No More Flying

[mcrcruiser]

We  live  35 minutes to the San diego port & 1 .5 hours to the San Pedro port . After many years of flying east to take Trans Atlantic ,Panama  Canal  & Many Caribbean cruises ,we decided to not fly any longer  .Not only the cost savings of flights but the hassles in airports are eliminated

 

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

[School library lady]

I wish we could! But when you live in Oklahoma and like to cruise, you pretty much have to fly.

[KirkNC]

We only fly when we have to but cruises don’t go everywhere.

[Shmoo here]

27 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We  live  35 minutes to the San diego port & 1 .5 hours to the San Pedro port . After many years of flying east to take Trans Atlantic ,Panama  Canal  & Many Caribbean cruises ,we decided to not fly any longer  .Not only the cost savings of flights but the hassles in airports are eliminated

 

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

Well, we try to do cruises from the west coast, but, unfortunately, they are few and far between.  Unless you like the Mexican Riviera.  A lot.  

[cruisemom42]

Can't imagine limiting myself to cruises without flying. My favorite cruises don't depart from the US.

 

Flying, for me, actually seems to have improved slightly in the past few years. Having Global Entry (and thus TSA) make security more bearable. Although I don't usually fly Business, new premium economy classes on flights return some of the space and amenities that used to be offered in regular economy. Plus, having status with a particular airline (which has the lion's share of flights from my airport) means I can usually board early and stow my bag without problems.

 

[Jammu2]

Important points by cruisemom42.

 

I told my spouse I was not interested in bargain basement anymore. If that meant we didn't go as often, so be it. No more basic economy where you cant select your seats. No more dilapidated park-n-fly. No smoke encrusted budget motels. 

 

TSA/Nexus/etc helps. Shuttles to the airport. Premium economy or business on transoceanic flights. 

 

We do like to take some Seattle or Vancouver RTs with family to make things simpler. But we fly too. Just less.

 

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by Jammu2

[mcrcruiser]

'we should have added that we have done 84 cruises & gone to many part of our world  .We love the ocean & to be aboard a ship to enjoy the ship & ocean  .Mexico is close  & we can easily board a HAL ship 

[tommui987]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

 

When you live in Hawaii, about 2,500 miles from the closest land-mass, you don't have too many choices!

Cruise around the islands, catch a return Hawaiian cruise back to the West Coast etc.

[mcrcruiser]

1 minute ago, tommui987 said:

 

When you live in Hawaii, about 2,500 miles from the closest land-mass, you don't have too many choices!

Cruise around the islands, catch a return Hawaiian cruise back to the West Coast etc.

We know that there are cruise lines that sail from Hawaii to Australia  & while there one can sail to many Pacific ocean destinations  .Then it is a one way flight back  .Celebrity is one that comes to mind & perhaps Holland America

[CateW]

We haven't flown in about 3 years and have cruised out of NY or Brooklyn during that time, but we are thinking about a b2b cruise that would require flying for the winter.   We'll see.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sadly we do not live close to any ports and we no longer have direct flights.  So we have to fly.

[Djptcp]

I stopped flying in 2002 having flown 22 times the year before (typical number of annual flights going on sea and land vacations). Just didn't feel safe any longer and hated the airport chaos following 9/11. Fortunately, after that we lived close enough to FL ports and Charleston SC so we could easily drive to cruises in 6-8 hours. We moved to FL in 2005 and now can even more easily drive to all the FL ports. Closest is Tampa (45 minutes away) so we tend to sail mostly from there for the convenience and we like the ships there. Now having to drive to Ft. Lauderdale (3 hours away) and Port Canaveral (1.75 hours) seem like a chore as we're so spoiled sailing out of Tampa. Driving to cruises is nice because you don't have to worry about flights being cancelled or luggage fees. 

[Randyk47]

The only cruise port within reasonable driving distance is Galveston.   The cruises out of there are pretty much repetitive western Caribbean itineraries on lines we have no interest in. Been there done that.   Our cruises of late have been in the Med so flying is a must.

[DaveOKC]

8 hours ago, School library lady said:

I wish we could! But when you live in Oklahoma and like to cruise, you pretty much have to fly.

Ditto - from another Okie!

