From Panama City? I'd definitely drive down the day before. Much less stress involved. If you were detained for <i><b>any</b></i> reason when driving down the morning of, you'd be a bundle of nerves the whole way. The price of a hotel room will be well worth the ease of mind it gives you. Plus, if you stay at certain hotels in the area, it'll save you $70 for parking.
We always drive down on Thursday morning around 6am and get to Orlando around 2pm and spend the night along with Friday there and then drive to the port Saturday morning which is less than an hour away.....plenty to do for a couple of days before cruising, and like Dave said, alot less stress involved than driving the day of....Andy
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