Granduer - Baltimore

[dewatson12]

Anyone who has sailed Granduer out of Balitmore.

 

When do they start boarding?

 

When does disembarkation start?

 

[Straughn]

We haven't been on Grandeur out of Baltimore, but did sail on Galaxy last August. Boarding started about 1:30 which wasn't bad considering the ship docks around 10AM. You have to wait for the disembarking passengers to leave the ship.

 

Disembarkation was a nightmare. We docked around 10 AM and they did not start letting people off the ship until noon-ish. You have to be out of your cabins and are assigned a waiting area based on your baggage tag color well before the ship docks. Keep in mind that once they dock, the baggage has to be unloaded and distributed by tag color in the claim area. Then Customs and the drug sniffing dogs have to do their thing. Passengers are not allowed off until this is completed and Customs has cleared the ship. In Miami and Lauderdale, they dock early in the morning, before most passengers are awake. The luggage is unloaded and set up by tag color, and Customs clears the ship while the passengers are getting up out of their cabins. Therefore disembarkation usually starts right around 8:30 and you don't spend a couple of hours waiting to get off.

 

Bring your patience and a good book!

[SeaUThere]

We sailed on the Galaxy out of Baltimore in June 2002. We will be sailing on Grandeur out of Baltimore in September.

 

When we were on the Galaxy we were able to board the ship around 12:30 and disembarkation was very organized and orderly. You do need to wait and be patient. If you know this going in you should be okay.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Grandeur of the Seas-September 4, 2004

Galaxy-June 7, 2002

Fascination-March 17, 2001

 

 

[zebra36]

First Grandeur cruise out of Baltimore isn't until May 10, will let you know how it went when I return though first time for this ship may not be a good gauge.

 

Frank

[elliecall]

Hey fnb, When you get back I would love to know about debarkation. I needs to book a van to take us to the airport and I need to try and gage the pick up time as best I can. It's expensive if they wait for you. Thanks ahead of time!! Have fun.

[NJGRANNY]

If the ship is on time getting into port, everything will be fine. If not, expect delays - possibly big-time.

 

Last November, the weather was not real good and our ship was late getting into port. Then there was a problem with getting the luggage off. Upshot was, we disembarked at 7 p.m.

 

This probably wouldn't happen on a spring cruise. Just be ready to be really flexible. We had a great cruise, so took the disembarkation snafu in stride.

 

Jan from New Jersey

[gambler]

Opps!!! We sail on May 31st. We are supposed to dock at 9:00 am and have a 12:30 flight... hope we are ok...

 

Monarch of the Seas 09/92

Majesty of the Seas 11/93

Sovereign of the Seas 09/94

Majesty of the Seas 11/95

Grandeur of the Seas 11/99

Grandeur of the Seas 11/00

Grandeur of the Seas 06/01

Grandeur of the Seas 02/02

Navigator of the Seas 12/02

Rhapsody of the Seas 06/03

Radiance of the Seas 11/03

Grandeur of the Seas 05/04

Navigator of the Seas 11/04

[checkard]

We're going on Grandeur May 21-31. We've never gone out of Baltimore so it will be a new experience.

 

----------------------------

Explorer 11/2001

Explorer 12/14/02

Serenade 10/13/03

----------------------------

 

Until Grandeur 5/21/04

 

Until Voyager 10/8/04

 

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[yellarose2]

We just booked GOS for week of August 14th and am trying to find others going that time. Live a little north of Baltimore and love saving the money on air! Have an almost 4yo and it will be his 3rd cruise. LOL

 

CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!

 

[berd0625]

We're leaving on 7/11 and hope to meet up with others from the board as well.

 

Taking the train down from CT - will be a new experience. We plan to stay overnight on the 10th. Any hotel advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Alberta

Granduer of the Seas 7/11/04

Majesty of the Seas 8/18/03 #9516

SS Oceanic - Big Red Boat 7/93

[DeeDee2652]

I will be going on the Grandeur 7/25. Used priceline for hotel. WIll be staying at the Radisson Plaza Lord Hotel. If you use it, specify Inner Habor area.

 

http://travel.priceline.com/default.asp?rdr=1

 

Bon Voyage

[VaCruzers]

My family is sailing on the Grandeur out of Baltimore on 6/11. We have a roll call thread going with a few others and are trying to meet the quota for a meet & mingle. If this is your sailing date, please register & join us on the roll call thread. We are from the Richmond area & also love being able to drive to the port to save air fare & travel time.

 

Debbie

[atonal1]

I live in the Baltimore area, but I have to disagree about saving on airfare. This August I'm cruising out of Miami on Carnival Triumph, in a cat 9A (including airfare) for less than a cat D1 on Granduer out of Baltimore. Yes I will have to deal with the hassle of the airport, but dollar for dollar, there is no savings sailing out of Baltimore.

 

This is just my personal opinion. I will say that for the right price, I'd jump on an opportunity to sail out of Baltimore!

 

Inspiration 6/96, 12/01

Carnival Destiny 7/97, 11/00

Rhapsody of the Seas 11/98

Norwegian Sea 7/00

Norwegian Star 6/02

Paradise 11/02

Sovereign of the Seas 8/03

Serenade of the Seas 12/03

 

 until Carnival Triumph 8/04

 

 until Adventure of the Seas 11/04

 

 

[VaCruzers]

Atonal1 - Perhaps it is because you live in the Baltimore area with competitive airports like BWI, Dulles, or Regan National that you don't realize how costly it is to fly ANYwhere from Richmond. We are consistently the 2nd or 3rd highest airfare city nationwide. Because we are driving to the port, we are able to enjoy an 9 night cruise for several hundred dollars less than a 7 night out of any FL port. We could drive the 3 hours to a less expensive airport in DC or MD then fly to FL, but the extra hassle plus additional travel time, expecially the drive home from the airport, are not worthwhile for our family. Also, we booked this sailing last October while on another cruise so we have a $200 onboard credit per cabin plus we were able to find a more competitive fare & transferred our booking while retaining the credit. For us, a lot of factors worked in our favor, but it may not be the best deal for everyone. I'm just happy to be sailing & will grab any opportunity to do so that comes along that we can afford.