worried sick about driving!

[arpie05]

Hey another Missouri girl giving advice. I have done the New Orleans and Mobile drive. Did New Orleans in Dec/Jan so I think you are fine weather wise since it will be 80 the next couple of weeks in Missouri. I assume you are going thru Dallas but don't know if you are toward KC or St. Louis. SLMKBZ did the drive this past week so you might post a question to her. the best long drive advice I can give is go to the Library or audible.com and download a couple of long books onto your ipod then buy the cord that allows you play in the car- Harry Potter, James Bond - something you both would enjoy listening to. the trip will fly by.

We did that for our 12 hour drive to North Dakota Border and 12 hour drive home. (State collecting for my son)

The nice thing about driving is you can pack a small suitcase with some bottle of water and soda to take onboard. No air restrictions. Our last cruise we did not check a bag and only had a carry on suitcase each. Limited the wardrobe.

[dan40]

[quote name='shoppergirl12345']I figured out my delima on the cost of flight tickets to save lots of money we decided to not drive but take the bus It is a great rate right now on the bus we got round trip tickets for 2 on greyhound from Indpls to miami for 250.00 dollars total cost ! we decided it would be worth the 24 hour time we will be spending to save about 450 dollars off round-trip air cost. So I thought I would let you know that is always a option too.[/quote]

Doesn't delima be a bean?:D

Just kidding.

[amethyst08]

Stop stressing. Load the car...get some snacks and something to drink...put on some good driving music and hit the road. :D

If I can survice the drive from Montgomery, Al. to Miami Fl. in a 15 passanger van and 2 of the ladies having weak bladders :eek:...anybody can survive a long distance drive. :rolleyes:

[dallas52]

should be no problems, just take your time and enjoy.

[trb351]

My hubby and I are planning a cruise out of Miami. We live in Manitoba, Canada and are planning to drive there. I believe about 33 hours. We are planning to stop at some points of interest along the way there and back. Although it's a long drive, we will save about $600.00 by driving. Road trips can be alot of fun. :)

[bigasufan]

We drove from northwest Arkansas to Galveston. It's a beautiful trip.

[falkcor]

ok... so i didn't even think to mention way back when this started...

 

but since this thread seems to be sticking around...

 

i've driven from new jersey to houston, and vice versa 4 times... that's 1600 miles and change. one way. and i did it in an 8 or 9 year old honda accord with about 100,000 miles... and i didn't so much as check the oil, let alone all the other stuff are mentioning LOL. ;)

 

that's a 26 hr drive... one way... and i did it all the way through, solo, each of the 4 times, with only stops for gas and restroom... and caffeinated beverages. :D

 

i was exhausted at the end of each one, of course (!!!), but if that's do-able... :cool:

 

then i don't think you have anything to worry about :)

 

just watch out if you EVER have to drive on an interstate through lousiana :eek:

[triplee]

Just another person putting in my 2 cents. Once you have your car checked out, sit back and plan your route. Are there any interesting stops along the way? Are you into history? Are you aware of any events happening in the areas that you will be going through?

 

Relax, ENJOY the trip. Don't worry about getting all the way to your port in one day.

 

We are leaving for our cruise on the 17th. The ship departs in the afternoon of the 19th. Along the way, we will stop and visit my stepson and his wife for a couple hours in Pooler, GA and then drive to Kingsland, GA and spend the 1st night there. Then we will drive down to the Daytona area and meet with a couple people for some coffee of lunch, and eventually get to the hotel in Port Canaveral.

 

Always try and plan to have fun! The drive will be part of the wonderful cruise experience. (at least the drive going to embark!)

 

Lee

[mrpayroll]

Have done Michigan to Florida several times. 16 hrs sounds VERY do-able. :rolleyes:

[crzycick]

I've only read the first page so far but wanted to say not to worry, this is a pretty short trip. We've been on 2 cruises, driving to the ports (Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) and it's about 14 hours of actual driving time for us. We prefer leaving around midnight-2 am to get a lot of the driving done with little traffic. Because of personal reasons, I don't really drive so my husband does this himself. We drive it in one straight shot.

 

This is really easy for us though, he's stationed in NC and we're from Kansas so a couple of times a year we drive home to visit family and it's about 26 hours if we only stop for gas and only take bathroom breaks every 250 or so miles (when we fill up). We eat in the car and he refuses to stop for a hotel. Keep in mind he's also the only one driving! He's crazy. Sometimes he'll pull over in a parking lot and sleep in the car for an hour or 2. He sleeps a lot before the trip and does a lot of energy drinks and coffee. A few times I was able to drive for an hour. I really wish he'd stop for a hotel, but he refuses, he likes to get there and get done with it.

[jencredible]

we are driving from Green Bay to Miami in 2 weeks. the ride is going to be terrible! Not so much because of the 25ish hours of drive time, but bc we are surprising our girls-4&6 with the cruise-their first!

[dcwms]

In October 08 we drove from Springfield, MO, we were supposed to drive to Galveston, but at the time of our cruise because of hurricane Ike we had to change our plans and cruise from Houston.

The drive was so easy, even my 16 year old son enjoyed it. The roads were good and there were towns all along the highway in OK. When I was planning our road trip my main concern was driving through Dallas & Houston, but driving through Dallas wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be just stay in the left lane and go straight! and Houston wasn't bad either. Being from Springfield where we only have 4 lane roads, having all the extra lanes in Dallas & Houston was a bit nerve racking for me, but I drove it and it wasn't so bad.

We're talking about doing another cruise and we're thinking another road trip and this time hopefully get to cruise out of Galveston.

Our first cruise we flew from Springfield, to Galveston but we flew the day of the cruise and didn't get to see anything of Galveston.

Sharon

[zqvol]

So my boyfriend and I are driving 14 hours to go on our Carnivial cruise out of Galveston TX. My original plan was to rent a car but to rent it one way twice would be REALLY expensive and almost more then the plane tickets! We don't want to fly because we decided on Galveston all because we can drive it and my boyfriends family is from TX.

I have a 07 chevy aveo with 30,000 miles on it so it is still somewhat new in my opinion. I also have AAA in case something happend. We are leaving on a Thur and the cruise is on that Sat. Maybe I am being all worried for nothing. Has anyone drove a long way to get to their cruise before and if so do you have any tips for me?

 

I thought you were concerned about being in the car for 14 hours, not the condition of the car. Your car is in relative terms brand new. Go and have a good time and quit worrying !