Fllorida Residents -alternative to Cruise Connection Bus

[ekmvikingqueen]

I called Royal Caribbean and they use the Escot bus Service (cruiseconnection.travel) and you can book the bus thru RCCL. Princess also gave me that bus company tele # so I'm hopeful that would be the way to go. Don't know when their service will start. If anyone knows, please advise. Thanks

[mkazmer]

Had heard about my cruise bus.com - will keep that in mind - would rather take the bus than even rent a car - but will do what we have to to keep cruising -

[janetz]

Well I had no idea Cruise Connection was no longer. Our DS lives in Daytona and we had planned next May to spend a few nights with him and them take CC from Daytona to FLL for our cruise. Now what? Ugh :(

[ekmvikingqueen]

Mkazmer thanks for the info but the mycruisebus site isn't even up and running. I talked to cruiseconnection.travel and she said she and some of the drivers are from the old cruise conection outfit. If you find out more about the Mybuscruise please advise.

[deeva211]

Mkazmer thanks for the info but the mycruisebus site isn't even up and running. I talked to cruiseconnection.travel and she said she and some of the drivers are from the old cruise conection outfit. If you find out more about the Mybuscruise please advise.

 

mycruisebus goes live Sept. 1st.

[AliceS]

Has anyone used another bus route in Florida?

 

One that I looked at was http://www.thefloridaexpressbus.com/index.html What do you know about them?

Edited August 12, 2012 by AliceS

[andrzej5914]

Why not just use Greyhound? Most mid-size or larger cities have stations and will get you to downtown area of the destination departure city and then you get a taxi to finalize the deal.

 

The bus is usually less than $30-40 R/T pp and the taxi is usually no more than $15 each way from/to the bus station.

 

We have never used it because we either drive ourselves to Tampa or have somebody drive us. We live in Sarasota, and we only cruise from Tampa, but we know some friends that used Greyhound and were very happy with their service. New buses, reclining seats, power ports, wi-fi, etc.

[deeva211]

Why not just use Greyhound? Most mid-size or larger cities have stations and will get you to downtown area of the destination departure city and then you get a taxi to finalize the deal.

 

I went to their website. They only serve Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Doesn't do any good for the people that don't live in those cities. Mycruisebus picks me up 4 miles from my house. Much better deal.

[mkazmer]

I checked out their website this evening - they aren't live - what gives?

[deeva211]

I checked out their website this evening - they aren't live - what gives?

 

I was wondering about that too! Last month I called them and the message said they were going live on Sept. 1st.

[andrzej5914]

I went to their website. They only serve Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Doesn't do any good for the people that don't live in those cities. Mycruisebus picks me up 4 miles from my house. Much better deal.

 

Huh?

 

They serve many more cities.

 

For example, here is a scheduled run from Tampa to Miami

 

TAMPA, FL 07:50 AM GLI Yes 1258

CLEARWATER, FL 08:20 AM 08:20 AM GLI 1258

ST PETERSBURG, FL 08:50 AM 09:00 AM :10 GLI 1258

SARASOTA, FL 09:45 AM 10:00 AM :15 GLI 1258

PORT CHARLOTTE, FL 10:50 AM 11:20 AM :30 GLI Yes 1258

FT MYERS, FL 12:10 PM 12:20 PM :10 GLI 1258

LABELLE (E), FL 01:05 PM 01:05 PM GLI 1258

CLEWISTON (E), FL 01:45 PM 01:45 PM GLI 1258

BELLE GLADE (E), FL 02:10 PM 02:10 PM GLI 1258

WEST PALM BEACH, FL 03:00 PM 03:10 PM :10 GLI 1258

FT LAUDERDALE, FL 04:15 PM 04:30 PM :15 GLI 1258

MIAMI NORTH, FL 04:55 PM 04:55 PM GLI 1258

MIAMI, FL 05:25 PM (END) GLI 1258

[ekmvikingqueen]

Cruiseconnection.travel is up and running. Three routes in Fla. If anyone uses them please give an update.

[doctorindy]

We live close to Daytona and it takes us about 4 hrs or so we always drive our car. The past few cruises we've taken we stay at a hotel the night before so we aren't exhausted from waking up and driving the day the ship leaves.

 

Same here. After a number of cruises using the [now-defunct] Cruise Connection bus service from Orlando, we had such a miserable experience in 2009 we swore off buses permanently.

 

First, they pick you up and hit the road very late considering...9 am. (the first passengers are almost starting to arrive at the port already!) Then, they make two lengthy stops/breaks, first at Ft. Piece then another later on. About 45 minutes each. After that, two additional stops to pick up more passengers. At least 20 minutes each wasted there. Then they drop off travelers at Port Everglades first (45 minute diversion), and a 3 hr. 15 min. trip turns into 6. We didn't even get checked in at the port until 2:30. It felt like we were the last people to board the ship.

 

Coming home was even worse. Told us to meet at the bus pick up area around 9. The bus arrived to pick us up at 11:30. We were the last people to leave. The trip home was as infuriating as the trip down, multiple stops. Arrived home at 5:30 pm.

 

The next time we cruised out of Miami, we drove down the night before and stayed in a hotel. Checked in at 10, and walked on the ship about 11:15 am. Going home, got off the ship a 9, was home by about 12:30 pm.

 

I seem to recall in the 90s the CC-Bus picking us up and leaving at about 6:45 am. It still took a while, but it was much better back then.

 

We swore off buses forever, whether it's under so-called new management or not. And actually enjoy going down the night before, as it essentially "extends" the vacation a day earlier. The drive down is not rushed, and we can unwind for the evening (usually a Friday night) at a nice restaurant. The morning of the cruise is leisurely, and we can arrive 'early' to be among the first to board the ship. Getting on a ship right away at 11:15(-ish) am is, in our opinion, invaluable and very worthwhile.

[Cruiser9611]

Cruise Connection is back and has been since October 2012. BEWARE Florida Express Bus! read the reviews, HORRIBLE!!

[JohninDC]

Cruise Connection is back and has been since October 2012. BEWARE Florida Express Bus! read the reviews, HORRIBLE!!

 

Welcome to the boards. :)

 

The thread you are responding to was started in 2012 :o and the last post before yours was from summer of 2014. You'd be better off starting a new thread. ;)