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Long Drive to the Cruise


Noreen411
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Flatbush - thanks for the reply, but your estimates don't necessary apply to my case or most people. 50 cents a mile is crazy talk. I will drive our mini-van for at least 10 years, extra 2,400 miles will not change the value too much at the end of that 10 year period. I change my own oil, I use a credit card that gives my 5% back for gas purchases. I would never pay more than $60 for a nice hotel on hotwire. We are going to eat no matter what option we take. Packing lunch or drive thru is cheap. Parking at Galveston for 7 days is $54.00 I get 6 weeks of vacation time from work, I am going to take my days one way or another. I would not make any extra money if I did not take them. If we fly, we still have an hour drive to airport, airport parking for a week, costs of transportation from airport to hotel and than to port and back after cruise. I'm an accountant and believe me, I have an excel spreadsheet comparing all the costs of each option and for the four of us, driving is a much better option. Now if it was only two of us, that is a different story.

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We don't even drive to Southern CA. 7 hour drive and we would rather fly for an hour.

 

Before 9/11 when we went to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, a 4 hour drive, we would grab a quick flight to Reno and rent a car for the hour drive to Tahoe. With the advent of TSA, and early check in, flying is no longer the time saver that it used to be. :(

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We drove from Houston to Orlando round trip for our vacation last summer, we did a stop on the way in but drove straight through coming back. It was tough, if I’m honest we should have stopped on the way back too, but it’s so hard to give up when you only have a few more hours left!

 

You said you’re leaving Saturday, I would say leave later in the day and stop somewhere along the way for the night then head out bright and early on Sunday for the last part of the trip.

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Not sure what day your cruise leaves but SW has a early flight on 4-1 to FLL for $143.

 

Now if your cruise leaves on 4-1 I don’t think I would take that flight. To much risk.

 

You might also think outside the box. Flights out of Baltimore on SW that weekend are much cheaper. You could take the train to BWI even drive. Also you might check flights to Orlando. 1 way car rentals in FL are cheap.

 

You might also check train fares on the way to FLL.

 

 

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We will be driving from Connecticut to Port Canaveral in a couple of months. This is the first time we will drive to a port. While flying down was not a big expense, my husband who doesn't like to fly, would prefer to drive. It certainly is going to be an adventure....I don't know how fun it will be! There is a chance we may have to stop at the ER to address our stab wounds when we arrive in Florida and then have to request separate staterooms once we board the ship! LOL

 

We drove from Atlanta to Galveston last year with a stop in New Orleans. We didn't want to drive but my son-in-law insisted. At the end of the trip, ALL of us said, NEVER AGAIN. We will be cruising again this summer. The son-in-law won't be going because we will be flying. There is no amount of money you could pay me to do a road trip again.

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We drove from Atlanta to Galveston last year with a stop in New Orleans. We didn't want to drive but my son-in-law insisted. At the end of the trip, ALL of us said, NEVER AGAIN. We will be cruising again this summer. The son-in-law won't be going because we will be flying. There is no amount of money you could pay me to do a road trip again.

 

You say never again but never answer the important question of why?

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The drive is doable even with traffic considerations. We drive from central FL to MA every Christmas and again in June. However your departure time sets you up for traffic delays......is there anyway you can eliminate the Sat am appointments? Here is what I’d suggest. Work Friday, pack the car and nap until midnight or so. Leave CT by 2am with the goal of getting south of DC by middle of Saturday morning then get off the road before the traffic builds, maybe getting as far as Richmond VA. New England to DC is the worst part of the trip. Find a hotel relax and sleep. Leave Saturday midnight you’ll be in FLL by dinnertime Sunday. You can avoid the most southern part of I95 by moving over to the FL turnpike south of Vero Beach. EZ pass is critical!! It will allow you to use the express lanes in MD and northern VA if they are open. They are worth the extra tolls if traffic is heavy. Be prepared to use highway options. For example sometimes the Balt-Wash pkwy is better than 95, sometimes it’s the reverse. Use the various beltways to avoid downtown Richmond, Jacksonville. If 95 in South Carolina gets jammed get on US 17 south. You can take that into GA and get back on 95 then. Your biggest problem in SC is the Hilton Head exit.

 

 

 

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I would probably stress about getting there with too many stops.

 

We are working Friday, have some appointments Saturday morning and then would hit the road.

