Tampa cruise port

[igar39]

 Are we the only cruisers that would like HAL to put one of their smaller ships in Tampa Florida?   Their smaller ships would be able to go under the Sunshine Sky Way Bridge.

[kangforpres]

Well they are down to just 2 smaller ships now. The Zandam and Volendam which are usually scheduled for more port intensive cruises. (Amazon, South America ect...)  Could Tampa be served by a Vista class ship like the Zuiderdam?

 

-Paul

[MISTER 67]

15 minutes ago, kangforpres said:

Well they are down to just 2 smaller ships now. The Zandam and Volendam which are usually scheduled for more port intensive cruises. (Amazon, South America ect...)  Could Tampa be served by a Vista class ship like the Zuiderdam?

 

-Paul

Brilliance of the Seas sails out of Tampa which is little larger tonnage wise as the Vista Class ships like the Zuiderdam but it's the height that comes into play. My guess is the Zuiderdam could sail under the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

We sailed on the Veendam twice and the Rhapsody of the Seas once out of TB, I wish there were more ships based there but since the pandemic it seems like slim pickings.

[smileyface1948]

We sailed on the Oosterdam out of Tampa so I know it fits under the bridge.

[BobbiSox]

I live in northern Florida and asked HAL about Tampa more than once, years before Covid. I was told their ships are too tall. They certainly don't owe me any explanation. Remember HAL's employees are not allowed to utter these three words: "I don't know".

[Tampa Girl]

43 minutes ago, BobbiSox said:

I live in northern Florida and asked HAL about Tampa more than once, years before Covid. I was told their ships are too tall. They certainly don't owe me any explanation. Remember HAL's employees are not allowed to utter these three words: "I don't know".

 

Considering that HAL was sailing out of Tampa for decades, with a one or two year hiatus around 2017, (not sure of the dates) and continued sailing out of  Tampa until the pandemic stopped the sailings, how is it that HAL employees didn't know what ports their ships were sailing from?  HAL had to have been sailing from Tampa at the time of the employees' response.   

[RedneckBob]

Size does not matter. We were also on the Oosterdam out of Tampa. No to the Pinnacle Class ships.

 

Last June 2022 I was on a 14 day Alaska cruise and talked with the Hotel Manager why HAL no longer sailed out of Tampa. Answer: the fog was HAL’s final decision. Fog is an issue in Tampa Bay during the winter. A month ago a Carnival and Royal Caribbean ship were stuck outside the Skyway Bridge until 2 pm due to fog.

[Tampa Girl]

35 minutes ago, RedneckBob said:

Size does not matter. We were also on the Oosterdam out of Tampa. No to the Pinnacle Class ships.

 

Last June 2022 I was on a 14 day Alaska cruise and talked with the Hotel Manager why HAL no longer sailed out of Tampa. Answer: the fog was HAL’s final decision. Fog is an issue in Tampa Bay during the winter. A month ago a Carnival and Royal Caribbean ship were stuck outside the Skyway Bridge until 2 pm due to fog.

 

Dubious, considering HAL had been sailing out of Tampa for decades.  Fog has always been an issue.  I recently talked with a friend who worked with the Tampa Port Authority at the time that HAL temporarily pulled out, around 2017, I think.  As I had suspected at the time, from reading the local news, that HAL and the Port Authority were having "disagreements" and the Port Authority was not exactly brandishing a "WELCOME" sign.  HAL did return just in time to be evicted, along with all the passenger ships, due to Covid.  I will not be surprised if HAL does return at some point.

[boatmad]

Our last cruise out of Tampa was on the old Rotterdam just before they pulled out of that port.  We were stuck at the dock for 2 days due to fog.  We loved the convenience of Tampa, but hated losing that much of our cruise experience.  Shops and casino also couldn’t open.  I understand their decision.

[St Pete Cruiser]

I've posted several times before regarding Holland America's history in using Tampa.

Forty years ago, some of the executive staff at Holland were not happy with cruising out of Miami, and they moved to both Fort Lauderdale and Tampa as their winter home ports.  Actually, Fort Lauderdale first and then Tampa.  The Veendam III was the first ship assigned to Tampa in 1982.

The new in 1983 Nieuw Amsterdam then began service from Tampa.  The 1984 Noordam, the other "N" class ship, was later brought in to replace the Nieuw Amsterdam.  After Carnival purchased Holland, they built the "S" class ships and Tampa had the Veendam IV and the Ryndam for many years, with the Veendam doing the 7 day itinerary and the Ryndam doing the 14 day for a few years.  The ships sailed full almost all of the time, with Holland bussing guests in from several Florida cities.  

