Thankfully, the cruise industry, and especially Carnival, is reaching out to those of us who would rather not spend a significant portion of our cruise budgets on airfare. We live in North Central West Virginia, and our last 12 cruises have been from either New York City or Baltimore. Cost is far from the only factor in my anti-flying position; flying to Miami, or anywhere for that matter, can result in added stress, time off from work, and just plain old fashioned hassle, which isn't anything that needs to be associated with a vacation.

Embarkation

The Port of Baltimore is a wonderful facility. It's small, efficient, well staffed, and more importantly, a short three and a half hour drive from my house. The entrance to the parking lot can't be more than a quarter mile from I-95. From there staff leads you through luggage dropoff, on to payment, and finally to the parking area. I'm thinking we arrived between 11 and 11:30 which turned out to be fine. No lines or congestion outside at all. A slight line to get into the building and pass through security and then it was on to what is typically the longest of your embark day waits. But not this time. Read more