Driving in the day of the cruise

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I chuckled at the well-intentioned snow comment. I think I would need to be at the 8000' elevation level to see snow right now. But, I definitely appreciate any attempts to be helpful.

 

At our house we definitely wish we got snow more often! :D

[Host Anne]

We live about three hours from ports we often cruise from in Florida. While we like to go over the night before (just for relaxation purposes), it's not always possible. If we have to drive the day of embarkation, we typically leave home around 7:30 in the morning. That normally puts us in the port area by 10:30 - 11:00 AM and they don't start boarding before then. If there are any traffic issues (haven't had any yet of more than fifteen - twenty minutes), that still gives us a good five hours prior to the ship leaving.

 

Ships leaving Seattle often leave Saturday/Sunday so if you leave early in the morning, you'll miss the majority of traffic to begin with.

 

ENJOY!

[geoherb]

We'll drive the day of if we ever take another cruise from a port within 300 miles of home (Charleston and Norfolk for us). When we took our one cruise from Charleston, we had to pick up my mother-in-law, which added about 75 miles to our trip.

 

When we drove to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise, we stopped about 100 miles away from the port and finished the drive the day of the cruise. We had a flat tire on the way home, but that only delayed us a couple of hours. If it had happened on the way down, we still would have made it in time.

[happy traveler69]

we are talking over our plans from philly to Norfolk in October. it's only a 5hr drive but who wants to be up driving at 5:30am only to be tired on the first day? traffic always snarls on I95, so I have to account for that. route 13 is another alternative, but that adds another 90 minutes. given these variables, I'm still opting to drive the day before and start my vacation a day early!!!

 

 

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[alexspepa]

there was a lengthy post here recently about a couple who drove in the day of and missed their cruise due to a traffic jam, but I think that was in Florida and they only allowed 6 hours for a 4 hour trip...

[Grandma Dazzles]

[QUOs TE=alexspepa;50430308]there was a lengthy post here recently about a couple who drove in the day of and missed their cruise due to a traffic jam, but I think that was in Florida and they only allowed 6 hours for a 4 hour trip...

 

That was one of the situations I was thinking of in my earlier post #7. I do not know specifically about Seattle, but in FL and other ports you do not have "wiggle" room. The couple in FL was late because of traffic. Ship was in dock, gangplank down, etc., but manifest had been turned in and they were not allowed to board.

[rmorlock]

Remember that if you are driving from Portland you will be driving through Olympia, JBL, Tacoma. It shouldn't be really bad on an early Sunday, but I wouldn't want to make that job in the Weekday.

[TMLAalum]

Does your GPS have traffic information? Do you have WAZE downloaded on your cell phone? Both these tools are invaluable for helping you avoid jams & backups. And there is nothing wrong with traveling with a current, detailed map!!

 

Two weekends ago we had family and friends taking the Ohio Turnpike from Indiana to our home in a western suburb of Cleveland. Due to a collision between an oil tanker and a semi the previous day, the turnpike was shut down in both directions, the alternate routing was horrendously clogged with traffic and a 2.5 hour drive morphed into 6 hours. They didn't bother bringing GPS nor did they have maps because they know the way by heart! Even better than a road map would have been a gazeteer which shows back roads!

 

As an aside to those going to Seattle from Portland: we joined a group of my sisters' family & friends departing Sandy the morning of our cruise on a chartered school bus and had no glitches on a Sunday morning. It made sense to travel this way since there were 23 of us. Hope all goes smoothly for you!

Edited July 7, 2016 by TMLAalum