Need a hotel in Tampa .. sailing on Legend on 9/25

[sms2874]

We will be sailing on 9/25 from Tampa. Anyone arrive the day before and stay at a convenient hotel that picks you up from the airport and offers transportation to the Carnival pier? Also if you have taken this Western cruise any input on excursions and things not to miss would be helpful. thanks so much:)

[FlaGrl4Evr]

We will be sailing on 9/25 from Tampa. Anyone arrive the day before and stay at a convenient hotel that picks you up from the airport and offers transportation to the Carnival pier? Also if you have taken this Western cruise any input on excursions and things not to miss would be helpful. thanks so much:)

 

 

Hi sms, we did this cruise last Oct and booked the cruise pkg at the Holiday Inn Rocky Point. The rates were good, the hotel clean and modern and was one of few that offered pick-up from the port after the cruise was over. They will take you either back to the airport or to the hotel if you did the park&cruise. The pkg incl. airport shuttle, room and free breakfast and shuttle to and from the port, plus free shuttle service anywhere within a 4 mile area. This is handy for running out to get water and pop.

 

As far as excrusions for this cruise, one of our favorite was the Altun Ha ruins and Belize City excursion in Belize. We booked ours with the ship and it was a great experience; newer, clean, air-conditioned busses, great tour guides and a comprehensive tour of the ruins with time to do some shopping from the local venders. The excursion also included a tour of Belize city on the way to the ruins. It was worth every penny and they got us back to the pier with plenty of time to do more shopping and get drinks. In Cozumel we did a shore snorkel excursion with the ship and again, had a great time. Isla Roatan is beautiful and has a very nice beach area and shopping rignt off the ship. We missed GC due to Hurricane Tomas but I have heard lots of positive feedback from any of the stingray excursions.

 

Here is a link to the Florida port boards. There you will find lots of great information on Tampa hotels and what they have to offer.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

 

You may also want to visit the boards for shore excursions in your various ports. Here is the link

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

Have a great time on the Legend. :)

[SkyMaster]

As noted above, by Hoosiercouple, there are a lot of hotels/motels around the Tampa area that offer exactly what you're looking for, but the favorite, by far, seems to be the Holiday Inn Rocky Point! It is a very nice property, in an excellent location, and they apparently offer very good service, and a reasonable price. It's right on the water, (upper Old Tampa Bay) and has at least one good restaurant near by. (That's the only negative thing that I can think of for it's location. It isn't near any shopping, or a bunch of different restaurants, although to get to those things would be a short cab ride to the WestShore area.) If that doesn't work for you, post back, and I'll list a few more. ;)

 

"SKY"

[micro yaya]

me three, this hotel was great for us when we cruised last december, and we plan to stay ther again when we cruise this year out of tampa.

[sms2874]

thanks Hoosiercouple, Skymaster and micro yaya for the info. I love this website and the many great people who answer questions. Can't wait to cruise. I am ready to have some fun. :)

[Redsfan]

too bad they charge for additional passengers after 2....would be a great deal. Not so great for a family of 5

[flcruiser4]

Holiday Inn Rocky Point is a great hotel.

[Irishlinny]

We stayed at Mainsail Suites last year....we liked it alot! We had 2 couples...got a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite (with Living room and kitchen)...ended up being about $60 per couple. They have the shuttle from the airport and to the port. They have a restaurant/lounge on site...food was very good. Also have breakfast in the morning. There is a pool/hot tub/gym. There aren't any stores nearby, but they do offer a shuttle to go within a few miles of the hotel. Service was excellent.

We've done the Legend 3 times and we LOVE it!

Grand Cayman: Stingray city is GREAT! There are a number of reputable independents who do this. We used Moby Dick last year...excellent. Nativeway was also good.

Cozumel: We loved going to Chankanaab Marine park and doing the dolphin swim a few years ago. Nice plcae to spend the day...snorkeling right from the shore. Nachi Cocom is an all-inclusive (includes all drinks and very good lunch whiich you order off a menu)...they only allow 100 people per day, so not crowded. We also did the Cozumel Bar Hop bus...great fun and a good way to see the East side of the island which is much less developed and has beautiful beaches and very cool beach bars.

Roatan is our favorite port...get away from Mahogany Bay...it's jusst a cookie cutter port and a man made beach. Go with an independent (Victor Bodden is excellent!) and see the island. You get your own driver for the day and they take you wherever you want to go. Make sure to get over to the West Bay beaches...gorgeous!!! Tabayana, Bananarama, Fosters are a few...they're all connected to each other.

