Pearlieq

Leaving from Tampa you should have access to data from local cell towers until you're past the Sunshine Skyway bridge, so at least 2 hours post sailing time.    Port Tampa is right in downtown Tampa, so there's ample coverage for most carriers.   

We've brought our own on our last several cruises.   We have two 2" memory foam toppers from Amazon (similar to these:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZGBM7N/ref=dp_cerb_1 ) that help a lot in making the beds more comfortable.   

They're not too hard to transport.   We fold them lengthwise, roll them up, and store them in a standard pillow case.  The two of them squish nicely into a large checked bag.   

We unpack them the first day and put them under the topsheet.   After that the room steward leaves them in place and sometimes knots the end of the sheets around them as they prefer. 

Ours are holding up just fine after several trips, but if you needed to leave it I bet the room steward would be thrilled.  I can only imagine the bidding war they might inspire in the crew quarters!  

11 minutes ago, BNBR said:

I do love the boardwalk dog house and actually like it better than guys, personally. I'd say it's on par in a different way. 

Agree 100% . The Boardwalk Dog House is one of the best quick service options I've found on a ship and a very unique offering.  I like good fast-food burger by the pool every once in a while, but it's so cool to have something different and a bit elevated!   They've got a winner with that one.   

2 hours ago, asalligo said:

Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana are free on Carnival and on RCCL Johnny Rockets is a charge. I do not even care for Burgers on a cruise, but many do. 

 Internet $4 dollars a day starting versus $15 a day

Guy's/Blue Iguana are much better offerings on Carnival than anything Royal has that's comparable, especially given that they're included.   I found the quality of both to be a step above buffet offerings and loved that they were a quick in and out.   Johnny Rockets is not a grab-and-go restaurant and our experiences with it were godawful.   Carnival does have a point in their favor on these quick serve options, though the Boardwalk Doghouse is pretty good on ships that feature it.   

Carnival's Internet vs. RCCL's VOOM is like comparing apples and rocket ships.   CCL's internet, even "premium", is only marginally functional.  Remember 2002?  It's about like that.    VOOM on RCCL is almost normal, modern connectivity.  

That being said, I find the clientele and experience on RCCL to be significantly different.   I know not everyone will agree, but if Carnival is the WalMart of cruising, RCCL is more like the Target, or even maybe Kohl's.   It's still a mass-market, mid-range line, but...there's a difference.   

It was about a 3 hour delay getting into Cozumel. We were just told "technical difficulties" They extended our departure time 2.5 hours and we had no further mechanical issues from there, just a really bumpy ride due to the tropical system around Coz.

I actually wound up being very grateful for that delay as it meant we rode through the worst of the weather overnight. Mercifully we were back in the clear by first light.

And yeah, she's kind of a old clunker, but not without her charms. The recent drydock helped a lot.

I'm sailing out of Tampa next month and they still have the Medical form. Assuming it's still required in Tampa??

No form, no health questions in Tampa this past Thursday. Wait 5 min and I'm sure it'll change again!

Coconut Ranger Cookies all the way!!! There was usually a lineup for them in WJ on our last cruise. The poor guy carrying them out got stalked! :-D

DH waxes rhapsodic about these bagel/pastry wrapped hot dogs we once got at embarkation lunch on BOTS. I'm guessing they were a "use it up" chef special because we've never seen them again, but dang, they were good!

I don't have a terribly sophisticated palate and I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to food. Here's my subjective take on the various lines I've sailed, from best to worst:

#1 - Disney - Their quick service is plentiful, varied, and decently tasty. Their dining room food is hot and served efficiently. Their buffet is their weakest point, but it's serviceable. Best self-service ice cream available. Decent room service.

#2 - RCL - I'm ok with their quick service burgers, though they are nothing special. Most varied buffet offerings I've experienced and very tasty. I liked the hot dog stand. Pizza was convenient and best when right out of the oven. One step above frozen, but did the job when needed. Self-service ice cream wasn't worth the calories. MDR is sloooooow, but all the food I've had was tasty.

#3 - HAL - MDRs are slow and not terribly creative, but food was tasty and served hot. Buffet is decent-sized with varied options. No quick-service to speak of. The hot dog/burger stand was delicious, but also a minimum 20 minute wait for food. OK-quality pizza routinely had waits of 45 minutes or more. Best bread I've ever had on a ship, and the worst desserts.

#4 - Carnival - Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana were awesome. Pizza was made to order and was good, but usually at least a 20 minute wait. Buffet was revolting, like a bad OK Corral, and yet somehow had interminable lines. MDR had sticky tables with no linens never took less than 90 minutes for 2 courses.

