Priceline Hotel: Tampa Pre and Post cruise hotel needed. Also, taxi, shuttle or car rental?

[leighangela]

I need a hotel for one night before and one night after a Carnival cruise out of Tampa. I need to figure out where I should stay, but I don't really care as long as I can get it for $50 or less per night. (Edited to add: I guess I don't want to be in a dangerous area.) What is more important is how will I get from airport to hotel, hotel to cruise, etc?

Should I use a shuttle (in which case I can't really use priceline since not all hotels have shuttles for airport AND cruises), taxi or car rental? I'm leaning toward car rental if I can get a car for $25 or less for one day.

Basically I have about 24 hours in Tampa before and after the cruise, so I could maybe do a lot if I had a car. Do any of the airport car rentals offer free shuttle to the cruise port after car return?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

To begin, if you haven't yet, please read your messages.

As well, i'd suggest having a look at our companion site, Pre Cruise Hotels.

Please use separate threads for each leg of your stay.. we'll use this thread for your pre-cruise stay, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC for your post-cruise stay.

For your arrival... what is the date you need? What time does your plane arrive? Have you cruised before? Was there something specific that you were looking to do in Tampa?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[leighangela]

We arrive in Tampa on Sunday, May 13 at about 2 pm. I don't have anything special in mind for activities. Yes I cruised once before many years ago. Thanks, I'll look at that site!

[thereuare]

I'd propose that you won't have as much time as you think to 'explore' the area... if your plane lands at 2pm, it will likely be 3:00pm+ by the time you get your bags and check-in at your hotel. Most pre-cruise stays are a relaxing evening, dinner out, then head right to the pier the following morning (i always like being on the ship early and exploring before it gets too crowded with the full capacity of passengers for the upcoming week)

The Downtown zone is closest to the port, but you're less likely to land a hotel here with airport shuttle (and probably not pier shuttle either) but more likely to be within walking distance of restaurants, shops, etc. If you stay here you'll likely need to pay for taxis to the hotel and then from the hotel to the pier.

The Westshore-Airport TPA zone would likely (but not guaranteed) provide shuttle service from the airport to hotel, but then you would need to take a taxi to the pier the following day. In this area you stand a 'pretty good chance' of being within walking distance of a restaurant/shops, but obviously not guaranteed since you won't know the exact hotel/location until after purchase.

Personally i wouldn't bother with a rental car unless you had something specific in mind that you wanted to see/do in the area.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

[leighangela]

Well the way I see it, we've got about 9 hours to kill before bed time. Not much time to "explore," but enough time to do one fun thing and eat.

I found on the pre-cruise hotels site the 3-star Ramada Westshore Tampa Airport is about $56. Just read the reviews, nevermind.

But I assume there is nothing you can walk to there? How much would a taxi to downtown cost? I'm assuming a taxi downtown, back to the hotel, then to the cruise port would be more than a rental car.

Again, does anyone know if any airport car rental companies offer shuttles to the cruise port?

[thereuare]

But I assume there is nothing you can walk to there?

Where... the Westshore-Airport South zone? (or from the Ramada which you decided you don't want to stay in? If your budget is ~$50 your best option for a decent hotel is going to be PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, from there you'll have to to figure out what is nearby/walkable and if worth the expense of a rental car or not (or if it's even necessary)

Again, does anyone know if any airport car rental companies offer shuttles to the cruise port?

There are only 4-5 'major' rental companies... you could call each to see if they offer shuttle service from the airport to the cruise port ;)