Embarkation: My husband and I drove to Baltimore from New York the day before our cruise was to sail. We visited the National Aquarium the morning of the cruise, which is a must do. Baltimore is a beautiful city that is fairly easy to navigate.
Getting to the pier was quite simple while following our GPS. We paid to park and proceeded to the luggage train to check our bags. We tipped the man who took our luggage about 5 dollars I think. Checking in to the ship took 30 minutes maximum, it was probably even less. We easily went through security and proceeded to the area where we showed our passports and got our ship cards. I thought it was great they they told me, "Welcome back!" After this easy process we proceeded to the ship.
The Ship: I should mention that I have been on 2 cruises previously. My first was with a friend on the Carnival Imagination. My second was on the Freedom of the Seas for our honeymoon. I warned my husband that the Pride would seem much smaller than the Freedom of the Seas. It was smaller, but I didn't really pay much attention to that.
You could hear the noise from the deck above in the morning.