Recent Brilliance cruisers out of Terminal 6 in Tampa.

I'm not so sure......the ones saying good things either:

Cruised on Rhapsody

OR

Cruised Brilliance,but not this year out of Terminal 6.

Did have one saying it was ok since they were in suite,but still wondering for those who are not.

Are there plenty of cabs there- to jump in one to the airport, or is there a long wait? Trying to decide if we should make a transfer reservation

not only are there a lot of cabs but they also have several shared shuttles all lined up as well.

Still hoping to hear from someone who has cruised on Brilliance ,perhaps within the last month.

Still hoping to hear from someone who has cruised on Brilliance ,perhaps within the last month.

I just got off Brilliance this morning. Anything specific you want to know?

I did self-assist instead of waiting for our number because we wanted to get back home. We left our room at 7 and were in line for customs by 7:30. Very easy. Customs was easy, the guy asked us one question and then we were out the door. We did valet parking and it took maybe 10 minutes for them to get our car. In that time, I saw many people leaving in airport shuttles with no wait. The guys had signs that said airport shuttles, non-stop $8. Not sure if that was per person or group

I just got off Brilliance this morning. Anything specific you want to know?

 

I did self-assist instead of waiting for our number because we wanted to get back home. We left our room at 7 and were in line for customs by 7:30. Very easy. Customs was easy, the guy asked us one question and then we were out the door. We did valet parking and it took maybe 10 minutes for them to get our car. In that time, I saw many people leaving in airport shuttles with no wait. The guys had signs that said airport shuttles, non-stop $8. Not sure if that was per person or group

Probably the same shuttle people to the airport that we had for Rhapsody disembarkation on Dec 17. (sorry Kathy) It is $8 per person and worked out well. Terminal 6 was a little difficult to find for our Uber driver at boarding. But both boarding and disembarkation went very smoothly with little or no wait times. We did not do self assist. We had tags for 8:30, and were finally called at 9:00 AM. Which was fine, our flight was at 11.....so we cut it a little close and arrived at the airport at 10. That was because the shuttle driver wanted to fill the bus.

So this is a bump. :-)

I just got off Brilliance this morning. Anything specific you want to know?

 

I did self-assist instead of waiting for our number because we wanted to get back home. We left our room at 7 and were in line for customs by 7:30. Very easy. Customs was easy, the guy asked us one question and then we were out the door. We did valet parking and it took maybe 10 minutes for them to get our car. In that time, I saw many people leaving in airport shuttles with no wait. The guys had signs that said airport shuttles, non-stop $8. Not sure if that was per person or group

EXACTLY what I was looking for.........recent experience,more or less disembarking BR........how it was on the ship,then in the terminal..........sounds like it has gotten better...........Thanks..

 

So this is a bump. :-)

Haha.thanks Patti!!

We sailed on the Brilliance last week. We live locally so we drove and using the address for Terminal 6, the Navigation system took us directly there. Dropped the bags and car for valet parking all at once. I'd guess we were on the ship within 20 minutes or so of arrival at the port. We were in a Junior Suite so used that line, but at 11am there was not much of a line for the regular side, either.

Returning we had Green 1 luggage tags, scheduled for 8:15 and although the self-assist seemed to be delayed, we were off by 8:20 or so. Got bags, cleared immigration (no questions- just a quick look at our passports) got the car from valet parking and were on the road by 8:45.

We sailed on the Brilliance last week. We live locally so we drove and using the address for Terminal 6, the Navigation system took us directly there. Dropped the bags and car for valet parking all at once. I'd guess we were on the ship within 20 minutes or so of arrival at the port. We were in a Junior Suite so used that line, but at 11am there was not much of a line for the regular side, either.

 

Returning we had Green 1 luggage tags, scheduled for 8:15 and although the self-assist seemed to be delayed, we were off by 8:20 or so. Got bags, cleared immigration (no questions- just a quick look at our passports) got the car from valet parking and were on the road by 8:45.

And I thank you too.......

I plan on doing carry off and valet too.

How much does valet parking cost? Sorry if this has been answered.

How much does valet parking cost? Sorry if this has been answered.

$15 per day plus $20.

$15 per day plus $20.

Just to clarify. The plus $20 is on top of the grand total.. not daily.

Just to clarify. The plus $20 is on top of the grand total.. not daily.

Correct, one of the ncie things about valet parking at the Tampa port is they charge you the same daily fee as the self-park and an extra $20 once for the valet.

Just got off Brilliance yesterday 1/11/18 sailing. Same as what I have been reading 20 minutes from arrival to get on the ship. $10.00 uber from a local airport hotel to terminal and $14.00 uber total from terminal back to airport. Not much of a wait through customs or to get luggage (we were green 10) when we left.

The cruise experience was so/so. Staff were great and very friendly, room Stewart was awesome as well as wait staff in main dining room and windjammer and the bar tenders were top notch. The Disco night was fun.

Food was absolutely terrible in both Windjammer and main dining room. Windjammer just seemed like a bunch of slop. Main dining room would be a better choice but the menu choices were not great. Visited medical center while on ship and they were attentive and nice. (12 hours after boarding and having lunch on ship someone I was traveling with had symptoms of food poisoning but was treated as a neurovirus and quarantined to cabin for 24 hours....other person in cabin was fine and didn’t get sick) Casino was very very Smokey. Great deal in shops on grey goose vodka, 4 for $99. Wouldn’t take the cruise again, but will try another RCL ship....previously sailed on Freedom of the Seas and Norwegians Breakaway and enjoyed both of them.

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How much does valet parking cost? Sorry if this has been answered.

It was $80 total for a 4 night cruise.

I agree about the casino. It was probably the smokiest cruise ship casino I've been in. I'm not a huge gambler so I didn't spend a ton of time in there but if thats something you really enjoy doing on a cruise, the smoke could be too much for some people.

My friends think I am crazy to pay more for valet,but to me ,it is worth it and I don't think it's too $$$..I use it everything I cruise out of Tampa,/

My friends think I am crazy to pay more for valet,but to me ,it is worth it and I don't think it's too $$$..I use it everything I cruise out of Tampa,/

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My friends think I am crazy to pay more for valet,but to me ,it is worth it and I don't think it's too $$$..I use it everything I cruise out of Tampa,/

I think it's a good deal at Tampa, barely more than one drink on the ship.

I think it's a good deal at Tampa, barely more than one drink on the ship.

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Less than. 2 bloody Marys yesterday on the MJ $23[emoji16]

 

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Sorta forcing the bev package,aren't they??

Sorta forcing the bev package,aren't they??

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We do now as well. It's well worth it in my opinion

 

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And like the option of paying online ahead of time!

We cruised on 12/28. Embarkation went pretty smoothly. It was a little crowed, but not an unpleasant experience. Disembarkation was horrible. Some of the issues were our fault/some were not.

Our flight was out of Tampa at 12:00. I thought this was more than enough time. There was an announcement made about flight times. You were to contact guest services and let them know you had an early flight. In my ignorance, I did not consider 12:00pm an early flight so I didn’t notify anyone. This was my second cruise in 9 years, I am a “pro” at this, right? We received our tags that stated our number was 21 Hubby read directions saw we were scheduled to begin disembarkation sometime around 10:00am. Panic set in and we rushed to guest services, explained our situation and we were given an earlier number, 3. Thank you guest services!

On day of embarkation we arose early, had breakfast and proceeded to the embarkation area for luggage tag 3. There were several delays due to a heavy volume of passengers who decided to carry their own suitcases off the boat. My stomach was in knots as they announced each delay. I think our number was finally called around 9:15ish. Numbers 1, 2, & 3 were all called at the same time and it was a crowed cattle call. As we passed the stairs people were trying to merge into the line. This caused a little tension but most passengers managed to remain civil about the process.

Tampa was freezing when we disembarked. If you packed your cold weather gear, you were out of luck walking to the luggage/customs area. Finding the suitcases should have been a no brainer. If you had luggage tag disembarkation number three, you went to area #3 to find your suitcase. We found 2 of our 3 bags. After much scurrying around and frantic looking, someone from RCI offered to help. We went to the lost luggage area (luggage that loses its tags are sent there) no such luck. I will spare all of the details but, I made hubby go through customs without me while I continued to look for missing bag. He NEEDED to make the flight. I could (if needed) be delayed. Several customer service people helped looked for the bag. I was told someone may have grabbed my bag by mistake, or it may have fallen off cart and not brought in yet. I never knew there were so many shades and shapes of old large green garment type fold over bag!!! I finally resigned myself to my bag was stolen, picked up by mistake or lost. As I filled out the paperwork, one of the female attendants found my bag!!! I was whisked to the front of the customs line and out the door in a matter of minutes!

We made it to the airport in time, but it seemed like an eternity. All’s well that ends well. My suggestion would be book a late flight, take your own luggage of the boat if you can. Pack a lot of patience, some extra smiles and a few prayers.

This is the reason why I never fly in or out the day tye cruise arrives or departs even if an extra vacation day is required. Luckily in my line of work my dates are flexible!

The best course of action is to book a 3 or 4 PM flight and not on Southwest and pay the baggage porter fee so you only see your bags at your home airport and checkin online via tye mobile app. For me this is the best compromise for flying home the same day we disembark.

I too have cruised out of Tampa lots..but never from terminal 6...so your experience from there is the same as #3?

What has happened with Terminals at Tampa? We sailed from there in 2016 but all I remember is that the BOS was directed across the street from the garage, not sure of the Terminal number.

We sail on March 31st or 5 nights on the BOS and I am not sure of the Terminal.

What has happened there to impact leaving from Tampa in either a good or bad way? Is there work ongoing there or something? Sorry for being dense about this.

We sailed on the Brilliance last week. We live locally so we drove and using the address for Terminal 6, the Navigation system took us directly there. Dropped the bags and car for valet parking all at once. I'd guess we were on the ship within 20 minutes or so of arrival at the port. We were in a Junior Suite so used that line, but at 11am there was not much of a line for the regular side, either.

 

Returning we had Green 1 luggage tags, scheduled for 8:15 and although the self-assist seemed to be delayed, we were off by 8:20 or so. Got bags, cleared immigration (no questions- just a quick look at our passports) got the car from valet parking and were on the road by 8:45.

When using Terminal 6 and valet parking, you can drop off your luggage and the car at the same time?