Two rate cards, one number
The PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2027 publishes one group rate. The Tampa Marriott Water Street at 505 Water Street quotes $299 a night. The Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Convention Center at 513 S. Florida Avenue quotes $299 a night. Both blocks cut off on 30 December 2026, and both close when the block sells out.
A flat rate at two addresses settles the first question a group asks. The organiser publishes enough detail to price the rest before anything is signed.
The convention runs four days
The Passenger Vessel Association dates the convention 21-24 January 2027. The City of Tampa listing for the same event reads Friday 22 January, 8 a.m. to Sunday 24 January, 3 p.m., in the West Exhibit Hall and meeting rooms at 333 S. Franklin Street.
The association publishes the programme in full, with education sessions from 9 a.m. on Thursday and the opening general session at 1 p.m. A Thursday arrival and a Sunday departure is three nights. At $299 that reads $897.
Two deadlines nine days apart
Vessel member registration costs $985 and rises to $1,085 on 21 December 2026. The hotel blocks close on 30 December 2026. Register first, then book.
Registration cancellation carries a $100 administrative fee, and the association accepts no cancellation after 1 January 2027.
Question one: what $299 covers at each address
The Embassy Suites page describes an all-suite property with separate living and sleeping areas, a cooked-to-order breakfast each morning, an evening reception with drinks and snacks, and a skybridge to the convention centre. The Marriott page describes the headquarters hotel beside the centre, host to the welcome reception.
Put the same request to both: a printed list of what $299 includes, and a named list of every charge outside it. Breakfast for three mornings sits inside one rate and outside the other.
Question two: the Sunday clock
Sunday carries Passenger Vessel Operators Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the board meeting from 3 to 4:30 p.m. A standard checkout gives up that afternoon.
Ask for a 4 p.m. checkout at no charge. Ask what a fourth night costs at the group rate. Four nights at $299 reads $1,196.
Question three: the Wednesday night
Wednesday 20 January holds the golf tournament at 9 a.m., committee meetings from 10 a.m., exhibitor move-in from 3 p.m., the welcome reception from 5 p.m. and the leadership dinner from 6:30 p.m.
Ask whether that night sits inside the block at $299, and whether the block holds that night for a group booking.
Question four: the garage
Ask each hotel whether the block includes parking. Ask what the attached garage charges on convention days, and whether a pass can go on the room folio at booking.
The venue sits downtown at 333 S. Franklin Street. Two municipal garages stand within a block, so the answer decides the drive-in cost for a group arriving by car.
Question five: the cancellation ladder
Ask for the hotel cancellation term in writing: the deadline, the penalty as a count of nights, and the treatment of a shortened stay. Ask whether a name change on a reservation carries a fee.
The sell-out clause matters here. A group holding ten rooms needs the release date for unsold rooms in writing, alongside the 30 December cut-off.
Question six: the room behind the rate
Ask which room type $299 buys, how many rooms of that type the block holds, and the upgrade price for a suite. Ask for the occupancy limit per room and the cost of a third adult.
The booking channel is part of the ask
The Passenger Vessel Association publishes a scam warning. Third parties call members with discounted rooms for this convention. The association states that it does not telemarket rooms and does not sell attendee lists.
Book through the association links only, and ask the hotel to confirm the reservation number in writing on the same day.
Florida changes the route
hotelhaggle publishes a limit on its own bid mechanic: Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington restrict name-your-price bookings under state travel law. A Tampa group uses the request-for-proposal route. One request reaches more than 50 hotels, each replying with a rate and the terms attached, with answers inside 24 to 72 hours and no obligation to accept.
That route carries weight here. The two $299 rates fix the floor of the conversation, and everything around the floor stays open.
