13hr drive for oasis or allure worth it?

[Travalerie]

We are most likely doing a two day drive in November for our Oasis trip. We drove one day to Galveston for a cruise and it helped us ease into the vacation. For most of our other cruises we fly out around 6 Friday night after work, arrive around midnight, try to settle in a hotel, get drinks the next morning and head to the ship. It is such a wild 18 hours. It always takes me a couple of days just to wind down and realize I am on vacation! Inevitably I am running around the week before getting things ready. The drive will force me to sit still and relax!! I also did not mind the drive home. Once you leave the ship it feels like vacation is over in 60 seconds and before we know it, we are back home! I am looking forward to having a night at the beach on the way home after the cruise. Our kids will be bit older, 8 and 11, but they did a 2 day each way trip to Orlando last summer which is almost the same distance. Flights would be almost $2000 and we just feel like we can use that money in other places.

[Ken at the beach]

to

Ourusualbeach from Canada

Mjoellnit from Norway

LizzieandLuke from Philadelphia

 

We Floridians love having you, keep coming back!:D

 

Love being there.:). Particularly when the thermometer is reading in the negatives up here.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We have made the 12 hour drive from Charlotte to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami a few times. It's a long drive but totally worth it. Although at this moment we are stuck in horrible traffic on our way home from Ft. Lauderdale after cruising on the Caribbean Princess. I think this is the worst drive we've ever had...no kids with us though.

[APDMOM]

I second the suggestion to look into Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. Compare the ships and decide how eager you are to try Oasis/Allure. As mentioned too, Oasis will be in Port Canaveral, starting November 2016.

 

Since you have never done a Royal ship, I can wholeheartedly recommend Freedom of the Seas. They have the Madagascar characters and they allow you to take pictures with your own camera. FOS is, to date, our favorite ship. We will see if Oasis tops our chart after our upcoming cruise in June.

 

Hope this helps! :)

[LisaGoeke]

Yes, do it! There is six of us and we always drive down to Port Canaveral which is a 16+ hour drive, not including any stops. We always hit Disney at least for a day before the cruise too. We starting doing this when our youngest, the twins were 2 years old. Bring lots of snacks and lot of things for the kids to do.

[emdia43]

I second the suggestion to look into Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. Compare the ships and decide how eager you are to try Oasis/Allure. As mentioned too, Oasis will be in Port Canaveral, starting November 2016.

 

Since you have never done a Royal ship, I can wholeheartedly recommend Freedom of the Seas. They have the Madagascar characters and they allow you to take pictures with your own camera. FOS is, to date, our favorite ship. We will see if Oasis tops our chart after our upcoming cruise in June.

 

Hope this helps! :)

 

I second this vote - we much preferred Freedom over Allure.

[Havingfun2010]

It's only a day drive. Of course it's worth it!

[Esilef]

I've been thinking of a trip to America from Australia to go on the oasis or allure but that's over 16+ hours on an airplane with an autistic 6 yr old. Now thinking of going to Asia for one of new ships.

 

Driving for that long would be hard do I would break the trip up with stops along the way.

[Natmom]

We have driven 22 hrs to Florida 4 times. The children always have a great time.

[whitshel]

We just drove 22 hours from San Diego to Houston to board the Navigator. So i would say Oasis is definatley worth it. :D

[RenaeG]

I'd say the 13 hour drive is definitely worth it!!! I was on Allure of the seas in January 2014 and took a 28 hour flight from Melbourne, Australia to Miami with a quick plane change in LA and then a 45 min transfer to Fort Lauderdale...... My cruise was worth every second of that epic journey from Australia! And my flight cost 2.5 times more than the actual cruise..... Again it was worth it!

Edited April 12, 2015 by RenaeG

[Karma5]

Freedom class is a much better ship………..I would not do this trip with a 2 yr old……...

[awhcruiser]

The OP was asking for advice on whether or not driving to the port was a good idea. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Freedom class is a much better ship………..I would not do this trip with a 2 yr old……...

Edited April 12, 2015 by awhcruiser

[Mjoellnir]

to

Ourusualbeach from Canada

Mjoellnit from Norway

LizzieandLuke from Philadelphia

 

We Floridians love having you, keep coming back!:D

 

Looking forward to it :) We plan to stay 2 days before and 3 days after our cruise as well.

[time4u2go]

13 hours from Texas to FLL? You must drive really fast, with no stopping! And you must be coming from just inside the Texas border! Even that is about 1000 miles, so you'd have to average over 75 MPH.

Edited April 12, 2015 by time4u2go

[nolesrule]

Your profile says Orange, TX. From there to Orlando, according to Google Maps, is about 12 hours. That assumes no stopping.

 

It's another 3-ish hours from the Disney area in Orlando, to Port Everglades.

 

When we travel with the kids,we always assume an extra 10% driving time for trips under 1-3 hours and 15 to 20% for trips longer than 3 hours because of random needs to stop.

[LMaxwell]

13 hours from Texas to FLL? You must drive really fast, with no stopping! And you must be coming from just inside the Texas border! Even that is about 1000 miles, so you'd have to average over 75 MPH.

 

I noticed that too; not sure where in TX OP is, but even as far east in Texas as you can get 13 hours with the pedal down is very optimistic.

 

Yes, I would drive to the cruise to save a few grand.

[sweetlove13]

I once drove from El Paso TX to Anaheim CA in 13 hours, so I think it's doable. Doable but exhausting. Is there not a cheap flight like Southwest?

[Esilef]

I'd say the 13 hour drive is definitely worth it!!! I was on Allure of the seas in January 2014 and took a 28 hour flight from Melbourne, Australia to Miami with a quick plane change in LA and then a 45 min transfer to Fort Lauderdale...... My cruise was worth every second of that epic journey from Australia! And my flight cost 2.5 times more than the actual cruise..... Again it was worth it!

 

 

Adding this to my argument to do an America trip finishing in an allure cruise