NO MORE FLYING

[mcrcruiser]

We  live  35 minutes to the San diego port & 1 .5 hours to the San Pedro port . After many years of flying east to take Trans Atlantic ,Panama  Canal  & Many Caribbean cruises ,we decided to not fly any longer  .Not only the cost savings of flights but the hassles in airports are eliminated

 

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

[NoWhiners]

Well, clearly you are in a great position to drive. We live in Albuquerque, so not that close to a port. Our solution to "not flying" is to take cruise that depart/arrive in the US. In November, we will take an Oceania Amazon River cruise that is RT from Miami. That is one of the biggest reasons we booked it--no international flying.

 

If we lived near a port, we would never fly!

[Steelers36]

29 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We  live  35 minutes to the San diego port & 1 .5 hours to the San Pedro port . After many years of flying east to take Trans Atlantic ,Panama  Canal  & Many Caribbean cruises ,we decided to not fly any longer  .Not only the cost savings of flights but the hassles in airports are eliminated

 

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

Only hundreds, if not thousands, of Florida residents.  Sadly, I am not one.

[Blondilu]

I live on the west coast in Northern California.  3 hours drive to San Francisco which is great if we only wanted to do Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska all the time.  Flying is a hassle, but is really a necessity if we want to go further than that like our last trip which was to the British Isles.

 

 

 

 

[Potstech]

If the price of flights continue to be almost if not more than cruises we will just stop cruising.  There are plenty of places here on the Easy Coast we can go to.

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Blondilu said:

I live on the west coast in Northern California.  3 hours drive to San Francisco which is great if we only wanted to do Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska all the time.  Flying is a hassle, but is really a necessity if we want to go further than that like our last trip which was to the British Isles.

 

 

 

 

We understand that you want to see more of this world . We have  84 cruises behind us & seen a lot during those par cruises

[mcrcruiser]

51 minutes ago, Potstech said:

If the price of flights continue to be almost if not more than cruises we will just stop cruising.  There are plenty of places here on the Easy Coast we can go to.

 You could drive to ports in NY ,NJ  & Baltimore & no flying 

[Lindaru]

For medical reasons, I cannot fly.  We are very limited, too.  We drive from central Idaho to Seattle and there is only one option for a Princess Cruise which is the inside passage Alaska.  I suppose we could drive up to Vancouver, B.C., if it was a return trip.  I need to research what we can do with Seattle being our only option.  Driving to San Francisco would be a lot longer and harder on us due to the added distance.

 

[jennybenny]

I think it’s great you have a couple of ports at your disposal!! We do most of our cruises from our home port. At least, my immediate family cruises are from there. When I cruise with my sister and mom we cruise from Florida because of the options. Haven’t done Europe because of the flights so I understand the home port comfort. 

[Cruiserkenn]

For me, flying from Chicago Midway to San Pedro or Seattle via Southwest isn't so bad.  But I must say that I am dreading upcoming flights to London and Rome, and a return from Venice.  Oooh...

[getting older slowly]

I think for some Flying is not a real option, the other half now doesn't want to get into a plane.....

 

So cruising is either home port 30 minute drive away, or a rail trip over night and hotel.. to go to another port...

 

It happens we both like sea days and just enjoy being on a ship at sea....

 

With this in mind we are about to do a cruise later in year for the eighth time...

 

But it is each to his own on these things.... what works for one doesn't work for the next..

 

As long as one goes on a cruise

 

Cheers Don

 

 

[GUT2407]

Mrs Gut had to give up air travel a while back for health reasons, we live a couple of hours out of Sydney so things could be worse, but it does limit you

[donaldsc]

I live in Las Vegas.  There are not a lot of ships that take passengers down the Colorado River.

 

DON

[Coral]

5 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 You could drive to ports in NY ,NJ  & Baltimore & no flying 

I live in Nebraska - any solution for that?

 

I have to fly to get anywhere and there are no direct flights anywhere (well, except for Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, etc..).

