Ports of Embarkation

[Sue Mullen]

Rosalie B. wrote:


> We disembarked once in Tampa and the hassle caused my husband to say
> he was never going cruising again, which he has never said about
> Miami. Maybe it is better now than it was then (2007), but I would
> never be able to get him to go to Tampa to get on a cruise ship now.

We cruised out of Tampa last year and will be doing it again in a few
days. We found Tampa and the port to be good to deal with. Last time we
stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle from airport to hotel and then from
hotel to the cruise pier. When we disembarked we had no problem getting
a cab to the airport.

This time we are at a hotel that doesn't have a shuttle, so will be
using taxis. When we disembark we will take a taxi to the airport to
pick up our rental car.

We found Tampa to work very well and the people were very friendly.

What was it that you didn't like about Tampa?

sue

[Sue Mullen]

Rosalie B. wrote:
> Sue Mullen <kjmullen@************> wrote:
>
>>
>> Rosalie B. wrote:
>>
>>
>>> We disembarked once in Tampa and the hassle caused my husband to say
>>> he was never going cruising again, which he has never said about
>>> Miami. Maybe it is better now than it was then (2007), but I would
>>> never be able to get him to go to Tampa to get on a cruise ship now.
>> We cruised out of Tampa last year and will be doing it again in a few
>> days. We found Tampa and the port to be good to deal with. Last time we
>> stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle from airport to hotel and then from
>> hotel to the cruise pier. When we disembarked we had no problem getting
>> a cab to the airport.
>>
>> This time we are at a hotel that doesn't have a shuttle, so will be
>> using taxis. When we disembark we will take a taxi to the airport to
>> pick up our rental car.
>>
>> We found Tampa to work very well and the people were very friendly.
>>
>> What was it that you didn't like about Tampa?
>>
> It was the disembarkation which was totally screwed up by the ship
> (not the port necessarily).
>
> We were told to be out of our rooms by 8 and we got back from
> breakfast 5 minutes late and the beds were already stripped. We went
> to wait for our time to leave - we had no schedule of when various
> color tags were to be called. We waited in the theatre and had to
> listen to CNN on the TV (and they repeat stuff over and over) for two
> hours. The ladies room had lines and when you got there, there was no
> TP. When our color was finally called (and we were not the last), the
> line getting off the ship snaked across and back and up and down
> before we could get our bags. Bob and I got separated by the crowds
> (and the fact that I moved slower than he did) in the terminal and he
> bought a bus ticket to go to the airport before I could tell him that
> I had something else in mind..
>
> This was just another instance of the basic screw ups on this ship,
> which we did not like.
>
> After we got out of the terminal, the ride to the airport was short,
> but we had to get a porter in the airport to figure out how to get
> from where the bus dropped us to the car rental place.

Thanks, sounds like typical disembarkation. A real pain, but not a big
deal. Most cruise lines you have to be out of your cabin by 8am, but
they usually don't mind if you leave your carry ons there and they work
around them.

sue

[Rosalie B.]

Sue Mullen <kjmullen@************> wrote:

>
>
>Rosalie B. wrote:
>> Sue Mullen <kjmullen@************> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Rosalie B. wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> We disembarked once in Tampa and the hassle caused my husband to say
>>>> he was never going cruising again, which he has never said about
>>>> Miami. Maybe it is better now than it was then (2007), but I would
>>>> never be able to get him to go to Tampa to get on a cruise ship now.
>>> We cruised out of Tampa last year and will be doing it again in a few
>>> days. We found Tampa and the port to be good to deal with. Last time we
>>> stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle from airport to hotel and then from
>>> hotel to the cruise pier. When we disembarked we had no problem getting
>>> a cab to the airport.
>>>
>>> This time we are at a hotel that doesn't have a shuttle, so will be
>>> using taxis. When we disembark we will take a taxi to the airport to
>>> pick up our rental car.
>>>
>>> We found Tampa to work very well and the people were very friendly.
>>>
>>> What was it that you didn't like about Tampa?
>>>
>> It was the disembarkation which was totally screwed up by the ship
>> (not the port necessarily).
>>
>> We were told to be out of our rooms by 8 and we got back from
>> breakfast 5 minutes late and the beds were already stripped. We went
>> to wait for our time to leave - we had no schedule of when various
>> color tags were to be called. We waited in the theatre and had to
>> listen to CNN on the TV (and they repeat stuff over and over) for two
>> hours. The ladies room had lines and when you got there, there was no
>> TP. When our color was finally called (and we were not the last), the
>> line getting off the ship snaked across and back and up and down
>> before we could get our bags. Bob and I got separated by the crowds
>> (and the fact that I moved slower than he did) in the terminal and he
>> bought a bus ticket to go to the airport before I could tell him that
>> I had something else in mind..
>>
>> This was just another instance of the basic screw ups on this ship,
>> which we did not like.
>>
>> After we got out of the terminal, the ride to the airport was short,
>> but we had to get a porter in the airport to figure out how to get
>> from where the bus dropped us to the car rental place.
>
>Thanks, sounds like typical disembarkation. A real pain, but not a big
>deal. Most cruise lines you have to be out of your cabin by 8am, but
>they usually don't mind if you leave your carry ons there and they work
>around them.
>
It wasn't typical for us. Every other time it has been much easier
and nicer.

This was the only ship that we have been on to date (10 other cruises)
that we could not wait in our cabins and use our own bathroom (and
control what we watched on TV) until we were called. Also it was the
only time when we had to wait so long to get off the ship and the only
time when we didn't have some kind of schedule so that we knew
approximately how long it would be.. We have never had a flight to
catch after the disembarkation, so it wasn't that.

[Sue Mullen]

Rosalie B. wrote:
> Sue Mullen <kjmullen@************> wrote:

>> Rosalie B. wrote:

>> We found Tampa to work very well and the people were very friendly.
>>
>> What was it that you didn't like about Tampa?
>>
> It was the disembarkation which was totally screwed up by the ship
> (not the port necessarily).
>
> We were told to be out of our rooms by 8 and we got back from
> breakfast 5 minutes late and the beds were already stripped. We went
> to wait for our time to leave - we had no schedule of when various
> color tags were to be called. We waited in the theatre and had to
> listen to CNN on the TV (and they repeat stuff over and over) for two
> hours. The ladies room had lines and when you got there, there was no
> TP. When our color was finally called (and we were not the last), the
> line getting off the ship snaked across and back and up and down
> before we could get our bags. Bob and I got separated by the crowds
> (and the fact that I moved slower than he did) in the terminal and he
> bought a bus ticket to go to the airport before I could tell him that
> I had something else in mind..
>
> This was just another instance of the basic screw ups on this ship,
> which we did not like.
>
> After we got out of the terminal, the ride to the airport was short,
> but we had to get a porter in the airport to figure out how to get
> from where the bus dropped us to the car rental place.

We just got off the Grandeur last Thursday. The night before
disembarkation we were given a paper telling us what time each color
would be disembarking, what lounge to be in and to be there shortly
before our color would be called. The only issue we had that morning was
that at a little after 7am there was a huge line waiting to get into the
dining room for breakfast. The restrooms were a bit more busy then
normal, but no long lines or waiting time.

When we got downstairs our luggage was all together and our porter took
us through customs and then to the shuttle van we were using. When the
shuttle van dropped us off at the airport, he told us how to get to the
car rental place and the signs inside the terminal were easy to follow.
Since all our luggage has wheels, we did not use a porter at the airport.

We will be writing a review later in the week and will give more details
then.

sue

[Sue Mullen]

gmbeasley@*************** wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:25:35 -0500, Sue Mullen <kjmullen@************>
> wrote:
>
> Sounds like they have their act together more now. I think our
> disembarkation in Tampa was their first at that port.

That would explain a lot!

sue - back to unpacking, laundry, bills, computer stuff etc.