Travel by car or flying? ?

Question

We're planning a cruise next year in July. Problem is first of all, it departs in Florida. Second of all, with the airfare, the cost is more than $8,000, and our budget is $6,000 or less. We live in Houston, Texas and there will be 4 people traveling. Will it be cheaper if we fly or drive to and from there by that time? If we drive, we only need 1 night to stay in a hotel. We also don't mind if we sleep in the car lol. How much will it be to drive to and from FL by the time and our meals?

Answer 1

This is what we did.

We live in NC.

Port was in Florida.

We drove half way, stayed overnight in a hotel and then finished up the rest of the drive to Florida.

It was great!  Flying is wayyy too expensive now, plus you have to watch how much luggage you can take, and the weight of it.

Sure, gas might be high, but it is much cheaper than flying.

Just take an extra day or two and drive.

Have fun!

:-)

Answer 2

It will definitely be cheaper to drive. I live in Central New Jersey, and we drove to Miami, FL in 2 days and all we had to pay for was gas and food.  I can't say how much it would cost because I don't know how much gas you would need to buy and how often you would stop to eat, but guaranteed it will be WAY cheaper if you drive. Flying is hundreds of dollars a person where as driving, you have to pay for gas, which is let's say idk maybe 50 to fill up each time. I doubt you would have to fill it up more than let's say 8 times, so that would be $400 at most. I'm part of a family of four, and normally we spend 30-40 whenever we eat out. Let's say you eat out 12 times, that's $480 for food. I'm not sure how much parking your car at the port will be but also if you factor that in, it will be way cheaper. That would be a total of $880 (at the VERY most, I just considered the maximum also adding parking at the port). $880 would not even cover for 3 people to fly.  Driving would definitely be your cheapest option.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

If the 4 of you all go in the same car, then by car would be far cheaper. You could even share the driving so you would not even need a motel for 1 night. My daughter and son-in-law do this all the time. They drive straight through from California to Colorado in about 20 hours. One drives while the other sleeps. Works great for them.

Answer 4

Going by car will definitely be cheaper, especially with 4 people sharing the cost of gas. If the cruise leaves from Tampa, it will take about 14 hours to travel the 981 miles. If the cruise leaves from Ft. Lauderdale, then it takes about 17 hours (1164 miles). If you haven't booked the cruise yet, you might want to see what cruises are leaving from Galveston. I know that both Carnival and Royal Carribean sail from there.

Answer 5

here's a thought try amtrack and a rental car to finish the trip .. when you get to the pier you will have to pay for parking while you your gone if you drive your own car.. it runs about 12.00 a day or more.. just another idea

Answer 6

Car.

Answer 7

I have driven to the ports in Florida many times both from Maryland and from North Carolina.  It is cheaper than flying even if you stop for the night and pay for a room or two.  

What I generally do and suggest for you is to plan to drive the first day a long distance but one which will put you just a few hours from the cruise port.  If you are cruising from Miami or Ft Lauderdale you are according to Google Maps, about 18 hours from Miami.  You would be about an hour less if you are going to Ft Lauderdale.

So I suggest that you drive one of these trips.  First plan to drive to Vero Beach, Florida and stay at the Hampton Inn  ( http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotel...  I have stayed there several times and it will put you about two hours from Miami and less from Ft Lauderdale.  That drive from Houston, according to Google Maps,is about 15 & 1/2 hours.  That's a long day but then you have just 2 &1/2 hours the next morning to get to Miami.  OR, drive to the Orlando, Florida area, about 14 hours from Houston and spend the night (plenty of hotel selections there but pick one that is away from the tourist areas to save a few dollars.

If you are going to Miami, here's the cruise port's web site:  http://www.miamidade.gov/portofmiami/cru...

Note that parking there is now $20 a day:  http://www.miamidade.gov/portofmiami/dir...

If you are going to Ft Lauderdale, this is the web site:  http://www.porteverglades.org/index.php

In Ft Lauderdale you can park on the port or at the airport:  http://www.unitedairportparking.com/

Now if you are cruising out of Port Canaveral (near the Kennedy Space Center) you can do the Orlando stop and then have just a little over an hour to get to the port.  Parking there is $15 a day.  http://www.portcanaveral.org/index2.php

According to Google your drive is about 1200 miles and if your car get about 20 miles per gallon you will spend, at $4 a gallon, about $500 for gas each way, a total of $1,000.  Add in another $400 for hotels and parking and I don't think you can get 4 airline tickets for $1400.  

Drive it!!!

Answer 8

I agree driving would be cheaper. However consider 4 people in a car for long periods of time plus luggage plus possible flat tire or accident.

2 of us drove from Upstate New York to Fairbanks Alaska just to say we did it. Total over 10,000 miles, 3 oil changes, 12 nights at hotels, parking in Fairbanks plus price of cruisetour, meals we spend close to $30.000.00 to say we did, has we flown we would have been in better moods and spend $13,000.00 What you save here you spend there. But, one never learns until they do it them selves. Whichever way ENJOY.

Answer 9

check jetblue driving there would be expensive we drove to Port Canaveral from D.C. for a cruise a few years ago (gas $2 or less) and it was h**l