How far are you willing to drive for your departure port?

[TaraLynne]

If I can't do the drive in one day, I fly. We're going to Miami for a cruise on the Liberty next May and 12-13 hours is going to be a bit rough...I really wouldn't go more than that. I wish some cruises with different itineraries went out of Port Canaveral for sure.

[KruiseKrazy124]

We will be driving 16 hours to Port Canaveral in just over 2 weeks. I hate to fly so its really not an option for me. We usually drive 10 hours the first day and 6 hours the second. If you have family/friends along the way it could be fun to visit with them on your way down. Certainly sounds like a good way to go to me!

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

I also love road trips. Last fall when there was seven of us, a road trip was in order from Pittsburgh, PA, area to Disney World. However, in January when Mom and I cruise, we're flying. Found a decent deal on flights; so, I booked it. I haven't flown in years. Figured I would like to go up into the great blue again!

 

How long did the drive from PGH to WDW take?

[LemurCat]

If you live on the east coast this works ...

 

Actually, the issue is that if you live in the NE Corridor, it actually, literally doesn't work. ;)

[Wayfairers]

We drive whenever possible. Made the trip from West TN to FL several times - about 2000mi roundtrip and would have made the trip from West TN to Vancouver but a medical issue got in the way. The trick is to plan stops on the way home as well as on the way to the port - find things to do or places/people to see that really interest you or that makes your life easier. Also important for us is to try a new route when possible.

 

Example: On the way home from our next cruise we are stopping for "Christmas" with DH's family. If we went straight home after the cruise we would have to turn around and leave for the the in-laws within a day or two of arriving home - their house is 3 hours away and sort of along the route we will take home. On the trip south for this cruise we are going to stop for a hike along the way then spend the night in a town we have never explored. Since we are arriving in the port town the day before we sail we aren't in a rush to get there so we have time to stop and see other things along the way.

[goofytoo]

We drive from WI to Miami for cheap cruises. It is usually 24 hrs of driving. When I was younger I would drive straight through. Kids sleep a good portion of the trip that way. Now I stop for about of four hour nap and then keep going.

 

Why don't you plan your drive so you visit some friends on the way down and other friends on the way back?

 

I agree with another poster that said plan on taking a day off at home before you go back to work. It really makes a big difference.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

We usually fly but thinkin of drivin this year becaus eairfare is getting high. Could save $300 by driving but strill not sure yet. It is 1600 miles from Portland Maine to miami.

[futuresoonermom]

In 2008 for my first cruise, my hubby and I drove from Wichita, KS to GALVESTON. Took us about 13 hours. Left @ 3 a.m....Drove straight through... hubby slept (sucker) the whole way.

 

We stayed in a B&B the night before since it was our honeymoon. LOVED the B & B.

 

Going on CCL Conquest on Nov 6th with my Mother this time. We plan to drive straight through... leaving around noon on Saturday. Also in Galveston.

 

I'd drive to New Orleans... it's a few hours more than Galveston. Beyond that... not sure. The issue is "good company". LOL!

[Yvonne]

Most of the time we fly to Florida for our cruises (it's about 1200 miles I think) but we did drive once as we wanted to make stops in other states coming and going.

 

For our upcoming cruise in January, we will be flying (Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale) but for our cruise the following January out of New Orleans we will be driving. We want to spend a few days sightseeing before the cruise, and spend time in Memphis and Nashville after the cruise so driving would be best suited for us that time. We're thinking of renting a car though, instead of driving our own to keep the miles and wear and tear off ours.

[ShakyBeef]

We have driven to Orlando and back (to Maryland) twice, both times for a WDW vacation. It is a long drive. But with two drivers switching off and a few stops along the way, it was not that difficult for us. Under the right circumstances, we would do it again.

 

I think the fact that you can turn it into an adventure and visit friends and family along the way (maybe you can visit some on the way back) sounds great! Have a great trip!:)

[L_K]

24-30 hours for us from Victoriaville Québec to JAX and MIA.

