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Tampa’s Riverfront History Tour

History Cruises Return Fall 2024. 

Take a deep dive into Tampa’s history along the Hillsborough River with a Tampa Bay History Center docent. The 1-hour cruise will feature narration as well as viewing the sights of Downtown Tampa from the Pirate Water Taxi. The cruise will set sail from stop 7 located at the Tampa Convention Center where guests will cruise north to Armature Works. On the return trip the cruise will catch a glimpse of the Tampa Bay History Center before returning to Stop 7.

Departure Location : Tampa Convention Center ( Home Dock Stop #7 )

Cruise Length:  1 hour

Ticket Prices :

• Adult: $34.95
• 15-minute boarding, 1-hour cruise
• Tampa’s Riverfront History Narration
• Beer and wine available for purchase on board

Terms: Tickets for these cruises are NON-refundable AND NON-transferable. Customer may put reservation under another person’s name if they cannot make it.

Events are subject to change.

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Tampa History Cruise

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One of the most picturesque harbors in Florida, Tampa Harbor abounds with history on all sides. The waterfront features museums, shipyards and million dollar homes. See the Pirate ship “Gabriella” up close, view the most beautiful building in Tampa “the Plant Hotel” and learn how Tampa became a city.

Activity location

• 33602, Tampa, Florida, United States

Meeting/Redemption Point

• Fri, May 17 -
• Sat, May 18 -
• Sun, May 19 $31
• Mon, May 20 $31
• Tue, May 21 $31
• Wed, May 22 $31
• Thu, May 23 $31
• Fri, May 24 $31
• Sat, May 25 $31
• Sun, May 26 $31
• Mon, May 27 $31
• Tue, May 28 $31
• Wed, May 29 $31
• Thu, May 30 $31
• Fri, May 31 $31

4:00 pm Tampa History Cruise

• Activity duration is 1 hour and 30 minutes 1h 30m 1h 30m

Learn about how Tampa grew from a Spanish outpost to the fastest growing city in Florida, with 4,000 years of people living in this city. This tour takes you step by step through its evolution.

12:30pm Tampa History Cruise

What's included, what's not.

• What's included What's included History Cruise
• What's included What's included Soda/Pop
• What's included What's included Bottled water
• What's excluded What's excluded Parking
• What's excluded What's excluded Transportation to/from attraction
• What's excluded What's excluded Gratuities (optional}

Know before you book

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
• Children must be accompanied by an adult

Activity itinerary

Henry b. plant museum (pass by), tampa water taxi company (pass by), best deals on things to do, top experiences in tampa.

Tampa History Cruise

• What methods of transportation does the Tampa History Cruise use? Boat.
• Approximately how long does the Tampa History Cruise last? It lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

Tampa Water Taxi

• Pickup Locations
• History Tour
• Dolphin Tour
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TAMPA HARBOR & HISTORY TOUR

Please note: the meeting point for all tours is 801 old water st. these meeting location details will also be included in all purchase confirmation emails as well. google does not have our address correctly listed., with over 4000 years of people living in tampa, learn about how this city grew from a spanish outpost to the fastest growing city in florida..

This tour takes you step by step through the evolution. As you cruise along the waters in our roomy vessels, history unfolds all around you. Our guides have little known facts about our city and share them with you. Many locals have said "I have lived here all my life, and I did not know that about Tampa." When you leave our tour you will know more than most of the locals! Being one of the picturesque harbors in Florida, Tampa harbor abounds with history on all sides. The waterfront features museums, shipyards, and million dollar homes. See the Pirate ship, Gabriella, up close and learn our pirate history. Ask or guides, "what's a pirate beard in Tampa?" You will be surprised by the answer. View the most beautiful building in Tampa, The Plant Hotel. Learn how Tampa became a city, and who made it happen.

HARBOR & HISTORY TOUR

Tour length - 1.5 hours

9:00am, 12:30pm, 5:30pm

Please, call for a separate time.

$29 per person

813-900-3288 801 Old Water St.

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Tampa now homeports eight vessels from five cruise lines: Offering the variety of 4, 5, 7,   10, 11   and 14-day cruise itineraries. 

Why choose anywhere but Tampa?

As any itinerary planner knows, cruises provide guests with a unique and wonderful way to explore the world, allowing them to continuously move between beautiful locations and make memories that will last a lifetime. Every port of call on an itinerary plays a vital role in creating an enjoyable cruise experience, but what about the homeport?

Embarkation is as crucial to the overall cruise experience as the ship, its onboard amenities and the itinerary of picturesque ports. A homeport that is easy to navigate, and provides a variety of unique and interesting activities just steps from the ship? Now that’s an attractive prospect for guests. And that’s exactly what cruise operators and their itinerary planners will find at Port Tampa Bay on Florida’s West Coast.

