Background: Married, father of two (20 and 17), traveling with my wife. This was my third pleasure cruise, third RCL cruise, and second cruise on Grandeur. I'm also a US Navy Chief Petty Officer, specifically submarine nuclear electronics technician, retired in 2004. I currently work for the VA, & live in a little town right outside Pittsburgh.

Travel: One of the things I love about Grandeur, is that she ports out of Baltimore. We cruised last year from Dundalk, and it was okay. This year they're embarking from the newer facilities at Locust Point, and it is absolutely wonderful. Parking is close if you need it, the price is reasonable ($10 US/day in cash at this time). Since Baltimore is only about 3-1/2 hours from my home, we drive, and don't have to worry about luggage weight restrictions, lost luggage, airport security, and all the other things that make air travel a huge hassle now. If you're coming from South of Pittsburgh, you don't have to go through the Ft. McHenry Tunnels anymore, so that's another hassle gone. The folks at the terminal gates were friendly, efficient, smiling, and helpful. Embarkation would have taken about 15 minutes, except that I opted to wait on fellow CC member, signman, whose posts have so much great information about the Port of Baltimore. Even waiting for him, it took a grand total of about 25 minutes from stepping out of my taxi, to walking up the gang plank to the ship. Doesn't get much better than that.

Hotel Info: Stayed at the Quality Inn on Bloomfield Ave. in Baltimore. It's about a 5 minute ride from the port, and best of all, you can stay there overnight, park your car there for duration of the cruise, and they usually have a shuttle that will run to the port Monday through Friday. Unfortunately for us this time, the shuttle wasn't available, apparently it was broke. They called a taxi for us, who promised over the phone that it would only cost $12 to $15 US to get to the pier, unfortunately, they didn't tell the driver that. It wound up costing $25 US on the meter, and he wasn't wasting time. Still, I stayed overnight using my Choice Rewards points (in other words, free), and parked for $60 instead of $90. The hotel advertises Wi-Fi, but I could not use it in my room, worked fine from the lobby. Read more