Tampa

[cruising3times]

I am thinking about using priceline for a hotel in Tampa. We are going on the Miracle in December . My husband has had great success with priceline. I was wondering how far the port is from the airport since you have to choose a location before you bid. What part of town does the ship leave from? Thanks for your help.

[mdc99]

The area closest to the port would be downtown. That is maybe 6-7 miles from the airport, a $20 cab ride. Many of the downtown hotels do not offer shuttle service. Priceline works good for the downtown area as there are 4 hotels that show up on a 3* bid.

[cruising3times]

thanks for your quick reply

[cruiseaway]

I found a hotel in Tampa, Sailport Resort on Tampa Bay. It has gotten good reviews in past posts. They provdie free shuttle from airport and will take you to the pier. The price is good. Check out their website and search for older postings. We are staying there in November.

[ParrotheadMel]

We stayed at the Days Inn Rocky Point in July. It was $49 per night thru Days Inn.com. Their shuttle picked us up at the airport on Saturday and took us to the port on Sunday at noon. (Arrange for Sunday time when you arrive). It is a nice location with the Green Iguana bar attached (rocking on Sat night, but we didn't go) and Bahama Breeze restaurant within walking distance behind the Hampton Inn next door. We had dinner there Sat night to put us "in the mood"...It was really nice...

[Cracker Ken]

My employer has offices out there at Rocky Point, so I'm out there quite often (I work remote), and I used to work in the ofc all the time. Nice area. Things are a little quieter out there than closer to town.

 

The Days Inn that's mentioned above appears to be a nice place. I eat at the Green Iguana from time to time (great burgers, and much more). The area is clean. Not much beach, but a big pool/courtyard area. Also in that neighborhood is a Holiday Inn Express that's right on the water, and a Hampton Inn. Both nice. I don't know about shuttles to and from port, but they are sure to pickup at the nearby airport.

 

The SailPort is next door to our offices, and some of our people have stayed there when they come in from out of town. All the room are like vacation condo's. They have a kitchen, small dining area, small living room, TV, separate bedrooms and bunks in the hall. They aren't fancy, but still nice. The USAF and US Army puts people up in SailPort all the time (folks from down at MacDill AFB). They have a lot of units there, and the place is nice and clean. They have a small beach area along the bay out back of the place.

SailPort is on the oposite end of Rocky Point Drive from where the Days Inn is, separated by State Rd. 60 or the Courtney Campbell Causeway. If they shuttle to/from the airport and the port, it wouldn't be a bad deal. Again, these units are not fancy, but I consider them to be comfortable and adequate.

 

Within a couple of blocks there are a few decent restaurants. Green Iguana (bar/grill, food kind of like Chili's, etc, good place to eat, party time at night), Landry's Seafood (really good place to eat), Whiskey Joe's and the Rusty Pelican (S. end of Rocky Point Drive). There's a couple of more nearby.

 

It's exactly 10 miles from the airport to the cruise terminals in downtown Tampa. The terminals are along Channelside Drive S. of E. Kennedy Blvd, which is along the Eastern side of the downtown business district. I've heard of people getting Priceline deals at the Marriott Waterside Hotel, which is a really nice high rise hotel. It's located across the street from the west end street car station. You can walk out the front door of the hotel, go right across the street, and jump on the street car. The street car will take you along the S end of downtown to the Channelside entertainment district (at the Carnival terminals), and it goes all the way into Ybor City, the Latin District with all sorts of entertainment, bars, restaurants, movies, you name it.

 

Y'all enjoy.

 

Ken

[bjkeen]

I live in the Tampa Bay area. If I were flying into Tampa for a cruise I would much rather stay in the down town area or Harbor Island. Down town-the Radisson Riverside is one mile from the ship (I clocked it for Host Randy).

[fljournalist]

If price is an issue, I'd check out hotels in Brandon. You can get a hotel on State Road 60 about 10 miles or less from the port. 60 runs right by the port into downtown Tampa. There's hotels also by the Florida State Fairgrounds that aren't too far from the port.

[cruising3times]

thanks for everyone's help, now I know what to look for. We would prefer two rooms since there are four of us and we are looking to save money ..I would rather use it on the cruise.