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Road Trippers: How Much Leeway Do You Give to Arrive?


CountryGuy13
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Why didn't you think about that before you booked the cruise? Didn't you know that you had to be on board 1 1/2 hours before the ship leaves? I just can't figure some people.

DON

 

Let's see...the OP is a first time cruiser, new to CC....and you expect that he should know all of this stuff that has taken most of us years to acquire?

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Let's see...the OP is a first time cruiser, new to CC....and you expect that he should know all of this stuff that has taken most of us years to acquire?

 

Most of us could have figured that for a ship to haul in brows, cast off, and set sail at 4:00 PM, we would have to be on the pier at least some time before 4:00 PM.

 

But, as you've said- OP will "...do just fine".

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And unless you are flying out tomorrow morning, you cansurely find round trip airfare fortwo at far less than $1500. Sent frommy iPhone using Forums

 

My family and I will be taking our firstcruise out of Port Canaveral (FL) in August. I love a good roadtrip with the family.....

Sounds like there might be more than two of them. So that $1,500 he quoted later might be correct. So if that is the case and the OP needs to drive, any other suggestions for him?

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Sounds like there might be more than two of them. So that $1,500 he quoted later might be correct. So if that is the case and the OP needs to drive, any other suggestions for him?

 

Four or so does put a different spin - perhaps indicating that all but the RN drive down a day earler - and let her fly down one way.

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(y)

Four or so does put a different spin - perhaps indicating that all but the RN drive down a day earler - and let her fly down one way.

 

Good idea, OP and the kids drive down on Friday morning and meet up with RN that night at the airport. Get a good night sleep and then start the cruise refreshed.

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Sounds like there might be more than two of them. So that $1,500 he quoted later might be correct. So if that is the case and the OP needs to drive, any other suggestions for him?

Yes.

I suggest OP stays away from 95 and the east coast city's.

 

Take the trucker's rt. down I 81 to 77 or I 26 meeting up with I 95 in South Carolina heading into Georga.

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Sounds like there might be more than two of them. So that $1,500 he quoted later might be correct. So if that is the case and the OP needs to drive, any other suggestions for him?

 

 

 

Still, that's only $500 more than the actual long term cost of the car (plus he has meals enroute and parking fees. This is still a very bad idea.

 

 

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I was also going to suggest google maps.No way to predict that road congestion wouldn't also happen on alternate routes. The real time traffic updates have saved me on many trips in the NE corridor.

Also concur with heading direct from work to starting your drive - that gives you the maximum cushion. You would kick yourselves if you waited a few hours to leave home and then missed the cruise by a lesser time.

As a retired nurse I can totally relate to your dilemma.

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I would plan to arrive the day before, in fact the first thing I did after booking our cruise was book the hotel in Port Canaveral for the night before.

 

Most people are trying to park their cars at the terminal by 9-10am. Your current plan allows for you to arrive right at that time. Any delay is cutting into the 5-6 hours you have before boarding is closed. That's really cutting it too close imo.

 

 

The OP just said not only can't he get off the DAY before his wife can't get off her night shift as she is a nurse. Some people can drive at night and some can't. When I was young I could drive from LA to Vancouver BC for a party Saturday night and drive home the next day for work. I was 18. Now at 62 we stopped half way to rest up for the next day.

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The OP just said not only can't he get off the DAY before his wife can't get off her night shift as she is a nurse. Some people can drive at night and some can't. When I was young I could drive from LA to Vancouver BC for a party Saturday night and drive home the next day for work. I was 18. Now at 62 we stopped half way to rest up for the next day.

 

OP said his wife can't get off work on Friday night, and that he plans to drive through the night, which I assume to be Saturday night, to arrive at 9-10am. So I'm not sure what your point is.

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Yes.

I suggest OP stays away from 95 and the east coast city's.

 

Take the trucker's rt. down I 81 to 77 or I 26 meeting up with I 95 in South Carolina heading into Georga.

 

That tends to be what I do from past experience (depending on traffic)

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OP said his wife can't get off work on Friday night, and that he plans to drive through the night, which I assume to be Saturday night, to arrive at 9-10am. So I'm not sure what your point is.

Well, for me to get down there Saturday night would have me leaving as soon as my wife gets home in the AM, and will likely add a few hours drive due to daytime traffic.

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"Pennywise and pound foolish"

Your wife can probably trade shifts or call in for a "personal day."

At a conservative per diem government reimbursement rate of .54/mile (which includes the cost of wear and tear as well as fuel/maintenance), that approx 2000 mile round trip drive will cost you more than $1000 in the long run. And unless you are flying out tomorrow morning, you can surely find round trip airfare for two at far less than $1500. Check out "ita matrix" for best tix costs.

Driving AND/OR flying to a port on the same day is never a good plan.

 

 

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This would work great, except I believe my two children would likely riot if we left them behind :) That's where the additional for airline tix comes from.

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This would work great, except I believe my two children would likely riot if we left them behind :) That's where the additional for airline tix comes from.

