Florida has several cruise ports where vacationers and locals alike can find a cruise to whisk them away for a few days. Port Canaveral, one of the larger, tourist-friendly ports on Florida's east coast, offers a myriad of cruises to fit every budget and desire.
Carnival Cruise Lines, based in Miami, offers several escapes. The cruises from Port Canaveral start at three-day cruises to the Bahamas, but can last as long as seven or eight days and take you to Belize, Roatan, and Mexico. Cruises from Port Canaveral start at under $200 (as of March 2010) and go up according to length of trip and destination.
A word of advice: Carnival rarely, if ever, has walk-on rates available, so book your cruise before you head out to the terminal.
Carnival Cruise Lines--Port Canaveral
9245 Charles Rowland Drive (Cruise Terminal #5)
9005 Charles Rowland Drive (Cruise Terminal #10)
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
888-227-6482
carnival.com
The Florida Keys, a sparkling trail of tiny islands that jump off mainland Florida at Miami, extend into the Gulf of Mexico south and west. If you have a day to spare, day cruises from the Florida Keys can show you some of the most remote parts of the state.
The Yankee Freedom takes you on a full-day adventure 70 miles off the coast of Key West to Fort Jefferson, part of the Dry Tortugas islands, and one of the nation's most remote national parks. Other than private vessels, only two boats and a handful of seaplanes take tourists to the park. Once on the island, you can explore the fort, snorkel along its outer edges, or just get some sun.
Fort Jefferson was the prison for Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after he shot President Lincoln. Mudd was released from prison after treating the prisoners and guards for malaria during an outbreak on the island.
Cruises on the Yankee Freedom cost roughly $160, as of early 2010.
Yankee Freedom
240 Margaret Street
Key West, FL 33040
305-294-7009
yankeefreedom.com
If you don't have the time or money to take a long cruise on your Florida vacation, consider a few hours on a local bay. Florida bays don't have much depth, so you can usually see a lot of wildlife. Dolphins, first sighted when an explorer named LeMoyne traversed Florida waters for the French crown in the mid-1500s, have a propensity for coming up to boats and checking out the passengers. Although the Federal Marine Mammal Act prevents anyone from feeding or harassing marine mammals like dolphins or manatees, that doesn't stop them from coming up to the side of the boat to see what's happening on board. The captains at Dolphin Landings have spent three decades cruising Boca Ciega Bay in their sailboats, and they offer their knowledge up to anyone who boards their fleet of sailboats. Other local wildlife includes sea turtles, osprey, terns, and bright pink roseate spoonbills.
Dolphin Landings offers two-hour dolphin watch trips, sunset sails, and four-hour cruises to local islands accessible only by boat. Trips start at $35 for adults (as of 2010), with various discounts.
Dolphin Landings Charter Boat Center
4737 Gulf Boulevard
St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
727-367-4488
dolphinlandings.com