Belize: Not a fan of the port area and the area outside the port is not pleasant. Plan an excursion here. We booked a snorkel/beach break which went to Bannister Island thru Coral Breeze. Loved Bannister Island, but not sure any tours go there now.

Have a great time!!!:D

[tlw440]

Holiday Inn Rocky Point is a great place to stay, we have stayed there 3 times and when we sail out of Tampa again we will stay there.

[KCTravel]

We've sailed from Tampa twice with another cruise planned for October. We had a large family group the first cruise so we stayed at Chase Suites which was great but this was about five years ago. Last year we stayed at the Holiday Inn Rocky Point. I was not impressed for a few reasons and won't stay there again. (The one positive was meeting up with our roll call there.) We are trying the Tahitian Inn this October which has the free shuttle from the airport to the hotel, the hotel to the cruise port and they will pick us up after the cruise and let us hang at the pool until our flight home later cruise day.

 

In Grand Cayman, we snorkeled the first time and it was too windy so we missed this port last year.

 

Cozumel: Love Paradise Beach but we are trying Nachi Cocum this year as we were able to get in.

 

Roatan: poured rain last year

 

Belize: snorkeled and beach break through Carnival. I usually book our own excursions but this worked out for Belize. The catamaran picked us right at the ship, took us to two spots for great snorkeling and then some beach time.

 

We love the Spirit class ships and hope you will too!:)

Have an awesome cruise!

Karen

[lorilew]

We will be sailing on 9/25 from Tampa. Anyone arrive the day before and stay at a convenient hotel that picks you up from the airport and offers transportation to the Carnival pier? Also if you have taken this Western cruise any input on excursions and things not to miss would be helpful. thanks so much:)

 

 

We stayed at the main sail suites in Tampa, they offer a cruise package. Will pick you up from the airport, room and the next day take you to the cruise terminal, all included. $129. You just tell them what time you want to be taken and the car comes right to your room to get you.

main sail tampa dot com

 

We stay here on our 2010 cruise from Tampa and will be using it for our 2012 cruise from Tampa. The hotel is nice, rooms are great and they have a nice little restaurant for breakfast before you leave and not expensive.

 

have a great cruise, the Legend is awesome. The cruise itinerary is a fun filled one, thats why we're doing it again. In Grand Caymen we did the swim with the stingrays on our own thru native way watersports. It was great. Belize we did cave tubing with Major Tom, was a great time. Cozumel with did the Mayan Ruins of Tulum thru Carnival...was spectacular and the time constraints are tight so if you do this, do it thru Carnival so you don't get left behind. Roatan, is gorgeous, we did the beach and rented scooters. A great way to see the island.

[fnelson99]

http://www.tahitianinn.com

 

Here is the link to where my family and I will be staying. We leave out September 1. They have free transport from and to the TPA and also to and from the pier. My boss just stayed there two weeks ago and enjoyed it. Very reasonable and clean.

 

Thanks,

James

[kmcantwait]

www.tahitianinn.com

 

Here is the link to where my family and I will be staying. We leave out September 1. They have free transport from and to the TPA and also to and from the pier. My boss just stayed there two weeks ago and enjoyed it. Very reasonable and clean.

 

Thanks,

James

 

 

This place is nice, we stayed there when we sailed the Legend.

[Honeyroastedmelnut]

I concur with the others and recommend the Holiday Inn Rocky Point. Very clean, nice spread for breakfast. One thing of note: the shuttle assignments are first come first serve based upon when you check-in and not when you book your room. I was on the Legend in May 2011 and booked the room back in 2010. We were on the last shuttle to the ship because all of the other cruisers checked in before we did. We still made it to the ship on time ... I just had my mini internal hissy fit because I wasn't one of the first on board.

 

Another thing that is nice about the Holiday Inn Rocky Point is that there is a Bahama Breeze restaurant right next door. Excellent food (especially for a chain) and its theme/menu helped set the mood for a tropical escape.

 

Here is the weblink for the Holiday Inn: http://www.hiextampa.com/specials.php

[IslandToIsland]

We stayed at The Embassy Suites....nice hotel with a good breakfast and a free cocktail hour. They also had a shuttle for a few bucks that brought you to the pier.

[E-rok]

This board is so helpful! Thank you everyone for all your great suggestions. I am cruising on Legend in October and although the Holiday Inn sounds perfect, I am wondering if anyone can recommend something a bit more luxurious but still convenient to the Carnival pier?

 

Something with a spa would be great, poolside drink service, etc.

 

Again, thank you for your responses!

[cuted126]

Anyone have any pictures of the rooms in the Holiday Inn?

