We had to drive across the US after our last Princess cruise

[Loreni]

But it worked out for the best.  
 

The CDC stated  that we should not fly.  So we had to get a car and drive across the country.  It was something we had talked about doing for years, but cruising was just so easy and turnkey and took us to more exotic places.   We had been on long car trips before, but never across the whole country. We were not able to really take our time on the drive, but what we saw of Utah and Colorado was just incredible.  We look forward to visiting these and other places we can drive to.  While we stayed in hotels, I can see how a camper would allow greater social distancing.  Looking forward to a new chapter of travel.  

[HUNKY]

I imagine a few cruisers will switch over to "land cruising"!  Now I just need to find a nice RV and a crew to run it!

[Renophi]

Our first love is traveling the USA (the Western states at least) in our motorhome and spending time experiencing the beauty that is all around us, but there is also nothing that compares to the freedom, luxury, relaxation, and exotic locations that cruising provides as well. I could go on and on about the things we have done and seen while camping and cruising but I know my family could never give up either.

 

We plan to continue doing both for the near future and hopefully go full time in the RV so we can see the rest of the country and take cruise "vacations" after retirement. Sadly we can't do either right now but our house has never been cleaner!

[Thrak]

We do land trips as well as cruising. We normally do a 4-6 week camping trip every year. (The longest was 7 weeks when we went up to Fairbanks.) We had a trip planned out for this year but had to cancel it as everywhere we were going is closed. Stupid virus. No camping. No cruising. Bah!  My wife is "collecting" US National Parks and has about half of them now. Cruising got us the ones in the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Pretty hard to drive to those. We were going to visit a few more this year but they are all currently closed. Perhaps things will open up a bit later and we can take our "big rig" and hit the road.

 

[MMDown Under]

On 4/22/2020 at 4:02 PM, Loreni said:

But it worked out for the best.  
 

The CDC stated  that we should not fly.  So we had to get a car and drive across the country.  It was something we had talked about doing for years, but cruising was just so easy and turnkey and took us to more exotic places.   We had been on long car trips before, but never across the whole country. We were not able to really take our time on the drive, but what we saw of Utah and Colorado was just incredible.  We look forward to visiting these and other places we can drive to.  While we stayed in hotels, I can see how a camper would allow greater social distancing.  Looking forward to a new chapter of travel.  

Why did CDC state that you shouldn't fly after your cruise?

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

We do land trips as well as cruising. We normally do a 4-6 week camping trip every year. (The longest was 7 weeks when we went up to Fairbanks.) We had a trip planned out for this year but had to cancel it as everywhere we were going is closed. Stupid virus. No camping. No cruising. Bah!  My wife is "collecting" US National Parks and has about half of them now. Cruising got us the ones in the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Pretty hard to drive to those. We were going to visit a few more this year but they are all currently closed. Perhaps things will open up a bit later and we can take our "big rig" and hit the road.

 

Wow! No wonder you find ship cabins to be spacious. I think if DW and I were to travel across country by vehicle, that trailer would just hold our luggage ... Of course we can just barely see a nice pickup truck to carry other goodies as well.

 

I used to be a backpacker in my younger days. Love to travel where if you can't carry it on your back, it doesn't go.

[Times Prince]

On 4/22/2020 at 5:56 AM, HUNKY said:

I imagine a few cruisers will switch over to "land cruising"!  Now I just need to find a nice RV and a crew to run it!

With some of the new health restrictions in the near future, that might be our vacation option as well.   It does make one wonder if we should be investing in an RV company...

[BarbinMich]

On 4/22/2020 at 2:02 AM, Loreni said:

. . .

It was something we had talked about doing for years, but cruising was just so easy and turnkey and took us to more exotic places.   We had been on long car trips before, but never across the whole country. We were not able to really take our time on the drive, but what we saw of Utah and Colorado was just incredible.  We look forward to visiting these and other places we can drive to.  While we stayed in hotels, I can see how a camper would allow greater social distancing.  Looking forward to a new chapter of travel.  