#5 - NCL - So, so, so, so BAD! Buffet small and endlessly repetitive. Bread stale and hard. Dull MDR offerings that I didn't enjoy. I actually lost weight on this cruise!

My 1-device Surf & Stream went from $14.99 to $13.99/day We'll have as much fun as possible with those $9 extra dollars!

That’s one place Carnival has RC beat. Guy’s burgers are free and spectacular

AMEN! That's about the only thing I miss about Carnival, but I sure do miss it!

Like others, the one time we were suckered into JR on Allure was an over-priced disappointment. No thank you very much!

At this point we only do traditional dining room dinners on Disney. Every other cruise line, we almost always eat dinner at the buffet. It's usually quiet and peaceful, almost everything from the MDR menu is available plus other surprise options, and there's none of the excruciating waits and small talk.

We've tried in the past to make the MDR experience better by requesting 2 tops. More than once we've been lead to a table for 2...directly next to 3 other "tables for 2" separated by less than 6". All orders were taken and served together across the 8 diners, but, I guess technically we were at our own tables. :-D

We had one on Allure and were kind of meh about it. I did find the noise somewhat bothersome. It definitely carried into the room and interfered with taking those wonderfully decadent afternoon siestas cruises are made for! It was not too much of an issue at night, however.

I also agree that it was rather dull. There isn't much to see but plants and lights at night. Going forward, we'd either get a sea view balcony or just get oceanview.

It's Tampa. And the fog.

 

I have read of ships being delayed getting into/out of Tampa because of fog during the Jan-March time frame. I would hesitate to put a Tampa cruise BEFORE your 10 night NA...after? Probably would go ahead, because at least this way if there is a delay either before or after the Tampa cruise it won't impact your travel back to Ft. Lauderdale for the NA cruise.

This is definitely worth considering. We got stuck on BOTS in Feb of 2015 due to fog. It was the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer and it was almost a 2 day delay. Fog is definitely a thing in Tampa early in the year. At the minimum, check into trip insurance.

That being said, we loved the ship! It's a nice mid-size, older but not too antiquated. Rooms were well-sized, we really liked the activities, and the crew was outstanding. They did an awesome job with our unplanned extension and we look forward to sailing with them again!

I have found that the "standard verandah cabins" on the Signature Class ships seem smaller to me than the same category on the Vista Class ships. If so, I cannot imagine how my traveling companion and me could have managed in such a cabin for our cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam with her scooter.

 

Best wishes for a good cruise.

Thanks! We're definitely concerned about how it's going to work. Fortunately he's ambulatory and the scooter disassembles, so hopefully the worst case scenario is that we get even better and taking it apart and putting it back together. We'll be like a pit crew by the end of the week. :')

My DH is rehabbing a foot injury and will be bringing a scooter aboard NA next week too. He's up for deck races if you are! :')

Aside from space issues in cabins (we'll be grinning and bearing it in a standard verandah cabin), we've heard from several previous cruisers that it has worked out pretty well. We're cautiously optimistic!

Unless you have a huge group or tons of baggage, just get an Uber/Lyft. The $25 flat fee charge for taxis is outrageous. It's about a 20 minute ride, tops, and a rideshare should be around $15.

You can steer the conversation into what ever it is that your passionate about. "Oh, talking about work is no fun but I love gardening! Or volunteering or watching Game of Thrones or spending time with friends and family" or whatever it is that you enjoy doing in your life!

This is excellent advice and a great way to phrase your response. End with, "And what do you enjoy doing?" and the conversation should be successfully be batted back to them and into more interesting things to discuss.

Our experience using Uber to get to/from the cruise port to the Walled City for a DIY tour:

We had a very easy time getting an Uber at the cruise port. We walked all the way out though the exit and put in the request for a ride to "El Centro". Our ride was accepted within a minute and the driver was quoted at 5 minutes away.

There's a little roundabout/turnaround at the exit of the port that is used to passenger drop off and pickup. The driver came right in through there, we hopped in and were on our way.

Your driver will likely not speak much English. I had enough Spanish to ask him to drop us at the Plaza de Bolivar. If you don't request anything, you will be dropped at the Clock Tower (Torre de Reloj) which will work just fine for a walking tour of the Walled City.

The area around Plaza de Bolivar is closed to cars, but he got us a block away. The total cost for the ride was $3.30 and it took about 15 minutes.

Going back was not as easy. We requested our ride from the Clock Tower area, but there was no defined place to meet our driver and the area around the Clock Tower has one-way/bus access streets. The driver tried to call us, but she didn't speak English and it was beyond my Spanish abilities. We finally found each other, but then she had to fight through heavy city center traffic to turn back around toward the port. Her GPS tried to drop us in a neighborhood a few blocks from the pier. Luckily my husband was able to show her his map and convince her to take us all the way back.

