Baltimore...

Hi all,

We will be cruising out of Baltimore on the Pride. I have never been out to that neck of the woods, so would like to do some sightseeing, if possible. We are trying to keep expenses down as much as possible, as well. So, I have a ton of questions:

- We will be flying in from Minneapolis. Does anyone have hotel recommendations that have a shuttle to the airport and the cruise port?

-Suggestions for what to see or do in a short period of time in Baltimore? If we come in the day before, could/should we take a train to DC to see the sights there?

- What is the earliest time to fly home after the cruise?

If you have any other suggestions or thoughts, please add them.

TIA!!

If you come in a day or two before and have never been to DC, by all means take the MARC train to DC. Maybe even the HOHO bus, which you can get just outside of Union Station. That will get you to see the most sights. If staying in Baltimore, from the Inner Harbor you can go to the Aquarium or take a water taxi to Ft. McHenry.

This really depends a lot on how early you can come to Baltimore. Agree that if you have at least a couple of days, catching MARC to DC makes sense. The HOHO will give you a good overview of the buildings and monuments. If you choose to go to any of the Smithsonian museums, pick one. You can spend a day (or more) in each.

If you're going into Baltimore to sight see, you really need to balance out the cost of a cab with the convenience of being in Baltimore. Most of the hotels with free shuttles are out by the airport; the places to see are in the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Mount Vernon, etc. Fort McHenry is well worth the trip, and the Aquarium is excellent. There are a couple of hotels I like in the Inner Harbor area, and there are a number of hotels and restaurants in Harbor East. All will be close to the cruise terminal, but you'll be cabbing it to the hotel and to the port.

Thanks for the info - can you please tell me if noon is too early to book a flight out of Baltimore? Hotels with shuttles?

All the airport hotels will have shuttles to the hotel. I don't cruise out of Baltimore, so can't answer to the cruise terminal or answer the flight question.

I hate to be a broken record, but it's either free shuttle or convenient to attractions. I don't believe you can have both. Hopefully someone who's stayed downtown can tell you if any hotels have shuttles to the port, but you'll likely still have to take a cab to the Inner Harbor or Harbor East.

There are 2 Best Westerns that will shuttle you to the Pier - one near the airport (Elkridge I think) and one in town (O'Donnell Street if I remember). We are driving from PA, so will plan on staying at the one in town. The in town BW will shuttle locally, but I'm not sure if Airport does more than just airport and cruise port. There are several threads on Baltimore hotels but you might need to scan back a few pages.

We just got back from a family trip to DC with a stop in Baltimore on the way home. We spent a day at the monuments, and one day each at two museums and still didn't see everything we wanted at each. In Baltimore we did a food tour which was a nice mix of history and eating. Charm City Food Tours has several different tours depending what day/time you are there (we did Jonestown/Little Italy on a Friday afternoon.

Uber or taxi may be an option too if your hotel doesn't do local shuttle.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

If you are cruising during the baseball season a visit to Camden Yards would be great . There is a hotel directly across the street.