Cruise from Baltimore

[Anonymous]

I took a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas from Baltimore to Bermuda and back.

Worst vacation ever. It was like being trapped in the cheapest worst Las Vegas Hotel ever and all of the people you'd expect there + a bunch of unsupervised kids. But on the water. And there was not enough time in port at all. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Love it for ease going to Bermuda and it can get into ports other ships cannot but it will be cold till you hit down south outdoors and not a huge amount of entertainment but really nice when they dock at Bermuda for a few days and you can have hotel/meals and go explore. I'd go again but not a ton of kids.

[Anonymous]

We've done it twice on the Grandeur (RC) and there are pros and cons - for context, we were married (30s) but pre-kids:

It's really easy logistics-wise to drive there and throw your stuff on the boat (and vice versa, to debark and get home).

The ships are older and smaller, so different vibe from the mega-ships, but it was updated with some of the specialty restaurants and was nice. It was also good to see familiar faces and not feel like a zoo with fewer people on board.

My big warning is that we went once in September and once in January and there were issues with the January one related to it being cold/flu season. That cruise skewed really old (think retirement community buses) and we ended up with a norovirus outbreak that was genuinely traumatizing. It was a good primer for Covid protocols (this was pre-Covid) - CDC on board, people in quarantine, etc.

Others have also pointed out the considerations about the cold sea days (and again, these aren't mega-ships with infinite things to do when it's chilly outside). You need to take a longer cruise to have enough days in warm locations to make it worth it.

[Anonymous]

I like cruising out of Baltimore. It’s so convenient. Don’t have to get there the day before. Don’t have to worry about flight delays or weather delays. Ship is smaller but everything else is fine, food is still good. Dining is great. We usually don’t do specialty restaurants since DC has so many great ethnic restaurants, I don’t need to eat and pay extra for sushi on a cruise. Pools are not as big but I just like lounging and reading. Shows are great. I still had a great time. I also don’t spend that much time in the room. We did 10 day and loved it.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the hate for cruising out of Baltimore. I love it and would do it again tomorrow and every year after that. My kids have been multiple times and vote for it every time we've suggested it and are sad when it's over. Agree you'll be cold the first day but you are on vacation and someone is feeding you and cleaning up after you and your kids are off having fun while you are enjoying time at the gym or with your spouse or your friends. Driving to NYC or flying down to Florida is it's own hassle and just adds complication and delays the vacation. My two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the hate for cruising out of Baltimore. I love it and would do it again tomorrow and every year after that. My kids have been multiple times and vote for it every time we've suggested it and are sad when it's over. Agree you'll be cold the first day but you are on vacation and someone is feeding you and cleaning up after you and your kids are off having fun while you are enjoying time at the gym or with your spouse or your friends. Driving to NYC or flying down to Florida is it's own hassle and just adds complication and delays the vacation. My two cents.

I think it really depends on budget and expectations. The extra cost to fly and take newer FL ship is just not a big deal to us, and then we are warm and relaxed from the start. My SIL (who went with her in-laws) said the food was not as good as other cruises either. And to a PP’s point, my inlaws’ retirement community sends a full charter bus on a Baltimore cruise annually.

[Anonymous]

I’ve only been on one cruise in my life, which left from New Orleans. Don’t know if I will ever go on another one, but the convenience of leaving from Baltimore sounds great.

One thing I have never understood is why the bigger ships don’t leave from Baltimore? Is there not enough demand? I also heard it’s because the big ships can’t fit under the Bay Bridge. I find this hard to believe. I know the ships are huge, but the Bay Bridge is REALLY tall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve only been on one cruise in my life, which left from New Orleans. Don’t know if I will ever go on another one, but the convenience of leaving from Baltimore sounds great.

One thing I have never understood is why the bigger ships don’t leave from Baltimore? Is there not enough demand? I also heard it’s because the big ships can’t fit under the Bay Bridge. I find this hard to believe. I know the ships are huge, but the Bay Bridge is REALLY tall.

The Vision of the Seas, which is much smaller than those larger ships, barely fit under the Bay Bridge. We all stared up with amazement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve only been on one cruise in my life, which left from New Orleans. Don’t know if I will ever go on another one, but the convenience of leaving from Baltimore sounds great.

