Quick background: My husband and I are in our late 20's and live in northern Virginia. We chose the Pride largely because it fit in our vacation schedule and because of the ease of driving to the Baltimore port. This is our second cruise, our first Carnival and Caribbean cruise (first one was RCL in the Mediterranean). Overall, it was a great trip and we were really able to relax, although we may choose RCL again next time.

Embarkation - We arrived at the port around 12:30pm after an hour drive from northern Virginia. The process of dropping off luggage and paying for parking was quick and easy. You pay the $15 p/day for parking upfront, which really eased the process when we left. Parking was ample, even though there were still passengers from the previous week's cruise getting off the ship.

Check in once inside the terminal was also relatively quick. The line moved smoothly and since we had completed all of our documents ahead of time, our time at the check in counter was very short. Something to note: you go through security when you first come in the building. You're able to bring sealed bottled and canned drinks in, but we had an open bottle of water which we had to throw out. Kind of a bummer, since it was $1.50 to replace the water from the vending machine. Read more