10 to Jax and just run south on 95

 

With us living near PC & wife being from Mobile, and both kids having gone to college that direction I've driven this route MANY times in the last 10 years. While 75 and the turnpike looks shorter and quicker, in reality the difference is minor and unless there is some compelling reason we opt for the 95/Jacksonville route. Unless you LIKE paying tolls there is little reason to use 75/turnpike ...

 

Between Tallahassee and I-75 there ain't much along I-10 .... hotel options are few (in comparison) ... they exist but are spread out ... and even gas can be a long while between stations

Thanks for the info. I googled it and saw it was only a 10 min difference if we opted not to take the tollway.

Thanks for the info so far. My husband just confirmed that he'll be off that Thursday. So our plan is to drive to New Orleans for the night to stay with family. Leave out Friday and do the whole trek to Florida. Now just undecided if we want to stay in PC, Orlando or somewhere in between. Plus have to find something to entertain the kiddos. Decisions, decisions.. LOL!!

Cocoa Beach (just south of the port) has lots of places to sleep and it is super-convenient to the actual port. Most of the hotels in the port area are near a beach, let the kids hit the water. Let them wear themselves out a bit and then relax a lot.

Jim

Suggest you look at driving to Mobile and spend the night then on to Florida. It's a good 8-10 hr drive from Houston providing there are no traffic problems.

The Atchafalya Basin Bridge can be a real headache if there is an accident. You are looking at 18 miles of 2 lanes over swamp. Road construction east/west of Hammond.

Good luck and enjoy your trip,