Noledad77

You could always buy a SunPass and load money onto it and it's good in FL, GA and NC (or maybe it's SC?). Anyhow, the money never expires and it's not tied to your plate or your car or a rental, so there's no rule against lending it to a friend or family member to use as well.

We cruised from there in 2016 but we also parked at one of the daily lots. They shuttled us to the port from there, with a couple of stops along the way. If you want to know the specific lot, I can look it up (it was nearly 8 years ago, so I don't remember off hand).

There is the Clearwater Aquarium (as seen in the movies "Dolphin Tale" and "Dolphin Tale 2". There's also one in Tampa. Lots of places to walk in Tampa, so hopefully the weather will be good for you while you're there. Tampa/Clearwater residents could probably give you more details on that.

We're going in July and I insisted that everyone going (there are 8 of us, and 7 are participating in the excursions) make up their minds by early January, so we could assure a) availability and 2) an affordable price. We lost my last grandparent in Dec 2022 (my grandmother, whom we all called by her first name, Kate) and my dad received some money from her estate, some of which he shared with my siblings and I, so the money was there, I just wanted to make sure that we didn't spend it all in one place. We kinda did, since all of the excursion portion is being spent in Cozumel. In summary, the sooner you know what you want, the better it is to book it right away.

This is great advice. I've been on 2 myself (3rd upcoming this summer) and all 3 have been through a travel/talent agency. My oldest daughter danced on the first two and my youngest daughter is dancing this summer, and the cruise itself has been booked through a talent agency, and we've just selected our cabin type and paid for the trip. If you have a travel agent that you know and trust, I'd agree that this is the way to go. They might even be able to get you a block of rooms (not sure if that's completely possible on a cruise ship, especially if you need accessible rooms) so that your family can be close together. Hopefully you pick a great one and have a marvelous time with your family!