 

 

 

Okay - just did a random "ita matrix" search for high traffic dates/times more than six months out. Found quite a few RT airfares at well under $400/person. So, we're still only talking in the neighborhood of $500 to $600+\- more to fly than to drive and that's still before adding parking and enroute meals during a drive. BTW, for many folks, that drive time addition of 10+ hours subtracts from a two income family's earning potential not to mention the negative impact on your first (very tired) day aboard.

AFAIAC, driving is still a losing proposition.

 

 

 

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Okay - just did a random "ita matrix" search for high traffic dates/times more than six months out. Found quite a few RT airfares at well under $400/person. So, we're still only talking in the neighborhood of $500 to $600+\- more to fly than to drive and that's still before adding parking and enroute meals during a drive. BTW, for many folks, that drive time addition of 10+ hours subtracts from a two income family's earning potential not to mention the negative impact on your first (very tired) day aboard.

AFAIAC, driving is still a losing proposition.

 

 

 

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That's fair and you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but some of our best memories as a family have been on our road trip drives; I don't consider this a losing proposition at all.

 

I was really just trying to get other's opinions on leeway as far as time goes for a cruise (and learning there are specific boarding times was very helpful), I wasn't looking for judgement on method of travel.

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That's fair and you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but some of our best memories as a family have been on our road trip drives; I don't consider this a losing proposition at all.

 

 

 

I was really just trying to get other's opinions on leeway as far as time goes for a cruise (and learning there are specific boarding times was very helpful), I wasn't looking for judgement on method of travel.

 

 

 

Not a problem. Drive if you want. But the same good advice you'll hear over and over again (I.e., never make a travel plan that has you arriving on the day of a cruise embarkation) goes for driving as well as flying.

 

 

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A "road trip" generally implies emphasis upon the trip as much as getting to the destination. Driving to get to a cruise embarkation within an absolute time limit is something entirely different.

 

A first time cruiser may not know that he cannot just show up at the pier a minute before sailaway. He also may not consider the negative effect on the first day or so of being totally exhausted - so, while not specifically requested, this sort of input is appropriate response.

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A "road trip" generally implies emphasis upon the trip as much as getting to the destination. Driving to get to a cruise embarkation within an absolute time limit is something entirely different.

 

A first time cruiser may not know that he cannot just show up at the pier a minute before sailaway. He also may not consider the negative effect on the first day or so of being totally exhausted - so, while not specifically requested, this sort of input is appropriate response.

 

Fair enough, and I didn't mean to sound dismissive to anyone if that's how it came across. I did take the advice of several on here and we're going to take off a day early and spend the night two hours out in St. Augustine (nothing wrong with an extra beach day I figure).

 

While I love the drive (and have no concerns about driving overnight), its one thing if a major accident kills one day of a vacation in Disney vs. the cruise ship leaving without us. :) I figure the extra day lets me have both.

 

Thank you for the replies everyone!

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On our last cruise we left Charlotte, North Carolina in the evening after my boyfriend got home from work and drove through the night/early morning to an AirBNB in Jacksonville, FL. We got there around 3am, slept for a couple hours and then drove the remaining 2 1/2 hours to Port Canaveral with plenty of time to spare for some shopping. Honestly? I would do it again. It worked well for us, maybe I'd ask my boyfriend to take an additional half day off work so we could leave a bit earlier, but the whole reason we did it that way in the first place was because we don't have a ton of extra vacation days to spare for the sake of getting into the port town a day early.

 

I think if you are driving, getting to port the day of is fine. Driving is less unpredictable than flying—save for a catastrophic mechanical failure, it's not like your car can "get cancelled". I did plan to get to the port town relatively early in the morning though—I wouldn't be comfortable planning to arrive later than 10-10:30 for a ship boarding at 3.

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We're in NC, so we always drive. I've tried to "math it up" so that flying makes sense, but the numbers just don't lie. Driving my economy car and paying parking is tremendously cheaper ... even if it's just two us.

Having said that, we would never, never, never plan to arrive the day of the cruise. Too many things can happen; for example, my car was in perfect condition two days ago ... yesterday I had a horrible noise ... today I'm getting a new water pump. Who could've foreseen that? And it could have happened on I-95 just as easily as it happened here in town. Another story: The first time we cruised, we were behind a major wreck on I-95 ... a tractor-trailer truck wrecked and burned, blocking the entire interstate. We sat and waited more than three hours. Anything could happen that could interfere with you reaching your cruise on time.

My best advice:

- Leave so that you can arrive the night before your embarkation day. At the worst, you arrive at your hotel late-late ... but it'll take something major-major-major to make you miss the ship.

- We usually cruise out of Port Canaveral, and we sometimes stay at the Days Inn in Titusville (which puts you less than an hour from the port and is very cheap) ... other times we stay at Country Inns & Suites (a stone's throw from the port, and they let you leave your car in their lot for free).

- This all means that you wake up on embarkation day relaxed, knowing that your only task is to eat breakfast and board at your earliest convenience. It's the cheapest insurance you can buy.

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Sorry if this is in the wrong category, I didn't see a general category to use and as a new cruiser thought it worth asking here :)

 

My family and I will be taking our first cruise out of Port Canaveral (FL) in August. I love a good roadtrip with the family, and we're planning on driving down from Pennsylvania (overnight) to arrive the morning we sail out.