One thing I have never understood is why the bigger ships don’t leave from Baltimore? Is there not enough demand? I also heard it’s because the big ships can’t fit under the Bay Bridge. I find this hard to believe. I know the ships are huge, but the Bay Bridge is REALLY tall.

It's definitely because of the Bay Bridge. It's really not that tall as far as major international bridges go.
The vertical clearance is 186 feet. Many ships require more than 200 feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the hate for cruising out of Baltimore. I love it and would do it again tomorrow and every year after that. My kids have been multiple times and vote for it every time we've suggested it and are sad when it's over. Agree you'll be cold the first day but you are on vacation and someone is feeding you and cleaning up after you and your kids are off having fun while you are enjoying time at the gym or with your spouse or your friends. Driving to NYC or flying down to Florida is it's own hassle and just adds complication and delays the vacation. My two cents.

I think it really depends on budget and expectations. The extra cost to fly and take newer FL ship is just not a big deal to us, and then we are warm and relaxed from the start. My SIL (who went with her in-laws) said the food was not as good as other cruises either. And to a PP’s point, my inlaws’ retirement community sends a full charter bus on a Baltimore cruise annually.

Cruising from Florida gets you to the tropics and more interesting ports quicker. This isn’t cheap though- at least for me. Flights for four, shuttle to port, maybe a hotel for first night (protect against flight snafu and missing cruise) and you can easily be paying $3000 extra dollars.

As for the food, I haven’t been on too many cruises, but the food has never been fantastic. It’s usually good enough, but certainly nothing to rave about. There is plenty of it, plenty of selections and nobody goes hungry.

[Anonymous]

Is it buffet? and is that the problem for so much sickness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve only been on one cruise in my life, which left from New Orleans. Don’t know if I will ever go on another one, but the convenience of leaving from Baltimore sounds great.

One thing I have never understood is why the bigger ships don’t leave from Baltimore? Is there not enough demand? I also heard it’s because the big ships can’t fit under the Bay Bridge. I find this hard to believe. I know the ships are huge, but the Bay Bridge is REALLY tall.

It's definitely because of the Bay Bridge. It's really not that tall as far as major international bridges go.
The vertical clearance is 186 feet. Many ships require more than 200 feet.

PP, here. Thanks for the clarification. Riding over the bridge, it looks like any ship would fit. I think some cruise ships are over twelve stories tall. 12 stories, plus a tall smoke stack…I can see why it wouldn’t fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the hate for cruising out of Baltimore. I love it and would do it again tomorrow and every year after that. My kids have been multiple times and vote for it every time we've suggested it and are sad when it's over. Agree you'll be cold the first day but you are on vacation and someone is feeding you and cleaning up after you and your kids are off having fun while you are enjoying time at the gym or with your spouse or your friends. Driving to NYC or flying down to Florida is it's own hassle and just adds complication and delays the vacation. My two cents.

I think it really depends on budget and expectations. The extra cost to fly and take newer FL ship is just not a big deal to us, and then we are warm and relaxed from the start. My SIL (who went with her in-laws) said the food was not as good as other cruises either. And to a PP’s point, my inlaws’ retirement community sends a full charter bus on a Baltimore cruise annually.

Cruising from Florida gets you to the tropics and more interesting ports quicker. This isn’t cheap though- at least for me. Flights for four, shuttle to port, maybe a hotel for first night (protect against flight snafu and missing cruise) and you can easily be paying $3000 extra dollars.

As for the food, I haven’t been on too many cruises, but the food has never been fantastic. It’s usually good enough, but certainly nothing to rave about. There is plenty of it, plenty of selections and nobody goes hungry.

$3k is well worth it to enjoy all the days of your weeks vacation, rather than just the middle 2 days.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t been on a Baltimore cruise and I’m sure some of the itineraries are fine, but one trip I saw looked pretty dreadful. I think the port visits were Port Canaveral and Nassau, Bahamas. Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach has a decent beach, Kennedy Space Center and their number one “attraction,” Ron Jon Surf Shop. Hard pass. I’ll go to OC or Fenwick before taking this trip.

[Anonymous]

Even Baltimore cruises are ghetto. Go to NJ instead. We just drive up the night before, hang out and then board the next day. So easy!