 

We always stop near Washington for the 1st night, for MIA we stopped in Jacksonville for the second night.

 

My son (9yo) always ask me to go by car, he hates flying.

[sloepoke]

I always fly for cruises ... I'll drive up to about the 12 hours it takes for me to drive to visit my parents, but it's a great, scenic drive. But the drive down to Miami is not quite the same ...

 

As for a long road trip leading up to the cruise, remember to make sure you can do laundry at the person you're staying at last's house!

[Chmie]

Since I enjoy driving and the wife enjoys telling me that I missed the turnoff we will drive about 2,300 miles from Alberta to Galveston next summer. Besides it will give my hemi a chance to burn off some carbon on your fantastic interstates. :D

[golfadj]

It has becme a big hassle to drive so we will drive 925 miles or so to avoid flying.

[topspin1267]

We drive for every cruise now. New Orleans 7hrs, Tampa 6hrs, Orlando 7hrs.

 

We're about an hour from the airport so by the time we drive to the airport, wait an hr+ for our flight, fly 1hr, wait for luggage, get a cab to the port we realized for a family of 3 we were spending $750 in airfare to save 30 minutes :eek:

[SteelCruisin]

We have driven and we have flown Miami is typically a 10-11 hour drive ...that being said, we cruise Thanksgiving week and it has taken as long as 17hours with holiday traffic to return.

[MissKIA]

I would probably drive up to 8-10 hours. But that will never happen since I live about as far from any coast as you can get. :( Minimum 3-4 hour plane ride is in order for us to cruise! I would totally love to be able to drive to a cruise port!

[ccartman2]

I hate being treated like a criminal, so I don't fly much any more. For our last cruise, we drove 17 hours from Ohio to Tampa. going down, we stopped in Savannah (a bit out of the way really) to visit family and stayed the night there. On the way back, we drove into Kentucky before stopping for the night. I could have made it the rest of the way, but everyone else was pretty restless. We usually do the savannah trip a couple times a year, so we are pretty use to driving long distances.

[mjl1960]

Will be driving to Miami from Atlanta on upcoming cruise...not looking forward to it, but it was the only safe place to park our truck close to Florida (we have a secured yard there).

[gusandgidgetsmom]

We drove to our port of Seattle from So. In. this time. Normally we fly but we were going to vacation in Oregon for a month before so drove there--about 3 and 1/2 days--36 hrs. Seemed like forever to get home. We are going to drive to Jacksonville--11 hours for our next b2b. Husband has always flown but suddenly doesn't want to so guess we will drive.

[maggie cruises]

45 minutes

[TheGrandparents]

Chicago to NOLA next month.

 

We are tired of flying. (app. 100 total flights of various lengths over the years.

[NeuroQueen]

Living fairly close to the ports is a blessing but I hate to ride or drive. We are 3.5 hours from Orlando and I've been known to fly to there to meet the family. I know, what a wimp. We are going on the Dream over Thanksgiving and I am dreading the trip to Port Canaveral as it is about 4.5 hours. The trip there isn't as bad as the trip home which is a total drag.(no pre-cruise excitement, I guess). To the OP why don't you rent a car to make the drive down, visit your friends, and fly home from the port. You drivers out there are amazing. I would never make it!!!

[Cobra1365]

We've driven Delaware to Port Canaveral several times and our last Caribbean cruise we drove to Miami.

 

Sure, it's a long drive, but we make it into part of the vacation. I enjoy travelling with my wife.

[kew1031]

Drove from Dallas to New Orleans last August. The drive there was fun - cruise excitement and all.... Drive home was a butt woopin'.

 

9 hour drive to NOLA for the cruise just kicked our butts, but the drive home (which took even longer because of a traffic accident that shut down the highway just west of Shreveport) just about did us in.

We are flying to FLL next week to sail on the Freedom. I don't know if I could manage that drive unless we took 3 days to get there, then 3 more to get back. :eek: