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#1
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Port of Baltimore
This is a follow up report to the message that I posted a couple of weeks
ago on what I had read about leaving from Baltimore and seeking some advice on how to minimize the aggravation that others had reported on with the Baltimore situation. On November 14 we left from Baltimore for 10 days on Celebrity's Galaxy and we just returned two days ago, the 24th. First off, the Galaxy was a great ship and the cruise itself was wonderful but the Baltimore experience at either end was so bad that -even though I live in Alexandria, VA, a little less than an hour away - my next cruise will probably be from a Florida port. Based on the horror stories that I had heard about leaving from Baltimore, I had prepared my wife to expect the worst and neither she or I were dissapointed. Based on the pre-cruise literature from Celebrity we were advised to get to the port around 2:30 pm for a 6 pm departure. After about a 55 minute drive from Alexandria, we arrived at the ENTRANCE to the port at just around 2:15. We could see the pier about a quarter of a mile away and the Galaxy about 200 yards away from the pier getting pushed toward the pier by a couple of tugs. That this was taking place at 2:15pm was obviously not a good sign since she was supposed to have docked at 10 am. To pay the parking fee, drop off the luggage and take the shuttle to what passes for the Cruise Ship Terminal (more about the TERMINAL later) took around 45 minutes, ten minutes less that the drive from Alexandria The reason that it takes 45 minutes to go a quarter mile is that the port is clearly a Cargo port and the people running the port obviously consider the cruise passengers to be a nuisance that they wish would just go away. The cruise traffic is all forced into a single lane( from what I could see there appears to be either 8 or 10 lanes available) until it backs up and becomes a hazard on the entrance highway, then they open two lanes with all the rest open to cargo traffic only. As the 50 to 100 car line of cruise passengers cross each intersection in the port there are traffic guards to halt the line as soon as a single cargo vehicle - and in one case even a fork lift truck- comes along in the cross traffic. When we finally arrived at the Terminal we were giving a number and told that since the ship had not yet docked and the incoming passengers would be unable to leave the ship for several more hours, we would be bussed to a downtown hotel for check-in and retrieved when we could board. Since the cruise terminal was actually a bare bones ex- warehouse - aptly named Shed #3- with 800 metal folding chairs placed on a bare concrete floor( there were 1700 passengers booked on the ship so you can figure out for yourself how that works out when everyone arrives), the hotel sounded like a good deal. Later on we found out what a good deal it really was when we talked to those passengers who had to spend the whole time waiting in the terminal once the hotel ballroom was filled up with us early arrivals. Many sitting on the concrete floor when all the chairs were taken. The hotel deal wasn't all that bad - at least we had chairs to sit on and coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies were provided. We finally left the hotel for the ship at 8:15pm( departure was originally scheduled for 6 pm).The thing that was really irritating was that NOT A SINGLE CELEBRITY REPRESENTATIVE EVER CAME TO THE HOTEL TO PROVI DE ANY UPDATE ON WHAT WAS GOING ON. Of course, in such a situation ther were all kind of rumors going around. We never did find out what really was going on. The most plausible explanation was that since this was the day after the big windstorm the wind driven water built up enough silt at the docking site to prevent a normal docking. So, what that really says is the cruise lines are trying to do it on the cheap ( terminal example) and don't want to spend the money that they should on routine dredging resulting in no allowance at all for contingencies such as this. When we finally got back to the terminal( warehouse)the scene reminded me of the pictures that I had seen years ago when we had to read Dantes Inferno in high school. The bulk of the 1000 or so people that had been left behind had not even been checked in yet and it was a scene of complete chaos. This was around 8:45pm. Those of us who had been fortunate enough to have been checked in at the hotel had it a little better but still had to wade through the mob scene to finally board. The ship finally departed a little after midnight. Well this is already much too long, so all that I will say about debarkation is that the ship docked at 10:30 am and we finally got to our car , which was in the parking lot and could be seen from the deck, at 2:45pm and out of the gate around 3:25. Same situation in the port as the embarkation with any single cargo truck or vehicle being given the right of way over the hundreds of cruise passengers trying to depart and all the departing cruise passenger cars trying to get to I-95 squeezed into the same SINGLE drop off line for the incoming passengers. In summing up, no matter what you have heard about how bad the situation is at the Port of Baltimore, it has to be experienced to be believed. I'm pretty sure that I will try Fort Lauderdale the next time. |
#2
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Port of Baltimore
Having lived close to Baltimore we have used the port many times & only once
