I really wish that....

[BookDragon]

Please educate me on the numbers, because if you can't afford to fly on Southwest or other alternative airlines......:confused:. If my assumption is wrong, then I'll be educated, but I always thought that if you can afford to cruise, then you can certainly afford to fly.

 

We are a family of 5. I promise you it is much cheaper for us to drive than it is to fly. I have very fond memories of packing up all the little ones, hitting the road, singing songs & making sandwiches! The alternative of putting vacay off just to save for another year just did not work for us. Now my kids are teens and they still prefer family roadtrips over any other vacations even though we can afford a little more now.

[SNJCruisers]

We are a family of 5. I promise you it is much cheaper for us to drive than it is to fly. I have very fond memories of packing up all the little ones, hitting the road, singing songs & making sandwiches! The alternative of putting vacay off just to save for another year just did not work for us. Now my kids are teens and they still prefer family roadtrips over any other vacations even though we can afford a little more now.

You're a family of five, you need to say no more. The man upstairs did not bless me with kids, so there's only the two of us and that is the viewpoint I always mistakenly assume applies to others that are cruising. Because round trip air from the Northeast combined with 1 night in a hotel will be cheaper than driving 50 hours round-trip with gas, tolls, parking and multiple nights lodging. (for 2)

[Organized Chaos]

We are a family of 5. I promise you it is much cheaper for us to drive than it is to fly. I have very fond memories of packing up all the little ones, hitting the road, singing songs & making sandwiches! The alternative of putting vacay off just to save for another year just did not work for us. Now my kids are teens and they still prefer family roadtrips over any other vacations even though we can afford a little more now.

A few years ago, I put the song "Holiday Road (from National Lampoon's Vacation) on my phone specifically for our vacation road trips. And I play it every time. :') My son has always done good with road trips. We took him on his first when he was 7 months old. That was 4 hours away. We did that for a few years. When he was 8, we did a 9-hour trip. By the time he was 10, we went on a 15-hour trip. Not to mention all the others. I don't think he ever complained. Maybe someday he'll do the same with his kids. :)

[splash_in_the_water]

AMEN! Coming from Michigan for every cruise, it really makes a difference! We used to for years get up at Oh My God 30 in the morning to make a super early flight to be in Florida by noon or so, then about 5 years ago, I was like "why are we doing this?" From then on it has been flying in the night before!

 

Now we don't get in until like 11:30-midnight usually (taking an evening flight after a work day), but at least once we hit the hotel we can get a solid 8 hours sleep before getting up to go to the ship.

 

Funny thing is though, we still take a nap right after lunch and unpacking, and before the safety drill, that first day like we used too lol! That habit stayed with us regardless ;p

 

good advice for sure. Nothing like a good cruise nap. Didn't work as well with our kids on the last one but I got to doze a bit a few times.