Moving to Florida for long time Cruiser from California Pros and Cons ?

[BigKarl]

I will be retiring and thinking of moving to an Income Tax free State.  I have only visited Florida about ten times and that was to board a Cruise ship. For those of you that live in Florida and wish to comment (Good and Bad)  please be honest in your personal assessment of florida living and also which area may be best. Thanks in advance. 

[bluer101]

Expensive.

[smokeybandit]

11 minutes ago, bluer101 said:

Expensive.

Not if you're moving from California.

 

Really the only con is the the fact it's hot and humid all the time and hurricanes like to visit Florida.

[Geezer Of The Seas]

Real estate and property insurance costs are the 2 biggest downers these days Rentals are similarly insane. But, if you sell a home in California and move here your equity from the sale might have you sitting pretty. As far as where to live, what's your tolerance for traffic? The state has been behind, way behind on transportation, since the Mouse opened its doors. No state income tax but the you're dinged in other less noticeable ways. And like everywhere else, a trip to the grocery store isn't what it once was. If healthcare is a concern in retirement, the  more populous areas have the better accessibility.

[tonyfsu21]

Florida is the dream. I have lived here all of my 46 years and would never consider living anywhere else. I’ve been plenty of places across the globe but will always kiss the ground when I land at FLL. The people here do in fact suck, however, the endless Summer of boating never gets old (cruise port in the backyard isn’t too shabby either). If you are in a HCOL area in California then the real estate here shouldn’t make you flinch. It’s cheaper and quieter to live in North or West Florida but the action is all down South. Good luck

[tonyfsu21]

26 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Not if you're moving from California.

 

Really the only con is the the fact it's hot and humid all the time and hurricanes like to visit Florida.

I will take a hurricane over an earthquake any day. Hurricanes give you a week to prepare. 

[Neesa]

We moved here to Florida 20 years ago, we are north of Tampa in Pasco County as the schools were highly rated & the taxes were amazingly low, we moved from New Jersey just out side of New York so our taxes up North were 3X as much. We also prefer the West Coast of Florida as I prefer the Gulf of Mexico over the Atlantic. It wasn't as expensive...until it was! Everything has gone way up & while we do enjoy living in an income tax free State, I feel they get us in every other area as far as costs go. My property taxes have doubled in 20 years and the cost of insurance being home or vehicle is Sky High. Vehicle registration is also in the hundreds of dollars. The water bill is CRAZY. We pay sales tax on clothes as well. 

Every where you turn there seems to be fee's such as HOA for example which are power hungry individuals who enjoy rules for the sake of rules & wait for it, more fee's. So as @bluer101 states it's expensive. The "Florida resident rates" are a joke, pennies on the dollar just silly at this point. Snow Birds impact our area in ways I did not realize, forget a doctor appointment while they are here, how about next Tuesday 3 months from now? It is super congested on the roads & while the State works on our infrastructure it does not seem to ever be fast enough. 

It is starting to look ugly, gone are the Orange groves & the farms we used to drive by when we first arrived. If not for the Palm trees just by observation you would not know you were in Florida, it is so sad. 

Now it's not all bad..... we love our location as we can drive to the *cruise ports and the beaches. We enjoy the weather as well as we hate the frigid cold, when it gets oppressive with heat & humidity we just retreat to an air conditioned space or our pool. The best was during "C" we had the ability to choose a lot of things for ourselves, kiddo was back in school right away & they provided an amazing on line opportunity for instruction as well, not much missed learning. We do have some amazing Technical & University offerings that will entertain merit and need based scholarships such as the Bright Futures Program. 

Finally the Pizza and Chinese food restaurants are disgusting! 

* Cruise Ports Tampa, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades & Miami

This is so personal & there are so many Counties you probably can find one that suits. Ours was amazing at first, but the growth started to slowly occur & before we knew it we were in the thick of it. After kiddo is on her own we may change our location & downsize but I'm confident we will stay in Florida...somewhere. I'm sure you will get a great deal of input, off the top of my head calling @WAAAYTOOO @SebagoSue @OCSC Mike I wish for you to land somewhere you LOVE!

I hope this helped some

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I'm sure you will get a great deal of input, off the top of my head calling @OCSC Mike

I'm abstaining as I don't have many positives to add and don't want to be overly negative, lol.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Moving to FL when did (Nov 2020) was the best decision we’ve ever made.  There’s nothing I would change about our choices.  We love the weather - even the hot summers.  Yes, property taxes are higher here than they were in VA but honestly, I have no regrets.  I haven’t found any other expenses to be any higher than they would have been in the DC area.  I know there are some (perhaps many) who have had problems with high property insurance premiums but that has not been true for us.  That is primarily b/c we built a brand new house and we don’t live in a high risk (hurricane) area…at least, that’s the reasons I have determined.  We use USAA and they have been extremely reasonable.  Let’s hope it stays that way !