have had an experience close to yours. The harbor was fogged in & the ship was 4 hours late - People were stacked in the terminal just as you described with not even a chair to sit in. Fortunately this doesn't happen to often, but the terminal is still lousy compared to any other place we've left from. The parking arrangement seems to have gotten worse since we were there the last time. (we just walked to the car with our luggage). Maryland has been talking about a new terminal for years but it looks doubtful if it'll ever happen. "tonyt" wrote in message ... This is a follow up report to the message that I posted a couple of weeks ago on what I had read about leaving from Baltimore and seeking some advice on how to minimize the aggravation that others had reported on with the Baltimore situation. On November 14 we left from Baltimore for 10 days on Celebrity's Galaxy and we just returned two days ago, the 24th. First off, the Galaxy was a great ship and the cruise itself was wonderful but the Baltimore experience at either end was so bad that -even though I live in Alexandria, VA, a little less than an hour away - my next cruise will probably be from a Florida port. Based on the horror stories that I had heard about leaving from Baltimore, I had prepared my wife to expect the worst and neither she or I were dissapointed. Based on the pre-cruise literature from Celebrity we were advised to get to the port around 2:30 pm for a 6 pm departure. After about a 55 minute drive from Alexandria, we arrived at the ENTRANCE to the port at just around 2:15. We could see the pier about a quarter of a mile away and the Galaxy about 200 yards away from the pier getting pushed toward the pier by a couple of tugs. That this was taking place at 2:15pm was obviously not a good sign since she was supposed to have docked at 10 am. To pay the parking fee, drop off the luggage and take the shuttle to what passes for the Cruise Ship Terminal (more about the TERMINAL later) took around 45 minutes, ten minutes less that the drive from Alexandria The reason that it takes 45 minutes to go a quarter mile is that the port is clearly a Cargo port and the people running the port obviously consider the cruise passengers to be a nuisance that they wish would just go away. The cruise traffic is all forced into a single lane( from what I could see there appears to be either 8 or 10 lanes available) until it backs up and becomes a hazard on the entrance highway, then they open two lanes with all the rest open to cargo traffic only. As the 50 to 100 car line of cruise passengers cross each intersection in the port there are traffic guards to halt the line as soon as a single cargo vehicle - and in one case even a fork lift truck- comes along in the cross traffic. When we finally arrived at the Terminal we were giving a number and told that since the ship had not yet docked and the incoming passengers would be unable to leave the ship for several more hours, we would be bussed to a downtown hotel for check-in and retrieved when we could board. Since the cruise terminal was actually a bare bones ex- warehouse - aptly named Shed #3- with 800 metal folding chairs placed on a bare concrete floor( there were 1700 passengers booked on the ship so you can figure out for yourself how that works out when everyone arrives), the hotel sounded like a good deal. Later on we found out what a good deal it really was when we talked to those passengers who had to spend the whole time waiting in the terminal once the hotel ballroom was filled up with us early arrivals. Many sitting on the concrete floor when all the chairs were taken. The hotel deal wasn't all that bad - at least we had chairs to sit on and coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies were provided. We finally left the hotel for the ship at 8:15pm( departure was originally scheduled for 6 pm).The thing that was really irritating was that NOT A SINGLE CELEBRITY REPRESENTATIVE EVER CAME TO THE HOTEL TO PROVI DE ANY UPDATE ON WHAT WAS GOING ON. Of course, in such a situation ther were all kind of rumors going around. We never did find out what really was going on. The most plausible explanation was that since this was the day after the big windstorm the wind driven water built up enough silt at the docking site to prevent a normal docking. So, what that really says is the cruise lines are trying to do it on the cheap ( terminal example) and don't want to spend the money that they should on routine dredging resulting in no allowance at all for contingencies such as this. When we finally got back to the terminal( warehouse)the scene reminded me of the pictures that I had seen years ago when we had to read Dantes Inferno in high school. The bulk of the 1000 or so people that had been left behind had not even been checked in yet and it was a scene of complete chaos. This was around 8:45pm. Those of us who had been fortunate enough to have been checked in at the hotel had it a little better but still had to wade through the mob scene to finally board. The ship finally departed a little after midnight. Well this is already much too long, so all that I will say about debarkation is that the ship docked at 10:30 am and we finally got to our car , which was in the parking lot and could be seen from the deck, at 2:45pm and out of the gate around 3:25. Same situation in the port as the embarkation with any single cargo truck or vehicle being given the right of way over the hundreds of cruise passengers trying to depart and all the departing cruise passenger cars trying to get to I-95 squeezed into the same SINGLE drop off line for the incoming passengers. In summing up, no matter what you have heard about how bad the situation is at the Port of Baltimore, it has to be experienced to be believed. I'm pretty sure that I will try Fort Lauderdale the next time. |
