How far to drive before it's not worth it...

[GeneK]

I'm a truck driver, so if I want to drive from Chicago to LA and it takes 30 hours, no problem. I can smoke and eat when I want and pack as many suit cases as I need.:)

[danacline]

When we lived in Denver, we drove to Vancouver once, Los Angeles once, Ft. Lauderdale once, and Galveston once. Since moving to Kansas City, we've driven to Miami once, Port Canaveral once (just last January), and Galveston once. We normally drive straight thru (with two drivers). Exhausting, yes, but far cheaper than flying. Plus, we can bring back all the rum we can carry!

 

For non-cruise vacations, we've driven to LA several times, Washington DC once, New York/Boston once, Seattle twice, and south Texas more times than I can count (I'm from Corpus Christi, my wife's from Houston). And those are just the long drives...

[Cina409]

3 hours is my limit in any car driving anywhere:D

LOL! I so agree! We have twin 9 year old boys, after three hours in a car we all hate each other. LOL:mad:

[okwriter]

Just wondering---and not being judgmental because I don't care---is it legal to transport liquor across state lines in the US?

[Carolin]

My boyfriend hates flying so I figured driving would be an adventure and I would add some extra vacation days to visit places post cruise. We drove from Detroit to Miami over a period of two days. We stopped just past Atlanta to spend the night. Day 1 - 12 hours Day 2 - 10 hours. Post cruise we took a meandering route back home via St. Augustine, Savannah, Asheville NC and Nashville. Total gas cost was less then $300. Had we not taken the side trips, it would have cost 137.85. Personally, I thought it was worth every mile.

[nbsjcruiser]

We live in NW Oklahoma, so our closest port is Galveston. According to Google maps, it's +/- 600 miles (11 hours straight through), which is probably more than we'd want to drive in a day.

 

I realize everyone's tolerance for flying (or driving!) is different. And this isn't anything we're considering until after our December cruise on the Legend. :D So I'm just asking out of curiosity---how many miles/hours would you have to drive before you decide it's not worth it and just book a flight instead?

 

We once drove from our home in New Brunswick Canada to New York fr the 5 day Bermuda cruise. Took about 14 hours I think. That's my limit. 11 hours I'd do in a heartbeat if the price on the cruise was worth it.

[LHP]

We have free tickets and still drive.....

 

that is how much I hate to fly.

 

We drove 999.7 miles from our home to Ft Lauderdale in 2008 .... flew to Miami this year .....but will be driving to Miami Nov 2010....

[Ont-teacher]

Two years ago, we drove to Miami from just north of Toronto Ontario Canada. The drive was part of the vacation. Got to see some of your country. Took 28 hours if we went straight, but we took our time. Stopped overnight in Lexington Kentucky night 1, and just inside the Florida border the 2nd night. On the way home, it was very relaxing...no rush to the airport to get plane. We actually spent 3 days in Lake Buena Vista so we could go to Disney. It was our 2 week Christmas break and we booked the cruise on a last minute whim. We decided to drive because we had time. The best vacation ever.

(our kids were 12 and 15 at the time).

We just got off the Destiny where we paid $560 for balcony room to cruise, and $650 to fly. We will drive if we can because we like it. We're used to the fact that our flight is always more than the cruise.:)

[MacysMimi]

Lots of fellow Okies came out for this one. :D

 

 

 

Howdy, neighbor! Small world... I'm willing to bet that we know some of the same people! Enjoy your cruise in May! And maybe after our December trip out of Tampa, we'll coordinate our next trip to coincide with yours. That way we'll have a driver. :D

 

 

 

 

Thanks for that word of warning. Flying to Tampa from OKC, Tulsa, or Wichita isn't much easier. The cheapest flights want to route us through Denver or Chicago :eek: or worse yet, Atlanta. :eek: Not happening if I can help it! Not in December!

