Ah, the romance of the open seas. Salty breeze in your face, wind trusling your hair as you journey to exotic ports of call. Places with names like "Cozumel" and "Playa del Carmen," bathed in warm water and sunlight, and crammed with gift shops hawking shot glasses, cheap jewelry and three T-shirts for $10. Sure, we've got beaches here, but this is where we live. Sometimes you just got to get away.
And that's where the Port of Tampa is looking to make a mark. Long known to locals mostly as a weekend watering hole (Channelside) and a huge "if you build it they will come" real estate experiment, the port also provides the Bay area's economic heartbeat. About 50 million tons of cargo will move through the port this year, with all those tube socks and plasma TVs ending up in the hands of the more than 7 million people living within 100 miles of the facility.
For cruising, however, Tampa has long played little brother to the "cruise capital of the world," the Port of Miami. More than 4 million landlubbers sailed out of Miami in 2006, compared with just under a million in Tampa. Though cruise service has been offered from the Port of Tampa since 1994, growth quickened after 1998's expansion of Garrison Seaport Center Terminal 2 and 2002's opening of an all-new third terminal. Terminal 3 in turn spawned Channelside and the aquarium, which have made the area attractive to commercial and real estate developers.
The Port of Tampa currently plays host to four big boats from three cruise providers. Carnival Cruise Line double-dips with its 70,000-ton Inspiration and 88,500-ton Legend luxury liners. Royal Caribbean home-ports the 74,000-ton Grandeur of the Seas and Holland America the 56,000-ton Veendam in Tampa. While bigger doesn't necessarily mean better, a larger ship can mean less queasiness for the weak of stomach if the seas turn angry. And if you're worried about catching the Norwalk virus, which gained notoriety in 2006 after 679 people (about 17 percent of the passengers) caught the bug during a trans-Atlantic crossing on the Carnival Liberty, you can relax. A quick scan of news reports on Norwalk from the last few years indicates that you're just as likely to catch it in restaurants and hospitals as on cruise ships.
Picking a cruise that works for you is largely dependent on your answers to three questions: Where do you want to go, what do you want to do while you're on the way, and how much can you afford? All four boats departing Tampa service destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, with trips running anywhere from four to 14 days and costing a few hundred to several thousand dollars per person. Each boat offers different amenities (see below), but across the board you can expect gambling (everything from bingo to fully loaded casinos), Vegas-style shows and enough food to feed the cast of The Biggest Loser for a decade. In general, it's worth it to pony up the extra cash for a room with a view (or better yet a private balcony), but if claustrophobia isn't a concern, the interior rooms are just as nice, at a substantially lower price.
No matter the ship you choose or the exotic ports of call it visits, what you are really paying for is an escape — from work, from the ghastly traffic, from life in general. And when fight or flight does kick in, you can't beat the convenience of having the escape vessel parked right downtown.
Here's the rundown on the four ginormous ships that call the Port of Tampa home:
Inspiration
Carnival Cruise Line
Tonnage: 70,367
Length: 855 feet
Capacity: 2,052
Year placed into service: 1996
Onboard amenities: 1,200-guest theater, multiple dining rooms, Internet cafe, full-service casino, onboard library, dance club, piano bar, duty-free shopping
Ports of Call: Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Price: $349-$799 for four- and five-day trips
Website: Carnival.com
Fun fact: Don't let her age fool you; the Inspiration had a major refurbishment in 2005 that included décor improvements, stateroom upgrades (flat-screen TVs, porcelain sinks) and complete deck renovations.
Grandeur of the Seas
Royal Caribbean International
Tonnage: 74,000
Length: 916 feet
Capacity: 2,446
Year placed into service: 1996
Onboard amenities: Full-service spa, six whirlpools, outdoor jogging track, eight bars, rock-climbing wall, full-service casino, shuffle board, duty-free shopping
Ports of Call: Key West, Fla.; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya, Mexico; Yucatan (Progreso), Mexico
Price: $329-$1399 for four- and five-day cruises
Website: Royalcaribbean.com
Fun fact: Schedule your next meeting in the onboard conference center. Don't worry, they'll provide the overhead projector, flipchart and easel. How you escape your co-workers for the rest of the trip is up to you.
Legend
Carnival Cruise Line
Tonnage: 88,500
Length: 963
Capacity: 2,124
Year placed into service: 2002
Onboard amenities: 1,200-capacity theater, dance club, The Dream Team Bar ("a paean to sports greats from the past"), piano bar, casino, video game arcade, karaoke, multiple restaurants and cafes, duty-free shopping mall, "high-tech" golf instruction, ample activities for the kids
Ports of Call: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize; Roatan Island, Honduras
Prices: $799-$1299 for seven-day package
Website: Carnival.com
Fun fact: 80 percent of the staterooms have a view of the water, and 80 percent of those have private balconies.
Veendam
Holland America Line
Tonnage: 55,758
Length: 720 feet
Capacity: 1,258
Year placed into service: 1996
Onboard amenities: Outdoor pool deck, multiple restaurants including the two-tiered Rotterdam Dining Room, fitness center, casino, duty-free shopping mall
Ports of Call: Key West, Florida; Belize City, Belize; Santo Tomas de Castilla; Roatan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico
Prices: $843-$4220 for eight-day package
Website: Hollandamerica.com
Fun Fact: The boat was dedicated by actress and Carrie Fisher-mama Debbie Reynolds.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2008.