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Boarding in Tampa, Where to stay? and what time


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We are heading out on our cruise from Tampa this summer.  We will be there early the day before.  We DO NOT want to rent a car - with that.  Do you recommend staying closer to the cruise port or would you go ahead and stay closer to the beach?  ALSO - if the cruise departs at 4pm, what time should we board.  Thanks everyone!  It's our first cruise.

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Personally, I say get on board as soon as you can.  In Tampa I seem to remember they let you start about 11.  Best bet for a hotel is to google hotels near Tampa cruise port with free shuttles.  You should get a good selection and them might even pick you up at the airport.

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Might also want to look on Trip Advisor for hotels near port and beach. You can sort them by user review ratings rather than the star ratings to see what people who've stayed there find the best value / service. I've done this many times for other trips and found some nice hotels I'd otherwise have not discovered.

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We stayed right near the port.   It wasn't cheap but we lived the location without a car.   We could easily get on the trolley to ybor city (which was really neat) and there was a nice area with restaurants and stuff to do right near the port entrance.   If you are trying to economize or hit the beach, then you might want to stay father out and uber to the port.   I agree with arabee... get on as soon as you can!   It really is fun to roam the ship that day! Jane

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We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront in the past (took an Uber from the airport there) and then walked to the port in the morning. It's on the pricey side, but it's a nice hotel and walking distance to a lot of restaurants, bars, and a Publix! 

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38 minutes ago, KLAconQueso said:

We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront in the past (took an Uber from the airport there) and then walked to the port in the morning. It's on the pricey side, but it's a nice hotel and walking distance to a lot of restaurants, bars, and a Publix! 

And the residence of one Michael Poole :4_joy:

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  • 5 months later...
On 3/22/2018 at 8:20 AM, KLA said:

We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront in the past (took an Uber from the airport there) and then walked to the port in the morning. It's on the pricey side, but it's a nice hotel and walking distance to a lot of restaurants, bars, and a Publix! 

I was able to use points for our reservation at the Marriott Waterfront. How was the walk to port? There will be 4 of us and bags to wheel so wondering if we should plan on walking, taking the trolley, or getting an Uber. Do you recall if you went to terminal 2 or 3 as one looks a bit further than the other. 

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30 minutes ago, KJ1231 said:

I was able to use points for our reservation at the Marriott Waterfront. How was the walk to port? There will be 4 of us and bags to wheel so wondering if we should plan on walking, taking the trolley, or getting an Uber. Do you recall if you went to terminal 2 or 3 as one looks a bit further than the other. 

It was just my husband and I travelling, and we had rolling luggage. Some of the sidewalks were a little rocky but we had a fine time getting there. As far as the terminal, not 100% on which one it was. Walk took about 10 minutes where we went. 

Taking an Uber would be a relatively inexpensive and easy alternative. 

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On 3/18/2018 at 7:33 AM, NalaJane said:

We are heading out on our cruise from Tampa this summer.  We will be there early the day before.  We DO NOT want to rent a car - with that.  Do you recommend staying closer to the cruise port or would you go ahead and stay closer to the beach?  ALSO - if the cruise departs at 4pm, what time should we board.  Thanks everyone!  It's our first cruise.

Last January, my wife and I sailed on Brilliance out of Tampa. We stayed at the airport Marriott, which was awesome because we were in our room within ten minutes after getting off the plane. It's really good for an airport hotel.

We took a Lyft to the port in the morning, and it couldn't have been easier. The ride took about 15 minutes. Get to the port when you want...as early as 10:30 so you can start your vacation! Right after you board, it seems really frenetic...best thing to do on Brilliance is go to Deck 11 and head aft to the Windjammer (buffet). I think it opens at 11.

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Last time we sailed out of Tampa we stayed at the Embassy Suites just west of the Amalie Center.  There is a trolley stop directly in front of the hotel that we used to go to Ybor City for dinner.  The next morning we just walked with our roller bags to the terminal. It was a pretty easy walk and we arrived fairly early. The terminal was not busy with incoming traffic and we breezed right through check-in and got to board before 11:00 AM.

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