Driving from ATL to Port Canaveral - a few ?'s

[Cruisinchristie]

Since we are cruising over a holiday week, the airfare from ATL to Orlando is insane! So, we are driving the 8+ hours to Port Canaveral. I have a few questions.

 

How long is the drive? I know what Mapquest/Google says (8 hrs 45 min) but that is not always accurate. We are about 30 min north of downtown ATL. We will take 75- 10- 95 and avoid Orlando.

 

We will leave around 1 ish on Friday afternoon. I think we will stop somewhere around dinner time and stay over (we have 2 kids 6 & 8). Any advice on this from experienced drivers? Is it better to push through and arrive in PC at 10 pm or later and sleep in or split the drive and just have a few hours in the morning to drive?

 

If we do stay over somewhere, where is a good stopping point? Is Jacksonville too far? Any advice on hotels there?

 

I appreciate any advice or suggestions!

[ATG]

We have done this several times. It usually takes us about 8 hours - but it is just 2 adults (from just outside 285 at 85) . We don't stop for long breaks.

 

We like to drive to Daytona Beach and stay there. Then it is an easy drive the next morning. After a good breakfast, we check out and drive down. It puts us at the pier at boarding time. I found that staying in Cocoa Beach left us with too much time that morning.

[Marie51]

Since we are cruising over a holiday week, the airfare from ATL to Orlando is insane! So, we are driving the 8+ hours to Port Canaveral. I have a few questions.

 

How long is the drive? I know what Mapquest/Google says (8 hrs 45 min) but that is not always accurate. We are about 30 min north of downtown ATL. We will take 75- 10- 95 and avoid Orlando.

 

We will leave around 1 ish on Friday afternoon. I think we will stop somewhere around dinner time and stay over (we have 2 kids 6 & 8). Any advice on this from experienced drivers? Is it better to push through and arrive in PC at 10 pm or later and sleep in or split the drive and just have a few hours in the morning to drive?

 

If we do stay over somewhere, where is a good stopping point? Is Jacksonville too far? Any advice on hotels there?

 

I appreciate any advice or suggestions!

Hi....I have done this drive to Pt Canaveral from Augusta. We stop overnight in St Augustine. We have stayed once at the Hliton Garden Inn and another time at the Hampton Inn on the beach.

The next morning we eat breakfast and head out. From St Augustine it is a 3 hour drive to PC. You get there just in time to board the ship. This has worked well for us traveling with small children.

[suezyq50]

We have also done this several times when lived in Rome, GA. We drove it in one swoop, taking the route you mentioned. Your time frame is pretty accurate. If you have a portable DVD player for your car, the kids will be occupied. My grandkids have one where they can watch their own movies. We stay at either Residence Inn or Country Inn and Suites. Both offer full breakfast buffet, free parking while on your cruise, and shuttle to port for a resaonable cost. Compare parking cost at port to staying at a hotel with free parking and shuttle. I also do a quick load of laundry, washing what was worn the previous day, that morning. We get first shuttle out, which is 11ish and have lunch on the ship. Under Florida departures, I Work In Port Canaveral is additional info.

[RuthlessBunny]

Actually, I'd wake up early and do it all in one shot. People underestimate kids. I remember my parents would drive from Phoenix, AZ to my grandparents in Monterrey, CA, about 12 hours on 101. We sat in the backseat of a Mazda R100 (folded like oragami). This was before FM radio, video games, dvd players, etc. We lived. Oh, did I mention that the Mazda didn't have A/C? (This is my version of walking 7 miles to school in the snow...)

 

Here's an invaluable resource:

 

http://www.i95exitguide.com/

 

This tells you what's on every exit on I-95.

 

Actually I've done the drive all the way to Ft. Lauderdale and it's 8 hours of good roads.

 

Remember, Tift County in Georgia is a speed trap, so once you cross into the county, SLOW DOWN. It's only about 10 miles, then you can pick up speed.

 

I'd stay in PC or Daytona Beach. Wake up to the surf, have breakfast on the veranda, all of that there.

[Maxine]

Actually, I'd wake up early and do it all in one shot. People underestimate kids. I remember my parents would drive from Phoenix, AZ to my grandparents in Monterrey, CA, about 12 hours on 101. We sat in the backseat of a Mazda R100 (folded like oragami). This was before FM radio, video games, dvd players, etc. We lived. Oh, did I mention that the Mazda didn't have A/C? (This is my version of walking 7 miles to school in the snow...)

 

Here's an invaluable resource:

 

http://www.i95exitguide.com/

 

This tells you what's on every exit on I-95.

 

Actually I've done the drive all the way to Ft. Lauderdale and it's 8 hours of good roads.

 

Remember, Tift County in Georgia is a speed trap, so once you cross into the county, SLOW DOWN. It's only about 10 miles, then you can pick up speed.

 

I'd stay in PC or Daytona Beach. Wake up to the surf, have breakfast on the veranda, all of that there.

 

 

Wow, this looks like a great site for I-95. thanks for sharing.

[peanutter]

Going down, we decided to break up the trip into 2 sections - had never driven to the port before and weren't sure how we would feel. We stopped in Macon. We drove down the next day (Sunday), but the cruise didn't leave until the following day (Monday). We also stayed in the Country Inn and Suites - free parking, free shuttle and free breakfast (OK, I know everything is included in the price, but it was a good price). I can't say enough good things about the hotel - top notch and they know what they are doing. We drove home yesterday in one trip - 12 hours (due to delay going through one lane traffic on I-40 at rock slide) - and plan to do it in one day again. However, there are just two of us - no kids. We even plan to go down a few days early to enjoy the Cape and Cocoa Beach.

