NC to Miami port by car

Anyone drove to the port of Miami from NC? Trying to convince husband to fly, but he rather either drivr or take train. Just wondering if we drove, is it best to drive all the way or stop midway and do a hotel stay and drive to port next day? What be your suggestion for a nice city to stop once in Florida between the border and Miami.

Whatever you do, plan to arrive the day before just in case you encounter any issues.

Keith

Yes, we differently have planned to arrive the day before regardless of which way we decide! Thanks!

Looks to be around a 12 hour drive.

My own preference would be to get to Miami the night before the cruise.

However, if you don't want to do the drve in one stint, I would at least get to within 2 hours of Miami, so you have lots of leeway in case of delays in the morning. I'd pick somewhere around Port St. Lucie.

Yes, we differently have planned to arrive the day before regardless of which way we decide! Thanks!

Glad to hear that and I really would recommend staying in Miami or within 30 minutes. Just less of a hassle. Also if you are driving your own car I would park at the port.

I have driven from North Carolina to Miami. If you like to drive it's fine. The closer you get to Miami the more traffic there is. If you are not in a rush break it up so you can stop.

But if it was me, I would fly. :)

I would pass on the train. I have fiends who did that and would not do it again.

Keith

Thanks, some good tips. I have to January 2017 to convince him to fly, hopefully I can find a good deal on a flight:)

Hey neighbor! I live over in Winston-Salem!

We have done this drive and vowed we wouldn't do it again. If you decide to drive, PRAY that you don't get stuck in traffic on 95!! It is a 12 drive....but that's just driving. That doesn't include stops and traffic backups. Plan on at least it taking 14 hours with stops and allow extra time for traffic issues.

It is so much easier to fly. However, if you do drive, split the drive up into 2 days. It's nearly impossible to do this in 1 day. :)

Have a great cruise!!

The good news is you have time on your side.

In terms of flying do fly in the day before the cruise so you don't have an issue with a cancelled or delayed flight.

But one step at a time with your husband. First convince him to fly.

Keith

Thanks, some good tips. I have to January 2017 to convince him to fly, hopefully I can find a good deal on a flight:)

The best idea.:)

Anyone drove to the port of Miami from NC? Trying to convince husband to fly, but he rather either drivr or take train. Just wondering if we drove, is it best to drive all the way or stop midway and do a hotel stay and drive to port next day? What be your suggestion for a nice city to stop once in Florida between the border and Miami.

I live in NC and have done both, It is a good 12 hr drive without traffic, then the only safe place to park is at the port for 20$ a day, also you would need 2 hotel rooms, or if you are going to drive straight through,(done that too, we were so tired we didn't enjoy gettin on the ship) It just makes sence to fly, you can get direct flights, closest airport for me is RDU, non stop flight to FLL depending on when you go varies, from 170 RT to 260 RT, I find the flights into MIA are not as travel friendly as Fort Lauderdale, And the prices of the hotels are slightly cheaper. you can book a suttle or rent a car each way, there is a budget/alamo close to the port and they offer free shuttle. My husband was more about driving until we did it a few times and said it was to long sitting in a car. We are in our late 50's

We drove last month from western NC after our flights were cancelled due to the big snowstorm so it wasn't initially planned as a driving trip! We broke it up into 3 hours Thursday night then did the remaining 11 hours on Friday for a Saturday departure. Getting into Miami at night was not fun as we had an airport area hotel to find. However, driving back home was fine on a Saturday and Sunday; we stayed on 95 to 26 and didn't have any problems. We will probably drive next year and stay about an hour north of the port the night before. Parking at the port was pricey, as a previous poster said, but so convenient to walk off the ship with our bags, hop in the car, and leave. It took us probably 30 minutes from leaving the ship to being in the car on the interstate.

As a result of the snow storm I recently got stuck driving home to NJ from Miami so I did part of your drive in reverse. I would never do it again on a time deadline. If you can mosey & meander rather than pushing to drive straight through it might be OK. We we pressed for time because DH had to get to a meeting in Baltimore. The time pressure made it awful.