 

 

 

So I'm guessing that doesn't include stops? It doesn't sound bad to say it, but when you say 11 hours + stops, it doesn't sound like much fun. Why are Galveston cruises so expensive, anyway? :confused:

 

And I'm guessing most people who drive either have more than two passengers (thus the savings makes sense) or they are younger than we are and don't have to make as many potty stops as we do. :D

 

Because they sail full every trip.....they don't have to discount the rooms to get the people to book......and people don't realize what a hidden jewel the Ecstasy is...she's the second oldest ship in Carnival's fleet, but she consistently wins the award every year for best ship.....She has an awesome crew, and is an awesome ship... (taking off my cheerleader hat now)

 

As for the stops....when we drove from Tulsa, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast (about 20 minutes), stopped at a Wal Mart (cause my sis forgot a jacket and wanted one....30 minutes)ate fast food while driving for lunch, took another potty break in the afternoon, then arrived in Galveston that afternoon....so while we didn't take excessively long stops, we did stop every couple of hours and even went shopping in Wal Mart along the way.....It honestly is not that bad of a trip......I'm doing it again next February, by myself....

[okwriter]

Thanks, Sharon. Your description sounds a little better this morning. I think that I was too tired last night to even imagine driving that far. :rolleyes:

 

Sounds like enough other people have driven from Oklahoma to Galveston---or from way up NE to Miami---that we probably "could" do it.

Would we? Not sure! I'll know more after our December cruise when I see if DH even likes cruising as much as I do. :D

[poobears]

We live in SW MO and so far have driven to all vacations, its' just not cost effective for us to fly from here, especially if the 4 kids are going. We've driven to CA, TX, AL, LA, FL for vacations. Typically we drive straight through even to CA and FL.

 

We have an Orlando FL trip planned June 1st and then we have our cruise out of Jacksonville in July, lots of road miles.

[chachi]

I would not drive more than 5 or 6 hours. After that are you really saving money? Stopping, hotels, gas prices, paying to park. Not worth it to me. Of course I have to fly to any port.

[poobears]

We would never fly in the day of a cruise so we have one hotel stay wether we fly or drive, that makes no difference. Stops cost nothing unless we want a snack so not an issue there either. Gas is much cheaper than flying from here in DH's car it gets awesome gas mileage. When we take the van with all the kids gas is a lot higher since the gas mileage is horrible but flying six people is much worse, so it's still the best option for us.

 

If you live somewhere that has cheap flights I could see it being more cost effective to fly. Or if you'd have to rent a car etc. Just depends on your area.

[Sea Born]

We just got back this week from the Legend. We're from St.Louis and it took us about 16 hours straight thru. Poured down rain on us both ways. Thats about my limit on driving. We only drove because the airfares was so high due to spring break. You'll have a great time on the Legend!!

 

Paul

 

Paul -

 

We are actually neighbors - we live in St. Peters!! What port did you cruise out of? Did you drive straight through? My daughter and I are driving to New Orleans in May for our cruise - first time driving, we have always flown, but like you said, airfares are just awful! We are leaving 2 days prior to cruise and will probably spend the night along the way, just to break up the drive, which is about 10 1/2 hours.

 

Sue

[Sea Born]

this can be a tricky thing actually. look at it this way, time=money.

 

just think, how much work are you missing? how much will a stayover at a hotel cost? how much is gas? all this. then look up the price of the flight for one day (no gas, no food costs really, no hotel, etc.....) a short flight and you might come out ahead.

 

Actually when we fly we always go a day early, just don't want to take the chance of missing cruise do to flight delays, cancellations, etc., I have seen that happen too,so therefore, we are still paying for food, hotel, etc.

 

Sue

[Sea Born]

holy carp? 50/hr? that's great but what do you do? i only make a little over 500/week!!!!

 

Yes, I was thinking the same thing, $50 per hour, I should be so lucky!

 

Sue

[rosemont5380]

We live in Michigan and usually drive down to Miami for our cruises. With five of us, I found it is much cheaper than buying round trip plane tickets for us all. Since it's a 24 hour drive, we try to split it up by leaving a couple of days before the cruise. The worse part is the drive home, everyone is tired and just can't wait to get back home.