We, too, had done many driving trips when we were younger (I'm 74, late DH 84).  Also fly-drive trips (FL, AZ, CA, WA, OR, NV).  The furthest we drove (from MI) was to CO and Alberta CN (not the same trip <g>).  Only states we never visited were LA, AL, MS, UT.  Have also been in most Canadian provinces, except two of the northern ones (Nunavut and NW Territories).  The motivation to drive to the western provinces was my DH's relatives in SK and AB. Have also driven to the Maritime provinces (as well as later visiting them by ship).  

[Jasperdo]

Road Tripping is my first love, and our main form of vacation. Been doing it since the 1970's. My wife and I have driven across the US six times, drove the Trans-Canada all the way to Quebec, took the Alaska Highway from one end to the other. Been to all 50 states, and 46 of the 61 National Parks. It's something we really enjoy. There is soooo much beauty to see in the US and Canada. 

 

We started cruising in 1991 and were instantly hooked. It took us to places we couldn't easily drive to. I always treated it as a moving hotel room that took me to amazing destinations. But, if I had to choose just one, I would pick a road trip any day. The freedom you get hopping in the car and seeing where that bend in the road takes you is unmatched, in my opinion.

[polmcs]

I’ve driven from coast to coast, albeit with a break in between.

 

First part was from Boston to Colorado Springs when my company relocated me. They didn’t help with any expenses, but the did give me a week off to make the trip. I made the 2,000 miles in 3.5 days as my wife was flying into the US on the 4th day and I had to be at COS to pick her up. 😉 

 

The remainder was done a few months later when we did a much more leisurely road trip with visiting family. Colorado Springs to the 4 corners to the Grand Canyon, to Vegas and then onto Santa Monica. It was definitely better with company along the way! 

[CruisingAlong4Now]

DH and I have visited all 50 states and driven our car across the lower 48 US 4 times since 2005.  Northern routes, central routes, and southern routes are all interesting.  During our first trip in 2005 we got waylay-ed by Hurricane Katrina.  Some of the best vacations we had.  Usually spent several months driving across and back.  Highly recommend these trips.  But I am starting to forget what a vacation is.  

[MMDown Under]

5 hours ago, Jasperdo said:

Road Tripping is my first love, and our main form of vacation. Been doing it since the 1970's. My wife and I have driven across the US six times, drove the Trans-Canada all the way to Quebec, took the Alaska Highway from one end to the other. Been to all 50 states, and 46 of the 61 National Parks. It's something we really enjoy. There is soooo much beauty to see in the US and Canada. 

 

We started cruising in 1991 and were instantly hooked. It took us to places we couldn't easily drive to. I always treated it as a moving hotel room that took me to amazing destinations. But, if I had to choose just one, I would pick a road trip any day. The freedom you get hopping in the car and seeing where that bend in the road takes you is unmatched, in my opinion.

I agree there is so much beauty and history to see in the US and Canada.  We have done many long distance road trips across the US, and coastal trips, and enjoyed them all. 

Australia is a long distance driver's paradise also.  Lots of people look forward to driving around Australia.  Cruising for me is to exotic destinations I can't reach by car.

Edited April 27, 2020 by MMDown Under

[BarbinMich]

16 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

. . . Cruising for me is to exotic destinations I can't reach by car.

Exactly!  Except I wouldn't call all cruise destinations exotic <g>.  Just different climate/scenery than we have in Michigan!

[dockman]

Last Sep a friend and I did a 6 day RV trip around the Kenai peninsula.  We flew into anchorage where we picked up the RV from GreatAlaskanHolidays....fantastic company and great service.  We had a mini winnie with unlimited mileage which cost us about $1000 for six days plus gas (avg 12 mpg).  We stayed in campgrounds for average of $20 a night and cooked most all meals in the RV.  We drove almost exactly 700 miles and visited most every town on the Kenai peninsula including Seward, Homer, etc.  As it was early Sep the weather was generally very pleasant and traffic was sparse and no problem finding open campgrounds.  We did a lot of wonderful hikes (GAH even gave us two cannisters of bear repellent which thankfully we did not have to use).  After six days we returned the RV in Anchorage( free transfer to airport from GAH office)  then caught the big bus transfer from airport to Seward with a nature preserve stop and then boarded a 7 night cruise back to YVR.  

