St Pete’s/Tampa to Port if Miami

We have a cruise with an early departure from Port of Miami on March 11. With the time change and an early sailing we are looking for reliable ways to get from St. Pete’s. to the port of Miami. We do not want to drive but are ok with being driven. Does anyone know of a reliable car or shuttle service? Flying is an option though we are concerned about flight delays. We do not have the option of leaving before Sunday morning. Ship sails at 3:30 pm.

OK, about as clear as mud here. It appears you are from New Mexico. How are you getting to Tampa? When? I assume you are going to Tampa earlier, and departing from Tampa after spending some time in Tampa.

The drive is a little over 4- 4.5 hours. That would be a pretty pricey limo or shuttle ride. Rental car would be far cheaper.

You would want to allow extra time in case of traffic issues, so leaving by 8am is probably a requirement. That really trims your options.

Thank you for your response. Cost aside do you know of any car services or shuttles?

Thank you for your response. Cost aside do you know of any car services or shuttles?

Google limo service in Tampa then call or email them with your information. Then you will get definitive answer.

Use trip advisor or yelp for ratings/reviews.

a quick search on www.wanderu.com for bus/train Tampa to Miami on 11 March shows nothing that will get you to Miami b4 4:45 PM

this looks at Redcoach, Greyhound and AMTRAC

I see flights today from $45

note Greyhound turns this 4 hour drive into a 9 hour journey ....

***************

this site shows a private ride (1 - 5 people) at $460

http://www.floridashuttletransportation.com

There is a bus that runs most big cruise days. It picks up from various cities in the Orlando and Tampa areas. Might be 2 different buses. Cruise Connection it is called. Just google "cruise bus transportation" and I found it. We have seen it many times on the Florida turnpike when we've been headed down.

I realize you do not want to drive but, A one way rental should be cheaper. That is what I would do if more than 1 person. You could pick up at the Tampa airport the night before and you could head out as early as you wish. We live central Florida and do rentals ourselves on some trips. It normally winds up cheaper then the parking. And doesn't add wear and tear on our vehicle.

The drive is super easy. You just stay on I-75 85% of the way there. Very easy and fairly quick on a weekend. A shuttle or private driver would be at least $500 if not more. I am sure if you try hard you could find someone to do it for the $500-$700 range. '

Also look and see if that port bus does exist from the other poster.

Flying, you have a lot of options. There is an 6:15am departure from TPA to MIA on AA. Or a 7:00am flight on Spirit from TPA to FLL or an 8:00am on Silver from TPA to FLL.

Either the American or Spirit flight is a good choice. AA would likely have less delays and an easier time to get you on another flight if there was an issue. But it would not be easy either way.

Also, the AA flight is a bit earlier giving you more room for error, plus if you realized the flight was going to leave too late you could have a point of time that you decide to just get a rental car and make the drive. Those early morning flights are rarely late though, and if they are late you usually will know the night before because that plane will come in the night before.

I say if you really don't want to drive take the AA flight from TPA to MIA at 6:15am.

Thank you for all the information.

Here is an update on my follow up to your very helpful suggestions.

I did book the cruise today. I know I have months to figure this out, I just wanted to make sure I had options I was happy with before I booked the cruise.

Cruise connection does have a bus that leaves at 6 am and arrives anywhere from 11 am to 2 pm. I need to find out a little more about this as and how our arrival time is calculated. Do not want to sit on a bus for 8 hours nor do I want to cut it that close. Not too keen on the departure time either.

Florida Shuttle is $460 for a private door to door shuttle, I just need to find out what type of vehicle they use and what their cancellation policy is. (There are some vehicles I can not get into).

Car rental is reasonable, though we are still not sure if we really want to start our vacation driving. ( We may need those 5 hours to sleep and just relax).

We have found a car service with a nice Cadie for $700 though I have not had time to do further research on their competitors. While we would prefer to find something around $500 it is a consideration.

There is also an American Airlines flight at 8 am which we are considering. 6:15 am is too early for us. (My goal is not to arrive at POM too early, nor too exhausted).

Again, Thank you all very much!!!