 

[catl331]

Having lived in FL for 40 years, two-thirds of our cruises have been a 3 hour or less drive away. 😂

Edited August 10, 2019 by catl331

[Randyk47]

6 minutes ago, catl331 said:

Having lived in FL for 40 years, two-thirds of our cruises have been a 3 hour or less drive away. 😂

 

Before their passing my parents lived in Orlando and cruised exclusively out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale.  This was pre-9/11 and they’d go down to Miami and stay with my father’s brother.  From that “home base” they’d literally go from cruise terminal to cruise terminal trying to catch an unsold cabin at a bargain rate.   They were surprisingly successful and rarely came home without catching a cruise.  I think they did this for 15 or so years.  Apparently there were a lot of “standby cruisers” back then when you could easily get to the cruise terminals.  Dad was so cheap he’d call me collect from a payphone to tell me they were on a cruise for “X” number of days.  🥴😬

[ger_77]

Living on the "frozen tundra", our nearest port is over a thousand miles away (Vancouver), so it isn't feasible.    Although flying has changed over the years, it's a necessary evil that gets us to our favourite cruise ships.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

[sevenseasnomad]

Since 9/11 my son will not get on any plane.  We live in VA and take yearly holiday/spring break cruises, so we drive 15-16 hours.  Ugh!  Three-four years ago, I sailed the Med and Northern Baltic.  I tried to entice him to come by offering to pay for the flights and cruise.  He has always wanted to see Venice, but even with these inducements, he refused!  Even with therapy, he cannot get past his fear.  Very sad.

 

His solution?  Take a cruise to Europe, cruise the Med or Baltic, then take a cruise back to NYC or Boston.  Right.  Not a solution I want to pay for.  LOL.

[wyobean]

Have to fly...live in Wyoming...lol. We just consider it part of the cruise price. We have had some fiascos, but we just go with the flow. Always fly in a day early...that cuts the stress...

[rothbury]

We don't fly either.  Ironically, the last 2 times we flew were for cruises and both times the airlines absolutely destroyed our luggage.  Coming back from Alaska they cancelled our connecting flight and put us up for the night in a Motel 6.  This was a prominent airline booked through HAL.  So, that being said, we now drive from VA to FL and take 2 days to do it.  Do we miss out on cruises that we would have to fly?  Sure, but we just told ourselves we were done.  Took a couple of river cruises in Europe and they were outstanding so we know what we're missing.  Has nothing to do with a fear of flying or airports but the seat pitch has gotten so ridiculous I don't care to fly with my knees in my chest.  DW is also tall and claustrophobic so the closeness of the seats finally did us in. 

[SilvertoGold]

We have several options for homeport cruises, most of which require one-way air.  We are planning to spread out the no-air with some one-way air and then a few R/T air. Just so we do not have to fly ALL the time.  We still want to do the biggies, like Europe, Asia, S. America, Australia so will be planning to do them less often, with more of the homeport ones.

 

Driving to ports isn't available for us, but that would be an interesting option.

[Roz]

I live in TN, so not flying isn't a reasonable option, especially since I've started doing European river cruises the last few years.  Although I've had some debacles involving overseas flights, my love of cruising and travel in general outweighs any inconvenience associated with flying.

 

Roz

 

[Diver2014]

One of the few advantages with living in Miami was of course, the proximity to the ports.  We now drive back to Florida.  We hate to fly.  Alas, our upcoming cruise to Alaska requires flying, as does our cruise around Hawaii next year.  Our recent British Isles cruise also required us to fly - first time in years.  When we arrived home, we said 'never again!' but here we are going off to Seattle next month due to a great deal thru HAL (we had planned on visiting relatives in Seattle but tossed in the cruise since we're there anyway).  I'd love to go back to Australia and visit New Zealand but the flight cancels out any thought of that. Sheer torture!

[Roz]

8 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

I'd love to go back to Australia and visit New Zealand but the flight cancels out any thought of that. Sheer torture!

 

That's what's keeping me from visiting those 2 countries.  I can't imagine sitting in a seat the size of a tuna can for 24 hours. 😱

 

Roz

[iancal]

Since retiring we are doing less cruising and much more independent travel and for longer periods of time. .  For us that means more flying.   A transatlantic and a transpacific once a year plus many other flights.    We are going to Europe  next month on an open jaw with stops.  Two flights each way plus four flights in between.  Last winter was the same routine.  We have become so used to eight hour flights that three or fours hours seems like a doddle...a one or two hour flight seems no more than a short bus ride.   The last two times we have been in Australia we broke up the flight home.  Flew to Hawaii for a few nights, then home. 

 

Do we like flying?  Not particularly.  But it is the price we pay to get where we want to go and see what we want to see.   As long as we a in good health and can still rent vehicles (many agencies are imposing age limitations) we will continue.  No use complaining about it.

Edited August 10, 2019 by iancal