Port Tampa Bay — Attraction in Tampa

I had an absolutely appalling experience with Port of Tampa Bay Parking. I prepaid for a specific lot, only to find it closed when I arrived. As a disabled individual, I was forced to park in the Channelside Garage, which required a much longer walk. When I requested accommodations, I was told to either walk or pay extra for valet. To make matters worse, I was given conflicting information about a shuttle that apparently didn’t exist.

The parking attendant’s dismissive comment, "I can see you're fine," was both insulting and discriminatory. This blatant disregard for ADA compliance and the needs of disabled individuals is unacceptable. The entire experience was disorganized, poorly managed, and showed a shocking lack of professionalism and empathy.

Port of Tampa Bay Parking should be ashamed of this failure to accommodate and support their patrons, especially those with disabilities. Until they address their policies, communication, and training, I’d advise others to avoid this...

We chose the Channelside Parking Garage at Port of Tampa Bay because we remembered it being across the street from the cruise terminals. But that was five years ago. The Port offices didn’t move. Just the ships. We did not realize that Royal Caribbean’s ships were way down on the other side of the Aquarium. Past Carnival’s ships.

It was a little over a 6/10 of a mile walk through Aquarium crowds with heavy suitcases to Rhapsody of the Seas. It just felt farther & linger in the heat of midday. Once we got to the ship, which meant maneuvering through Carnival Cruise Lines’ cruisers & porters, it was easier than we anticipated. We made mental notes of closer, less expensive places to park in the future - if they don’t move the ships again. When we came back from the cruise, we saw a sign for $50 cruise parking in our garage, and we paid $70 plus tax. So not sure what the best deal is!

At the terminal, it was quick and easy to check in. Everyone was friendly...

We just disembarked from our cruise and we have a blind man with us (family member) We were working him towards the escalator (because believe it or not blind people can do things like that especially when they have people helping) and the old woman working with allied security at the bottom of the escalator YELLED AT HIM LIKE A DOG saying “NO! NO! GET DOWN!”. I swear she made kissy noises to get his attention. They made him go down the elevator with half of our group while the other half went down the escalator. The elevator group got way behind us and they wouldn’t let us stop because we had to “KEEP MOVING! DO NOT STOP”. After the elevator got down, my uncle was guiding our blind man and THE ALLIED SECURITY PEOPLE KEPT YELLING AT MY UNCLE FOR TRYING TO GUIDE HIM. Eventually the REAL security came over and told the allied security people to shut up. We will probably be calling someone about this because it was absolutely dehumanizing...