Last mile transport between train station and cruise terminal

[railiner]

Tampa is limited by the Sunshine bridge to having mostly older and mid-sized cruise ships, so there would likely be a lot more cruise passengers leaving there for the megaships out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, than the other way around…

 

[niemi24s]

Tampa is limited by the Sunshine bridge to having mostly older and mid-sized cruise ships, so there would likely be a lot more cruise passengers leaving there for the megaships out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, than the other way around…

While that may be so it's speculation. What's not speculation is that VacationsToGo shows 9 of 11 sailings out of Tampa the rest of this month are sold out: https://www.vacationstogo.com/ticker.cfm?incCT=y&d=315&sm=20245&tm=202412&pdm=1

Of course, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have more dock space to handle more ships at the same time, but Tampa's big advantage over most other cruise ports is the proximity of the Amtrak Station.

Those huge, newer, glitzy megaships are a big attraction to the younger generation, but for this octogenarian the classier smaller ships do just fine - as long as there's no drunk collegians or noisy rug rats aboard.

 

[UhClem]

...

Of course, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have more dock space to handle more ships at the same time, but Tampa's big advantage over most other cruise ports is the proximity of the Amtrak Station.

The last two cruises I took out of Florida, I got to via the Silver service to FTL and MIA. The terminals are as close or closer than the airports.
And one may learn the hard way, you don't want to depend on arriving on-time the day of departure. So arrive day before, take an Uber to an overnight stay, and board the ship the next day

One of the worse air travel episodes to the area, was a canceled flight first thing in the morning (already on the bus to the airport) which we spent the day waiting for an afternoon flight.

 

[blueman271]

The last two cruises I took out of Florida, I got to via the Silver service to FTL and MIA. The terminals are as close or closer than the airports.
And one may learn the hard way, you don't want to depend on arriving on-time the day of departure. So arrive day before, take an Uber to an overnight stay, and board the ship the next day

One of the worse air travel episodes to the area, was a canceled flight first thing in the morning (already on the bus to the airport) which we spent the day waiting for an afternoon flight.

Neither the Miami nor Ft Lauderdale Amtrak stations are closer to the cruise ports than the respective airports.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Neither the Miami nor Ft Lauderdale Amtrak stations are closer to the cruise ports than the respective airports.

There is also the factor that cruise lines generally provide an airport to cruise port transfer (for a price) whereas they rarely serve train stations, except maybe Penn Station NYC, do you are on your own if you arrive by train.

 

[cocojacoby]

In Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Amtrak arrives too late to transfer to the cruise ships anyway. We used to take Amtrak to Miami (Haleigh) and then stay overnight in a hotel near the airport. Several hotels offer a free shuttle to the cruiseports the morning after your overnight stay. That's the easiest and least stressful way to make the connection.

If Amtrak served the station at the Miami airport, that would make things even easier but we all know that story.

We have on occasion cruised out of Tampa and Jacksonville and that should allow plenty of time to make the connection both ways. We even had time to visit the zoo coming back from Jacksonville.

 

[UhClem]

Neither the Miami nor Ft Lauderdale Amtrak stations are closer to the cruise ports than the respective airports.

Sorry, I stand corrected. I should know better as I've actually done trips out of both. As cocojacoby comments, the trains don't arrive early enough. In each case, we arrived by train and took an Uber to an overnight stay. Usually a hotel with shuttle service to the cruise port. On the return, only the Star leaves late enough to catch same day. We did that last time, the only inconvenience is on the NYP end. On the other trip, we stayed over and caught the Meteor first thing in the morning.

I don't usually buy cruise line transfer services. You can do better on your own. The cruise line doesn't always do things right either. Come over to Cruise Critics for some stories.

My main point was the distance of the train station to port is not a major deciding factor for cruisers. The logistics and timing are. We all know on this board that most people don't even consider the train. I've been screwed by airlines too, so you have to pad your schedule.

 

[cirdan]

Tampa has no rail transit, other than the trolley which is mostly single-tracked. Even if they replaced the current replica historic cars with modern trams, there's no way it could move the crowd exiting from a ball game to the Channelside parking garages in a reasonable time.

Also, the trolley would have to go somewhere meaningful to be useful. Just ferrying passengers a few blocks and dropping them there is not going to make it an attractive alternative to driving.

There is also the factor that cruise lines generally provide an airport to cruise port transfer (for a price) whereas they rarely serve train stations, except maybe Penn Station NYC, do you are on your own if you arrive by train.

I agree. However Brightline seem to be working quite hard to tap into the cruise market and want to provide connections at the various ports they serve. This might spark a broader change in attitudes, affecting also the ports not served by Brightline.

 

[WWW]

cirdan - I am also a member at CruiseCritic and the horror stories of cruise vacations gone haywired are unnerving
enough with airline travel and even if one did plan think dream about using Amtrak as a method to connect to a
cruise schedule - - -
People people people - think again about being cheap trying to arrive just as the gangplank is removed from
your very expensive multi excursion planned down to a fine detail once in a lifetime cruise !
The cruise line MAY hold the ship for connection delays of its own design - - -
BUT you are on your own folly planning to arrive fashionably LATE - - -
Always plan to arrive at the cruise port a day early if possible to cancel out any unforeseen delays - - -

If the cruise line is offering airport to cruise terminal service the day of the cruise -
The day before plan on transportation from the train depot to stay at an airport hotel and use the hotels free shuttle the morning of the cruise to be at the airport location for that service.
Airport hotels may tend to be less expensive than some railroad downtown hotels ?
I do this all the time flying into the cruise port city the day before
On one occasion there were 3 bus loads of cruise folks using this service
Certainly the cruise line is going to wait for me and the 3 bus loads - no sweat - no stress and my cruise
starts with no stressing issues.