 

Hope you have a wonderful trip and cruise!!

[cmtom89]

 

Remember, Tift County in Georgia is a speed trap, so once you cross into the county, SLOW DOWN. It's only about 10 miles, then you can pick up speed.

 

Interesting. I was born and raised in Tifton, GA (Tift County) and I have NEVER heard that. Lived in Atlanta for 15 years after getting married and visited my family in Tifton quite a bit. For us, Perry (Houston County) was always the 'slow down or else' area along I-75.

 

Guess it all depends on your experiences and those of people you know.

[griffy116]

It takes approximately 8 hours for the drive. We did the drive year before last and will be doing it again next summer for a cruise. We do it all in one stretch. I hate having to pack separate bags, unload and load more than once. Kids are now older, but when they were toddlers we would let them stay up late, put them into the car seats in their pj's and head out early, early (the earlier the better). We would have a nice late breakfast down the road and get to the hotel at about check-in time. The kids watched TV (now it's a DVD player), ate snacks and napped on the trip. By getting them up early, they usually fell right back to sleep once in the car seats. This gave us at least 3 good hours of driving while they continued sleeping and by the time they got awake, we stopped and ate and got back into the car, we were over halfway there. Once at the hotel, we would let them nap or go to the pool with them and order pizza delivered to the hotel. Everyone was ready for an early bedtime, got up ready for breakfast and we headed to the pier. We now have teens and we still do the same thing (minus the car seats and pj's). They sleep halfway down the road with the earplugs in and we have a nice cool quiet ride.

[RuthlessBunny]

Interesting. I was born and raised in Tifton, GA (Tift County) and I have NEVER heard that. Lived in Atlanta for 15 years after getting married and visited my family in Tifton quite a bit. For us, Perry (Houston County) was always the 'slow down or else' area along I-75.

 

Guess it all depends on your experiences and those of people you know.

 

I got nailed there. I was living in Florida then, so I had Florida plates (I haven't been stopped since I got Georgia plates) it was the longest traffic stop EVER. I'm surprised they didn't bring the dogs in!

[Cristallo]

I'd also recommend doing in all in one. If you stopped in Jax it would still be a good distance in the morning.

 

We drove from Rossville GA to Jax last year using the same route and it wasn't so bad.

[cantwait2cruize]

Enjoy the drive...........make the best out of it. We drive to the different ports all the time. Our longest was Toronto to Miami. We did it in two days........with three kids.:) Just have fun!

[cmtom89]

I got nailed there. I was living in Florida then, so I had Florida plates (I haven't been stopped since I got Georgia plates) it was the longest traffic stop EVER. I'm surprised they didn't bring the dogs in!

 

Sounds similar to my experience in Perry, GA. Those Georgia State Patrol officers can be mean as heck. I am very dear friends with one who trains the other officers. I tell him constantly to teach them more courtesy and kindness. :D He just laughs at me and says that if people were not breaking the law, they would not get pulled over. Then we usually debate how one person's attitude directly influences another, etc, etc, etc. ;)

 

So, OP, however you break up the drive and whatever route you take...drive safely!!

[RuthlessBunny]

Sounds similar to my experience in Perry, GA. Those Georgia State Patrol officers can be mean as heck. I am very dear friends with one who trains the other officers. I tell him constantly to teach them more courtesy and kindness. :D He just laughs at me and says that if people were not breaking the law, they would not get pulled over. Then we usually debate how one person's attitude directly influences another, etc, etc, etc. ;)

 

So, OP, however you break up the drive and whatever route you take...drive safely!!

 

I will admit that I was hauling, it was a righteous bust. I suspect that the reason the Statie took so long was because I was a lady driving a luxury car with a man as my passenger. He asked me a LOT of questions about the car. This was the only time I've ever been asked to step out of the car. He quadruple checked me and seemed kind of disappointed that I checked out alright.

 

After attending many, many, many traffic schools in California, Florida, etc, I finally have slowed down. Haven't had a speeding ticket in about 10 years (yay me!)

 

So yes, drive safely!

[Cruisinchristie]

Thanks everyone!

 

I tt DH and we are going to do it all in one shot. That way we can sleep in, and park our car at the hotel for the week. Thanks again for the info! We will keep it sloooowww in Tifton - I'll make sure DH is driving and not me - Marion Andretti ;)

[SailingGrace]

We will leave around 1 ish on Friday afternoon. I think we will stop somewhere around dinner time and stay over (we have 2 kids 6 & 8). Any advice on this from experienced drivers? Is it better to push through and arrive in PC at 10 pm or later and sleep in or split the drive and just have a few hours in the morning to drive?

 

Have driven this numerous times from NC and a few times while living in Savannah.

 

Take it from me- you don't want to haul kids on a Friday afternoon down to Florida. Traffic will be a nightmare plus, you'll have to deal with the kids needs.

 

We found that leaving after they go to bed...yes, have them wear their PJs and pack an overnight bag like they are going to Grandma's.....let 'em sleep all night. And when the sun starts coming up, find a breakfast spot....have them change, brush their teeth, fill up on some good food-

then enjoy the rest of the drive to your destination.