What to do in Baltimore near cruise ship terminal?

[~Jo~]

Hi, we are leaving on the Galaxy on Friday the 16th, we plan on arriving in Baltimore early in the morning but already know that we can't even think of boarding the ship until later in the afternoon. We would like to find something fun/interesting to do near the terminal to pass the time, have lunch. We have never been to Baltimore before, we have 3 kids age 17, 11 and 10. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
~Jo~

[Quartetlead]

You are not far from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Plenty to do there, National Aquarium, Science Center, IMAX Theater,lots of shopping and restaurants. Ask anyone there for directions. It shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes to drive there. There is nothing of interest in the immediate vicinity of the terminal

Bud Laumann

Till we sail Rome to Baltimore[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;9;3;17;00;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]

[smeyer418]

Baltimore is a great city. If I had one thing to do with kids your ages, I would take them to see Ft. McHenry...it is just up the road a piece from the ship terminal...

[ebonybee]

If you are asking about "near" the terminal--Nothing! Absolutely nothing-totally industrial. As many have mentioned there is the Inner Harbor area but it won't come to life before 9am. Not sure what time the Aquarium opens but that's one of my favorites and I'm approaching the mid century mark-I always volunteer to take my grand neices and nephews!

You will most likely be able to board around noon!

Give yourself thirty minutes to travel from the inner harbor to Dundalk Terminal. Just remember Dundalk is not picturesque. Galaxy will probably be the only passenger boat anywhere in the vicinity.

04/04 Brilliance
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2004;04;19;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[~Jo~]

Thank you very much for the replies, very helpful.
~Jo~

[derf5585]

Ships dock at the Port of Baltimore, about a ten minute drive (or taxi ride) from downtown.
from
[url="http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=49"]http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=49[/url]

Today, Baltimore is also growing passenger port hosting Celebrity, NCL and Carnival vessels.
from
[url="http://www.greatports.com/baltimore/portinfo.htm"]http://www.greatports.com/baltimore/portinfo.htm[/url]

USS Chilton APA-38 1966-1968
USS Guam LPH-9 1968-1970
Pacific Princess Oct 21 2001 Bermuda
Golden Princess Dec 7 2002 "Eastern Caribbean"
Coral Princess Dec 9 2003 "Panama Canal"

Carnival Miracle 17 Oct 2004

NOT UPDATED again 25 Feb [url="http://www.geocities.com/fsbsdel"]www.geocities.com/fsbsdel[/url]

[ecowen]

I'd be surprised if you could board by noon. When Galaxy arrived in Baltimre on 3/26/04, the last passengers disenbarked at 2:30 PM.

Maybe they've figured out how to speed things up, but just in case I would NOT recommend spending any time at all at the terminal. NOTHING there at all.

[Luvin' Cruisin']

Nothing but our "Woo Hoo Party," that is!!!

[CAC104]

As the mom of four kids, I would recommend taking them to the Aquarium in the Inner Harbor. It is very unique and even has a Dolphin show in a separate huge enclosed amphitheater. There is also a tropical forest exhibit. You don't have to worry about the weather outside, and there really is no reason to rush to board the ship. I live in Maryland, and everyone says that the ships are always late in boarding. There is also a dock in the Inner harbor with all kinds of ships that you can go on and the kids can explore. The Fort is only a good trip if it is a warm day.
Have fun,
[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]Carol KC [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[signman]

Are you driving? There is absolutely nothing to do near the actual passenger terminal located within Dundalk Marine Terminal, entrance through Seagirt Terminal. There are 2 restaurants though near to the terminal that I would recommend. Squire's, on Holabird Ave, just east of Dundalk Avenue, a family italian place with excellent pizza and subs, very reasonable -- and Jimmy's Seafood, on Holabird Avenue west of Dundalk Ave.

There have been proposals for a new Passenger Terminal closer to the Inner Harbor area, but the idiot politicians in this state don't really see a need for it, so look for Baltimore to lose cruise business. Already I don't think Celebrity will return next year. Embarkation and debarkation are a joke at present. Don't even think of getting to the pier before 2:30 PM. Only if you're lucky will the previous passengers be off the ship by then.

[smeyer418]

I was looking for something else and found this link

[url="http://www.baltimore.org/index2.htm"]http://www.baltimore.org/index2.htm[/url]

which has what to do in Baltimore.

[Luvin' Cruisin']

OK, guys - we're driving to the pier - is there any way we can drop off the luggage, and then check to see how long it'll be before boarding begins? If we're way early, we can have our "Woo Hoo" party over at Jimmy's or Squire's... Is this possible??

[signman]

Logistically there should be no difference if you drive in to the port, and tell them you are dropping off passengers. You will be directed to an area where there are 20' containers awaiting your luggage. In theory you could drop your luggage and then leave the port if there was a delay in boarding. Normally passengers who are dropped off then ride little shuttle buses to the actual embarkation shed where they might sit and wait for hours.

Passengers parking go to another area of the port where they ride large buses to the shed. I don't know if the luggage rides under the bus with you or goes into containers too.

The problem with what you want to do may be a security one. It's sort of like an airline matching bags to passengers. I don't think they do much checking as you drop off your bags, what checking then takes place I don't know. The bag handling really isn't an issue. You won't really gain anything by dropping off early. Just go to the port. Hopefully the port personnel will have some idea of when actual embarkation will begin, and then you can judge whether to leave for lunch or not.

[marysb]

Could anyone recommend a hotel close by?
Thanks

[Skips Cruise]

Marysb,

Sheraton Inner Harbor is very nice.

[signman]

I think the Best Western Baltimore Travel Plaza is the only hotel in the immediate vicinity of the port. You will do much better Pricelining almost any hotel in the Downtown-Inner Harbor area. From the highway leading out of downtown Baltimore (I-395) the port is only about 10 minutes.