Port Canaveral to Tampa, how early can I get off the ship?

[newlu]

Hi,

 

We are trying to see if we can be at a Tampa Sporting Event which starts at 1:00pm the day we get off the ship. How early can we get off the ship? We are cruising the Mariner which is is at Port Canaveral and then we would get a rental car and drive to Tampa. Is this possible? Can we make it to Tampa for 12:30pm?

 

Thanks all!

 

Newlu

[phopte]

Hi,

 

We are trying to see if we can be at a Tampa Sporting Event which starts at 1:00pm the day we get off the ship. How early can we get off the ship? We are cruising the Mariner which is is at Port Canaveral and then we would get a rental car and drive to Tampa. Is this possible? Can we make it to Tampa for 12:30pm?

 

Thanks all!

 

Newlu

 

Should be a piece of cake! Just make sure to request early departure tags from your room steward. If you can, do the personal carryoff where you carry all of your luggage off. They are generally called 1st or second. In either case, you shouldn't have a problem. Tamps is about a 2 hour drive. Of course, all of this assumes that Mariner gets into port around 6:00am. If for any reason she is later than that, all bets are off!

[gracee]

You should be fine--even if you got off the ship at 9:30- 10:00. Like the prev poster said, it's about a 2 hour drive--all intrastate hwy. Wave at Mickey as you go by!

[bbgordon]

I just wanted to add that it should not be a problem also long as there are no accidents or any construction on I-4. If you can do personal carryoff, you should be good to go. Good Luck!!

[Buccaneergirl]

I would say the drive would be more like 2 1/2 hours and 3 hours for traffic. You will still be fine if you are off the ship by 8:30 a.m. and you can definitely do that. What sporting event will you be going to? It depends on where you are going in the city. I was born and raised in Tampa and now live in Melbourne (45 minutes south of the port) so we travel that way all the time (especially for Bucs games!:D ).

[mimikens]

Bucaneergirl - funny I was born and raised in Melbourne and lived in Tampa until a few months ago. So, I used to travel to Melbourne once or twice a month.

 

The traffic can be a challenge, especially the intersection of 417 and I-4. I have made it to Melbourne in 2 hours and yet it has taken me 6 hours when traffic was bad. However, the traffic on Sunday morning typically is not badd. The traffic is much worse in tourist season. Also, once you get to Tampa, traffic can be horrible if you are heading to Raymond James (esp for a Bucs game) or even St Pete Times Forum.

 

When we were on the Mariner, they let Diamond members off at 7 a.m. From what they told us, they try to have the entire ship cleared by 9 a.m. So, if you have your rental car by 10, you could probably be hitting the Tampa limits by noon. From there, only the Magic 8 Ball can tell you whether you can make it to your destination on time!

[newlu]

Oh boy, what a decision this will be!

 

Yes, its a football game, we have never seen an NFL game, so this would be great! I'm not sure if we want to rush like that, and now that I see that the traffic is bad going to the football stadium makes me wonder...

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

newlu

[Buccaneergirl]

I really think you will make it by game time, but will miss out on tailgating.

Raymond James is an awesome stadium for your 1st NFL game (especially the pirate ship):D Will you be cheering for the Bucs or the visiting team? Which game is it? Some of our big rivalries bring more people out to the stadium because they will come just to tailgate even if they don't have tickets to the game, so the roads can be more crowded for those games.

[Buccaneergirl]

mimikens- It was a total shock to go from living in Tampa to Melbourne! It is a much slower lifestyle here, so I would much rather do what you did, and go from Melbourne to Tampa. You must have loved it!!

I have to tell my birthday story........ I was in Sonoma, CA last week and guess who was staying at our hotel..... Ronde Barber! He spent time with DH and I and we took pics and he signed my Bucs hat (I just happen to have it w/me) and yes, it was my birthday! I have to say it was the most special B-day I have ever had (being that I'm a Bucs fanatic). Go Bucs!!