I am 91 days removed from leaving my comfy home in Ohio for my next cruise.
I have flown to Miami before, but unless the unlikely occurs between now and the early days of 2007, I will drive once again. I prefer driving, especially since 9/11, mainly because it allows me to relax during the two day trek to Miami. I learned during my cruise on Sovereign of the Seas, that four and five days cruises leave you just getting relaxed on the ship, when you are packing to go home again.
I drove to my follow-up cruise on Explorer, but arrived in Miami the day of the cruise. The effect was to leave me about as taxed from the drive as I had been the flying to the port the year before. Finally during my cruise on Voyager, I arrived in town the night before the cruise. And the result was that I was both fully decompressed from work after two days, and I was rested and ready for the cruise the next day.
Curiously, I found that driving home was also as pleasant as driving to the cruise. After leaving Sovereign, like most people, going home was the last thing I wanted to do. Plus the transition from the pampering of the ship, to the hectic world of the terminal and airport was jarring. Where as, with the drive home, I had time to adjust to the real world and enjoy a bit of afterglow from the cruise.
Dollar for dollar it also is a generally lateral move in terms of my travel budget. The airfare and hotel in Miami before the cruise, winds up costing as much as gas, three hotels, expenses, and the week in the port parking garage. Plus I know in fact that my baggage will get to and from the ship, and I don’t have to deal with all the problems air travel can bring with it.
Finally, I enjoy getting to the port early. That is a topic for another post, but there are huge benefits to being at the port much earlier than most people arrive.
I traditionally take I-75 south, with an overnight stay in Kennesaw, Georgia. I stumbled into Kennesaw in 1996 while traveling to visit my late grandmother in Tampa. I didn’t want to stay in Atlanta, nor immediately south of it. So I got off the highway at a random exit which listed a hotel. On the return trip I discovered the area near Kennesaw State University is a shopping mecca. I was amazed. Since then, I’ve learned it is almost exactly the same distance from Kennesaw to Miami, as it is to any other gulf coast port, save for Tampa.
The second day of the drive leaves me with one of two routes to choose from. I can take I-75 all the way to Miami along the west coast of Florida. This leads me through Tampa, over the Sunshine bridge, and Gator Alley. The former being a stunning bridge, the latter being 80 plus miles of solid road, with tens of thousands of alligators lined up along the swamp line. The other route involves taking the Florida toll road along the east coast of the state. Of the two routes, I’m remain undecided yet, as to which I will take.
The toll road has many rest stops, but they are of a….seedy quality? But I at least was able to make the entry into Miami at night without any issues. Aligator Alley was a route I took during the day. This allowed for very high speeds since you could see five miles ahead. But this would be a night entry to Miami, from a route I’m not as experienced with. Of course, I have a TomTom Go, so why I’m even concerned, I have no idea. I’ll do some digging to figure out which route will be best.
