Baltimore Advice

[Chrissy3427]

Good day my fellow CC'ers... was going to reach out to you all for your thoughts/advice:

My gf and I (both in our upper 30's) live in Long Island, NY and will be cruising out of Baltimore this coming March, and our two options we are considering are:

A) Driving down the night before and staying at the BW Plus with their Cruise and Park package for $130/night

B) Driving down the morning of departure and parking at the pier for $150

 

A few tidbits, we have a new car we will be taking so we are confident of it's reliability so leaving the day of departure we are comfortable with plus the convenience of parking at the pier means we leave when we want to leave; going to hotel route gives us a little insurance policy on giving us more time in the event of unforeseen problems, slightly concerned about parking a new vehicle in a hotel parking lot I am assuming is not secured, and also we're not big fans of the idea of the shuttle and don't want to be potentially waiting around for an hour for the shuttle when the ship returns.

 

Your thoughts and opinions will be greatly appreciated.

ThankQ!

[markeb]

Why not compromise? You're going to be concerned about the car, and want to get on the road as soon as possible on return.

 

Consider driving down to somewhere between Aberdeen and White Marsh and spend the night. There are abundant hotels (think Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express, Courtyard) in both locations. You're then looking at 30-45 minutes into the pier. You can probably save on the hotel. Yes, it'll be more expensive than either of your options, but I think you'll feel better about your car, and you'll be there the morning of the cruise.

[Sandlapper in exile]

Good day my fellow CC'ers... was going to reach out to you all for your thoughts/advice:

My gf and I (both in our upper 30's) live in Long Island, NY and will be cruising out of Baltimore this coming March, and our two options we are considering are:

A) Driving down the night before and staying at the BW Plus with their Cruise and Park package for $130/night

B) Driving down the morning of departure and parking at the pier for $150

 

A few tidbits, we have a new car we will be taking so we are confident of it's reliability so leaving the day of departure we are comfortable with plus the convenience of parking at the pier means we leave when we want to leave; going to hotel route gives us a little insurance policy on giving us more time in the event of unforeseen problems, slightly concerned about parking a new vehicle in a hotel parking lot I am assuming is not secured, and also we're not big fans of the idea of the shuttle and don't want to be potentially waiting around for an hour for the shuttle when the ship returns.

 

Your thoughts and opinions will be greatly appreciated.

ThankQ!

 

My wife and I are going on the 18th of this month, and I've decided to go the BW route. Even in March, snow is a possibility, and we all know what happens to the Jersey Turnpike in bad weather -- even if the weather holds, the time from NYC to Baltimore on I-95 can vary widely, esp. that you (unlike us) actually have to drive through NYC. Lots of things can go wrong with a deadline on this route that having a newish car won't fix, and who wants to risk cutting it too close?

[riclop]

Good day my fellow CC'ers... was going to reach out to you all for your thoughts/advice:

My gf and I (both in our upper 30's) live in Long Island, NY and will be cruising out of Baltimore this coming March, and our two options we are considering are:

A) Driving down the night before and staying at the BW Plus with their Cruise and Park package for $130/night

B) Driving down the morning of departure and parking at the pier for $150

 

A few tidbits, we have a new car we will be taking so we are confident of it's reliability so leaving the day of departure we are comfortable with plus the convenience of parking at the pier means we leave when we want to leave; going to hotel route gives us a little insurance policy on giving us more time in the event of unforeseen problems, slightly concerned about parking a new vehicle in a hotel parking lot I am assuming is not secured, and also we're not big fans of the idea of the shuttle and don't want to be potentially waiting around for an hour for the shuttle when the ship returns.

 

Your thoughts and opinions will be greatly appreciated.

ThankQ!

Its always good to go the day before, because you never know.

[nmuller328]

We cruised from Baltimore last May- we drove down the day before & stayed near the Stadium with a cruise & park package. My DS & DDIL drove down on cruise day am from Poughkeepsie NY - and parked at pier. He had no problems- getting down in time. Though it was May. You have flexibility with driving- you could always head down earlier if the weather is going to be bad- or just drive down on cruise day.

[Chrissy3427]

Thank you Mark, that is one option we were considering, but then you are basically adding another $75 - $100 for the added hotel night, then parking at the pier, whereas the BW plus it is included.