 

If we had more time to spare that would be a good way to do it

 

 

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Someone said 6 hour drives? For out Monday 4 day cruise we leave early on Saturday morning and have a 12 hour drive with breaks for lunch and dinner and then pick a hotel a couple of hours before sunset. Get up on Sunday and drive to our hotel at the port arriving around the times rooms are available. We have a relaxing afternoon in the port area and get on board Monday morning. The weekend traffic in the fall isn't bad. We get back on Friday and are usually on the road by 8pm. The only problem with the trip back, we get tired about 200 miles from home, but don't want to pay for a hotel that close to home so we push through, but have Saturday and Sunday to recover.

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We drive from Ohio to southern gulf coast of Florida about once a year. It is nice to drive and get that together time. Typically we will stay in Georgia on the way down and North Carolina on the way back. The drive down is always easy and fun, the drive back torture!

 

It's a quite reasonable drive and I prefer to drive rather than fly!

 

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We like to drive also. We are driving to Fort Lauderdale in December for our cruise. We have made multiple trips a year for the last 20 years from NJ to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. I really don't like to fly and for us its no big deal. We always leave enough time in case of any issues (weather, traffic etc). The trip down is always better than the trip heading home though :). enjoy with whatever you decide.

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Please give yourself more time and stop for the night somewhere along the way. Driving straight through is a good way to kill yourself (literally).

 

Every year during peak holiday times, we here in Florida will hear of a crash on one of the interstates that shuts the road down. It seems that many times the car that crashed and kills is an out of state family driving straight through on a long drive. Fatigue gets them in the end.

 

Also, as mentioned, Easter weekend is a zoo on the roads. Springbreakers who break before Easter will be trying to get home; those who break after Easter will be trying to get into Florida.

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No tolls once out of Jersey

 

 

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Not true southbound. The Delaware Memorial Bridge has a toll, I-95 in Delaware has a toll (as it does northbound in Maryland), and the Harbor Tunnel in Baltimore has a toll.

 

Also, as pointed out in a comment above, there are options in Virginia to try to buy your way out of traffic by using the private toll road along 95.

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We drive from Niagara Falls to Florida and the ports once a year. Usually in one go. Anywhere from 18-21 hours.

Leave early, 3am or so. It's not a bad drive at all, once you get out of NY State and Pennsylvania. (just kinda boring and bleak in winter)

You just need to plan well and combine gas/food (take out)/bathroom breaks together.

With modern technology like GPS, wi-fi, data, in car movies etc. etc. it's a breeze. I remember driving with my parents and all we had were books and paper maps!!

 

Last trip was about $250 in gas, compared to around $1000 in flights + car rental.

Before we had kids and needed 4 plane tickets? Fly every time.

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OP: I would not do that drive straight through, I would stop over for a night. It's not just the distance, which alone will be tiring, but the challenges posed by the amount of traffic down I-95 from New Jersey until Richmond, VA (at the very least). I hope you are planning to leave NJ before dawn and get a jump on that traffic. The traffic volume should be less after Virginia, but it's not like 95 is a beautiful, scenic road. Please also keep in mind that the entire state of South Carolina is a speed trap; be careful on the accelerator there. And there's usually a great deal of traffic around Jacksonville, Fla, and of course you then have much of the Florida east coast to navigate. Lots of traffic there as well.

 

 

 

My wife and I both dislike flying, and we do opt for "road trips" like this, but it's important to be realistic about the negatives (especially during a holiday weekend) and not romanticize the whole "road trip" notion.

 

 

 

Since you live in NJ, I assume you have an EZ-Pass (it's a must for this trip).

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

 

I second this! I love road trips. I don’t love the 2-3 hours it takes to get from roughly DC Beltway to Fredericksburg on I95 (maybe 40 miles) Every year I drive from Baltimore to Mrytle Beach and the only way I have found to miss that traffics is drive over night. It is starting to back up before 6am. The Delaware/MD state line can also be pretty bad. Unless you clear the Northeast/mid Atlantic overnight, it will be more stop and go. Leaving at the wrong time for South Carolina easily adds 3 extra hours to an already long 8 hr drive (one year on the day before the 4th of July it was over 4 hours). Weekends in the summer can be just as bad as week day commuter traffic. I don’t know much about Jersey traffic so I have no idea what you are getting there.

 

 

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No tolls once out of Jersey

 

 

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Don’t forget-Delaware Memorial bridge, Delaware/md state line and FortMcHenry tunnel all charge a toll. (Lucky for OP the bridge over the Susquehanna is only charged Northbound, I believe is 8$ without EZ pass).