Positive impressions start from the moment the cruise guests arrive at the modern, award-winning Tampa International Airport. The airport is a convenient 15-minute drive from the Channelside District in Downtown Tampa, which enables travellers to get a view of the water and soak up the Florida vibe and sunshine before they arrive at one of the three cruise terminals.

But that’s just the beginning. One of the growing trends both cruise lines and their itinerary planners are seeing is an increase in the number of guests who are interested in extending their cruise by enjoying the pre- and post-cruise activities in the homeport city.

Tampa is ideally suited for catering to this trend, given that it is located between some of the world’s most popular theme parks (including Busch Gardens in Tampa) and acclaimed beaches with crystal-clear waters in the cities of Clearwater and St. Pete Beach. In addition, guests are just steps from the sights, sounds and experiences of Downtown Tampa. The district is a destination in itself, thanks to attractions like the Florida Aquarium, Sparkman Wharf, new shops and restaurants on Water Street, the unique Ybor City (Tampa’s Latin Quarter) and Downtown Tampa’s Riverwalk, which has spectacular views and is close to eateries and nightlife. 

Port Tampa Bay and the city’s tight network of forward-thinking tourism organisations work together to provide cruise lines’ itinerary planners with the high-quality services they need to help their guests make the most of these tourist attractions during their time in Tampa. For example, Visit Tampa Bay (the city’s tourism agency) collaborates closely with Port Tampa Bay and Tampa International Airport to assist itinerary planners with transportation options that can handle all sizes of guest groups.

Multiple cruise lines have already reaped the benefits of homeporting their ships at Port Tampa Bay. Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Paradise and Carnival Pride, Royal Caribbean International’s Radiance of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas, Celebrity Cruises' Constellation,  Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jade and Margaritaville at Seas' Islander all sail out of the city, enabling cruise travellers to explore multiple destinations across the Caribbean and Central America.

To learn more about the various destinations our cruise partners sail to, visit our Cruise Destinations page. 

• Pre-Pay For Parking bit.ly/porttbpark

Moffitt Cancer Center at Port Tampa Bay

Port Tampa Bay is proud to partner with Moffitt Cancer Center on a new community outreach and education center. Health care professionals, community leaders and advocates who are committed to making a difference in the fight against cancer have a new location to better connect with the Tampa Bay area community. Moffitt Cancer Center at Port Tampa Bay is located in the busy Water Street district across from The Florida Aquarium at Port Tampa Bay’s Cruise Terminal 2.

June is right around the corner, which means it’s time to prepare for summertime truths. Hurricane season looms, science fiction-style bugs will scamper into the house and most of us will be captive inside a Target during at least one thunderstorm.

But please be aware of the biggest seasonal risk: Rapidly increasing temperatures will render a bunch of sensitive adults extra fussy, much like babies who have dropped their pacifiers but do not yet have the vocabulary to ask for help.

The thing that will really push these grown toddlers over the edge? Rainbows. Yes, rainbows. The resplendent Roy G. Biv himself will force a certain faction of unsettlingly large infants into a jumbo Pack ‘N Play reserved for sniveling wah-wah sadsie pants.

It’s crucial this June to take care of the snowflakes in your life. That’s because June is Pride month in America, marking a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community and acknowledging the ongoing struggle for rights in commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. This observance, as you may know, often comes alongside a variety of rainbow imagery. It does not insist that anyone turn gay, despite what a nearby stack of three kindergarteners inside a trench coat might tell you.

June means rainbow flags will appear on lawns, on storefronts and in parades, often with no adequate trigger warnings! Corporations will change Instagram avatars without prior approval from the government! Indeed, it’s going to be a challenging month for swaddled newborns agitated by the presence of many colors all in a row.

Those petulant bundles of joy are already fully activated. Take the Sunshine Skyway bridge , Tampa Bay’s most recognizable symbol of connectedness, a bustling thoroughfare that touches several counties. For the past three years, the Florida Department of Transportation has lit the bridge with a rainbow motif for one week in June.

But this year, as the Tampa Bay Times has reported , Manatee County Commission Chairperson Mike Rahn disapproved of this prismatic harbinger of human understanding. He also objected to a color scheme promoting National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and, wow. Imagine making part of your platform … tamping down gun violence awareness.

Now, you’re asking: “I know rainbow fear is a real thing, and I respect these giant preschoolers’ need for additional sensitivity. But how can one moppet’s opinion bring down an entire community event?”

Great question, because it’s not really supposed to work that way. Pride advocates and our reporter have tried to ask for explanations, greeted in return by the sounds of crickets chirping in a moonlit field.

