According to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, Premier Cruise Lines founder Bruce Nierenberg has plans to begin ferry service between Tampa, Fla., and Mexico, probably the Cancun area. The ferries would be large, modern ships like those used as ferries in Europe, carrying several hundred vehicles and more than a thousand passengers. Nierenberg says service would be twice weekly and may begin in early 2012. The Tampa-Mexico trip would take about 30 hours.
The last auto/pedestrian ferry service between Tampa and the Yucatan was in 2002-early 2003 and lasted only a short time.