In Tampa After Rhapsody

[PCWalton1]

Hi,

In January we will be on Rhapsody and our flight home does not leave TPA until 6:35pm. I am going to get a rental car for the day, probably head to the airport after 3pm. So we have about 6 hours to explore but I have no idea what to explore so I am looking for suggestions. I don't want to travel too far and then be worried about traffic. But I would love suggestions for the immediate Tampa area.

 

I search the Florida Departures board but all I found was the aquarium.

 

Thanks

[champagne123]

We drove to Clearwater Beach.:)

[Biker19]

No need for what do to; the fog will roll in, the ship will return late and you'll disembark just in time to head right to the airport.:p

[Clarea]

I second the aquarium Bill. It's right next to the cruise terminal. You could go there without needing a rental car.

[Jim40]

The liberty ship is there to at port .

[PCWalton1]

I second the aquarium Bill. It's right next to the cruise terminal. You could go there without needing a rental car.

 

Hmm, is there enough there to keep us going for 6 hours? Also what about luggage?

[Gator0178]

You could hit the Columbia restaurant in Ybor city as well as walk around Channel side. There are shops and restaurants there as well. Very near the TPA airport is rocky point where there are more gulf view restaurants and Ben T Davis beach.

 

All of it is either close to the port or to the airport.

[vaborn2cruise]

If there are young children, I suggest renting a car and going to the Clearwater Aquarium and seeing "Winter" from Dolphin Tales fame.

 

Ybor City in Tampa is another great spot to visit and eat! Had the best Cuban sandwich ever just last week.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[KnightsFan]

If you're into beer Tampa and St. Pete are home to a ton of great breweries. Cigar City Brewing is one of my favorites, they offer tours for a small fee, throughout the entire thing you get samples of their beer and you take the sampling glass home. If free is more your speed, Yuengling has a brewery in town as well, it's a free tour with a tasting at the end.

 

Cigar City is much smaller, and they go into the development of their various beers and how they've grown over the past decade.

 

Yuengling is a much much larger operation, they do a good job of explaining the history of Yuengling, both in PA and in Tampa, and about the process of brewing on a large scale.

 

If beer isn't your thing look into Ybor City, it's the old cigar manufacturing district and is now a 'historic district,' but mostly that means restaurants, bars and shopping. But it looks pretty and could be a good place to go wandering around.

 

I know you said you don't want to travel too far, but if you head about an hour East of the airport to Lake Wales you can go to Bok Tower Gardens which is a garden and nature preserve on the national historic register due to the Singing Tower and a 1920s estate. It's also one of the highest points in peninsular Florida. I highly recommend it.

[Jim40]

Hmm, is there enough there to keep us going for 6 hours? Also what about luggage?

 

Use luggage valet .

[Clarea]

Hmm, is there enough there to keep us going for 6 hours? Also what about luggage?

I think you could easily spend 2-3 hours, but probably not 6 hours.

 

They store your luggage for free. Luggage Value is not available in Tampa.

 

I would also highly recommend the Columbia Restaurant mentioned above. It's a unique experience.

[3dogmom]

Take the 25-30 minute drive west to Dunedin. Great downtown with shops and restaurants. Yes it's my town, but biased? Never!

 

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

[lilkickgang]

You could always take a trip to Busch Gardens. I would use Uber or a taxi, its about a 20 minute ride from cruise port to the park. Then the ride from park to airport would be about 30 minutes.

[Homosassa]

If you are into art and glass, St Petersburg has the Dali Museum and Chihuly Museum.

[PCWalton1]

Thanks everyone, lots of good suggestions to get me started.

 

If you are into art and glass, St Petersburg has the Dali Museum and Chihuly Museum.

 

Hi, Thanks for the idea of the Dali Museum. I have kicked myself for years as during a visit to Barcelona in 2010 we did not take a side trip to Figueres to the Dali Museum in Spain. Could be a chance to make up for that mistake.