I will say that home prices have done nothing but climb since we signed our construction contract.  I don’t see that trend reversing any time soon.  I am just very grateful that we made the move when did.  
 

Best of luck with whatever you decide, @BigKarl.

[Ryan79]

2 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I will take a hurricane over an earthquake any day. Hurricanes give you a week to prepare. 

While I agree about being able to prepare, earthquakes you can’t prepare so no use in worrying about them AND ones that do any actual damage are decades apart. It’s been almost 30 years since we have had a good one. Even a good one does WAY less damage than a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Earthquakes are way overrated in the natural disaster realm. 

[tonyfsu21]

3 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

While I agree about being able to prepare, earthquakes you can’t prepare so no use in worrying about them AND ones that do any actual damage are decades apart. It’s been almost 30 years since we have had a good one. Even a good one does WAY less damage than a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Earthquakes are way overrated in the natural disaster realm. 

I feel the same way about hurricanes, overrated. I suppose hurricanes are just something we are accustomed to and well aware of. 

[OCSC Mike]

42 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I feel the same way about hurricanes, overrated. I suppose hurricanes are just something we are accustomed to and well aware of. 

I'd say it depends on where in FL you live, what type of building it is, etc. Basically, how likely and susceptible you are to them posing a significant threat. If my house was built properly (not worth getting into), I wouldn't really worry about them living here near Disney.

Someone who lives on a coast and has had their house severely damaged/destroyed may feel differently.

[tonyfsu21]

31 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'd say it depends on where in FL you live, what type of building it is, etc. Basically, how likely and susceptible you are to them posing a significant threat. If my house was built properly (not worth getting into), I wouldn't really worry about them living here near Disney.

Someone who lives on a coast and has had their house severely damaged/destroyed may feel differently.

We live on the water in Fort Lauderdale and have never had an issue with a hurricane. The real damage is unfortunately done by the news media who stirs people into a panic before these storms and all the fuel and groceries disappear. That’s the real problem. 

[twangster]

I haven't been here long but I find myself cruising more out of the area now, Caribbean cruising is crazy expensive.  If you not a gambler you better start so you can get some casino rates.  I'm secretly hoping for the economy to tank so people stop cruising, causing rates to come back down.   

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

The real damage is unfortunately done by the news media who stirs people into a panic before these storms and all the fuel and groceries disappear. That’s the real problem

You make it sound like homes/buildings never sustain actual damage from wind, flooding, or anything else hurricane-related.

I’m glad you’ve never had an issue & hope you never do.

[tonyfsu21]

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

You make it sound like homes/buildings never sustain actual damage from wind, flooding, or anything else hurricane-related.

I’m glad you’ve never had an issue & hope you never do.

Oh they do. My house is built like a fortress though. 

[bluer101]

We have been in Boca Raton since 1982, besides everything getting more expensive it is really nice here. 

[Montemy2419]

I would highly suggest that if you want to go ahead and move BUT only rent for the first year or two.  I lived in Florida right out of High School and by the third year of living there I was done for many reasons.  While living there I saw many people only vacation for a week and have a great time and dream about living there full time.  They move, and buy a home right away before learning about different parts of the city or even state.  Saw many unhappy homeowners who never looked at the state except through vacation goggles.  

[Villageidiot]

No cruise ports here but Tennessee has no state income as well. I live in beautiful East Tennessee. Property taxes in my county are very low, less than 1K per year. Paid $5.25 to register my car this year. Utilities average around $200/mo. Weather is fairly temperate year round. We drive to cruises in Florida. Also consider Texas but the destinations from Galveston are still kind of limited IMHO.

[Mr. K]

I love living in Florida, but the insurance prices are a bit much, so that is something to strongly consider. As for where to live, that depends on your tolerance level. I've lived in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area most of my life and it is unique. For a retiring person, I'd say southwest (Sarasota) to west (Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater) Florida may be worth taking a look at. As for Hurricanes, yes, the media blows it out of proportion (pun intended). You have at least a week to prepare and if it is too scary for you, it is easy to jump on a plane a fly somewhere else for a few days. Finally, if you are an avid cruiser, this is the spot. No flight delays or cancellations or lost baggage to deal with, just hop over or down to your port and be on your way. Do your due diligence but it really is a cool place to live once you figure it out. 