Tampa built a new cruise terminal which Holland used.  As Carnival, followed by Royal Caribbean and NCL came to Tampa with bigger ships, Holland was bumped back to the older smaller terminal as its ship had fewer guests.  Holland tried the Oosterdam for one season, 2016, by switching away from weekend sailings to mid week, but the ship did not sail full.  The last couple years, the Rotterdam VI was out of Tampa, but back at the smaller terminal which I think was deemed not adequate by corporate.  A few foggy days those seasons hurt as well.  Foggy mornings in the winter occur in Tampa when warm air mixes with cooler Gulf water, but not as bad as Galveston, Texas or Mobile.  Captain Albert knew that he needed to be at the Tampa Bay entrance channel by 2am to beet the low marine layer, or fog.

Almost as soon as Holland left Tampa, Celebrity moved in with its Constellation, a ship size wise similar to Oosterdam.  Carnival, Royal, and NCL also use ships the size of Holland's vista class in Tampa.  Yes, the Skyway bridge does limit the vertical height of ships cruising under it.  

Living close to Tampa, it would be nice for me to cruise from Tampa rather than Ft Lauderdale.  Now, with a smaller fleet, and with Celebrity and the other competitors offering a longer than 7 day cruise out of Tampa, which only Holland use to do, it doesn't look good for them to return.  

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by St Pete Cruiser
added words

[bobpell]

We were the surprised recipients of a dense fog delay on a trip out of Tampa years ago. We were lucky having arrived early and were allowed access to an air conditioned hall. The fire marshal stopped people from entering the enormous building after 500 sweaty souls got in. The unlucky rest had to line up outside in 90 degree heat and high humidity. The ship got docked at 1pm. The frantic rush of debarking passengers was dramatic. Flights home were definitely at risk.

We now sail from FLL.

Bob

[Tampa Girl]

11 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

I've posted several times before regarding Holland America's history in using Tampa.

Forty years ago, some of the executive staff at Holland were not happy with cruising out of Miami, and they moved to both Fort Lauderdale and Tampa as their winter home ports.  Actually, Fort Lauderdale first and then Tampa.  The Veendam III was the first ship assigned to Tampa in 1982.

The new in 1983 Nieuw Amsterdam then began service from Tampa.  The 1984 Noordam, the other "N" class ship, was later brought in to replace the Nieuw Amsterdam.  After Carnival purchased Holland, they built the "S" class ships and Tampa had the Veendam IV and the Ryndam for many years, with the Veendam doing the 7 day itinerary and the Ryndam doing the 14 day for a few years.  The ships sailed full almost all of the time, with Holland bussing guests in from several Florida cities.  

Tampa built a new cruise terminal which Holland used.  As Carnival, followed by Royal Caribbean and NCL came to Tampa with bigger ships, Holland was bumped back to the older smaller terminal as its ship had fewer guests.  Holland tried the Oosterdam for one season, 2016, by switching away from weekend sailings to mid week, but the ship did not sail full.  The last couple years, the Rotterdam VI was out of Tampa, but back at the smaller terminal which I think was deemed not adequate by corporate.  A few foggy days those seasons hurt as well.  Foggy mornings in the winter occur in Tampa when warm air mixes with cooler Gulf water, but not as bad as Galveston, Texas or Mobile.  Captain Albert knew that he needed to be at the Tampa Bay entrance channel by 2am to beet the low marine layer, or fog.

Almost as soon as Holland left Tampa, Celebrity moved in with its Constellation, a ship size wise similar to Oosterdam.  Carnival, Royal, and NCL also use ships the size of Holland's vista class in Tampa.  Yes, the Skyway bridge does limit the vertical height of ships cruising under it.  

Living close to Tampa, it would be nice for me to cruise from Tampa rather than Ft Lauderdale.  Now, with a smaller fleet, and with Celebrity and the other competitors offering a longer than 7 day cruise out of Tampa, which only Holland use to do, it doesn't look good for them to return.  

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for providing the history of our port.  It does seem that Tampa Port Authority has not been encouraging HAL to return, which confirms what I was told by my friend who was working with the Port Authority at the time.  But. . . personnel can change, so perhaps in the future, HAL will return.....

[Sir PMP]

And then there is Port Canaveral.