 

I also got a chuckle on the Chihuly suggestion. Dale Chihuly is a locate icon in art and there are several of his museum here in the Seattle area. :)

[riredsox]

You could hit the Columbia restaurant in Ybor city as well as walk around Channel side. There are shops and restaurants there as well. Very near the TPA airport is rocky point where there are more gulf view restaurants and Ben T Davis beach.

 

All of it is either close to the port or to the airport.

 

The Columbia is the best! The aquarium is just OK though my BF did pay so I could interact with the penguins! That is worth it! Traffic can be tricky but at 3 you should be OK. Weather can be anywhere from 80 to 40!

[kwazi07]

Hey I actually live in Tampa!! These are my suggestions:

 

Aquarium is quite expensive and not amazing, even though it's convenient I would just save the money and go to Dali!

 

Dali is pretty amazing and has a ton of his works. There is also a rotating gallery that hosts work of different artists--they have previously had Escher and Disney, I think there will be a Frida Khalo exhibition soon.

 

The original Columbia in Ybor is good but the best Cuban sandwhich in the whole Tampa Bay area is Bodega in Downtown St. Pete!

 

As for car rentals, catch an Uber from the port to the airport and rent a car for a day. We always rent Dollar and its cheap. Or, you could use Uber the whole time but I think renting a car is much more convenient. Near the convention center which is a 2-3 minute ride from the cruise port. You can walk if you're ambitious though...kind of confusing around there.

 

And TPA is a great airport to fly in and out of. So clean, large, and efficient. Especially when flying Southwest, as they have a whole terminal to themselves.

 

Have fun down here in Tampa but more importantly have a great cruise!

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

[markpghpa]

I am also resident of the Tampa Bay area and offer the following suggestions. It just depends on your preferences:

 

Beaches - You can go to Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, etc... lots of good choices.

 

Shopping - If want to do shopping:

Chain and Department Stores: International Plaza Mall near the Tampa airport

Original Stores and Boutique shopping: Hyde Park in Tampa and Downtown St. Pete

Farmers Markets: If you are in Tampa on a Saturday or Sunday, there are plenty of good markets including the St. Pete Farmers Market on Saturdays and other farmer markets. You can do a Google or Yelp search.

Art & Craft Shows: the Tampa Bay area has at least 1 art show each weekend in January. Do a Google search for "Howard Alan Events & American Craft Endeavors" or Festival Net".

 

Museums:

Dali Museum in St. Pete

Tampa Museum of Art

 

Good luck and enjoy Tampa area,

Mark

[Merion_Mom]

Hey I actually live in Tampa!! These are my suggestions:

 

Aquarium is quite expensive and not amazing, even though it's convenient I would just save the money and go to Dali!

 

Dali is pretty amazing and has a ton of his works. There is also a rotating gallery that hosts work of different artists--they have previously had Escher and Disney, I think there will be a Frida Khalo exhibition soon.

 

The original Columbia in Ybor is good but the best Cuban sandwhich in the whole Tampa Bay area is Bodega in Downtown St. Pete!

 

As for car rentals, catch an Uber from the port to the airport and rent a car for a day. We always rent Dollar and its cheap. Or, you could use Uber the whole time but I think renting a car is much more convenient. Near the convention center which is a 2-3 minute ride from the cruise port. You can walk if you're ambitious though...kind of confusing around there.

 

And TPA is a great airport to fly in and out of. So clean, large, and efficient. Especially when flying Southwest, as they have a whole terminal to themselves.

 

Have fun down here in Tampa but more importantly have a great cruise!

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

 

But what do they do with their luggage in your scenario?

[kwazi07]

But what do they do with their luggage in your scenario?

Good point! If there's room in the rental car you could keep it in there...or possibly check your bags at the airport while someone picks up the car? I don't know if Southwest will let you drop them off so early..But if the taxi drops them off at the rental car area, one person in the party could get the car while the rest walk across the street, take the escalator up a floor and check the bags. TPA is laid out really easily to minimize walking.

