Tampa Arrival Issues

[sasset]

We had a difficult experience arriving in Tampa last November. Any recent arrivals have any problem ie: baggage delay, bus/taxi/shuttle pickup, etc.

[wrk2cruise]

There have been no Celebrity arrivals since April 17th since the ship is currently in Europe.

[sasset]

Yeah, I didn't think about that even though we are on the November repositioning to Tampa. Our experience was last November. I was hoping there might have been some experiences in that window after returning from Europe last year.

[xamsx]

46 minutes ago, sasset said:

Yeah, I didn't think about that even though we are on the November repositioning to Tampa. Our experience was last November. I was hoping there might have been some experiences in that window after returning from Europe last year.

We were on the TA Connie cruise last fall docking in Tampa, we walked off, went through customs and were in a taxi to the airport car rental in about 30 minutes. I am sorry you had difficulties. We were again on Connie in December, walked off, went through customs, handed our parking ticket to the valet, and were on the road home within 30 minutes.

 

If your difficulties were with luggage (you did not mention what the issues were), maybe a walk off would help? 

Edited August 2, 2023 by xamsx

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I think the horror stories are when there is a lack of custom officers to clear passengers 

on one TA from Europe they only had 3 custom officers to clear everyone, the ship opened up the buffet to feed people at lunch time 

[hcat]

Thanks for the reminder abt  booking cruises after a transatlantic..always slow  to board...we will keep this in mind.

 

.Now that timing  adjustments were made to avoid fog delays..we are looking for options from Tampa port to combine with a city stay...Zoo, Aquarium, nearby  museums.  Easy drive from our winter place.  Tired of the drive to Port Ev or Miami

[mahdnc]

59 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I think the horror stories are when there is a lack of custom officers to clear passengers 

on one TA from Europe they only had 3 custom officers to clear everyone, the ship opened up the buffet to feed people at lunch time 

 

When we disembarked Constellation after last Nov's TA, there were six out of eight immigration stations open and staffed.  We did not do the walk off as our flights were scheduled to leave TPA in the afternoon.  It was pretty chaotic in the cruise terminal.  The luggage pickup area was a mess and it was difficult to find and get to the immigration line because of the large amount of people and the gridlock.

 

 

Disembarking at the Port of Tampa, Nov 6 2022

Edited August 2, 2023 by mahdnc

[Ex-Airbalancer]

The wife reminded me , it took 2-1/2 hours when from the time we left the ship until we cleared customs 🙄

[hcat]

 pictures tell the story.. we will pack light and do walk off.  We are about a 2 hr drive from the port..

[Mark_K]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

When we disembarked Constellation after last Nov's TA, there were six out of eight immigration stations open and staffed.  We did not do the walk off as our flights were scheduled to leave TPA in the afternoon.  It was pretty chaotic in the cruise terminal.  The luggage pickup area was a mess and it was difficult to find and get to the immigration line because of the large amount of people and the gridlock.

 

 

Disembarking at the Port of Tampa, Nov 6 2022

I’ll just assume you got U.S. Customs and Border Protection approval to take pictures in an area where it’s normally prohibited. 😉

[mahdnc]

12 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

I’ll just assume you got U.S. Customs and Border Protection approval to take pictures in an area where it’s normally prohibited. 😉

 

I guess I shouldn't show you the selfie that I took with one of the agents.