Would you drive 8 hours to a port instead of flying?

[Pellaz]

I would but I'd rather take the train.

 

I'd be on Amtrak in a heartbeat if only they had a direct route from Atlanta to Florida. Atlanta to Chicago would be nice, too.

 

If you look at a nationwide Amtrak system map, that missing "\" diagonal from Fla to Chicago is glaringly obvious.

[sept2405]

I'm cruising in Oct. Me, my mom and BF are driving to Port Canaveral. That's part of the fun for me. We're going a day before and spending the night and going to shop a little and have a nice dinner. I'm sure it won't be as fun coming home. But 8 hrs isn't really that bad. It's all what you make it.

[Hitech_AO]

I drove from Baltimore, MD to Tampa, FL for my honeymoon cruise. So, yup, I'd certainly drive 8 hours. ;)

[jonbgd]

Ive driven 8 hours before when gas was cheap . Now with gas expensive it is cheaper to fly

[CourtneyLovesCruising]

I'd be on Amtrak in a heartbeat if only they had a direct route from Atlanta to Florida. Atlanta to Chicago would be nice, too.

 

If you look at a nationwide Amtrak system map, that missing "\" diagonal from Fla to Chicago is glaringly obvious.

 

Wow, I looked that up on Amtrak's interactive atlas.. you're right. That whole area surrounding Atlanta is empty :(

[dallas52]

just drove a little over 8hrs on 8/10 for a cruise on the 11 and then 8 back on the 17th, it cost $130 for gas, wasnt bad.

[Pellaz]

just drove a little over 8hrs on 8/10 for a cruise on the 11 and then 8 back on the 17th, it cost $130 for gas, wasnt bad.

 

What kind of vehicle and mpg?

[Wolfie48]

Just curious if anyone has or would drive 8 hours to a port and home from a port for a cruise? Or would you choose to fly there? Driving for us would save about $1000 on airfare. So that sounds good too!

 

Have twice and will again. My DW won't fly so I have to drive her to port. In fact in 2014 when she retires we will drive from California to NOLA for a Western Caribbean cruise.

[Bella Dean]

We drive everytime from Indiana to what ever port we are leaving out of, we have a good time getting there, even when we got delayed by a hurricane and spent 2 days in Prattville, AL. but we had a good time with that as well. But its only 2 of us, and its good quality time.

Bella Dean:)

[Chmie]

8 hours ? Phhhtt ;)

Wife & I drove for about 40 hours each way from Alberta Canada to Galveston. Still married, too. :D

[azpilot]

Yep, PHX to LA for west coast and PHX to Galveston May 2013 for western Caribbean cruise.

[caddyrag]

Yep, PHX to LA for west coast and PHX to Galveston May 2013 for western Caribbean cruise.

for that special ship 7+ days yes. we've driven from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and Miami a few times and will do it again.

[TITISSA]

No I would not. I hate driving. :mad:

[Cricket63]

Just curious if anyone has or would drive 8 hours to a port and home from a port for a cruise? Or would you choose to fly there? Driving for us would save about $1000 on airfare. So that sounds good too!

 

We drive from SC to FL all the time for cruises. We leave the night before the cruise to make sure we get down in enough time in case something happens.

[golfadj]

Ive driven 8 hours before when gas was cheap . Now with gas expensive it is cheaper to fly

 

Depends where you live also. We do not have a low cost airline and you must change planes to go most places so flying is rather expensive.

[pc134]

We always drive as we don't like to fly. We will be driving to Galveston, a 14 hour trip but spending 2 notes. First night, 7 hrs away & drive to Galveston next day, 7 hours

We truly enjoy it & make it a nice extension going & coming from.our cruise vacation. And,yes it is much less expensive. Try it once & you will not fly again.

[mountaincruiser20]

Got a 9+ hour drive coming up in Oct. for our Sensation cruise. Car gets close to 50 mpg (VW diesel) so its a lot cheaper.

[gsu_paintballer]

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[nitro2448]

Ive driven 8 hours before when gas was cheap . Now with gas expensive it is cheaper to fly

 

That's a pretty broad statement, and in a lot of cases inaccurate. There's a lot of things to factor in when calculating costs. If its one person then yes flying might be cheaper, but 2,3,4,5 people prolly not cheaper to fly. From Omaha to NOLA it is over $1700 to fly 4 people. Somewhere around $500 in gas to drive

[gsu_paintballer]

Ive driven 8 hours before when gas was cheap . Now with gas expensive it is cheaper to fly

 

Let's assume you average 75MPH for that entire eight hours (highly unlikely).

 

You'd drive 600 miles.

 

Let's assume your gas mileage is worse than average, and you only get 15MPG because you drive a big SUV (15MPG is highly unlikely).

 

That means you'd use 40 gallons of gas.

 

Let's assume gas is $4.00/gallon (lower than the current averages everywhere, except the West coast).

 

That's $160 to drive. I'd fly in a heartbeat if I could do it for $160, but you can't.

[mountaincruiser20]

It would cost us about $1200 for 4 to fly from CLT and thats after a 1.5 hour drive there. The last time we drove down we used less than 2 tanks of diesel. Worse case 28 gallons at $4 per gallon means a huge savings for a few extra hours of driving.

[twoboysforme]

I most definitely would drive 8 hours instead of flying. Would save our family of 4 a great deal of money. Now if only they would get a better itinerary out of Baltimore and we would be all set :) Until then...we will continue to fly to Florida!