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

[nolesrule]

Has traffic improved on 275 in the two years since we moved away? We used to live near PIE and it could take close to an hour to get home from the cruise port on a weekday. We've only been back twice, and while I noticed they had completed some more of the construction, it still bottlenecked in the same spots at the bridge.

 

That would be my one concern with heading to Pinellas.

[kwazi07]

Has traffic improved on 275 in the two years since we moved away? We used to live near PIE and it could take close to an hour to get home from the cruise port on a weekday. We've only been back twice, and while I noticed they had completed some more of the construction, it still bottlenecked in the same spots at the bridge.

 

That would be my one concern with heading to Pinellas.

No. Howard Franklin always is congested in the AM and getting from the Pinellas side to the airport is a pain on 275 depending on time of day.

 

Luckily 275 east (to Tampa) is bad in the AM and 275 west (to Pinellas) is bad in the PM, which is opposite of what the OP would be doing.

 

And crazy it took you an hour to get from the port to PIE! On our cruise out of therr our GPS put us on I-4 near Ybor, and we were stuck in "Malfunction Junction" (275 and 4) for 30 minutes due to the usual traffic and an accident!

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

[PCWalton1]

Hey I actually live in Tampa!! These are my suggestions:

 

Aquarium is quite expensive and not amazing, even though it's convenient I would just save the money and go to Dali!

 

Dali is pretty amazing and has a ton of his works. There is also a rotating gallery that hosts work of different artists--they have previously had Escher and Disney, I think there will be a Frida Khalo exhibition soon.

 

The original Columbia in Ybor is good but the best Cuban sandwhich in the whole Tampa Bay area is Bodega in Downtown St. Pete!

 

As for car rentals, catch an Uber from the port to the airport and rent a car for a day. We always rent Dollar and its cheap. Or, you could use Uber the whole time but I think renting a car is much more convenient. Near the convention center which is a 2-3 minute ride from the cruise port. You can walk if you're ambitious though...kind of confusing around there.

 

And TPA is a great airport to fly in and out of. So clean, large, and efficient. Especially when flying Southwest, as they have a whole terminal to themselves.

 

Have fun down here in Tampa but more importantly have a great cruise!

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

 

I am thinking we will go Dali. We have a car reserved from Budget for $45 that we have to pick up at Embassy Suites Downtown and drop at TPA. It is a full size rental so we can put the luggage in the trunk. We can Uber over to get the car, or Uber XL because of the luggage. I looked at pickup and drop off at TPA but it was actually about $15 more.

 

The Bodega sounds like a lunch option as it fairly close, probably a late lunch as we want plenty of time with Dali. :)

[kwazi07]

I am thinking we will go Dali. We have a car reserved from Budget for $45 that we have to pick up at Embassy Suites Downtown and drop at TPA. It is a full size rental so we can put the luggage in the trunk. We can Uber over to get the car, or Uber XL because of the luggage. I looked at pickup and drop off at TPA but it was actually about $15 more.

 

The Bodega sounds like a lunch option as it fairly close, probably a late lunch as we want plenty of time with Dali. :)

Nice choice! Dali does have a little cafe at the bottom of its atrium if you're feeling peckish...but Bodega will be worth the wait! Their lechon (pork) is simply the best I've had!

 

Also if you check in on Yelp you can get a free cafecito (super strong super sweet Cuban coffee) or cortadito (the same but a splash of steamed milk)!

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!

Edited September 15, 2016 by kwazi07

[kwazi07]

I am thinking we will go Dali. We have a car reserved from Budget for $45 that we have to pick up at Embassy Suites Downtown and drop at TPA. It is a full size rental so we can put the luggage in the trunk. We can Uber over to get the car, or Uber XL because of the luggage. I looked at pickup and drop off at TPA but it was actually about $15 more.

 

The Bodega sounds like a lunch option as it fairly close, probably a late lunch as we want plenty of time with Dali. :)

Oh, and I would get off the ship and to the rental car as early as you can. Downtown St. Pete is lovely and you might want some extra time to look at the water and stuff, plus any possible traffic.

 

I used my phone to type this, excuse any typos please!