I would definitely plan to stay over at least one night & I would budget for traffic through Jacksonville & the greater FLL / Miami area.

Thanks!

Anyone drove to the port of Miami from NC? Trying to convince husband to fly, but he rather either drivr or take train. Just wondering if we drove, is it best to drive all the way or stop midway and do a hotel stay and drive to port next day? What be your suggestion for a nice city to stop once in Florida between the border and Miami.

We have driven to Fort Lauderdale several times. We leave in the afternoon and stop around Savannah. That breaks the drive in about half.

I live in NC and have done both, It is a good 12 hr drive without traffic, then the only safe place to park is at the port for 20$ a day, also you would need 2 hotel rooms, or if you are going to drive straight through,(done that too, we were so tired we didn't enjoy gettin on the ship) It just makes sence to fly, you can get direct flights, closest airport for me is RDU, non stop flight to FLL depending on when you go varies, from 170 RT to 260 RT, I find the flights into MIA are not as travel friendly as Fort Lauderdale, And the prices of the hotels are slightly cheaper. you can book a suttle or rent a car each way, there is a budget/alamo close to the port and they offer free shuttle. My husband was more about driving until we did it a few times and said it was to long sitting in a car. We are in our late 50's[/quote

 

Can you recommend a hotel in FLL? If we rent a car; the provide a shuttle to the port, so we don't pay for parking? Can you recommend a shuttle service vs car rental?

We generally fly but have driven a couple of times. Yes it's a long ride from NC but much easier than driving North on 95! We like to get the majority of the driving out of the way but didn't want to stay in Miami due to price and congestion. We ended up saying in Port St Lucie both times. It's a very nice area right off I95 with plenty of newer hotels from most of the chains. Lots of places to eat nearby and much more reasonable. Then did the 2 hr drive to POM in the morning very comfortably.

If flying we do like to use FLL rather than MIA as we go in the night before and stay in FLL. We use MJS shuttle service to get us from our FLL area hotel to the port and from the port back to FLL. SAS is also highly recommended for shared shuttle as well.

I have always heard that driving 95 North is a pain versus 95 South. Thanks for the advice!

When driving and leaving the port, did any of you stop for the night on your return trip home?

Both times we have made it back to the Raleigh area by 8-9 pm. We always play it by ear. The draw of sleeping in our own bed seems to win out:)

We stayed in Savannah the last time we drove, it was right off 95, we were able to go to down town Savannah.

I read on the boards here about the shuttle service. If I find it I will post it.

I am a former New Yorker, and the drive North to Long Island is the worst trip! The traffic, the tolls, I could go on.

I have always wanted to see Savannah, nice 2nd trip, lol. So that's about 6hrs left to Miami, how was that drive the next day (cruise day)? What time did you leave that next morning? How are the tolls in Florida?

We live near Liberty, NC and make the drive to FL at least a couple of times a year. If we are going to the Orlando/Tampa area where we have family we usually stop around Pooler/Savannah.

Back in Dec. we drove to Ft L for a cruise and went straight thru. I didn't want to chance traffic issues from GA as it was too far away in my book to take chances on a same day arrival. Arrived in FtL the night before and relaxed. 5 minute drive to the port next morning.

As long as you use I-95, no tolls.

Cocoa Beach(Port Canaveral) has a snooze and cruise for $95 for 1-night with up to 4 people & includes parking there and shuttle to & from port, so I would think that Miami would too.

From the locals on these boards it has been stated many, many, many times.....in Miami the only safe place to park is at the port!

Happy Cruising everybody!!

Thanks! We been looking at Port St Lucie, but hub is like if we can get 2hrs away, why not go all the way, but I advised Hotel prices are better there than Miami. Any recommendations for hotels near Port St Lucie or Miami(that have a park and cruise)?