Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay & Busch Gardens

[DanishDonut]

Saturday 1/30 we're spending the night at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

 

What part of the city is this hotel located in? Are there any affordable dining choices (besides national fast food chains) that we should consider? What about nearby attractions or shopping within walking distance?

 

Sunday 1/31 we'll be at Busch Gardens at 9:30 AM when they open.

 

Our Carnival Legend cruise departs at 4:00 PM, what time should we leave Busch Gardens so we don't miss our cruise? We'll be taking a taxi from BG to hotel to cruise terminal.

 

Thanks :D

[SeaPA1]

The hotel is pretty close to the airport, about right at the beginning of the "Courtney Campbell Causeway" (the road/bridge that runs across the bay from Tampa to Clearwater).

Dining - in the hotel there is a pretty good lunch place (Petey Browns) that has good burgers, sandwiches, etc. There is also a nice, upscale restaurant, Armani's. Close by (less than a mile) there are a number of dining choices in the Rocky Point area. Most are casual, beach/waterside atmosphere. Bahama Breeze, Crabby Bills, Whiskey Joes are all similar in this regard. The food is good at all, great at none. The atmosphere is fun at all of them - they're a good place to go if you want a drink & a decent meal with nice waterside atmosphere, without spending a fortune.

 

Busch Gardens to the Cruise Terminal is about a 20 minute or so drive, maybe a little more if you hit a lot of traffic lights. Obviously, you'll want to leave yourself a good bit more time than that - you don't want to get a beautiful picture of the aft of the Legend as she sets sail without you.

[DanishDonut]

Dining - in the hotel there is a pretty good lunch place (Petey Browns) that has good burgers, sandwiches, etc. There is also a nice, upscale restaurant, Armani's. Close by (less than a mile) there are a number of dining choices in the Rocky Point area. Most are casual, beach/waterside atmosphere. Bahama Breeze, Crabby Bills, Whiskey Joes are all similar in this regard. The food is good at all, great at none. The atmosphere is fun at all of them - they're a good place to go if you want a drink & a decent meal with nice waterside atmosphere, without spending a fortune.

 

It sounds like there are quite a few affordable dining choices, thank you for the excellent information.

 

Busch Gardens to the Cruise Terminal is about a 20 minute or so drive, maybe a little more if you hit a lot of traffic lights. Obviously, you'll want to leave yourself a good bit more time than that - you don't want to get a beautiful picture of the aft of the Legend as she sets sail without you.

 

If you were in my size 12 shoes, what time would you leave Busch Gardens? We'll already be checked out of the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay we just need to collect our luggage, hop back into the taxi and go to the cruise ship.

 

Anyone else care to comment?

[SeaPA1]

Where will your luggage be - still at the hotel or are you somehow bringing it with you to BG?

 

Assuming you leave it back at the hotel, you need to figure:

 

25 minutes to go from BG back to the hotel

5 minutes to grab your luggage & get back in the cab

15 minutes to go from the hotel to the terminal

 

I'd also make sure I gave myself at least 15 minutes extra for unexpected traffic delays & such, so I'd leave at a minimum an hour before I wanted/needed to be at the terminal. What do they show as latest time to board?

[tourlink99]

Forget about going to Busch Gardens on departure day! There isnt nearly enough time to make it worth your while.

Mark

[DanishDonut]

Forget about going to Busch Gardens on departure day! There isnt nearly enough time to make it worth your while.

Mark

 

Thanks for the sound advice and I agree. Considering the price of admission it wouldn't be worth it for only ~3 hours. I'd rather spend a full day there and maybe another in Orlando. On a future trip we'll take a longer pre-cruise stay in Tampa to fully enjoy BG.

[spbflseas]

Thanks for the sound advice and I agree. Considering the price of admission it wouldn't be worth it for only ~3 hours. I'd rather spend a full day there and maybe another in Orlando. On a future trip we'll take a longer pre-cruise stay in Tampa to fully enjoy BG.

 

Another vote against Busch Gardens for just a few hours. For the price of admission, plus cris-crossing the city to, from and back to your hotel, its not worth it. There are plenty of great things to do in Tampa. Living here, I think this is a good article for your visit from out of town: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1227720/a_travel_guide_for_tampa_bay_florida.html?cat=16

[lorijm23]

As the previous poster pointed out, there are many other things you can do prior to the cruise within the time limit and for much less $. The cruise terminal is actually at Channelside which has some shops, restaurants and an IMAX theater. Adjacent to the terminal is the Florida Aquarium and is a nice way to spend a couple of hours and it's rather cheap compared to BG. There is also a trolly which picks up from the Channelside/Cruise Terminal and will take you to Centro Ybor (about a 5 minute ride). For those who don't know, Ybor is a historic neighborhood in Downtown Tampa, founded in the 1800's by cigar manufacturers, predominately Cuban immigrants. It has some very unique shops rich in heritage and culture, as well as some very quirky shops mixed in with some modern stores and restaurants in Centro Ybor square. Wild party place at night but by day is very muted and fit for families even. If you want some authentic and very good cuban food, Columbia Restaurant in Ybor is said to be Florida's oldest restuarant and the world's largest Spanish restaurant. When you're done, just hop the trolly back to Channelside. Here's their websites:

http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/history.asp

http://centroybor.com/

http://www.flaquarium.org/