Privacy Policy

PRIVACY

I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site tampabayvacations.blogspot.com. The following discloses how I gather and disseminate information for this blog.


LOG FILES AND STATS

Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in my case, Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (ip) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (isp), referring,exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user's movement, and gather broad demographics. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

COOKIES

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. Some of the advertisers on this site use cookies. I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.

LINKS

This blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this blog.

ADVERTISERS

I use outside advertisers to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertisers. I do not have access to this information. I work with the following advertiser...Google Adsense. Please check the advertisers websites for their respective privacy policies.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any concerns please contact Rick at stevensray23@yahoo.com. This privacy policy updated June 2008.

March 26, 2009

Update to Privacy Policy:

* Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.
* Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.
* Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

You can find additional information in Appendix A of the NAI Self-Regulatory principles for publishers (PDF)http://www.networkadvertising.org/pdfs/NAI_principles.pdf

Vacation Packages for Disney World

It's summertime, the kids are out of school and as parents we want our kids to have a memorable summer vacation. But, these days with the price of gas almost equaling a car payment we have to do some real budgeting to afford a quality vacation. Not to take anything away from our Tampa Bay vacations, the number one vacation destination is Disney World in Orlando. Vacation packages for Disney World are available everywhere you turn. Some look like a bargain until you read the fine print. I'm not offering vacation packages for Disney World but, if you look here you will learn how to reduce the cost of your vacation by more than half. Why pay full price for everything when an ex-employee can show you how to get the same value for a third of the price?

Disney World is an absolutely great place for your vacation. On it's 27,000 acres are numerous 5 star resorts, restaurants, and most of all, the number of theme filled attractions all accessible by the Disney monorail system running all through the property. Although a Disney World vacation comes at a price, you can learn how to have and enjoy a great time and save yourself hundreds if not thousands of your hard earned dollars at the same time. Vacation packages for Disney World don't have to be expensive to be enjoyable. As you walk around this enormous park taking in all of the sights, sounds, and attractions, relax with the knowledge that "I'm enjoying all of this for about two thirds less than what that family over there is paying."

Thank you for taking a few minutes of your time to look at our vacation packages for Disney World. Have a great time.

Caladesi State Park/Fort Desoto Park

After coming in at number two for the past 2 years, Caladesi Island State Park was ranked number one on Dr. Beach's list of America's best beaches. Dr. Beach, (otherwise known as Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida International University's Laboratory for Coastal Research), made the announcement Thursday May 22 on MSNBC. While this a first for Caladesi State Park it is the second time a Tampa Bay area beach has reached the top spot.

Fort Desoto Park was ranked as the number one beach destination in 2005. Although the park was retired from Dr. Beach's list after 2005, Fort Desoto Park was named the number one beach in America this year by TripAdvisor.

Tampa Bay area beaches have the distinction of being the only community in Florida to have two beaches ranked number one in the country. Tampa Bay beaches routinely rank in the top 10 on Dr. Beach's list, which he has been putting together since 1991. Quality of sand, water cleanliness, size of waves, and presence of wildlife are just some of the 50 different criteria he uses in his selection process. Beach safety plays an important role in achieving high rankings.

There are no paved roads on Caladesi State Park and the island is accessible only by boat or ferry. Cabana rentals, a cafe and marina are some of the amenities on the island. The island itself is an undeveloped barrier island, with its palm trees and mangrove strands giving visitors a glimpse at long ago coastal Florida. The 600-acre island is located in the Gulf of Mexico about two miles off Dunedin, Florida.

For a taste of what Florida was before the condiminium invasion, schedule a daytrip to Caladesi State Park.

Tampa Bay Vacations-Tampa

My wife likes to say, Tampa is a workingman's town. She's from Pittsburgh so she would know. Those of us fortunate enough to live here however, appreciate everything we have in the form of entertainment. Your Tampa Bay vacation won't be complete without taking in downtown Tampa.

Beautiful Busch Gardens is a must see for anyone visiting the Tampa Bay area. Especially if it's your first visit. The park, offering great thrill rides, one of North America's largest zoos, live entertainment, and the "Budweiser Clydesdale Horses", is open 365 days a year. Any single-day ticket offers a 2nd visit for free. Florida residents purchasing a single-day ticket have access to the park all year for the price of the single ticket. Adventure Island, conveniently located next door to Busch Gardens, is a water park offering 16 different water attractions, including an enormous 17,000 square foot wave pool for you to try out your surfing skills.

