Do you need to rest for a day when you got off a cruise?

[OleMissGal]

I posted this on our roll call but this is the itinerary so far

 

This is what we have so far, but I change it every other day when we find something interesting to see on the way lol

 

Sunday, 5 May 2013 Fort Lauderdale - Cape Canveral (maybe Daytona)

Monday, 6 May 2013 Cape Canaveral - Jacksonville (after seeing Space museum)

Tuesday, 7 May 2013 Jacksonville - Columbia, SC

Wednesday, 8 May 2013 Columbia - Charlotte, NC

Thursday, 9 May 2013 Charlotte - Richmond, VA

Friday, 10 May 2013 Richmond - Washington DC

Saturday, 11 May 2013 Washington DC

Sunday, 12 May 2013 Washington DC - New York

 

Anything we should miss on that list or detour to see?

 

Thanks heaps again!

 

I would alter the Monday stop in Jacksonville to either do St Augustine, just south (about 20-30 minutes) of Jax, or go on up to Savannah.

 

St. Augustine is the country's oldest city. They have a great downtown tourist area, you can tour the fort, and get some good shopping done. Alternatively, you can visit the Alligator farm, and try your hand at two different zipling courses, that take you directly over the gators. :) Whatever you do, don't miss trying the conch fritters!

 

Otherwise, I would skip Jacksonville all together. I live here, and honestly, there's not much in the way of touristy fun. So if I wanted to get out of Florida in a few days, I would make the trek on up to Savannah. It's about 3 hours from Jax, so your total time from Canaveral to Savannah would be right about 6 hours.

 

Hope that helps!

[spunkie4]

Having cruised from Ft. Lauderdale many times, I would suggest picking up your car and staying over-night in that area. There are wonderful hotels and the area is beautiful.

 

To answer your original question: we are exhausted when we finish a cruise. Usually sleep the entire following day!

 

Have a wonderful cruise and enjoy your time in America.

 

Shirley

[lady_cruiser]

.....

The day we get off the cruise would it be okay to drive 4-5 hours? Or should we stay close to the port and wind down, do washing etc? How exhausting will a cruise on the biggest ship in the world be?

 

Any advice would be great, thanks!

We live about four hours from either cruise port we sail from and I say that, driving 4-5 fours anywhere is OK with us.

 

Of course on our last day/night on the ship we make sure that we relax and not overdo anything. And we try to get a good night's sleep in preparation for our drive home.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the replies so far! The main reasons for asking is because we are only on the Allure for 1 week and I want to see everything! Plus we've never been on a 'normal' cruise. (7 full on days), our first cruise was a TA with 10 sea days and 1 port. When we got off that ship we were fine.

 

But with the Allure... I just have no idea! it's going to be mind blowing. Also, in our party I'm the only person who can drive 'on the wrong side of the road' and I'm also the youngest in our group so I think it should be fine.

 

It's a week from FLL to New York but we are spending 2 days of that in Washington DC. Still, it should be a nice casual drive! We don't mind driving 10+ hours straight here in Australia, but in the USA there is so much to see during the drive!

 

I think we will just book in Canaveral that night, it shouldn't be too hard to drive 5 hours! You get off the ship at like 9am so have a full day to make it!

 

 

Great plan.

That is what we would do if we were driving.

Have fun.

[pris993]

I think your question is a good one. You know yourself. If you find that you need some down time after a very active trip, plan some down time.

 

We have gotten off ships in the Mediterranean, very port intensive trips and slept for 2 days in Barcelona. Given the time change, we live in San Francisco and the active trip we were tired. We have learned to pace ourselves better over the years, so we are not so tired after a trip. We have been cruising since l983, so lots of cruises and experience.

[alex12_3]

We got off our cruise Sunday morning. Drove all day and night, made a 6 hour stop Monday morning for some sleep...then kept on driving for the rest of the day and all night long. Got home (Philadelphia area) around 11pm...did a little unpacking, got situated, went to bed...then straight to work Tuesday morning.

 

I wish I had done it your way!

 

I'm going to put in another vote for spending a day in Philadelphia, particularly the area known as Old City. That's where you'll find Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, National Constitution Center...all sorts of neat stuff. As another poster said, Philadelphia was the original capital city. It really is the birthplace of the United States. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution...it all went down here.

[Irishman45]

Never needed to rest the day after and I've driven from Fll upto washington DC the same day we disembarked from 7 day cruise

[marshhawk]

I would chose St. Augustine over Jacksonville any day (unless my cruise was leaving from Jacksonville). Not only is St. Augustine the oldest city in the US, it has a strong art colony, and they do an amzing ghost tour at night.

I have no idea why you are going to Charlotte unless you are a Nascar fan. Richmond holds a lot of Civil War History if you are into that. I would rather stay on I-95 and perhaps go out to the Outer Banks-where there Wright Brothers flew the first plane, Williamsburg was a good idea also.

I love to travel, love to sight see, so I understand the wanderlust. I also love to get off the ship and just stay for one night to acclimate my sea legs back into land legs.:)

[cantw8togo]

I second the vote for Charleston SC or other coastal city. The history and charm are worth a stop, especially if you stay in the historic center of the city. We were in Charleston this past March and stayed at the historic Meeting Street Inn. One of the nicest perks was that they not only serve a complimentary breakfast, but also complimentary wine and cheese in the afternoon. Very civilized.

 

We also spent a night in Washington DC (wish we could have stayed longer) and spent as much time as we could at the various Smithsonian museums. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Capitol which is within walking distance (two blocks) from the Air and Space Museum, which was great since parking can be quite expensive in DC. If you have the time, I would still try to see the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. While it is great to see all of the artifacts and various planes at the Smithsonian, nothing compares to seeing the full rockets in the place where it actually happened.

 

Happy planning! I'm sure that you will have a hard time narrowing down all of the choices, and will spend twice as much time planning as you will actually travelling, especially since you have a year to plan. I know I do. :D

[QShip]

Charleston: SHE CRAB SOUP!!!