How early to arrive at Baltimore port?

[michelle028]

Hi everyone,

 

Taking the Carnival pride from Baltimore in a few months. It says ship departs at 5pm. 

 

We are driving to the port. What is the best time to arrive?  

 

How easy is it to get parking close to the port? 

 

Thanks for the help.

[amyotravel]

Cannot answer the parking part, but I would look at the ports forum for Baltimore. Definitely have a pre-plan in place for any cruise parking anywhere. 

 

I am thinking this must be your first Carnival cruise or the first in a long time? When you submit your on line information you will pick a check-in time. It will show you what is available. That does not mean the time you will board. It is your check in time for the ship at the port. That is the time you will arrive at the port, so we cannot advise a time. it will be assigned to you and you pick it when you do all your boarding info. Familiarize yourself with everything that needs to be done on line on the website now.

Edited December 4, 2019 by amyotravel

[StolidCruiser]

Of course this is just my own opinion from my own perspective and experiences...

 

If you are driving to the port and are not invested in getting on board "as soon as possible", my suggestion is to time your arrival after 1pm.

 

Parking at the port/pier is incredibly convenient (but, of course, at a price... $15 per day).  However, the ingress is a "log jam" the earlier you arrive.  You first have to wait until they even open the entrance to allow vehicles in - whether to drop off or park - until after the debarking guests are mostly funneled out.  This causes the line of vehicles to stretch out onto the roadway.  Think three inward lanes of normal roadway traffic trying to merge into one inbound lane that then diverges into wider queuing lanes.   Those who want to drop off have to funnel in with those who want to park and there is only so much room for them to queue those wanting to park while diverting those who want to drop off to bypass the parking queue.

 

They do their best to move those incoming as quickly as possible but we have sat for more than an hour just trying to get near the entrance when we've tried arriving around 11am.

 

We've had more success (and much less stress) arriving later (1-ish).  Much shorter wait to park (although "primo" parking spaces are gone) and almost no line at check-in followed by walking right on board.

 

Again, that's my experience.  Others may have had different experiences and could/would recommend an alternate plan.  It all depends if you want to sit and wait... move a little... then stand and wait some more... then sit and wait some more... to be on board 60-90 minutes earlier than those who delay their arrival.   Some will want to.  Others won't.

[runnersuzy]

Times always assume that expected arrival times are met, and customs clears at an adequate pace. In Baltimore that does not always happen due mostly to weather. If delayed to next day or beyond, things slow to a snails pace. Just came back from a journeys cruise a day late, and it took over four hours to get off the plane, due to slow customs clearing. Needless to say incoming passengers for the next cruise were refused entry, untill parking lot could be cleared of cars from our cruise. As a result when we finally did get off the ship, we had another wait for our shuttle, because the buses were caught in the traffic jam outside. Just have a plan to roll with the flow no matter what happens. Fun starts once on board, whenever that happens. I feel for the ones on the cruise after us. Don't know when they got to start boarding, but assume it was after dark, as it took us until 4:00 pm to get off, and we were group 8.

[pusywillow]

Baltimore is one of the easiest ports.  There is a huge parking lot right next to the ship,  Drive in, the porters take your bags, then park and enter the terminal.

 

You can also book a Park and Cruise package at a nearby hotel which includes parking and a shuttle to the ship.

[matymil]

Agreed with the above post. Baltimore is probably the easiest port. I think the Pride may be the only major passenger ship that leave out of that port. We had zero issues getting there and getting on board.  

[michelle028]

Thanks for the tips! Been on many cruises but first time leaving out of Baltimore so its all good information :)

[Homosassa]

Just be careful about the advice about waiting to enter the parking lot.

 

If the number of cars waiting to enter the lot causes a line that extends out onto the busy road outside the port, the police will be there to tell you to move along and not block the traffic lanes.

 

In that case, you will need to keep driving and not come back until the lot opens and the backup onto the road is gone.

[eas2225]

The last two or three times on the Pride, we arrived around 10:30, which is when the parking lot usually opens.

 

If you are Diamond/Platinum, or have purchased FTTF or having a wedding onboard, once you have parked,  you will be able to line up in the priority boarding que.

 

We have been onboard as early as 11:15-11:30.  

[pacruise804]

9 hours ago, matymil said:

Agreed with the above post. Baltimore is probably the easiest port. I think the Pride may be the only major passenger ship that leave out of that port. We had zero issues getting there and getting on board.  

 

Royal Caribbean has Grandeur of the Seas, but the sailing dates usually don't overlap.  Grandeur is to be replaced but I don't remember by which ship, just as Pride will be swapped out with Legend.

[SRF]

On 12/5/2019 at 4:29 AM, matymil said:

Agreed with the above post. Baltimore is probably the easiest port. I think the Pride may be the only major passenger ship that leave out of that port. We had zero issues getting there and getting on board.  

 

UUUH, there is also Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas.  At least until March 2021, when she will be replaced by Enchantment of the Seas.

 

Enchantment is the sister ship of Grandeur, but was lengthened by 74 feet a number of years back.  This added 151 cabins.  Also an extra outdoor pool, and another night club.  But at this time, she only has a Chops for specialty dining.  No Giovanni's or Izumi.  Supposed to have a fairly major dry dock in fall 2020 before the move.

 

Schedules are coordinated so only one ship in port per day.

Edited December 13, 2019 by SRF

[Tony O]

On 12/5/2019 at 4:29 AM, matymil said:

Agreed with the above post. Baltimore is probably the easiest port. I think the Pride may be the only major passenger ship that leave out of that port. We had zero issues getting there and getting on board.  

It's the homeport for the Grandeur soon to be replaced by Enchantment

[LBumb]

sailing grandeur in march

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

On 12/4/2019 at 1:58 PM, michelle028 said:

Hi everyone,

 

Taking the Carnival pride from Baltimore in a few months. It says ship departs at 5pm. 

 

We are driving to the port. What is the best time to arrive?  

 

How easy is it to get parking close to the port? 

 

Thanks for the help.

If you have FTTF or other priority boarding, arrive at 10:30.

 

If you don't, plan to arrive a half hour prior to your check in time.

 

Parking is super easy.  Porters take your bags from the car, then you pay (if you have cash, it is faster, and they usually have a cash only lane to pay that will have a shorter line).

 

Then you find your spot.  The parking lot is adjacent to the terminal entrance, which is all on one level.  We got there at 10:30, and were one of the first cars in (partially due to a car in the next lane over having their battery die waiting for the lot to open so they were blocking their lane, so our lane was the only one that could get in). We got a spot next to the handicapped spot, and it was less than a 30 second walk into the terminal.  Even the furthest spot wouldn't be much of a walk.

 

There are actually 2 lots; one lot is for Carnival, the other for RC.  You'll only be able to go into the correct one.  

 

If you have priority boarding, there is a separate line for security and check in, and they'll escort you to the priority waiting area.

[mskaufman]

Last week for Grandeur we arrived at about 11:05 and were on the ship by 11:30.  Rooms ready exactly at 1pm as promised.