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino, located just off interstate 4 in downtown Tampa, is a complete Tampa Bay vacation resort with over 3200 video slot and poker machines along with a 50 table live-action poker room. The casino recently received their shipment of Vegas-style slot machines. Larger, not to mention more frequent payoffs await your visit to the Hard Rock. Coming this summer, live action card games including Blackjack, Pai-Gow poker and many more table games. (The casino is in the process of hiring 3600 dealers to accomodate the new games. If you're interested in a new career or looking to make a move, Tampa is a great place to live,work, and play.) Seven different restaurants are scattered thruout the resort with everything from deli sandwiches to full course dinners.


If major league sports is your thing, we have the Buccaneers in the NFL, the Lightning hockey team in the NHL, and the Rays major league baseball team. Schedule your Tampa Bay vacation around one of these teams to enhance your enjoyment of our town. Live horse racing is offered December thru Kentucky Derby weekend in May, at Tampa Bay Downs, for those of you who enjoy placing a bet on the horses. Live action poker and simulcast race betting is available year-round.

To many things to do in Tampa to list on one page. You're gonna need more than a week while on your Tampa Bay vacation, to take in everything our area has to offer. Those of us living here enjoy our visitors, (so we can brag about being locals), and hope you make a vacation to Tampa Bay an annual affair.

Tampa Bay Vacations-Clearwater Beach

Clearwater Beach is geared toward the college/party crowd. Just a few miles north of St. Petersburg, but it's a whole different atmosphere. This is where our "spring break" crowd comes to hang out,drink,party,see, and be seen. But during your Tampa Bay Vacationyou really should catch the "Sunset Festival at Pier 60".

Sunsets at Pier 60 Sunset Festival is a nightly sunset celebration that takes place in Pier 60 park on Clearwater Beach. This is a free family event featuring artisans, crafters, street performers and live musical entertainment. The festival starts two hours before sunset and continues until two hours after sunset. Merchants selling everything from hand-painted T-shirts to elegant oil candles and other items descend upon the pier to set up endless rows of tables. Merchants operate under one rule. All merchandise must be hand-crafted. While browsing the many tables of unique merchandise, you'll be entertained by live bands and performance artists that include clowns, jugglers, and a fire-eater.

Clearwater Beach is even a favorite destination for our Florida residents. Numerous activities include parasailing, jet-skiing, boat rentals, deep-sea fishing, playing beach volleyball, playing golf right on the beach on a mini-golf course, swim in the big new public pool from March to October - huge slide for the kids, or be a pirate for the day on a huge ship for parties or kids.

There's so much to do on Clearwater Beach, and so little time to get it all done, you'll just have to come back on your next Tampa Bay Vacation
.

Tampa Bay Vacations

The only downside to living in paradise is having to get up and go to work, instead of enjoying all of the activities our Tampa Bay area has to offer. You lucky people on the way here for your Tampa Bay Vacation won't have this problem. Boating, fishing, scuba diving, playing golf, etc. are only minutes away regardless of where you stay.

The Tampa Bay area is made up of three distinct communities all working together to ensure your Tampa Bay Vacation will be one to remember. So start your vacation packing and come visit us in the Tampa Bay area.

St. Petersburg:
Catering to the older crowd and you young family types as well, offers the relaxed beach bum lifestyle preferred by many of our visitors. St. Petersburg is also home to most of our snowbirds. This is the name given to our part time residents who want to get away from the cold weather of their homes in the north. Strolling the St. Pete beach area, you will find some of the finest seafood restaurants and gift shops this place has to offer. Johns Pass Village and Boardwalk, a turn-of-the-century fishing village has over one hundred merchants with every kind of Florida souvenir you could possibly take home. Deep sea charters, jet ski rentals, dolphin watching cruises are only a few of the activities offered at Johns Pass. When you start feeling hungry take advantage of some of the best seafood restaurants on the beach right at Johns Pass. You can stand on the boardwalk and watch as the boats bring your dinner in right from the Gulf of Mexico. It doesn't get any fresher than that.

Across the water from Johns Pass Fishing Village stands another must-go-to spot. Gators Cafe and Saloon overlooks the intercoastal waterway and the Gulf of Mexico. Serving up cold beer and excellent food, Gators has 40+ TVs spaced around their triple-decker facilities. Play pool or pinball, or just sit on the largest outdoor patio on the beach and watch the boats and people. If you get lucky you might see the occasional dolphin gliding thru the waterway looking for his dinner. Gators is one of the more popular spots for our spring break crowd. Offering live music and a huge dance floor, Gators stays packed during spring break. Like all of our Tampa Bay visitors say, ya gotta go to Gators.