One more complication to add into the mix.

If possible can always leave 2 days prior and select direct flights if possible. Unfortunately, you need to be near a hub for best access to direct flights.

We always Drive (from Albuquerque ) stay in Texas and drive into galvenston the day of cruise allows for as much luggage as you want and great when you get off the ship at the end. Although the Amtrak sounds interesting Ill have to look into that

Several years ago Galveston was being slammed with a hurricane, and flooding was a concern, so we decided to leave an EXTRA day early. We had booked a motel only for the day b4, (like usual) but adding a day wasn't a problem, so off we went...Naturally the drive turned out not to be as bad as the weather pundits predicted. Having said that, we had NO problem whatsoever lounging around eating munchies and watching s/a tv all day. Reason being whatever angst we had felt getting there and the weather issues simply disappeared. If in doubt I would add that extra day again in a heartbeat. I think the room and chow might've run $150. Great therapy instead of worrying etc. besides, it could very well have saved the cruise, although in that particular instance, it was just our paranoia. So spending a little extra to protect a several thousand $$ investment works for me.

Matter of fact, we DID do it again, back during that epic THANKSGIVING covid test episode. (Some of y'all remember THAT insanity.) Had our tests in Galveston first thing in the AM the day b4 boarding. In order to do that we spent Thanksgiving on the road, and ate whatever, where ever. Chalked it up to part of "the adventure"...Used to be the old saying "you can't get there from here" really had to do with driving...nowadays, it applies to flying too. IMHO, flying is worse, when you positively have to be somewhere by a deadline.

I must agree that sometimes the long drive seems challenging but the mess at the airports are also challenging and in our case involves international flights which of course has its own challenges. Fortunately a drive across the border is relatively easy.

I did enjoy Amtrak and the pricing was not outlandish. The ride from Buffalo to Boston was a 12 hour deal and took all day but we were in our hotel the evening before the cruise. For the ride home both legs were an overnight so we had sleeper berths (ultra mini cruise cabins :P~ ). It is actually not too bad and a very civilized way to travel.

It's always something! We too find the time it would take to drive to any embarkation port onerous (from Colorado). We may need to start going two days before we sail, but will continue with the extra singlr day for now. Hopefully, thing will start to level out before December.

Being from the upper Midwest we have always resorted to flying. I've toyed with the idea of driving but that had always meant taking an extra few days off of work to accommodate the 20+ hour drive to & from the FL. cruise ports. My wife can't drive anymore, and back problems prevent me from driving for more than 6-8 hour stretches per day. Not that I wouldn't enjoy the drive, it's just always been the time factor. Also, once I factored in the extra costs (gas, hotel rooms, meals, etc...) flying has always ended up being more cost effective anyway.

We always fly in the night B4 embarkation because I'm too paranoid about flight delays and/or cancellations to risk flying in the day of. This topic suggests perhaps adding in a second day for peace of mind, which of course means an extra days hotel stay, meals, etc..... While I agree that it would probably be a prudent move until the airlines get their act together (if that ever happens) IMHO that'll mess with a lot of peoples budgets.

As for us, now that full retirement is on the horizon I'm able to take off for a longer periods, so I'm considering driving to Galv. for our cruise next spring. We are also considering relocation to a warmer climate, and close proximity (max 6-8 hour drive) to cruise ports will be a factor in our decision. I'm currently thinking the FL panhandle (Pensacola area) could put us within driving distance of 5 or more major cruise ports.

Sounds like an adventure in and of itself. The thought has occurred to us to take the CITY OF NO...sounds more romantic than it probably is. Closest we could get to it would be MEMPHIS...In the time it takes to get there, we would have been halfway to NO or GALVESTON. And yes, the airlines problem is self-inflicted, but they have a million rules and regs and gov't agencies to deal with., including rest periods and union contracts and so on. The cruise lines for the most part simply do as they please when it comes to personnel and staffing issues. They claim to have staffing problems. I think, like many US businesses, they have discovered just how FEW people it takes to actually run their operations, and simply haven't gone out of their way to recruit or hire back all those people who made a cruise as pleasant as it used to be. Its simpler to close venues. Wonder how all that affected a little thing called MAINTENANCE. When our steward on our last one told us how many cabins she had to do daily, and what "other" jobs she had to accomplish on her shift, my eyeballs crossed....again...

We have always driven to port. My wife is not a fan of flying. On the only repo we took we drove to the train station in Buffalo (Depew) and hopped the Amtrak to Boston. We cruised from there to NOLA and when we got off when it was time to go home we hopped the Amtrak from NOLA to Chicago (The City of New Orleans), spent the day in Chicago and then took the overnight from Chicago to Buffalo to drive home in the morning.

That's part of why we drive to the ports.