#3
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Port of Baltimore
On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:56:29 -0500, "tonyt" wrote:
So, what that really says is the cruise lines are trying to do it on the cheap ( terminal example) and don't want to spend the money that they should on routine dredging resulting in no allowance at all for contingencies such as this. Hi Tony, I am not sure how you came to this conclusion. The cruise port is usually responsible for the dredging and the terminal facilities. Unfortunately, the cruise lines are at their mercy. Best regards, Ray LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 http://www.lighthousetravel.com |
#4
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Port of Baltimore
Dang! this is really bad. Much, much worse than my experience there, =
which I thought at the time was pretty hideous. Our embarkation was = really quite easy -- once we got to the terminal. We waited and waited = for a shuttle to take us there, and it was HOT as it was in July. But = disembarkation was really a nightmare. We got into port around 10:30 or = 11:00 am. We were supposed to be in port at 8:30 am, but for some = unknown reason we were late. No biggee, and certainly understandable, = but....once we were in port, we waited, and waited and waited with = absolutely NO explanation as to why we were all forced to sit there on = the ship. When we saw the next cruise's passengers coming ONTO the ship = around 3 pm, we knew something was desperately wrong. All we were ever = able to determine were the rumors that there were drug dogs sniffing = every single piece of luggage unloaded. Whether this was true or not I = will never know, but I had called my brother around 11:00 am telling him = to come and get us (he lives near Baltimore). He left work to make a = quick pickup intending to go back to work, but he never made it back, as = we finally got to him around 3:45 pm. We got off the ship around 3:00 = pm. It took me forever to find our bags and get them on a shuttle = because we couldn't manage to snag a porter which we desperately needed = since mom is in a wheelchair and there was no way I could handle all the = bags myself. I will never forget the difficult time we had that day, but = the cruise itself was very very VERY nice. June "Rich Cacace" wrote in message = ... Having lived close to Baltimore we have used the port many times & only = once have had an experience close to yours. The harbor was fogged in & the = ship was 4 hours late - People were stacked in the terminal just as you = described with not even a chair to sit in. Fortunately this doesn't happen to = often, but the terminal is still lousy compared to any other place we've left = from. The parking arrangement seems to have gotten worse since we were there = the last time. (we just walked to the car with our luggage). Maryland has = been talking about a new terminal for years but it looks doubtful if it'll = ever happen. "tonyt" wrote in message ... This is a follow up report to the message that I posted a couple of = weeks ago on what I had read about leaving from Baltimore and seeking some advice on how to minimize the aggravation that others had reported on with = the Baltimore situation. On November 14 we left from Baltimore for 10 days on Celebrity's = Galaxy and we just returned two days ago, the 24th. First off, the Galaxy was a great ship and the cruise itself was = wonderful but the Baltimore experience at either end was so bad that -even = though I live in Alexandria, VA, a little less than an hour away - my next = cruise will probably be from a Florida port. Based on the horror stories that I had heard about leaving from = Baltimore, I had prepared my wife to expect the worst and neither she or I were dissapointed. Based on the pre-cruise literature from Celebrity we = were advised to get to the port around 2:30 pm for a 6 pm departure. After about a 55 minute drive from Alexandria, we arrived at the = ENTRANCE to the port at just around 2:15. We could see the pier about a quarter of = a mile away and the Galaxy about 200 yards away from the pier getting = pushed toward the pier by a couple of tugs. That this was taking place at = 2:15pm was obviously not a good sign since she was supposed to have docked at = 10 am. To pay the parking fee, drop off the luggage and take the shuttle = to what passes for the Cruise Ship Terminal (more about the TERMINAL = later) took around 45 minutes, ten minutes less that the drive from = Alexandria The reason that it takes 45 minutes to go a quarter mile is that the = port is clearly a Cargo port and the people running the port obviously = consider the cruise passengers to be a nuisance that they wish would just go away. = The cruise traffic is all forced into a single lane( from what I could see there appears to be either 8 or 10 lanes available) until it backs up and becomes a hazard on the entrance highway, then they open two lanes with all = the rest open to cargo traffic only. As the 50 to 100 car line of cruise = passengers cross each intersection in the port there are traffic guards to halt = the line as soon as a single cargo vehicle - and in one case even a fork = lift truck- comes along in the cross traffic. When we finally arrived at the Terminal we were giving a number and = told that since the ship had not yet docked and the incoming passengers would be unable to leave the = ship for several more hours, we would be bussed to a downtown hotel for = check-in and retrieved when we could board. Since the cruise terminal