[gapearl]

For my recent Inspiration cruise, I used priceline and got a room at The Doubletree Westshore for $55. They offer a round trip shuttle to and from the port. If I'm remembering correctly, it was about $20. I loved this hotel. Perfect location!

[xbatt8]

We did the same thing a few weeks ago. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Rocky Point which is next door to the Holiday Inn Express. Liked it very much.

 

As for things to do in the ports, wow... Too many to choose from.

 

We did Nachi Cocom in Cozumel and it was great. If you want a nice quiet atmosphere, this is a great Place. Food was outstanding and the drinks seemed endless. If you want a more party atmosphere, I hear Mr Sanchos is the place. Loud music and more beach toys. But I don't know that for sure.

 

Would love to give you suggestions on Belize, but we were so hung over and sunburned from Nachi Cocom that we just shopped at the port for an hour or two and went back to take naps.

 

I agree with the other poster, that the west end beaches are the place to go in Roatan. We did a combination Gumbalina Park and Tabyana Beach snorkel excursion. It was great. Only a short amount of time for snorkeling tho. Now that we have seen the park, we will just beach and snorkel next time.

 

In Grand Cayman We also did Moby Dick Tours for sting Ray city and a reef snorkel. They were awesome. Highly recommend them.

 

I really like the Spirit class ships and the Legend was the best we have been on. Weather was iffy, but everything else was great.

 

Bob

[flcruiser4]

This board is so helpful! Thank you everyone for all your great suggestions. I am cruising on Legend in October and although the Holiday Inn sounds perfect, I am wondering if anyone can recommend something a bit more luxurious but still convenient to the Carnival pier?

 

Something with a spa would be great, poolside drink service, etc.

 

Again, thank you for your responses!

 

The Holiday Inn Rocky Point is not your typical run-down Holiday Inn. It's very nice. But if you can't stoop so low to stay there, there's a nice waterside Marriott in downtown Tampa which is close to the port. I would think being so close they offer a shuttle service. There's also a Hilton by the airport that I think has a shuttle.

[popsec]

We stay here every time we sail the Legend out of Tampa (and will be coming back for our Sept 11 cruise with friends). As far as the no shopping nearby...there's a free shuttle that will take you to malls (2 nearby) or restaurants or just out to pick up beer, etc.

 

Love this place!

[FlaGrl4Evr]

This board is so helpful! Thank you everyone for all your great suggestions. I am cruising on Legend in October and although the Holiday Inn sounds perfect, I am wondering if anyone can recommend something a bit more luxurious but still convenient to the Carnival pier?

 

Something with a spa would be great, poolside drink service, etc.

 

Again, thank you for your responses!

 

If I had the extra money to splurge, I would probably stay at the Westin Tampa Bay. It has a Spa, poolside bar service and is located on the bay with one of the very few beach areas with water toy rentals. Here is the hotel link.

http://www.westintampabay.com/

 

Here is the link to their cruise port pkg. http://www.westintampabay.com/tampa-cruise-port

[slowpoke58]

We just booked the Legend for December 18th sailing and I called the Holiday Inn Rocky Point and they are out of the packages that includes room and shuttle.

 

Any place to stay that offers the package???

 

Thanks for you help

[Irishlinny]

We just booked the Legend for December 18th sailing and I called the Holiday Inn Rocky Point and they are out of the packages that includes room and shuttle.

 

Any place to stay that offers the package???

 

Thanks for you help

We really liked Mainsail Suites...very clean and was very economical for 2 couples in a 2 BR, 2 bath condo (with kitchen). I think they have 1 BR units...not sure. They have a shuttle to the port in the morning, and you can also use the shuttle if it's available to go to the store (they took us to a liquor store). Chase Suites also was fine and has a shuttle to the port.

 

You can also check the North American Homeports section of these boards and then choose Florida departures for more ideas...

 

Have fun on the Legend...she's one of our favorites!:)

[slowpoke58]

Thanks I will check into this. Not sure if we want to drive all the way down or not, but if so, would like to stay somewhere we could leave our car. Better price, if we can, also

 

 

We really liked Mainsail Suites...very clean and was very economical for 2 couples in a 2 BR, 2 bath condo (with kitchen). I think they have 1 BR units...not sure. They have a shuttle to the port in the morning, and you can also use the shuttle if it's available to go to the store (they took us to a liquor store). Chase Suites also was fine and has a shuttle to the port.

 

You can also check the North American Homeports section of these boards and then choose Florida departures for more ideas...

 

Have fun on the Legend...she's one of our favorites!:)