 

I have done the Alaska cruise over a dozen times but this put a whole new twist on it.  Driving and figuring out the RV was very simple and GAH does a great job in teaching you all you need to know.  We were glad we limited our adventure to Kenai and did not try to overdo it by driving too much.  Six days seemed about right amount of time.

 

Highly recommended as a way to see parts of Alaska that you simply will not experience from a cruise ship.

[CI66774]

On 4/27/2020 at 11:05 AM, BarbinMich said:

We, too, had done many driving trips when we were younger (I'm 74, late DH 84).  Also fly-drive trips (FL, AZ, CA, WA, OR, NV).  The furthest we drove (from MI) was to CO and Alberta CN (not the same trip <g>).  Only states we never visited were LA, AL, MS, UT.  Have also been in most Canadian provinces, except two of the northern ones (Nunavut and NW Territories).  The motivation to drive to the western provinces was my DH's relatives in SK and AB. Have also driven to the Maritime provinces (as well as later visiting them by ship).  

You should visit Utah - one of the most breathtaking states in the country.

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, dockman said:

Last Sep a friend and I did a 6 day RV trip around the Kenai peninsula.  We flew into anchorage where we picked up the RV from GreatAlaskanHolidays....fantastic company and great service.  We had a mini winnie with unlimited mileage which cost us about $1000 for six days plus gas (avg 12 mpg).  We stayed in campgrounds for average of $20 a night and cooked most all meals in the RV.  We drove almost exactly 700 miles and visited most every town on the Kenai peninsula including Seward, Homer, etc.  As it was early Sep the weather was generally very pleasant and traffic was sparse and no problem finding open campgrounds.  We did a lot of wonderful hikes (GAH even gave us two cannisters of bear repellent which thankfully we did not have to use).  After six days we returned the RV in Anchorage( free transfer to airport from GAH office)  then caught the big bus transfer from airport to Seward with a nature preserve stop and then boarded a 7 night cruise back to YVR.  

 

I have done the Alaska cruise over a dozen times but this put a whole new twist on it.  Driving and figuring out the RV was very simple and GAH does a great job in teaching you all you need to know.  We were glad we limited our adventure to Kenai and did not try to overdo it by driving too much.  Six days seemed about right amount of time.

 

Highly recommended as a way to see parts of Alaska that you simply will not experience from a cruise ship.

Agree.  To really experience Alaska, you need to do a land trip as well as cruise. A highlight of our visit was a segment in a truck camper, where we stayed free in campgrounds (at end of season).

[hel0013]

22 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I agree there is so much beauty and history to see in the US and Canada.  We have done many long distance road trips across the US, and coastal trips, and enjoyed them all. 

Australia is a long distance driver's paradise also.  Lots of people look forward to driving around Australia.  Cruising for me is to exotic destinations I can't reach by car.

 

Couldn't agree more...

 

We can take or leave cruise ships in favour of our RV any day. In the RV we're on our schedule which being retired it's often no schedule. If we like a place we'll stay for a while. Being herded around like sheep to see something for few hours and then rushed back to the ship is not my idea of sightseeing. We prefer relaxing sea days over excursions any day.

 

We just got home from a 6 month 16,000 km loop around North America starting in western Canada with a stopover in Florida for the winter. 

 

I would love to put on the bucket list a loop of Australia and NZ. A nice slow sea day filled boat to AUS and rent a RV there is definitely doable one day.

[phred119s]

We, too, have visited all 50 states. Sometimes flying, sometimes driving, sometimes flying then driving. We actually visited our daughter’s 50th state (Hawaii) around this time last year. She was 6 at the time. She’s already visited Alaska twice. I think last time I tried to figure out there were 9-10 states that she’s truly only visited once. 

[polmcs]

6 hours ago, CI66774 said:

You should visit Utah - one of the most breathtaking states in the country.

Hah! I see Thrak beat me to it! 😉  I’ve been fortunate to visit the beauty of Utah on several road trips and even once for work, but their laws in relation to adult beverages belong in the dark ages.