was actually = a bare bones ex- warehouse - aptly named Shed #3- with 800 metal folding = chairs placed on a bare concrete floor( there were 1700 passengers booked on = the ship so you can figure out for yourself how that works out when = everyone arrives), the hotel sounded like a good deal. Later on we found out = what a good deal it really was when we talked to those passengers who had to spend the whole time waiting in the terminal once the hotel ballroom was = filled up with us early arrivals. Many sitting on the concrete floor when all = the chairs were taken. The hotel deal wasn't all that bad - at least we had chairs to sit on = and coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies were provided. We finally left the hotel for the ship at 8:15pm( departure was originally scheduled for 6 pm).The thing that was really irritating was that NOT = A SINGLE CELEBRITY REPRESENTATIVE EVER CAME TO THE HOTEL TO PROVI DE ANY UPDATE ON WHAT WAS GOING ON. Of course, in such a situation ther = were all kind of rumors going around. We never did find out what really was going on. The most plausible explanation was that since this was the day after the big windstorm = the wind driven water built up enough silt at the docking site to prevent a = normal docking. So, what that really says is the cruise lines are trying to = do it on the cheap ( terminal example) and don't want to spend the money = that they should on routine dredging resulting in no allowance at all for contingencies such as this. When we finally got back to the terminal( warehouse)the scene reminded = me of the pictures that I had seen years ago when we had to read Dantes = Inferno in high school. The bulk of the 1000 or so people that had been left behind had not even been checked in yet and it was a scene of complete chaos. This was around 8:45pm. Those of us who had been fortunate enough to have = been checked in at the hotel had it a little better but still had to wade through the mob scene to finally board. The ship finally departed a little after midnight. Well this is already much too long, so all that I will say about debarkation is that the ship docked at 10:30 am and we finally got to our car , = which was in the parking lot and could be seen from the deck, at 2:45pm and = out of the gate around 3:25. Same situation in the port as the embarkation = with any single cargo truck or vehicle being given the right of way over the hundreds of cruise passengers trying to depart and all the departing cruise passenger cars trying to get to I-95 squeezed into the same SINGLE drop off line = for the incoming passengers. In summing up, no matter what you have heard about how bad the = situation is at the Port of Baltimore, it has to be experienced to be believed. I'm pretty sure that I will try Fort Lauderdale the next time. |
#5
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Port of Baltimore
In article , tonyt
wrote: Based on the pre-cruise literature from Celebrity we were advised to get to the port around 2:30 pm for a 6 pm departure. I always ignore the pre-cruise literature and read the reviews. I arrived at the port at 11:30 am and was one of the first cars in the lot. No traffic problems. I boarded the ship at 2:00. Not anywhere near as good as a Ft. Lauderdale embarkation, but livable. I don't advise arriving later, since that would push boarding even farther back as more arrive being stuck in the traffic. Of course for your sailing there still would have been the problems cause by the ship arriving late, but I don't think that is normal. -- Charles |
#6
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Port of Baltimore
Wow, what a nightmare embarkation you had! That's awful.
I know it's of no consolation whatsoever after what you went through, but we've sailed the Galaxy from Baltimore twice and fortunately didn't have to go through anything at all like this. How was the cruise? I hope it was a better experience than getting on the ship! Eileen tonyt wrote: This is a follow up report to the message that I posted a couple of weeks ago on what I had read about leaving from Baltimore and seeking some advice on how to minimize the aggravation that others had reported on with the Baltimore situation. On November 14 we left from Baltimore for 10 days on Celebrity's Galaxy and we just returned two days ago, the 24th. First off, the Galaxy was a great ship and the cruise itself was wonderful but the Baltimore experience at either end was so bad that -even though I live in Alexandria, VA, a little less than an hour away - my next cruise will probably be from a Florida port. Based on the horror stories that I had heard about leaving from Baltimore, I had prepared my wife to expect the worst and neither she or I were dissapointed. Based on the pre-cruise literature from Celebrity we were advised to get to the port around 2:30 pm for a 6 pm departure. After about a 55 minute drive from Alexandria, we arrived at the ENTRANCE to the port at just around 2:15. We could see the pier about a quarter of a mile away and the Galaxy about 200 yards away from the pier getting pushed toward the pier by a couple of tugs. That this was taking place at 2:15pm was obviously not a good sign since she was supposed to have docked at 10 am. To pay the parking fee, drop off the luggage and take the shuttle to what passes for the Cruise Ship Terminal (more about the TERMINAL later) took around 45 minutes, ten minutes less that the drive from Alexandria The reason that it takes 45 minutes to go a quarter mile is that the port is clearly a Cargo port and the people running the port obviously consider the cruise passengers to be a nuisance