Disembarking in Tampa

[Caymus88]

I will be sailing on Connie

How long does it take to get from cruise port to airport.

flight at 10:50 am

 

[Bill Miller]

About 20-30 minutes depending on traffic. Weekends, maybe less than 20. Tampa International is a great airport, very efficient.  Welcome to the Suncoast of Florida.

[Caymus88]

Thank you. We have usually cruised out of Ft Lauderdale, Miami

First time out of Tampa

[twincheryl]

Just disembarked RC cruise on Saturday... wonderful port and airport.  Beautiful, clean, and efficient!  We walked off with our luggage and were at the airport by 8:15am.  We had an 11:30am flight and easily could have made a flight at 9:30am.  

[phoenix_dream]

14 minutes ago, twincheryl said:

Just disembarked RC cruise on Saturday... wonderful port and airport.  Beautiful, clean, and efficient!  We walked off with our luggage and were at the airport by 8:15am.  We had an 11:30am flight and easily could have made a flight at 9:30am.  

On this particular cruise.  We have had two cruises (one out of Florida) where disembarkation did not even start until 9:00 due to Customs issues.  I just like to always mention this because I would hate someone to think they could always make flights that early and then have this happen to them.  On one of these cruises, we had a 10:30 and had to run through the airport to catch our flight - we were literally the last people on the plane.  This isn't the normal situation I know, but it can (and did) happen.

[hcat]

It is a great airport,  but I want to mention  that from  where  you enter the airport terminal  building  and luggage check in area,   you will then go up a level and board a  tram ( short ride) to the actual gates.  I'd  suggest folks keep carry-ons light. There can also be a long line through security...even with TSA pre- check.

 

Note also: If you arrive at TPA and need a rental car you will use the tram, and then one or two other trams to reach the rental car area..We stopped flying in and out of TPA because that is a big hassle. Otherwise it runs quite well!

[Shadow9612]

Hope it's ok to 'tag' on to this post since my question is so related.

 

I am considering a December 2020 holiday cruise out of Tampa.  Itinerary has ship arriving at 8:00am.

 

I was hoping to book a flight at 12:00 noon on disembarkation day from Tampa to Canada. 

 

However, Celebrity is recommending the earliest flight departure on disembarkation day as 1:00pm.   Do you think I'm still ok with a 12:00 noon flight - I always like to follow the cruise guidelines, but the next flight out is 20:15, which makes for a long day in Tampa!

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[steve20832]

On 1/20/2020 at 6:50 PM, hcat said:

It is a great airport,  but I want to mention  that from  where  you enter the airport terminal  building  and luggage check in area,   you will then go up a level and board a  tram ( short ride) to the actual gates.  I'd  suggest folks keep carry-ons light. There can also be a long line through security...even with TSA pre- check.

 

Note also: If you arrive at TPA and need a rental car you will use the tram, and then one or two other trams to reach the rental car area..We stopped flying in and out of TPA because that is a big hassle. Otherwise it runs quite well!

I live in Tampa and flown out of TPA many times, never waited more than 10 minutes to get through security. Have your boarding pass with you because you need it to board the train and it needs to be scanned

[JohninDC]

1 hour ago, Shadow9612 said:

Hope it's ok to 'tag' on to this post since my question is so related.

 

I am considering a December 2020 holiday cruise out of Tampa.  Itinerary has ship arriving at 8:00am.

 

I was hoping to book a flight at 12:00 noon on disembarkation day from Tampa to Canada. 

 

However, Celebrity is recommending the earliest flight departure on disembarkation day as 1:00pm.   Do you think I'm still ok with a 12:00 noon flight - I always like to follow the cruise guidelines, but the next flight out is 20:15, which makes for a long day in Tampa!

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Noon should be fine - it is a 15+ minute taxi or Uber ride from the port to the airport.  The biggest risk in the winter months (Dec-March) is fog causing a delay to the ship's ability to come into Tampa.

[Rebels82]

Unless things have greatly improved, if your ship docks at Terminal 2, it will take much longer to disembark due to small terminal and other issues. The airport will not be the issue....Terminal 2 is. Hopefully things have improved.

[Capt_BJ]

also day of the week .... (I'm not looking up your cruise to determine day)

 

on Sat or Sun a non issue

 

but morning  rush hour in Tampa is a B I T C H . . . 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Capt_BJ

[Shadow9612]

2 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

also day of the week .... (I'm not looking up your cruise to determine day)

 

The cruise I'm referring to disembarks on a monday, january 4 (first day back at work after new years?)

 

Is disembarking in Tampa much slower or different from Fort Lauderdale?  I seem to think I've docked before 6am in Fort Lauderdale and arrived at airport before 9am 🙂

 

I wish there was a flight that left early afternoon...  

[Shadow9612]

3 hours ago, Rebels82 said:

Unless things have greatly improved, if your ship docks at Terminal 2

The cruise I'm referring to is Celebrity.  Terminal schedule says disembarkation at terminal 6.  Any comments on that terminal?

 

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

[JohninDC]

46 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

The cruise I'm referring to is Celebrity.  Terminal schedule says disembarkation at terminal 6.  Any comments on that terminal?

 

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

Easy. Taxis, shuttles, etc. waiting. We used Uber to TPA  for about $15+ last year. Even if traffic is bad (come to DC if you want bad traffic!) you can still make a noon flight without too much trouble.

[Shadow9612]

1 hour ago, JohninDC said:

Easy. Taxis, shuttles, etc. waiting. We used Uber to TPA  for about $15+ last year. Even if traffic is bad (come to DC if you want bad traffic!) you can still make a noon flight without too much trouble.

Thank you 🙂

[steve20832]

22 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Easy. Taxis, shuttles, etc. waiting. We used Uber to TPA  for about $15+ last year. Even if traffic is bad (come to DC if you want bad traffic!) you can still make a noon flight without too much trouble.

It’s about 10 miles from Pier to TPA. If 275 isn’t backed up it should take around 20 minutes to airport. If 275 is jammed, the driver can take alternate routes easily. Waze always seems to get me from A to B pretty quick. Even if traffic is bad, it should be 30 minutes at most

[Kellyann]

Flying into Tampa on 5/5 to catch CCL Legend cruise.  We don't want to carry our wine on the plane.  Is there a place to buy wine enroute to port?

On 2/12/2020 at 5:51 PM, Capt_BJ said:

also day of the week .... (I'm not looking up your cruise to determine day)

 

on Sat or Sun a non issue

 

but morning  rush hour in Tampa is a B I T C H . . . 

 

[JohninDC]

 

1 hour ago, Kellyann said:

Flying into Tampa on 5/5 to catch CCL Legend cruise.  We don't want to carry our wine on the plane.  Is there a place to buy wine enroute to port?

 

Any Publix grocery store will have a good wine selection.  Even CVS or Walgreens will have wine.  Just tell your cab/Uber driver what you want - and shop fast because the meter is running!

[Kellyann]

Thank you for info.  PA has State Stores and that's the only place to buy liquor.

 

[Capt_BJ]

there's a Total Wine not to far out of the way

 

you can place an order for pickup via website and it will be waiting for you .... saves time ....

 

if you've never been, trust me ... selection is just a wee tad better than a grocery or drug store ....

https://www.totalwine.com/store-info/florida-tampa/901?cid=referral:website_link::MomentFeed:901_tampa_store_details_page:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Capt_BJ

[JohninDC]

26 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

there's a Total Wine not to far out of the way

 

you can place an order for pickup via website and it will be waiting for you .... saves time ....

 

if you've never been, trust me ... selection is just a wee tad better than a grocery or drug store ....

 

The TW branches near me offer about 6000-8000 different wines, with bottles ranging in price from about $3+ to over $1000.  😉

[steve20832]

18 hours ago, Kellyann said:

Flying into Tampa on 5/5 to catch CCL Legend cruise.  We don't want to carry our wine on the plane.  Is there a place to buy wine enroute to port?

 

There is a Total Wine right off 275 on Dale Mabry. It's only about 1/2 mile out of the way from TPA > Pier. There is also a Publix about 5 blocks north or the pier

Edited February 25, 2020 by steve20832