 

 

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The drive is doable even with traffic considerations. We drive from central FL to MA every Christmas and again in June. However your departure time sets you up for traffic delays......is there anyway you can eliminate the Sat am appointments? Here is what I’d suggest. Work Friday, pack the car and nap until midnight or so. Leave CT by 2am with the goal of getting south of DC by middle of Saturday morning then get off the road before the traffic builds, maybe getting as far as Richmond VA. New England to DC is the worst part of the trip. Find a hotel relax and sleep. Leave Saturday midnight you’ll be in FLL by dinnertime Sunday. You can avoid the most southern part of I95 by moving over to the FL turnpike south of Vero Beach. EZ pass is critical!! It will allow you to use the express lanes in MD and northern VA if they are open. They are worth the extra tolls if traffic is heavy. Be prepared to use highway options. For example sometimes the Balt-Wash pkwy is better than 95, sometimes it’s the reverse. Use the various beltways to avoid downtown Richmond, Jacksonville. If 95 in South Carolina gets jammed get on US 17 south. You can take that into GA and get back on 95 then. Your biggest problem in SC is the Hilton Head exit.

 

 

 

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This above is exactly why a lot of folks would rather pay the airfare.

On a related note:

For the last three years, we have taken our very young grandkid to Disneyland (the real one[emoji106]) in SoCal. Each time, we've driven the approx 850 mile round trip which, including S.F. & L.A. traffic easily takes 8 hours each way (including food/rest stops). She's been terrific on these long drives and it has been somewhat reminiscent of when we did the same thing with her mom years ago.

However, after the last drive down/back, we decided that riding on Ariel's Undersea Adventure five times in a row was not taking care of the Disney fix adults may need. So DW and I headed down there for a week on our own last month. When it came to transportation, we opted to fly instead (SFO-SNA). With pre-arranged car service at each end, the trip took less than 2 hours each way and that total transportation bill for 2 people was approx $600 (not including the cost of the Bloody Mary on the early morning plane ride [emoji41]).

Now you can argue my using the federal reimbursement rate of approx. 50 cents per mile (gas/wear/maintenance) for the comparison but, the drive would've cost us $400 plus food enroute plus parking for a week at the SoCal end.

Moral of the story: I'm pretty sure our grandkid will be taking her first airplane ride on the next annual trek to Disneyland (but no Bloody Mary for her!).

 

 

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My husband feels the same, he wants to drive.

 

It started when I mentioned the price being higher than normal and that prompted him wanting the road trip down.

 

I am not sure how fun it will be either but I guess it’s all about compromise

 

 

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So find a better airfare on an airline you like from an airport 4-6 hours south. This way DH gets some windshield time with you. Or look at alternate airports in to FL. Maybe you get a good deal in to ATL from your home airport. That would be a compromise.

 

We once flew Alliegent in to Daytona the night before a cruise out of FLL. Overnighted at Vero Beach to break the drive up in to 2 hours each day.

 

Chevy Chase Made a Movie once about doing a long drive, and in the last sequel, The Dad was a pilot. Maybe watch one of those with him before you make a decision.

 

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I wouldn’t call I95 the open road! I avoid it whenever possible. OP, did you add on the cost for gas and tolls, too?

I-95 from just south of the DC beltway to FL is pretty wide open. Through the metro (DC through most of CT) ...ugh, not fun at all.

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Why they will never drive again, or why the SIL isn’t going/flying? Could be a double question.

 

Everyone had a different idea of what the temperature inside the car should be. Everyone needed wanted to go to the bathroom and the SIL griped every time we stopped. We wanted to stop and actually eat. SIL wanted to grab chips when we stopped for a bathroom break. One of my daughters swore that everyone had a more comfortable seat than her...even after we switched seats. Disagreeing on whose turn it was to drive. Poured rain, construction, traffic. SIL isn't afraid to fly. He's too CHEAP and wanted to drive straight through to the cruise and we ended up driving straight home to avoid a big argument...and these are just some of the highlights. On the cruise he cheaps out on everything. For YEARS, we paid the tips for his son on the cruises because he didn't see the "point in paying tips for a child" so we would get my daughter to get the envelope and we would put the tips for my Grandson in. We prefer to drive, get there without the hassles, and enjoy our time pre/post cruise, not trying to recover from the trip to get there or home from our cruise.

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