Another 1100 mile day

[Bruce Nunnally]

Last week my family took a 6 day cruise out of Charleston, SC on Carnival. We flew out and planned to fly back, but inadvertently scheduled the return flight on Sunday and not on Friday. The airline of course wanted most of the cost of the ticket over again to make a change a few days before the flight. After debating options we decided to rent a car 1-way in Charleston and drive back. I reserved a full-size car from National, who provided a Chevrolet Malibu. This was a 2010 Malibu LT, and what I would call a rental car special -- a 'least accessories' configuration that I suspect one cannot buy retail.

Couple of really good features -- lots of trunk space, and we averaged 32 mpg for the 1100 miles. Very good mileage and plenty of room for stuff. My family loves to just get in and drive until we get there for this trip, so we started at 9 am from the rental counter and arrived home at 2 am, gaining an hour as we chased the sun west.

The Cruise was 6 days, traveling from Charleston to Key West, then Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas. The ship was the Carnival Fantasy, which moved to Charleston in May to start year-round cruises. We ate too much, we enjoyed the shows, did the excursions in port, and for me it was a week off to rest and recharge. No internet, limited news, limited phone service (all limited by cost but that worked well for just taking time off!).

I'll get a photo or two up after I get settled in here at home, get the rental turned in, get the Cadillac back from the airport, etc. Thanks to BBF for solo Moderating for the week while I was offline.

[firefoot0315]

Depending what you mean by "least accessories," I'm not surprised. Most entry level Chevy models still have power nothing. I've even been in a Trailblazer LT with manual mirrors and crank-down windows. It does surprise me that they can sell those cars, especially when (using the cars.com pricing of a few new Chevys as an example) the trim with power amenities only costs $1000 extra. Why spend over $20k on a nice new car and opt for crank windows and manual mirrors?

But it's good to hear you enjoyed the cruise. They are quite an experience.

[WarrenJ]

Gee Bruce, I'm surprised to hear of all the "delete options." I guess I'm not keeping up; I thought the rental folk were generous with the options so as to command a good resale value when the car ends its rental career. Glad to hear you enjoyed the car though.

For years now I've put off taking my first cruise. I think I'd like to try Alaska.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

[Bruce Nunnally]

This Malibu had the 4 cylinder Ecotec engine, which helps explain the fuel economy. I like that engine family, although it really would be better with the turbo variant than the normally aspirated 182hp version this one had.

The Malibu LT had cloth, manual seats and no climate control, no auto-dimming rear view mirror, and no XM radio. I really missed the XM radio driving cross country with World Cup on. It did the job for us however, and could be rented with unlimited miles, where the package for a Cadillac wanted something like $0.25/mile which over 1,100 miles would be inconvenient.