 

I made the mistake of stopping in Moab on a Sunday in the middle of a CO, NM, AZ, NV, UT, CO 2000 mile road trip with my parents. My dad, a stereotypical Scotsman, would always seek out a liquor store to avoid paying the inflated hotel booze charges. Of course, that wasn’t happening! Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to book a hotel right across from a brew pub and as we were eating, drinks were allowed, so crisis averted. 🙂 

 

I found out last year that local laws dictated that draft beer was limited to 3.2, but there was no such restrictions on bottled beer. A few colleagues and I were at a restaurant up in the ski resort area to meet some clients. The waitress was advising us to stick to the bottled stuff as it was stronger. When I’m out, draft wins every time, unless it’s US domestic, so I was happy to try the local drafts and was able to have a few more than I typically would! 🤪

[Papa Yoda]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

<snip>  It's a BAD DAY for me.

 

 

 

Attn Mrs. Thrak - maybe time for an intervention or a trip to Walmart to get out of the house - this sounds desperate!

[Papa Yoda]

5 hours ago, hel0013 said:

 

Couldn't agree more...

 

We can take or leave cruise ships in favour of our RV any day. In the RV we're on our schedule which being retired it's often no schedule. If we like a place we'll stay for a while. Being herded around like sheep to see something for few hours and then rushed back to the ship is not my idea of sightseeing. We prefer relaxing sea days over excursions any day.

 

We just got home from a 6 month 16,000 km loop around North America starting in western Canada with a stopover in Florida for the winter. 

 

I would love to put on the bucket list a loop of Australia and NZ. A nice slow sea day filled boat to AUS and rent a RV there is definitely doable one day.

 

Agreed too - once we got into cruising more when retired we thought living in the motorhome was perfect - we can take our house to near where cruise ships sail from:  Seattle, San Diego, SFO, San Pedro...which we have done many times, and we've looped the US a few times.  We were on our way east when all C-19 broke loose.

 

There are a couple RV tour companies that offer Australia trips.  

[tanyaewa]

On 4/27/2020 at 4:37 PM, MMDown Under said:

I agree there is so much beauty and history to see in the US and Canada.  We have done many long distance road trips across the US, and coastal trips, and enjoyed them all. 

Australia is a long distance driver's paradise also.  Lots of people look forward to driving around Australia.  Cruising for me is to exotic destinations I can't reach by car.

We did an awesome road  trip from Sydney to Port Douglas.  Incredible.  Simply incredible 

Edited April 29, 2020 by tanyaewa

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, tanyaewa said:

We did an awesome road  trip from Sydney to Port Douglas.  Incredible.  Simply incredible 

Great road trip.  From Sydney north, the secret is to turn off to the right onto all the short roads to the  headland beaches in New South Wales and long beaches in Queensland.  

[BigGuy25]

On 4/26/2020 at 11:37 AM, Thrak said:

We do land trips as well as cruising. We normally do a 4-6 week camping trip every year. (The longest was 7 weeks when we went up to Fairbanks.) We had a trip planned out for this year but had to cancel it as everywhere we were going is closed. Stupid virus. No camping. No cruising. Bah!  My wife is "collecting" US National Parks and has about half of them now. Cruising got us the ones in the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. Pretty hard to drive to those. We were going to visit a few more this year but they are all currently closed. Perhaps things will open up a bit later and we can take our "big rig" and hit the road.

 

Love seeing the teardrop!  We’ve like the style and have researched the concept, but at 6’5”, we haven’t found one that fits me. Interesting that this thread is here today. I been online looking at trailers over the past two days. We’ve canceled our Princess Cruise for later this summer and not rebooking in 2020. So, we thought getting back into camping for awhile (or longer) might be a good idea.

[MMDown Under]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:53 AM, hel0013 said:

 

Couldn't agree more...

 

We can take or leave cruise ships in favour of our RV any day. In the RV we're on our schedule which being retired it's often no schedule. If we like a place we'll stay for a while. Being herded around like sheep to see something for few hours and then rushed back to the ship is not my idea of sightseeing. We prefer relaxing sea days over excursions any day.

 

We just got home from a 6 month 16,000 km loop around North America starting in western Canada with a stopover in Florida for the winter. 

 

I would love to put on the bucket list a loop of Australia and NZ. A nice slow sea day filled boat to AUS and rent a RV there is definitely doable one day.

I met Canadians who kept a truck camper in NZ, where they holidayed each year.  They planned to ship it to Australia to travel there.