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Summer 2017 Cross Country Coach w/ Family? Advice?
Hello Prevost Community!
I am new to your community so please excuse newbie questions and comments.I have been in love with touring coaches since I was a boy. I was in a rock and roll band a long time ago and briefly had a chance to tour in a Prevost bus. It was so cool and I was hooked.Skip to present day, my wife and I want to take our children on a cross country tour of the US. It occurred to me that a touring coach would be the perfect vehicle, esp if we could hire a driver and sleep during the move at night. We could hit a lot of places this way over the course of a month and it would be comfortable.So I guess I’ve got some questions:– what is it like touring long distances in a coach?– is it easy enough to sleep while moving?– I assume I could rent a touring coach from someone and then hire a professional driver – is that generally something that is done? I’m sure there are logistics to getting the driver to a hotel for day sleep etc but it would be manageable.– The reason we want to have a coach is bc we want to have our own space while traveling, instead of flying everywhere and moving into and out of hotel rooms. That said, is it possible to park buses in interesting cities, parks, etc so we can have a ‘home base’ while we explore?– I know most of the nicest coaches have a Master Bedroom in the back, but where would two kids sleep? Is there generally some other spot for beds? Even a coach with an MBR in the back and then four bunks mid-cabin could work I guess– I’m sure there is a lot related to long haul travel, driver lodging etc that I need to sort out but first I wanted to get everyone’s sense if taking my clan on the road this way is even a good idea vs the traditional minivan road trip? Any advice is helpful at this stage.Thank you all for reading, best, Andrew Southern -
4 Replies
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Andrew,
My wife and three kids and a dog spent 14 months in our bus and loved it. We didn’t rent it and I was the professional driver so I can’t t speak to how it was to sleep while driving other than everyone besides me didn’t have any problems with it.
Our coach has a master bedroom in the back and two bunks midcoach and a pull out couch in the front salon.
You should be able to rent an entertainer with a similar configuration and my sense from looking at them for work you should be able to find one that would work. Gally might not be all that you want need to eat///cook
Hope this helps a bit. Happy to talk live or private email
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Andrew, what you suggest is quite reasonable. I would suggest you think a little outside the box and also consider other options.
To start there are a number of companies that lease coaches and provide drivers. Their coach offerings are varied in the configuration so it would not be a bad idea to contact a few of the companies and see what floor plans or configurations are available. As was previously mentioned a coach with a rear master BR and some bunks may be perfect for your needs.
An alternative is to do your own driving. This is a beautiful country and I would not like to be sleeping while traveling because you are going to miss a lot. The scenery, terrain and weather varies significantly and in one night’s driving, while you sleep you are going to miss a lot of it.
If you look at the costs, consider that a lease or rental can get pricey. When you calculate the cost of the coach, fuel, driver, and even use of the generator, when spread over a lot of time you may find it to be very cost effective to buy a used but reliable coach, and at the end of the tour sell it. If you include maintenance in your travels your cost to do that is the cost of insurance, maintenance and depreciation which might be far less than your initial plans.
There may be variations of what I mention also so it might be of interest to do some more research. One thing that does not require much research is the fact you have certainly chosen the best way to travel.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
I would totally discourage the concept of hiring a driver… you lose all sense of privacy and there is always another person with whom to deal….. we fly with two pilots… when we land, they go their way and we go ours. This gives the needed privacies essential to compatibility.
This, I view as the major stumbling block to the concept….. Parents, children and differences of ideas, disciplines and eating meals and stopping with accommodations … being together all of the time…. all are somewhat unsurmaountable with an outside person. It sounds great but I would not even begin to try it…
I am not a grump bucket but I would really do your research.
Very best,
Pres
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Thank you all for the words of advice. I completely understand how the driving ourselves would be fun and there is a lot to see out there. Certainly, there is a lot to learn about coaches if you own one. I guess we’re interested in keeping the stress low, plans loose, every comfortable. While I may be interested in the maintenance schedules and wear items on a big machine, my wife is not. So to rent the coach, and potentially have an expert driver, seemed like a good way to start. If it was really great for us, I’m sure we’d look into becoming owners down the line. I have a few other factors that are leading me down this road:
– We have a lot of sights we want to see during the days so figured moving at night, though not ideal, would get us to more places during the month
– We really want to move in a big coach for comfort reasons but a driver would help make us feel more safe. We know the person to do it, and the personality would fit in fine. We are pretty open, and have people in and around our house who become friends, so I’m less worried about the ‘stranger’ part lasting very long. Plus I think an experienced driver could help us remain safe and know some cool places to park.
– I’ve contacted some touring coach rental companies and all the quote are essentially the same. That is to say its about 1/3 MORE to do it with a Prevost + Driver + Expenses than to do it renting a lesser motorhome and driving ourselves.
– That said, I’m brainstorming for ways to lower the overall cost of the trip. Was considering swapping our awesome house in the Caribbean for the use of a private motorcoach in July. There really isn’t a place to offer that sort of swap but both parties would make out quite well as we have the nicest house on the island.The past many days I’ve been lurking on the forums, watching a lot of Youtube, and overall gaining knowledge on the topic. I tend to do that and quite enjoy it.
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