blog post

Slowly but surely I’m knocking off all the North American cruise ship home ports —  I’ve now either visited the piers or cruised out of Anchorage (Seward and Whittier), Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Galveston, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, New York City, Boston, and San Juan.  Next year, I plan to get Charleston and Baltimore.

Tampa Bay is an ideal city for visiting and cruising from.  The cruise terminals are downtown with easy access to trolleys, ferries, attractions, and historic Ybor City which is full of shops, restaurants, and bars.  Tampa is a beautiful harbor city and the weather is almost always perfect (kind of like San Diego).  Also similar to San Diego is the fact that the airport is close by and it’s easy to get around.

A cruiser could easily extend their stay and visit Busch Gardens, drive over to Orlando for a day or two of Disney World, or take some fun excursions out sailing, dolphin-watching, beaching and shell-collecting.  Sports are a lot of fun here, too, with the Super Bowl-winning Buccaneers and the Rays.

Some of the cruise ships that sail from Tampa are the Carnival Legend, the Holland America Ryndam, and the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas. 

Since I was tagging along with my husband on his business trip, I didn’t have very much time for any one place or activity, but I did get an evening and a morning in Orlando.  There was no time for Disney, but we stayed close to the complex.  I’ve been to Disney World 4 times but it’s been awhile, so I was glad to get a refresher on the “lay of the land” around the area. 

I can confidently tell you that the best way to “do” Disney World is to book a total package and stay on-site.  With the prices of neighboring hotels, the inconvenience of wasting time driving, parking, looking for places to eat, and the cost of parking at the parks — there can’t possibly be any or much savings.  Also, if you stay at a Disney property, Disney will pick you up at the airport and take you back for free so you don’t even need a car!  That’s worth quite a bit of savings right there. 

You also get transportation between and around the parks (excellent for the park-hopper option) so you can enjoy the superior restaurants anywhere you want.  Based on the quality and prices of the meals we had and our experience with Disney World restaurants on our past visits, I can honestly say that including the deluxe dining option along with your package will provide you an excellent value and you’ll enjoy those meals a lot more!

I’d love to help you plan the perfect cruise or Disney World vacation, so call, e-mail me, or stop by the office and I’ll show you all the options and we can customize just the right vacation for you.