[tailspintom]

8 hours ago, Potstech said:

If the price of flights continue to be almost if not more than cruises we will just stop cruising.  There are plenty of places here on the Easy Coast we can go to.

including your home town.  It is a great historical city... for as long as it will be allowed to be.  A goodly amount of American history took place within an hour or two from where you are.

[Potstech]

7 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 You could drive to ports in NY ,NJ  & Baltimore & no flying 

Yes  we could.  Do not like any of the ships put of Baltimore.

[Potstech]

8 minutes ago, tailspintom said:

including your home town.  It is a great historical city... for as long as it will be allowed to be.  A goodly amount of American history took place within an hour or two from where you are.

Yes it does and we visit a lot of those each year.

[Globehoppers]

Aviophobia...

 

There is always the stagecoach...

 

In Europe rail travel is the way to go, especially the high speed rail systems which can reach speeds above 300kph.

 

In Asia some rail systems support speeds above 400kph.

 

In the US we are still struggling with inter-city rail, as well as intra-city rail...

 

Your are safer on a commercial airplane (except the 737MAX) than in your car.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Globehoppers

[2theship]

In 2008, we took a Greek Islands cruise but our flight home from Rome had been cancelled and we wound up crammed into the center group of seats on  a full flight. I said to DH, "next time we sail back". For quite a few years, we took a transatlantic in the fall and only had the short flight home from Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. A few years after that, after arriving in London in the early morning hours, I said to DH, "isn't it time we upgraded our seats?" The next year, we were shocked at what a good deal we could get in business class using cruise line air. With a lie flat seat, the flight is much more tolerable, even fun. The family joke now is that I won't fly across an ocean in coach. The trick seem to be booking flights as soon as they become available for the itinerary then watching the pricing. We choose our flights and seats very carefully when flying in coach. We also enjoy the Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruises from Bayonne because it's a day's drive.

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We  live  35 minutes to the San diego port & 1 .5 hours to the San Pedro port . After many years of flying east to take Trans Atlantic ,Panama  Canal  & Many Caribbean cruises ,we decided to not fly any longer  .Not only the cost savings of flights but the hassles in airports are eliminated

 

 How many of you are doing the same as us , by driving to the ports or getting some one to drive you there ?

We've been driving for years now in Florida and it's nice not to depend in flying. The only thing is being limited to the same ports over and over which can get monotonous after a while, after all there are only so many places to visit. 

 

People usually ask what we did at a certain port & most of the time we don't even get off the ship any longer. It does make for a more relaxed cruise. 

[TravelingEA]

It would be pretty hard for us. We live in Central WI and the drive time would be too much. There is no train travel here, so flying is our only option, if we want to cruise.

 

[Coral]

9 minutes ago, TravelingEA said:

It would be pretty hard for us. We live in Central WI and the drive time would be too much. There is no train travel here, so flying is our only option, if we want to cruise.

 

Same here and air has always been about the cost of the cruise, if not more depending on where we are flying.

[metairiegal]

We are Florida residents living very close to the port in Fort Lauderdale.  So convenient!  But, we have been on so many Caribbean cruises that we don't get off the ship in a lot of ports. 

[K.T.B.]

7 hours ago, Cruiserkenn said:

For me, flying from Chicago Midway to San Pedro or Seattle via Southwest isn't so bad.  But I must say that I am dreading upcoming flights to London and Rome, and a return from Venice.  Oooh...

 

As a fellow Chicagoan, I can completely understand.  I was thisclose to booking a Mediterranean cruise for 2021 instead of the Panama cruise, but then I saw what the potential airfare was going to be like.  Once my wife used the smelling salts and got me off the floor, I decided to keep looking for another cruise.  Hence Panama.  

[MixerDave]

We live in Florida - easy drive to the East coast - BUT - We are no longer to Royal, don't want Carnival, so we are are left with MSC or NCL.  RCCL out of tampa is a 90 minute drive, but again it is RCCL.  Hoping Princess will be a good choice, because they cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale.

Edited August 10, 2019 by MixerDave