park at terminal or do pre cruise hotel

We are sailing out of tampa on 4/14/16 and are trying to determine if we would rather just park at the terminal or do a pre cruise hotel? Opinions and experiences please!!! Any suggestions would be great!

There are a couple of alternative parking lots near the port. Perhaps someone has a link here or knows which thread(s) they are on.

If doing a park n cruise hotel, like the Hampton Inn in Ybor City, be sure to compare the increase in the hotel rate versus the parking at the port and versus the alternative lots. For 7 day cruises should be a savings but for shorter cruises may not be as economical. Especially if you are able to drive in on day of departure.