[tonyfsu21]

2 hours ago, Mr. K said:

I love living in Florida, but the insurance prices are a bit much, so that is something to strongly consider. As for where to live, that depends on your tolerance level. I've lived in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area most of my life and it is unique. For a retiring person, I'd say southwest (Sarasota) to west (Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater) Florida may be worth taking a look at. As for Hurricanes, yes, the media blows it out of proportion (pun intended). You have at least a week to prepare and if it is too scary for you, it is easy to jump on a plane a fly somewhere else for a few days. Finally, if you are an avid cruiser, this is the spot. No flight delays or cancellations or lost baggage to deal with, just hop over or down to your port and be on your way. Do your due diligence but it really is a cool place to live once you figure it out. 

^^^ This. The media blows the entire hurricane issue way out of proportion down here and it’s really annoying. Once panic mode sets in, the shelf’s are empty at Publix and the gas stations no longer have fuel. I do consider the fact that this may be by design…

[RCIfan1912]

The public panics on their own. It's copout to blame the media. The same thing happens here when there is a "winter storm" or "snow storm". People run out to buy milk, and bread like they are gonna be stuck in the house for a week. Super annoying but it's not the medias fault, humans are inherently dumb. 

[tonyfsu21]

38 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

The public panics on their own. It's copout to blame the media. The same thing happens here when there is a "winter storm" or "snow storm". People run out to buy milk, and bread like they are gonna be stuck in the house for a week. Super annoying but it's not the medias fault, humans are inherently dumb. 

It sounds like you have been lucky enough to never sit through a media pre game show before a hurricane because the blame is not a “cop out”. 

[Geezer Of The Seas]

I've been a Floridian for over 53 years. Didn't experience my first hurricane til 1979. Pretty pedestrian until 2004 when Charley paid a visit from south to north, the first of the 'tropical trifecta' (Charley, Frances, & Jeanne) in a 6 week period. That sucked, no power for 7 and a half days, 5 days, and 18 hours respectively. Then relatively quiet in the central peninsula til last year when Ian came to call. Not so much wind, but over 2' of rain in our locale in 96 hours..........oof!!! Mrs. Geezer (native) has regaled me with stories of Donna back in 1960. And there was the non hurricane 'Storm of the Century' in March 1993. 

BTW Big Karl, if you do move here and find yourself homesick perhaps Ma Nature can conjure up an earthquake. Yeah, that's happened, October 1973. Was taking the future Mrs. Geezer home and we were stopped at an intersection in Melbourne, Fl. when the car started rockin'......no, not from THAT!!! 

Was a magnitude 3.9 as I recall was comically referred to as the Merritt Island Earthquake.

[RCIfan1912]

22 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

It sounds like you have been lucky enough to never sit through a media pre game show before a hurricane because the blame is not a “cop out”. 

People panic because the human race isn't very bright. That's all I'm saying. We are looking for intelligent life out in the universe when we haven't found it here yet. 

[Xaa]

11 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

^^^ This. The media blows the entire hurricane issue way out of proportion down here and it’s really annoying. Once panic mode sets in, the shelf’s are empty at Publix and the gas stations no longer have fuel. I do consider the fact that this may be by design…

I agree that with weather events media sees it as a coverage opportunity and then over cover it to the point of making people worry about what they wouldn't have if it were covered in its perspective.

Having said that, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.  the recent disaster in HI was exacerbated by not enough emergency coverage and notifications.

I also agree that people, that have been through it before, again and again, might learn that they don't need every loaf of bread and gallon of water on the shelves.  Yet as a whole, we do not.

[steverk]

I've lived through hurricane Ike in Texas. Such events are rare, but extremely disruptive and depressing.

It wouldn't cause me to choose a different place to live. Instead,  I have a plan and remain vigilant. 

[Cakemeister]

On 9/26/2023 at 1:19 AM, Villageidiot said:

the destinations from Galveston are still kind of limited IMHO.

FTFY.

[Zacharius]

On 9/25/2023 at 1:42 PM, smokeybandit said:

Not if you're moving from California.

I guess it kind of depends where in California. Even in So Cal (where it appears OP is from), there's a big difference between LA, San Diego, and...Calexico

[bobroo]

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Somewhat... but I don't care and further limit myself by choosing not to drive to South Florida. Personal preference.

If you're willing to sail from the 3 main ports, flexible, and do your research, I believe you can find some unique itineraries.

