image from flickr by woofiegrrl

My sister, Connie and her husband, Jon prefer to drive from Michigan to the cruise terminals.  They can throw everything they need into the car, and take as much as they want.  The parking is also convenient.   Also you are allowed to take two bottles of wine each on the cruise.  This is really hard to do if you fly in.  It’s hard to pack bottles of wine in suitcases that are going to be thrown around.  I remember landing at the airport in the United States after leaving Italy.  We went to retrieve our luggage and watched with horror as a suitcase was going around the turnstyle with red wine dripping out of it.  I could only imagine what the clothes looked like!!!

There is actually another really good reason to drive if you can.  The affordable flights are often not very convenient.  You disembark from the ship usually by 9:00 in the morning.  All of the direct flights that I could find either left Fort Lauderdale at 8:00a.m. or 3:00p.m.  I had to take the 3:00 p.m. 

Jon and Connie dropped us off at the airport at 11:00.a.m.  Bill’s flight was earlier and was able to leave.  The ticket counter wasn’t open so I couldn’t check my bags, and had to wait in the lobby.  To top it off, my fight was late.  I am going to write a post in the future about “Things to do at the airport when you are bored”!!

image from flickr by Danila Medvedev

What a great site!   I have used them many times in the past and they have good customer care. 

If you are flexible, you can save much on cruises.  If you are extremely flexible, you can save 50%-75%.  The CEO, R. Alan Fox, even has a blog about his cruising experiences, and what you can expect if you go on one of them.  And he has been on some VERY nice trips! 

A couple of years ago they also added a vacation to go escorted tours.  I’ve never taken one of these, but I imagine they are well planned.  Check out this site www.vacationstogo.com.  It may make you want to take a cruise.