What is the furthest you have driven to board a cruise ship?

[momof4boys]

4 cars ...12 people....Lee's Summit, MO to Galveston, TX....777.5 miles...12 hours 30 minutes.

 

 

4 cars......12 people....Lee's Summit, MO to New Orleans, LA ....827.1 miles....13 hours.

 

DRUM ROLL:

 

4 cars.....14 people.......Lee's Summit, MO to Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

........1,435.7 miles and 20 hours and 48 minutes.

 

Loved those trips!! And as our friends and fellow cruisers say.....the vacation starts when the garage door opens up!

[narrow56]

I love that we live within 8 hours or less of 4 different ports! We have Boston, New Jersey, New York, and Baltimore!

[hdguy23]

will be driving from Virginia beach, VA to Miami, FL for April 27th cruise. Drove from Va Beach, VA to Port Canaveral 2 years ago. I would drive to anywhere to go on a cruise!!

[michelle1836]

I'm curious to see the responses to this. We have made the crazy decision to drive about 20 hours to our cruise port next month. :eek:

 

We could still change our minds and fly, but we have always liked to drive to see the country. I'm excited, but just a little bit nervous as we are not as young as we used to be :p

 

just from Baltimore to NY. I would drive longer but flying is faster

[SkyMaster]

Here in Lakeland, Florida where I live, I'm within easy driving distance of 5 different ports. Miami is about the furthest, at 4 hours or so. Easy-Peasy. :cool:

 

"SKY"

[LHP]

Memphis to Miami....

 

we have done that several times...(and that is with us having free airline tickets ~ which indicates just how much I hate to fly.)

 

I will fly but I will drive if any way possible....

[dallas52]

9 hours is the longest

[RAVI360]

I'm curious to see the responses to this. We have made the crazy decision to drive about 20 hours to our cruise port next month. :eek:

 

We could still change our minds and fly, but we have always liked to drive to see the country. I'm excited, but just a little bit nervous as we are not as young as we used to be :p

 

i drove from Orlando fl to Miami ........ to me 4 hours......

[mbleackl]

We have driven a few times from Calgary Alberta to Los Angeles to catch cruises. We split the drive up at Helena MT, Salt lake City, and Las Vegas. My DW and I enjoy the time we spend locked up together in the car.

 

We have also driven down to Shelby MT and taken Amtrak to Ft. Lauderdale when the rail travel in the US was subsidized - the rates were a lot better than here in Canada.

 

Much of our cruising now is in the winter when the weather isn't that great so we fly to Orlando and spend a week before driving down to Ft. Lauderdale.

[golfb4cruzing]

Cleveland to Miami around 1300 mi and 20 hrs. We drive in a day early and enjoy some warmth. Leaving 4/11.

[Joeys3girlz]

Tampa to Miami - 4 hours.

[hank in ohio]

We always drive!! From Chicago to ports in Florida and Galveston!! 10 days ago we were driving to Port canaveral to board the Carnival Dream when we got notified our cruise was canceled! We were at the Florida border.... So we turned around and drove home!!! That was a 1900 mile ride!! We leave this week for Galveston to board te Magic on Easter Sunday!!!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

A little off topic, but does the cruise line reimburse travel expense in a case like yours, or just commercial travel expense?

[havocfan]

Our longest trip driving was 6 hours.(out of Mobile)

 

But our last cruise we took the train to NOLA and it took 7 hours.

[Carnival_Brides]

The farthest I've traveled, not by air for a cruise is Boston (we Amtraked). However, we're driving to visit my wife's family in Oklahoma and looking at extending our vacation with a cruise out of Galveston.

[skrufy]

The furthest distance we drove has been 1360 miles. From Rockford Il. to Tampa. When we cruise out of Florida we travel 1260 miles to our home in Deltona Florida, then to the port.

[momof4boys]

I have to add that we always bring our kids (and spouses) when we cruise. So far there are 9 in our immediate family. So when that many people are coming with us, it is cheaper to drive (even with hotels and gas).

 

However, two of the guys are in med school now so time might become an issue for us. We will fly if we need to. Just crimps our style!! :D

[GORDONCHICK]

Our closest ports at this point are Galveston (9 hrs) and New Orleans (12 hrs). When NCL starts sailing out of Houston, that will be 8 hours. Anything further than those, we fly.

[Socref124]

Long Island to Miami. We drive most of the time. Have it down to a science. Lol... The ride home is the worst. Next cruise out of Port Canaveral. Piece of cake!!

 

Beep your horn at us when you pass the DeLand/New Smyrna Beach exit.:D

[Taxguy77]

Drove from near Houston to Miami. A very long drive. But was fun. Yes I would do it again. Hate flying!!!

 

Glad to hear that. I won't fly (If posible) any more, but am willimg to drive a ways. DD ives in Houston, so would give a good reason to visit!!

 

Friends we met on a cruise lived in Miami. Their son picked them up n10 minutes from the dock!!

[varoo]

The furthest we have driven to board a cruise ship is probably about 5 miles (from the hotel to the pier).

 

 

We hate being cooped up in a car on long drives, so we avoid long drives whenever possible.

 

However, if we lived within 3 or 4 hours driving time of a cruise port, then we would consider driving, comparing the tradeoff total travel time point-to-point of flying vs. driving.

 

[navybankerteacher]

Of course, even if you fly you have to consider a probable minimum of an hour getting to the airport, and close to another hour getting form the destination airport to the pier - or whoever you spend the night before the cruise. Then you should allow probably two hours to check in at the airport, clear security and get to the gate. So, if you are looking at, say, a two hour flight, you will have spent six hours for to door going by plane. Any comparisons should always consider the real totals. -- as well as the hassles and miscellaneous costs.

[Seago2]

Of course, even if you fly you have to consider a probable minimum of an hour getting to the airport, and close to another hour getting form the destination airport to the pier - or whoever you spend the night before the cruise. Then you should allow probably two hours to check in at the airport, clear security and get to the gate. So, if you are looking at, say, a two hour flight, you will have spent six hours for to door going by plane. Any comparisons should always consider the real totals. -- as well as the hassles and miscellaneous costs.

 

NBT: agreed. Six hours driving equals a one hour flight.

 

Never will forget that great Noordam cruise in 1/07 ;)

[Mom2B&Z]

We just drove 1400 miles from near Ottawa ON to Orlando FL then to Port Canaveral with our 2 boys ages 8&5 yrs. We took 2.5 days to drive down which wasn't so bad, but having only 2 days to drive back was awful. Never again! While driving saved us $2600, we arrived home grumpy and tired. Flying means at least a day of travel, but having seen the alternative, a day in airports, airplanes and even the 3 hr drive home from the airport sounds good.

We did a cruise out of NYC for New Years Eve last year and I didn't mind that drive, in good weather it is 7 hrs, which is very close to the total time required to fly. Plus with one child in a booster seat, it eliminates the need to find restraint-friendly transportation options from airport-hotel-port.

If we could take our time driving to/from port, things may be different, but being on a tight schedule, we are going back to flying.

[kelmac]

We can get a non-stop flight from ABQ to MCO, so that three hour drive from Orlando to Ft Lauderdale is our longest. :)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[varoo]

Of course, even if you fly you have to consider a probable minimum of an hour getting to the airport, and close to another hour getting form the destination airport to the pier - or whoever you spend the night before the cruise. Then you should allow probably two hours to check in at the airport, clear security and get to the gate. So, if you are looking at, say, a two hour flight, you will have spent six hours for to door going by plane. Any comparisons should always consider the real totals. -- as well as the hassles and miscellaneous costs.

Agreed. That is why I specifically mentioned comparing total travel time point-to-point of flying vs. driving -- not just the actual driving time or flying time itself.

 

In figuring total driving time we include time lost on stops for food or bathroom breaks or just stretching our legs, refueling the car, possible traffic delays and parking, or picking up and returning a rental car, as well as cost of gas, wear on the car if it is our own, or rental car costs, and tolls along the way.

On long drives that take more than a day, there can also be costs for extra meals and overnight hotels.

 

But for those still working who have limited vacation time, a more important consideration may be loss of vacation time used up by the drive.

To many, the days of vacation time saved are far more valuable than the price of airline tickets.

 

Also, those who fly frequently on business often have extra airline miles to burn anyway, so the airline tickets cost them nothing, or very little.

 

 

The time that it takes to get to or from an airport and go through security can vary enormously from one location to another.

There are still airports in the USA where people are sitting at the departure gate ready to board the plane within an hour of walking out their front door.

 

As previously mentioned, it comes down to a matter of tradeoffs and we each determine our own priorities.