Getting to the port help opinions please!

[ARI421]

Leaving from NH for a Thanksgiving cruise out of Baltimore... On a normal day Baltimore would be 7ish hours.. We rented a nice comfy big car.. Us and older children... Driving was way more economical.. 

Any thoughts, suggestions on how bad traffic will be on Thanksgiving day?? We were thinking of leaving our house at 2 am... We have to drop car at airport... So one person would dump us at terminal and than Uber back... 2 should be plenty of time??. My husband keeps teasing me I wanted opinions!! 

 

[Clarea]

You may also want to ask this on the East Coast Departures forum:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/317-east-coast-departures/

[champagne123]

We are in the same predicament, but are disembarking on Thanksgiving Day.  We are still on the fence whether to stay in Baltimore for the night, or fight the traffic going home. Hopefully, someone from Baltimore will be able to enlighten us!

[cb at sea]

Traffic is worse the days prior and after Thanksgiving Day....ON Thanksgiving, most folks are where they want to be.  But.. the Baltimore/DC traffic is pretty bad most of the time, regardless of holidays....just take your patience with you!

[fredflint]

If you look at google maps it can show you the average traffic for a day and time.  

[mjkacmom]

I travel from north Jersey to Philadelphia every thanksgiving, we are fine if we drive before noon. I think 2 am will work, but I’d rather drive the day before.

[KamiKake]

We live south in the Norfolk area and drove up the night before. Got a cruise hotel that would shuttle us to the terminal in the morning and had a chill dinner and relaxed evening on the inner harbor. The variables of driving that far the day of the holiday would stress me out.

[JohninDC]

Traffic that early on Thanksgiving day should be easy to deal with - I would worry about the weather more than the traffic.

[Biker19]

^ +1.

[cruisinfanatic]

10 hours ago, ARI421 said:

Leaving from NH for a Thanksgiving cruise out of Baltimore... On a normal day Baltimore would be 7ish hours.. We rented a nice comfy big car.. Us and older children... Driving was way more economical.. 

Any thoughts, suggestions on how bad traffic will be on Thanksgiving day?? We were thinking of leaving our house at 2 am... We have to drop car at airport... So one person would dump us at terminal and than Uber back... 2 should be plenty of time??. My husband keeps teasing me I wanted opinions!! 

 

Why drop at airport when there are drop offs for some agencys only a couple miles away? The airport is a minimum of 25 min

[ARI421]

It's Thanksgiving day tbe other places weren't open we were told we had no choice 

[cruisinfanatic]

6 minutes ago, ARI421 said:

It's Thanksgiving day tbe other places weren't open we were told we had no choice 

No way. Book your rental on the website or expedia. Rental agency locations rarely close

[Homosassa]

9 hours ago, cb at sea said:

Traffic is worse the days prior and after Thanksgiving Day....ON Thanksgiving, most folks are where they want to be.  But.. the Baltimore/DC traffic is pretty bad most of the time, regardless of holidays....just take your patience with you!

 

As usual, the information in this post is wrong.

 

We have driven from Baltimore to NYC on Thanksgiving Day on several occasions. We have left around 7 AM each time which put us on the NJ Turnpike around 10 AM.

 

Traffic is heavy on I-95 and the NJ Turnpike will be stop and go for long periods of time.

 

OP, if you are driving down from New Hampshire, I would give yourselves at least four extra hours for traffic. Perhaps you could drive partway on Wednesday night (another nightmare time to be on the road) and finish the drive on Thursday.

 

 

[Homosassa]

11 hours ago, champagne123 said:

We are in the same predicament, but are disembarking on Thanksgiving Day.  We are still on the fence whether to stay in Baltimore for the night, or fight the traffic going home. Hopefully, someone from Baltimore will be able to enlighten us!

 

Based on our experience in driving from the Baltimore area to NYC on Thanksgiving Day, you will probably spend a good amount of time creeping along the NJ Turnpike.

 

[reallyitsmema]

6 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

 

As usual, the information in this post is wrong.

 

We have driven from Baltimore to NYC on Thanksgiving Day on several occasions. We have left around 7 AM each time which put us on the NJ Turnpike around 10 AM.

 

Traffic is heavy on I-95 and the NJ Turnpike will be stop and go for long periods of time.

 

OP, if you are driving down from New Hampshire, I would give yourselves at least four extra hours for traffic. Perhaps you could drive partway on Wednesday night (another nightmare time to be on the road) and finish the drive on Thursday.

 

 

 

No way would I leave on Wednesday night from NH, Mass Pike at 84 is usually backed up for hours.  I think the middle of the night is the best option if they don't want to pay for flights.  I would keep looking for cheap flights from MHT or BOS.