that they wish would just go away. The cruise traffic is all forced into a single lane( from what I could see there appears to be either 8 or 10 lanes available) until it backs up and becomes a hazard on the entrance highway, then they open two lanes with all the rest open to cargo traffic only. As the 50 to 100 car line of cruise passengers cross each intersection in the port there are traffic guards to halt the line as soon as a single cargo vehicle - and in one case even a fork lift truck- comes along in the cross traffic. When we finally arrived at the Terminal we were giving a number and told that since the ship had not yet docked and the incoming passengers would be unable to leave the ship for several more hours, we would be bussed to a downtown hotel for check-in and retrieved when we could board. Since the cruise terminal was actually a bare bones ex- warehouse - aptly named Shed #3- with 800 metal folding chairs placed on a bare concrete floor( there were 1700 passengers booked on the ship so you can figure out for yourself how that works out when everyone arrives), the hotel sounded like a good deal. Later on we found out what a good deal it really was when we talked to those passengers who had to spend the whole time waiting in the terminal once the hotel ballroom was filled up with us early arrivals. Many sitting on the concrete floor when all the chairs were taken. The hotel deal wasn't all that bad - at least we had chairs to sit on and coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies were provided. We finally left the hotel for the ship at 8:15pm( departure was originally scheduled for 6 pm).The thing that was really irritating was that NOT A SINGLE CELEBRITY REPRESENTATIVE EVER CAME TO THE HOTEL TO PROVI DE ANY UPDATE ON WHAT WAS GOING ON. Of course, in such a situation ther were all kind of rumors going around. We never did find out what really was going on. The most plausible explanation was that since this was the day after the big windstorm the wind driven water built up enough silt at the docking site to prevent a normal docking. So, what that really says is the cruise lines are trying to do it on the cheap ( terminal example) and don't want to spend the money that they should on routine dredging resulting in no allowance at all for contingencies such as this. When we finally got back to the terminal( warehouse)the scene reminded me of the pictures that I had seen years ago when we had to read Dantes Inferno in high school. The bulk of the 1000 or so people that had been left behind had not even been checked in yet and it was a scene of complete chaos. This was around 8:45pm. Those of us who had been fortunate enough to have been checked in at the hotel had it a little better but still had to wade through the mob scene to finally board. The ship finally departed a little after midnight. Well this is already much too long, so all that I will say about debarkation is that the ship docked at 10:30 am and we finally got to our car , which was in the parking lot and could be seen from the deck, at 2:45pm and out of the gate around 3:25. Same situation in the port as the embarkation with any single cargo truck or vehicle being given the right of way over the hundreds of cruise passengers trying to depart and all the departing cruise passenger cars trying to get to I-95 squeezed into the same SINGLE drop off line for the incoming passengers. In summing up, no matter what you have heard about how bad the situation is at the Port of Baltimore, it has to be experienced to be believed. I'm pretty sure that I will try Fort Lauderdale the next time. |
#7
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Port of Baltimore
"Eileen Garland" wrote in message ... Wow, what a nightmare embarkation you had! That's awful. I know it's of no consolation whatsoever after what you went through, but we've sailed the Galaxy from Baltimore twice and fortunately didn't have to go through anything at all like this. If everything goes smooth with the ship arriving on time the port isn't to bad but you see what happens when any little thing slows the process. The terminal is so lousy that they don't even have chairs for everyone to sit down when if necessary. I can't say I'm sorry not sail out of Baltimore any more but I'll be in Florida in about 4 or 5 months & intend to take full advantage of their ports. |
#8
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Port of Baltimore
Thanks for the warning about Baltimore! BILL
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#9
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Port of Baltimore
Most if not all of the delay problems associated with cruises out of Baltimore
are due to the fact the the trip up the Chesapeake Bay is a LONG and SLOW process. Can't recall the exacrt date but within the past week we also experienced very high winds which can also slow things down. The ship channels are dredged regularly but there are only 2 lanes so the amount of ship traffic can also slow things down. As for the excuse for a terminal I will agree with what most have to say about this facility and from what I have read in the local papers the port authority is not going to spend any money to fix the situation. BTW I have sailed out of Baltimore and did not experience any problens, fortunately. Frank |
#10
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Port of Baltimore
We sailed the Galaxy last year out of Baltimore and arrived at 4pm to board the
ship. Weabout 30 minutes away, so we took our time. We had no problems whatsoever going and none on the way back. Lourdes :-) |
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