[MikeM]

Closest airport.

[KevNSunBuns]

Our cruise is in 2 weeks! We have a 10.5 hour drive that we'll be doing. We were going to fly but my friend doesnt like to fly so we are going to drive. We are driving straight through on the way down but stopping in Vegas on the way back for a couple of nights so it won't be bad. :)

[Hammerman417]

Paul -

 

We are actually neighbors - we live in St. Peters!! What port did you cruise out of? Did you drive straight through? My daughter and I are driving to New Orleans in May for our cruise - first time driving, we have always flown, but like you said, airfares are just awful! We are leaving 2 days prior to cruise and will probably spend the night along the way, just to break up the drive, which is about 10 1/2 hours.

 

Sue

 

Hi Sue (neighbor), We cruised out of Tampa for the first time, and we did drive straight thru. In hindsight, we probably should have stopped on the way down. It rained so hard in Chattanooga in the mountains that we had to pull off the highway a couple of times. We have driven to New Orleans a couple of times already for the Conquest and Grandeur of the Seas. It's not a bad drive at all, and we did it without stopping. As long as you have plenty of munchies in the car, you'll be good to go!

 

Paul

[cruzkitty]

Hi Paul from Chattanooga!! :D We sure can get the rain here-you are right! Just booked our flights to Orlando the other day. It's a 10-hr drive-not too bad going but the drive home would just suck, so we always fly. I do agree that flying is becoming one BIG hassle and we might be re-thinking the driving thing to the ports soon.

[klfrodo]

holy carp? 50/hr? that's great but what do you do? i only make a little over 500/week!!!!

 

I'm not saying I make $50/hr. I'm saying I liquidate my time at $50/hr.

 

Hey, everybodies time has a $$ value whether you're a miner, a fisherman, a housewife, or a CEO of a fortune 500 company. What you value your time to be worth is up to you.

Unless you're self employeed, if you make $10 an hour, your true cost to your employer is around $20- $25/hr if you include their additional costs of benefits such as vacation time, health insurance, life insurance, safety equipment and training, unemployment insurance, social security, etc,etc.

 

If your better half is a stay at home mom, what would it cost you in $$ if you had to pay her for all the work she does around the house and with the kids. All total,,, $50/hour would be cheap. That's how I liquidate my time.

Do I drive for 10 hours at a total of $100 per hour for myself and my wifes time plus a liquidated cost of $0.65 per mile? Or do I fly at a cost of $400 total and find a better way to spend my remaining 8 hours?

 

Each has to make their own decision and none of them are wrong.

[CorbinCatFan]

I despise flying these days. It use to predicable and glamorous.

 

Flying today it's take your shoes off, empty your pockets, herd though a scanner, sit at a gate, rebook your canceled flights, 6 hour lay overs, buy your food, pay for bags, clear bags, 3 oz bottles, etc.:mad:

 

I can tolerate a 12 hour drive though the countryside with my DW on my schedule and taking what I want. 12 hours puts us well within 6 ports.

[medcruiser8]

Interesting question and very subjective! I just drove 8 hours each way from north Texas to New Orleans for a spring break cruise with my 2-11 year old sons (They did have their IPODs) in basically one day, since there was a time constraint....no problem.:cool:

 

In fact, we are considering driving to LA this summer (without a big time constraint) in order to cruise from and to different ports and to save up miles for a Med Cruise next summer. I'm looking forward to experiencing the things along the way i.e. Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Carlsbad Caverns, etc. as much as I am the cruise. It's a "two-fer" vacation for me. Plus I took this road trip as a teen with my family and had a great time so I want to share with my kids.

 

On the other hand, no way would I do this with my husband in the car. It would be miserable for all involved. DH didn't go on the spring break trip and is meeting us in LA this summer. D/FW to Austin is his limit unless it's on a plane.:D

[dan40]

3 hours is my limit in any car driving anywhere:D

 

 

On So Ca. freeways thats about 11 miles!!!:eek: