Tampa fog ?

We are sailing out of Tampa on the Dawn in Jan. I have heard that the fog causes some prob. With the ships coming and going . Just wondering if anyone has any idea if this is something that happens on a reg. bases .

I live here & have never heard of that problem, so you'll likely be just fine.

I don't think that dense fog happens that often in Tampa bay. It happened this year a couple of times in January, but I did not find other reports so far this year.

Most likely it won't happen. If it does, the ship could be delayed in getting back to port or leaving port...and it will probably be a bad hair day!

We sailed on the Dawn in January. Dawn made it in a little late I think, but still left on time. We were told that the Carnival ship at the pier next to us came in late because of the fog (at least several hours). We were told that fog is often a problem in the morning in Tampa, but we weren't affected by it. Have a great trip!!

I believe it was last Jan when the fog closed Tampa for most of the day. The Dawn was delayed docking until late afternoon and didn't depart again until almost midnight.

Fog could happen at any port:)

We live in the Tampa area and yes, fog can be an issue around that time of year. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it can throw a monkey wrench into disembarkation. We are on the OP's sailing with our DD and DSIL and we have made sure that their return flight doesn't leave until late afternoon. If all goes well, we will spend the day sightseeing before dropping them off at the airport. If the Bay is fogged up, the later departure time will give us enough time to make alternate arrangements.

It affected my Daughter & Son-In-Law, they were leaving on Feb. 24 this year, honeymoon, wedding the day before. Anyway the fog delayed the ship coming in and instead of boarding beginning around noon, they couldn't start boarding until about 6 in the evening. I'm pretty sure that pushed back the departure, at least a few hours or more.

This was the Carnival Legend.

There was a problem with fog the first week of December last year. Thankfully, we were able to make it in, however, just after we docked (early, early) they closed the port for most of the morning until the fog lifted (I'm sure there were a lot of missed flights on the Carnival ship). Like sea conditions, it's a crap shoot!

That happened late February( we were on the sailing). Around 10 PM it got really foggy with the fog horns going, and it must have been around midnight the ship stopped because of the fog. So we went to bed, and the next morning woke up around 7 am, went out onto th balcony and looked down. We were still stopped. Finally around noon, the ship got the go ahead to proceed into port (we were still 4 hours away), we finally got into the port of Tampa around 4 or 4:30. Didn't get off the ship until around 6. Needless to say we missed our flights but we were able to change our flights but we couldn't get out for 2 more days. So we stayed at a hotel in Tampa for 2 more night.

No one's fault but mother natures. I felt bad for the folks wanting to get on the ship but I heard that NCL had shuttle service to the local mall, movie theatere etc.

I believe it was last Jan when the fog closed Tampa for most of the day. The Dawn was delayed docking until late afternoon and didn't depart again until almost midnight.

We are sailing out of Tampa on the Dawn in Jan. I have heard that the fog causes some prob. With the ships coming and going . Just wondering if anyone has any idea if this is something that happens on a reg. bases .

Oh, yes... We were on Legend last November. Instead of boarding around 11 am we boarded at 11 pm. What a nightmare it was! Well.... we spend all day in Aquarium ( from 10 am to 5 pm) . Definitely got money worth. Thankfully it was a nice day so kids used their wet playground and sandbox. We also had lunch there. Then after 5 pm till 11 pm we were fortunate to get sits at the Channelside. Yes, with two kids ( 4 & 11 ) it was a long and tired day. It would be worse if the kids were smaller. Muster drill was around 12.30 am. I just showed up with my little guy sleeping in my arms and they let me leave. That was embarkation to remember.

We were on the Feb. 2013 sailing that got stuck out of the port due to fog. NCL was very nice to us. We had to change our flight to the next day and had to get a hotel for the night. We did this on the ship. NCL set up phones and internet access for us but they only could do a few phone lines so we had to wait on a long line to do this. It was a pain but we took turns waiting on the line. Our insurance covered the hotel and extra air cost. heard this doesn't happen too often. Hopefully, you will get out on time.

Enjoy!

Jeanne

I always check before leaving the house morning of the cruise when sailing from Tampa. Previous sailings of the Radiance of the Seas sailings were delayed prior to ours a few years ago due to the issue. I will be checking again before I board the Ryndam in December.

There has been talk of moving the port to Pinellas County as the ships are getting too large to pass under the Sunshine Skyway. This would also help with the issue of ship delays as the current shipping channel is narrow and it does not take much fog to cause a problem. Personally, the smaller ships that come to Tampa are a good thing. The ships tend to be older and are not as dense passenger wise. One pay restaurant is enough for me.

All forms of transportation can be affected by the weather, it doesn't matter whether you are flying, driving, or sailing. Get over it, or don't bother to travel.

I have lived on the water near Tampa Bay for 15 years and yes, once in a while we have a foggy morning but usually clears by 10:00 am. They did have a couple of delays last year because of fog but that was very unusual for it to last all day. Trust me, not worth worrying about. Just go and have a great cruise.

We got caught in the fog returning last February. As suite guest it meant another lunch in Cagney's and more afternoon amore. forget about the inconvenience of staying in Tampa another night. I flew home with a smile on my face.

We got caught in the fog returning last February. As suite guest it meant another lunch in Cagney's and more afternoon amore. forget about the inconvenience of staying in Tampa another night. I flew home with a smile on my face.

But then there are those who were supposed to be getting on, who lost at least a good part of their first day on the ship.

But then there are those who were supposed to be getting on, who lost at least a good part of their first day on the ship.

We received $ 15 per person OBC for lunch and $ 25 per person for dinner = $ 160 OBC total for family of 4 ( I was happy). Tips/service charge was less one day.

We are sailing on the Dawn December 8-15th. we decided just to play it safe and fly back on Monday. That way we don't have to worry at all about the fog with two kids and my mother.

We are sailing on the Dawn December 8-15th. we decided just to play it safe and fly back on Monday. That way we don't have to worry at all about the fog with two kids and my mother.

Good choice. We did a B2B on the Dawn last Dec 2 & 9. On Dec 9, 2012, a Carnival ship never made it into port until 5PM. We were delayed leaving until 7PM. Luckily we made it into port on time but no one else did that morning. I was really glad since our one son was only doing the first leg of the B2B and had a flight at 1 PM.

The wife and I were on the Dawn last Febraury when it got delayed for close to 10 hours. We didn't get off the ship until nearly 5:30 PM and we had suite priority disembarkation. We did although enjoy another lunch in Cagneys. The down side was, we had a forward suite about 20 feet from the fog bell which went off once a minute starting at around 1:30 PM. The captain to his credit revved up the props and tried to get us inside Tampa Bay before it was shut down. Visibility got down to less than 200 feet and I supposed they stopped to keep from ramming the idiots out fishing in the fog. The folks waiting to board at 11:00 AM I bet were majorly p.o.'d. You have to remember, the port authority is rather sensitive after the old bridge was hit and shut down around the bay traffic for a couple of years. That' a good 100 mile trip from St. Pete to the other side, Sarasota, without the bridge. If in doubt, buy travel insurance; we always have and are glad we did.

I don't think that dense fog happens that often in Tampa bay. It happened this year a couple of times in January, but I did not find other reports so far this year.

 

Most likely it won't happen. If it does, the ship could be delayed in getting back to port or leaving port...and it will probably be a bad hair day!

It happened to us this last February while trying to sail out of Tampa on the Legend. Our cruise left the last week of February and we were delayed 8 hours due to fog! We were able to drop our luggage off but had to mill around Tampa for hours until we could get on the ship. Luckily, they kept us informed with phone calls and text alerts, but it was rough keeping our special needs child entertained while we had to wait.

I live here & have never heard of that problem, so you'll likely be just fine.

I sailed last march 2 weeks before our cruise they were delayed till around noon getting in our cruise the last night at dinner the captain announced Tampa had a thick fog and was currently shut down he came back on around 10 ish and said the port was still closed and they didn't know when it would open. But the next mourning we were at the port when i got up.. They said the fog left around 3 am and the port opened up lucky it left

We were on Radiance of the Seas coming back from a NYE cruise and were stopped by dense fog around midnight just outside of the bay. We went under the Sunshine Skyway bridge around 11:00 AM, and didn't finally dock until around 2:00 PM.

Fog could happen at any port:)