And Sand while I know a new car cannot account for traffic, we would probably leave by 6am or so for the 4 hour trip to the pier allowing us a 5 hour window of when we need to be on the ship (by 3pm), so I think that would be enough time. Now who's the driver and who gets to sleep on the drive down might be the bigger of all the decisions we make!

Still on the fence about this one, I think my biggest concern on the park/cruise is the safety of my vehicle at the BW and just how convenient is the shuttle...

Thank you all so far! I'm sure we will get more opinions to come!

[bmac1]

Regardless of how confident you are about your car it only takes one bad accident on I95 and you might not make it to the port in time. Do yourself a favor and come in a day ahead and stay at a hotel that provides free parking and shuttle service.

[summersigh]

We make it a practice to be in the city we're sailing from the day before departure. What if there's a bad accident on the highway you're coming in on? Bad weather? Car trouble? On our Christmas cruise 400 folks coming from the north the day of the cruise missed it due to weather.

 

We've often used "snooze, park & cruise" type packages and have been happy with them. If you subtract the $$ parking at the port would have been from the hotel rate for the package - the difference in cost is normally very small.

 

To us, the few minutes waiting for a shuttle (never been more than 30 minutes for us) is worth the peace of mind knowing that we will make our cruise.:)

[grab007]

Go the day before. Even though you have a new car it can still get stuck in traffic! Baltimore has lots to offer. When we went in Sept, we caught a ballgame, the inner harbor and Fort McHenry (which we definitely recommend!) Then you hop on the ship and away you go!! Have a great time!

[KeywestK]

Another vote here for driving down the day before the cruise. Traffic on I-95 just north of Baltimore is under major construction, and delays happen all the time. Sure you can leave before the crack of dawn and build in extra time for all kids of delays, but that is such a stressful way to start a cruise! Do yourself a favor a come in the day before, and stay at either the BW that you mentioned, or as another poster suggested, one of the hotels north of the city (i.e, in White Marsh) and park at the cruise terminal.

[WendyCn]

My vote would be the day before :p. We stay in the White Marsh area with a cruise-n-park package & it didn't take us much longer to get home b/c we are headed in that direction anyway to get home. For us, we had a business card for the company providing the return service & we just called them as soon as we had our luggage. Maybe a little longer than parking there but for us the security of knowing we won't miss the ship is what is important.

[Chrissy3427]

Thank you all for your sound advice... clearly the "leave a day early" votes heavily outweighs the drive down the same day (my sole one vote... :( )

 

I think I will heed the advice given and drive down the night before and try the shuttle once.

 

We do appreciate everyone's input and taking the time to help.

Here's to blue skies and calm seas...

[bus man]

Why not compromise? You're going to be concerned about the car, and want to get on the road as soon as possible on return.

 

Consider driving down to somewhere between Aberdeen and White Marsh and spend the night. There are abundant hotels (think Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express, Courtyard) in both locations. You're then looking at 30-45 minutes into the pier. You can probably save on the hotel. Yes, it'll be more expensive than either of your options, but I think you'll feel better about your car, and you'll be there the morning of the cruise.

 

Thank you all for your sound advice... clearly the "leave a day early" votes heavily outweighs the drive down the same day (my sole one vote... :( )

 

I think I will heed the advice given and drive down the night before and try the shuttle once.

 

We do appreciate everyone's input and taking the time to help.

Here's to blue skies and calm seas...

 

I like markeb's idea the best, though yours will work too. You can look at it as starting your vacation a day early, and taking your own sweet time driving down the day before without having to rush and stress. It'll help put you in the cruising frame of mind.

 

If you do choose to stay at the Best Western Plus, you might like to know that there are two good seafood restaurants nearby, both of them a short (driving) distance to the east on Dorsey Road. The first one you come to is Timbuktu (on the left) and the second is Gunning's (on the right). Personally, I think the food is about equally good at both, and I prefer the ambiance of Gunning's; but you'd do fine at either one.

[TanIslandGirl]

Hi Chrissy,

I am cruising on the Pride in June. We will be driving from NY's Hudson Valley area. I just held a room at The Courtyard By Marriott, on W. Nursery Rd in Linthicum, MD. They will allow us to leave our car at the hotel lot for 7 nights after check out, the cost is $123. including tax. Although I have read some reviews on here that say they were shuttled to the port by this hotel, the hotel has told me they do not offer a shuttle, so we will take a cab. The port is less than 8 miles from the hotel.

 

Have a great cruise.