[Mr. K]

15 hours ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

I've been a Floridian for over 53 years. Didn't experience my first hurricane til 1979. Pretty pedestrian until 2004 when Charley paid a visit from south to north, the first of the 'tropical trifecta' (Charley, Frances, & Jeanne) in a 6 week period. That sucked, no power for 7 and a half days, 5 days, and 18 hours respectively. Then relatively quiet in the central peninsula til last year when Ian came to call. Not so much wind, but over 2' of rain in our locale in 96 hours..........oof!!! Mrs. Geezer (native) has regaled me with stories of Donna back in 1960. And there was the non hurricane 'Storm of the Century' in March 1993. 

BTW Big Karl, if you do move here and find yourself homesick perhaps Ma Nature can conjure up an earthquake. Yeah, that's happened, October 1973. Was taking the future Mrs. Geezer home and we were stopped at an intersection in Melbourne, Fl. when the car started rockin'......no, not from THAT!!! 

Was a magnitude 3.9 as I recall was comically referred to as the Merritt Island Earthquake.

DO NOT wish that upon us. There isn't much beneath the asphalt, so we'd all fall into the ocean brother! 

[WAYNO]

On 9/25/2023 at 11:25 AM, BigKarl said:

I will be retiring and thinking of moving to an Income Tax free State.  I have only visited Florida about ten times and that was to board a Cruise ship. For those of you that live in Florida and wish to comment (Good and Bad)  please be honest in your personal assessment of Florida living and also which area may be best. Thanks in advance. 

From the Left Coast, I too would dearly love to escape.  None of the downfalls presented by other posters would keep me from moving to Florida.  I've spent quite a bit of time there, and I love it.  The only thing keeping me from such a move, is procrastination.  I've been undecided long enough it's now unlikely to happen.

We have a friend and a couple cousins that have made the move, and they wont ever come back to Oregon (or Washington).

Good luck in your decision.  I envy you if you can truly pull the trigger, so to speak.

[tonyfsu21]

5 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Not necessarily true at all. Southern, Eastern, Western Caribbean, transatlantic to name a few. 

[ChessE4]

7 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Last year we sailed to the ABCs.  So there is some variety, and I don''t live in Florida, but we are a day's drive away.  

[steverk]

7 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

I think this is less of a problem out of Florida than most other ports. As mentioned earlier, Miami has cruises to all areas of the Caribbean.  But Los Angeles has cruises only has the Mexican Riviera and occasional repositioning cruises. Galveston has Western Caribbean. Seattle has Alaska. All worthwhile destinations,  but as much variety as Florida. 

[smokeybandit]

Florida has plenty of options, though with 4 different ports to pick from, that helps.

[WhoCruiser]

10 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Really only true of the shorter 3, 4, or even 5 night cruises, as you can only sail so far in the allotted time. With a week or longer, the potential itineraries really open up a lot.

[twangster]

12 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Weekend cruises for sure but the weekend cruises are really for the new to cruise who want to test cruising.  

For the longest time the Oasis class operated a butterfly routine, east and west Caribbean.  They still do.  Occasionally Voyager class does a Bermuda run from here.  Southern Caribbean is usually available once you go eight or nine nights.  Occasionally there is a Cartagena stop on a cruise from Florida.  

If the 3/4 PDCC-Nassau gets old usually there is a 4 night from Tampa to Cozumel somewhere on the schedule and it's common to see a 4/5 from Canaveral going to Mexico as well sometimes with a Labdee stop.  

So yeah, the 3 night PDCC-Nassau weekend cruises would get old if all you could do is sail 3 night weekend cruises.  However the same can be said for California 3 night weekend cruises.  Ensenada over and over again, or "west-Nassau".  However back when cruises were affordable jumping on a 3 night PDCC cruise was a pretty great weekend even if you had been there a month ago.  Now with cruise fares so high it's not so tempting for a weekend getaway.  

Once you go longer than 3 and 4 nights there are tons of options from Florida that don't stop at PDCC-Nassau.

It is nice driving to the port.  Bring as much clothes as you want, get dressy for a special event, bring scuba gear, etc.  When it's time to disembark take your time, no hurry, no airport and TSA to get through, just drive home and dump the cruise clothes in the laundry.   

Once Icon arrives,  then Utopia and Icon 2 they'll be dominating PDCC so I expect we'll see then and less of them on smaller ship itineraries from FL.  

[bretts173]

18 hours ago, bobroo said:

A related question, do FL residents/ frequent cruisers feel that port offerings are redundant? ‘Cause let’s face it, if you are sailing from FL on Royal, it is really likely you are going to Nassau and Coco Cay.

As opposed to cruises from other ports?