 

For others who drive down I-95 and the other assorted east coast roads, how much leeway do you give yourself compared to the estimated time to arrive? Its normally about a 14-16 hour drive (including assorted meal / bathroom breaks, etc.), and we planned to get there around 9-10am.

 

I was thinking about 4 hours buffer in case there's an accident, greater traffic, etc. Between that and that the ship doesn't leave until 4 that gives me (I think) 10 hours of buffer before we are left behind.

 

And yes, I'm overthinking it, but I'm excited for my first cruise (and I'm a planner anyway) so its all good! Thanks in advance!

 

I assume your planning on finishing your drive the morning of the cruise? Technically most cruises you have to be on board by around 3pm, so there is your leeway. I'm about to make this drive for the 2nd time and just like when we fly in the day before, I will arrive via car around 2pm the day before and relax before boarding the next day.

I would allow at least 4-5 hours leeway in case of multiple delays. Are you coming from Eastern or Western PA, From the west there are some mountain areas and tunnels that with accidents could add many hours. Most of us have had trips with multiple delays. North Florida can have smoke/fire issues.

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Now having read this thread the entire way through, and us about to make this trip for the 2nd time, am I the only one that thinks the stretch of 95 from Jacksonville to Daytona has some of the most aggressive drivers anywhere?. Now that the OP had had the topic discussed, I'll relate a little of our first trip from just a bit further west than them.

 

This was our route -

 

ourroute.jpg

 

From where we live, we had a choice of I-75 to Florida then East, or the route above. On the sunny trip down we chose this route. We left on Saturday morning and drove as far as Savannah. We easily could have made it to Jacksonville driving till 9pm and doing the speed limit, but we had a visit to make in Savannah. We drove the remaining 300 miles to the port on Sunday for our Monday cruise arriving at the port around 1pm Sunday and enjoyed a great dinner at Grills and watched the ships in port. Our cruise ended in Friday and we spent the entire day driving back The weather from VA north turned cold and wet that day, That road through VA and WV was hell in the night and rain. Knowing that, this year if the weather isn't ideal I'll come back 75. and possibly stop somewhere if needed since we work M-F.

 

But I can't minimize how much we enjoyed the drive. My wife and I have stressful jobs, two grandchildren and didn't have much alone time last spring/summer. She agreed to do it all over again this year with no hesitation.

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Now having read this thread the entire way through, and us about to make this trip for the 2nd time, am I the only one that thinks the stretch of 95 from Jacksonville to Daytona has some of the most aggressive drivers anywhere?. Now that the OP had had the topic discussed, I'll relate a little of our first trip from just a bit further west than them.

 

This was our route -

 

ourroute.jpg

 

From where we live, we had a choice of I-75 to Florida then East, or the route above. On the sunny trip down we chose this route. We left on Saturday morning and drove as far as Savannah. We easily could have made it to Jacksonville driving till 9pm and doing the speed limit, but we had a visit to make in Savannah. We drove the remaining 300 miles to the port on Sunday for our Monday cruise arriving at the port around 1pm Sunday and enjoyed a great dinner at Grills and watched the ships in port. Our cruise ended in Friday and we spent the entire day driving back The weather from VA north turned cold and wet that day, That road through VA and WV was hell in the night and rain. Knowing that, this year if the weather isn't ideal I'll come back 75. and possibly stop somewhere if needed since we work M-F.

 

But I can't minimize how much we enjoyed the drive. My wife and I have stressful jobs, two grandchildren and didn't have much alone time last spring/summer. She agreed to do it all over again this year with no hesitation.

 

We are from North of you near Toronto and have driven down to Florida using the I79 and I77 route to I95 many times. Very scenic route but a bugger in rain or snow. If it's bad weather we will take I75.

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Now having read this thread the entire way through, and us about to make this trip for the 2nd time, am I the only one that thinks the stretch of 95 from Jacksonville to Daytona has some of the most aggressive drivers anywhere?. Now that the OP had had the topic discussed, I'll relate a little of our first trip from just a bit further west than them.

 

This was our route -

 

ourroute.jpg

 

From where we live, we had a choice of I-75 to Florida then East, or the route above. On the sunny trip down we chose this route. We left on Saturday morning and drove as far as Savannah. We easily could have made it to Jacksonville driving till 9pm and doing the speed limit, but we had a visit to make in Savannah. We drove the remaining 300 miles to the port on Sunday for our Monday cruise arriving at the port around 1pm Sunday and enjoyed a great dinner at Grills and watched the ships in port. Our cruise ended in Friday and we spent the entire day driving back The weather from VA north turned cold and wet that day, That road through VA and WV was hell in the night and rain. Knowing that, this year if the weather isn't ideal I'll come back 75. and possibly stop somewhere if needed since we work M-F.

 

But I can't minimize how much we enjoyed the drive. My wife and I have stressful jobs, two grandchildren and didn't have much alone time last spring/summer. She agreed to do it all over again this year with no hesitation.

 

As I'm on the eastern side of PA, it seems I81 to 77 would work better for me (and it looks like it goes through a few state parks in WV), but might try your route now that we're going down a day early.

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