You see, the department entertains requests for bridge colors around all sorts of causes, holidays and international affairs. This summer, though, that’s all out. Florida bridges will cast red, white and blue lights from Memorial Day to Labor Day in honor of Freedom Summer, a sales tax holiday that takes place in July, as it is important to consistently bring awareness to sales tax breaks.

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This is not the first rainbow bridge dustup in Florida, which has a history of Pride-related waffling . In 2021, the state’s transportation agency denied three requests to display rainbow lights on bridges in Jacksonville, Sarasota and Tampa Bay, before eventually relenting .

This latest opaque and frankly weird move does fit with the state’s recent behavior, that of a VPK student who refuses to nap after demolishing four Uncrustables. State officials have sloppily fingerpainted over all things approaching nonhetero ever since Gov. Ron DeSantis made playground bullying a central tenet of his failed run for president.

So, irritable nestlings can rest easy. As they cruise over Florida’s bridges this summer, they will not be forced to gaze upon any color scheme involving pink and indigo. They will not have to consider any diversity of existence, nor complex histories of persecution. Their kids, too, can stay blissfully protected from the danger of witnessing rainbow bridges, both this kind and the kind our pets cross when they die, which is an additional bonus because talking about death is also hard, and the goal this summer is to turn the focus toward a 6% savings on coolers, tackle boxes and small grills. A safe space.

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Stephanie Hayes is a columnist offering her thoughts on current events, life and culture. She can be reached at [email protected].

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F1’s Imola track breakdown: A classic circuit steeped in tragedy and triumph

Formula One fans, you know what time it is .

The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix became a meme during the 2023 race week, with fans, teams and journalists poking fun at the lengthy name. While the sponsor seems to have changed this year (from Qatar Airways to MSC Cruises), the official name remains a doozy — Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna. (The race ultimately was canceled due to flooding in the Emilia Romagna region.)

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This is one of F1 ’s two races in Italy and takes place at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, more commonly known as Imola. The track rests around 45 kilometers (roughly 28 miles) east of Bologna and is renowned as a classic circuit with a complicated history. It runs counterclockwise and has a brisk, flowing nature.

Enzo Ferrari was on hand when construction began in 1950, and later described in his book how the circuit could become similar to a famed German track: “A small Nürburgring – I repeated that day looking around – a small Nürburgring, with equal technical resources, spectacular and an ideal path length. This belief has been achieved through the decades that have passed since then.”

Before it’s time for “lights out and away we go,” here’s what you need to know about the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, a track marked with history and tragedy.

Longstanding ties with speed

This area of Italy has long been associated with speed, dating back to 80 BC when the Romans built a large amphitheater called the Forum Cornelii that probably included gladiator chariot racing.

The idea of a motor racing circuit in the area didn’t emerge until the 1940s. Ferrari had a presence as planning for the track was underway. As he wrote in his book, “My first contact with Imola dates back to the spring of 1948. I thought from the first moment that this hilly environment could one day become a small Nürburgring due to the natural difficulties that building the road belt would have to cross, thus offering a truly selective path for men and machines.” Nürburgring is an incredibly technical track in Germany , with some parts being blind and tight.

Construction for Imola began in May 1950, and the first testing session occurred two years later, in October. The original layout took drivers along the Santerno River to Tosa (Turn 7) uphill to what we know as Piratella and Acque Minerali. Then, the track descends towards Rivazza. In 1970, the circuit was renamed Autodromo Dino Ferrari in honor of Enzo Ferrari’s son, who died in 1956. When Enzo died, his name was added.

Motorcycles were some of the first races at the track, but a race with F1 rules took place in the 1960s. As time passed, smaller changes were made. The first extensive revision came in 1972 and 1974 when two different chicanes were constructed in an attempt to slow speeds heading into Rivazza. The track used public and private roads throughout these early years, but it became a permanent facility in the 1970s.

F1 held a non-championship race at Imola in 1979, and it officially joined the championship calendar the following season.

Tragedy triggers change

Safety concerns remained prevalent at Imola even with the chicane additions over the years. A chicane’s series of tight corners is meant to help slow down the vehicles. However, one portion of the track, in particular, caused the most concern — Tamburello. It’s a fairly narrow location with little area between the track and the wall.

Nelson Piquet crashed and was injured at this turn in 1987. Two years later, Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari caught on fire after he crashed into the wall that separates the circuit from the river. Then came 1994, an injury-filled and deadly race weekend for F1.

It started with Rubens Barrichello’s wreck on Friday, when he suffered relatively light injuries, considering the impact. On Saturday, Roland Ratzenberger died when he crashed at Villeneuve (which is around what we know as Turns 5 and 6). Fans were injured on race day by debris from a collision. Then Ayrton Senna ran off the track after a few laps, crashing at Tamburello. The three-time world champion suffered fatal injuries, dying on May 1, 1994.