For our Sunday afternoon return they were on 1.7x surge pricing, but the ride was still $3.64. It took about 20 minutes to connect with her and another 20 minutes to get back to the port.

If I had it to do again, I would just have grabbed a cab back to the port. The extra $7 would have been more than worth avoiding the hassle of trying to find our ride. I wouldn't hesitate to use Uber on the way out, though. It was easy and cheap!

Cab inside the cruise port to Walled City: $20

Cab outside cruise port to Walled City: $10

Cab from Walled City back to cruise port: $10

The walled city is very easy to do on your own. You can pick up a taxi at the cab stand in the port, but they have a fixed rate of $20. If you keep walking all the way out the gates and exit the port completely, the cabs in that staging area will make the same trip for $10. They looked equally legitimate to me, so I don't see much advantage to paying the surcharge for picking up the cab inside the port.

You can have the cab drop you at the Clock Tower (Torre de Reloj) or near Plaza de Bolivar. They're only a few blocks apart and either one will work for doing a walking tour of the Walled City.

When you're ready to come back, walk out to the Clock Tower area and pick up any one of the hundreds of cabs available. Cross the street toward the tall ships and pick one up over there as it will already be headed in the right direction to get back to the port.

Asking for help again: is the Embassy Tampa Airport Westshore a decent hotel (referred by neighbor)?

 

Is it close to pier and is there a charge (cost?) or is there a hotel shuttle?

 

Is it close to the airport, is there a shuttle or charge to get there?

The Embassy Suites Tampa Airport is perfectly fine. We used to live a few blocks from there and have put family and friends up there. That being said, it's not in a picturesque location. You'll be overlooking the highway or various corporate offices.

As others have stated, it is not close to the pier. With no traffic it's about a 15 minute ride to the port. An Uber would run under $20 in regular traffic. I do not know if the hotel offers a pay shuttle to the pier.

It is close to the airport (about 10 min) and they definitely do offer a free shuttle to the airport. Our family members have used it and had no issues.

If you got a good price and aren't hugely into nightlife, it's not a bad place to stay for a night pre-cruise. You can walk to the Westshore Plaza mall which has several restaurants across all budget ranges. The hotel will also offer you a free shuttle to International Plaza mall which is just a mile up the road. That's an upscale mall nice for window shopping with lots and lots of dining options.

There was really good Zumba on the Vision over Thanksgiving last year, run by a gentleman who may have been an assistant cruise director?

I've never seen it on the biggest ships.

What a great review! Your happy nature comes through and makes it a treat to read!

And nope, I didn't eat at MDR ever and Windjammer only the first day for lunch.

I think the point is that unless you fasted all day to be ready for your dinners, you ate SOMEWHERE and benefitted from the service of someone on the dining staff.

That being said, while the tip is technically included in the specialty fee, there still a big fat line on the check for extra gratuity and a subtle pressure to add more. It does feel like double-tipping to an extent (or even triple...)

Honestly, though, I don't really care. The amount of money we're talking about is so low in comparison to the cruise fare, which is a 100% luxury purchase, that I can't rouse myself to be irritated. I'm just glad I don't work 70+ hours a week in a hot crowded galley and sleep in a rack in the bowels of a ship to support my family.

I used to be in the "dirt is good for you!" camp until DH got noro and missed the last half of our AK cruise.

Cruise ships are small, enclosed, heavily populated environments. The 10 minutes I spend giving the room a once-over with peroxide wipes seems more than worth it to lessen the odds of spending another 4 days of paying thousands of dollars for house-arrest with a view. :rolleyes:

In regards to some of the scenarios brought up, DH and I once had to disembark a cruise in a US port before we'd reached a foreign port due to a family emergency and it was quite a production.

We left NYC and got word before we reached Boston that my mother was gravely ill. Not thinking it would be any issue to just leave the cruise, we packed up our belongings, told guest services to close our account, and walked off the ship when we docked.

Just as we were getting into a cab, we heard shouting behind us. A security officer was running full-bore toward us to get us to stop. We were escorted back onto the ship and questioned by the security officers. Once we convinced them we were adamant about leaving, they had to get a customs officer from the port to make a special trip up to the cruise ship to search our belongings and clear us to disembark.

Because we hadn't reached a foreign port, we were fined $300 each and were required to pay it before we left the ship. It was charged to on onboard account and we were finally given permission to leave.

Several months later we got a letter in the mail from Princess explaining a whole bunch of stuff in legalese about why we had been fined and then told that "for compassionate reasons" the cruise line was refunding the fine.

I've always been curious if people who miss the ship are subject to the same rigamarole and fines. I wonder what would have happened if we'd just left without telling anyone?