I was traveling with my three daughters, ages 13 and 8 year-old twins. I'm a single mom, so we're used to doing things on our own. We were also on a pretty tight budget. I booked it pretty much last-minute, about three weeks in advance.
Pre-cruise:
I decided to stay overnight in Baltimore on Saturday, even though it's only a two-hour drive from home. I paid $145, which included the room, hot buffet breakfast (not very good!), parking for the week and shuttle service to and from the pier. It was a great deal, as we had no wait in traffic or long walks to the car, and it was only $40 more than the pier parking. We stayed at the Best Western and they had a nice indoor pool and jacuzzi, which we had to ourselves. If the weather had been nicer, we could have taken the free shuttle to the Inner Harbor.
Nice room for the price. Mostly quiet.