Imola underwent a massive overhaul. Tamburello and Villeneuve were changed, run-off improved across the circuit, some corners were tightened, and Acque Minerali (Turns 11, 12, 13) became a corner again, though with run-off.

F1 continued racing at Imola for the next decade, but the San Marino Grand Prix was dropped from the slate after 2006, unless facility improvements were made. Though F1 left the region, bikes and sports cars raced there over the years, and Hermann Tilke was involved with the modernization of the track. It wasn’t until 2011 that Imola was awarded Grade 1 status again after it was resurfaced (a necessary step for F1 to compete again at a circuit). Even so, the series didn’t return until the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic-affected season.

The annual F1 race at Imola is now known as the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Points of interest

Imola is a narrow track with limited overtaking opportunities but has a lengthy DRS zone. Track position is critical for this race, which makes qualifying even more important. That being said, Pirelli has opted to go softer with the tire compounds for this weekend, which could lead to a variety of strategies.

Some tweaks have been made over the years, like installing a few double curbs and reducing the asphalt run-off at a few locations, but the circuit largely remains unchanged. Here are a few points of interest to keep an eye on, mixed with some history.

Variante Tamburello: Turns 2, 3, 4

A statue of Senna honors the Brazilian champion at this portion of the track. It has been 30 years since he died. This area of the track layout was changed into a chicane after his death, and curb usage and precision are keen as drivers exit onto the short straight.

Variante Villeneuve: Turns 5 and 6

Another monument, honoring Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve, rests here. He suffered a puncture and heavily crashed here during the 1980 F1 race but was unhurt.

Piratella (Turn 9) and Acque Minerali (Turns 11, 12, 13) 

These corners are said to have an old-school feel. Daniil Kvyat once said, “An F1 car through corners like Acque Minerali – the entrance is so fast, it’s so cool. It really gives you a lot of adrenaline.”

It’s a climb through the hills to Piratella, but then the terrain drops as drivers speed towards Acque Minerali. They need to nail their braking just right through this portion as they ready for Sector 3. The one and only DRS detection zone comes just after Turn 15, after all.

Rivazza: Turns 17 and 18 

Essentially, it’s a U-turn. This sequence features two left-hand 90-degree turns and is a potential overtaking position before the drivers head towards the only DRS zone or the pits.

(Track video courtesy of EA Sports F1 —  learn more about “ F1 24″ here . Top photo design: Drew Jordan/The Athletic)

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Madeline Coleman is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Formula One. Prior to joining The Athletic, she served as a writer and editor on Sports Illustrated’s breaking and trending news team. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow Madeline on Twitter @ mwc13_3

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Tampa’s Riverfront History Tour [SOLD OUT]

May 5 @ 4:45 pm - 6:00 pm.

Take a deep dive into Tampa’s history along the Hillsborough River with a Tampa Bay History Center docent. The 1-hour cruise will feature narration as well as viewing the sights of Downtown Tampa from the Pirate Water Taxi. The cruise will set sail from stop 7 located at the Tampa Convention Center where guests will cruise north to Armature Works. On the return trip the cruise will catch a glimpse of the Tampa Bay History Center before returning to Stop 7.

Docent : Mary Jo Shenk, a graduate of Florida State University and a 10-year docent at the Tampa Bay History Center, has lived in Tampa for more than five decades. She has rich, personal memories of early encounters with some of Tampa’s most notorious historical residents, with interesting stories to tell. Mary Jo also volunteers at St. John’s Episcopal Church as well as the Tampa Garden Club.

Cruise Time: Board/mingle with Docent:  4:45 PM , Cruise 5-6 PM

Departure Location : Tampa Convention Center ( Home Dock Stop #7 )

Cruise Length:  1 hour

• 15-minute boarding, 1-hour cruise
• Tampa’s Riverfront History Narration
• Beer and wine are available for purchase on board

Terms:  Tickets for these cruises are NON-refundable AND NON-transferable. Customers may put reservations under another person’s name if they cannot make it.

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**Galleries are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas and open until 3 p.m. on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

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**First responders and veterans may receive discounted admission at Visitor Services.

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The History Center provides a dramatic and historic backdrop for your wedding, wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. Give your wedding a unique Tampa flair your guests will remember for a lifetime.

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Are you looking for a one-of-a-kind Tampa experience for your next corporate event or convention party? Are you a meeting planner looking for a unique setting to host a board retreat or employee function? Located within walking distance of downtown hotels, the History Center is perfect for your next corporate event.

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