Veendam pre cruise

[Sirdar]

Taking the Veendam out of Tampa on January 11, 2009. I saw some info posted elsewhere on hotels convenient to the port (Channelside??) but the rates (well it is Florida in winter) were in the $200 per night and up range. I hate to pay almost as much for a couple of nights on land as for the cruise itself. Suggestions?--or do we just bite the bullet?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have stayed at both Embassy Suites -- the new one at the pier area (Convention Center) and the one that is not too far from the airport.

[jtl513]

I suggest that you do a bunch of reading on THIS FORUM (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495), and if you still can't find anything you like then ask your question there. I'm sure you will be able to find budget priced hotels, although they might be closer to the airport than the port.

[STANCPA44]

Taking the Veendam out of Tampa on January 11, 2009. I saw some info posted elsewhere on hotels convenient to the port (Channelside??) but the rates (well it is Florida in winter) were in the $200 per night and up range. I hate to pay almost as much for a couple of nights on land as for the cruise itself. Suggestions?--or do we just bite the bullet?

I used the website H*tw*r* (put in the vowels). I tried it for my London, England trip and last year and got a beautiful 4 star room near the airport for $78. per night. It was definitely a 4 star room.
A small 4 star room in the city of London ran around $375. per night.
We just used the underground to commute between our hotel and London.

I am using this service for my pre cruise stay in January in Fort Lauderdale. The rooms at this time are quite expensive but I am paying $159. for a room at the Sheraton hotel near the airport.

The only drawback with this website, you do not know the name of the hotel until you book it. But so far the results have been good.

[Sirdar]

Thanks for the help. I'll try this. sorry Jtl513 if I violated some protocol

[jtl513]

Thanks for the help. I'll try this. sorry Jtl513 if I violated some protocolNo, not at all. I just thought that the Florida Departures forum was the best place to get an answer to your question, since postings there are from people from multiple cruise lines, and many of them with them same question. :)

[PathfinderEss]

Taking the Veendam out of Tampa on January 11, 2009. I saw some info posted elsewhere on hotels convenient to the port (Channelside??) but the rates (well it is Florida in winter) were in the $200 per night and up range. I hate to pay almost as much for a couple of nights on land as for the cruise itself. Suggestions?--or do we just bite the bullet?
I think if you want to stay around the cruise terminal, you'll have to bite the bullet. To get a better price you will have to stay more around the airport area. You can try some of the hotel.com sites, they can probably help you the most. I would try to book now as winter is a big time travel destination for Florida. Welcome to the boards.