I have driven from Kansas City (MCI) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) before. I thought flying would be faster. Then again. Maybe when you go through Texas that is the long way. Despite our delays in Texas, we did make it to Fort Lauderdale in well under the 30 hour driving time. We were so excited when we left. A week of fun in the sun awaited us in Florida and we had booked a 2 night cruise in between. I am glad we had rearranged our travel director's plan. They had us coming in on Saturday morning and cruising that afternoon. I am pretty sure we would have missed our ship. I requested we fly in and spend a couple days in Florida and then cruise. You will soon discover why this plan worked out so well.