Photos of Baltimore, Maryland Cruise Ship Terminal

Once you past security at the entrance, this may be your first stop i.e. parking your car at the terminal. There are lots on either side of the terminal and, you pay before you drop off your luggage and enter the terminal. The area is locked up when there aren't any ships at the terminal.

This will be either your first or second stop depending on whether your leaving your car at the terminal. If you're not, you should get whoever is driving you to bring you over to this part of the terminal so, you can easily drop off your luggage. I believe they later transfer the luggage from these containers to the ones the ship uses.

This part is pretty obvious i.e. you go in through the front entrance. When you disembark the ship, you'll come out the side of the building.

This picture shows the security scanners you'll have to pass through. I found security tough and no nonsense.

This picture shows the different lines boarding passengers will go through depending on their level of membership with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (frequent cruiser program) or lack of. Also, it shows some of the seating in the waiting area. Depending on when you arrive (I arrived earlier than expected), you may not have a wait.

This picture shows the entrance to a special lounge for those who are staying in suites and or are Pinnacle level members with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society. Presumably, they got to board first once boarding started. There is a separate seating area in this area for Diamond and Diamond Plus members who are the second ones to board. They did offer water and maybe something else here. I don't remember seeing any soda or snack machines.

This last picture is of the standard mobile gangway you'll take to get on the ship. You'll walk out of the terminal building and zig zag up the gangway to where it connects to Grandeur of the Seas.

Overall, I feel Baltimore does a good job of getting you on and off the boat during your cruise. They claim they'll have you on the boat within an hour of arrival though this depends on when you arrive. I arrived around 10 a.m. and, they were still busy getting people off the boat so, I had to wait. I forget when they finished getting all the departing passengers off. For those who didn't bring their car or arranged to have someone pick them up, there are taxis outside the front of the terminal though I wasn't wowed by the one I took. I'd recommend you take Uber or Lyft as I think you'll get a better vehicle and maybe a better price. If nothing else, you should be able to get a decent quote from them on what it'll cost you.

I hope you find this post useful. I'll be cruising again out of Baltimore on Grandeur in January 2019 on a slightly different itinerary i.e. 1 day in Nassau, Bahamas and 1 day at Coco Cay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore on Grandeur of the Seas to Maine/Canada, Bermuda, Southern United States of America & the Bahamas and the Caribbean. I hope to do a Caribbean cruise in 2020 with my favorite aunt and uncle. One big down side to the ship's Caribbean cruises (in my opinion) is how much time you'll spend at sea getting down there and back (3 days each way).

The other major (in my opinion) cruise line that cruises out of Baltimore regularly is Carnival (Royal Caribbean's great rival). Their ship is called Pride and does 7 day cruises that leave and arrive every Sunday (as far as I know). As I've only cruised with Royal Caribbean, I don't know how that ship's cruises stack up. I have heard Carnival is the party line where Royal Caribbean tries to offer something for everyone.

That's all for now. Happy Travels and Happy Cruising!

Update: November 9, 2020 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal is closed due to the coronavirus at the time of this update and, I don't have any idea when it'll reopen and cruising will start back up again. As I understand, cases of the virus in Maryland are going back up making it very unlikely they'll start offering cruises out of the terminal again any time soon.

Update: August 4, 2021 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal has reopened HOWEVER no cruise ships are sailing as far as I know. I am keeping an eye on when Royal Caribbean plans to start cruising out of Baltimore again but, I haven't seen a date so far. I suspect Royal Caribbean is going to go with the bigger ships first as they would make more money for them. Also, there is the issue of having to do a trial cruise first on the ship to test their virus procedures.

Update: September 3, 2021 Royal Caribbean announced Enchantment of the Seas will start sailing out of Baltimore on December 23, 2021. Before it does that cruise, I believe it has to do a trial cruise to show the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that the ship has its procedures in place to their satisfaction. I haven't heard when the the trial cruise will be.

Update: October 31, 2021 Carnival started sailing again out of Baltimore on September 12, 2021 with a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas.

New Paradise Island Monastery Ruins Pictures

Here are the promised new photos I took of the French monastery ruins on Paradise Island, Bahamas. The place is really pretty. I was told it was very popular for weddings and, I can definitely understand why. The photos were taken with my Sony Cybershot RX 100 II pocket digital SLR. The camera was ideal in this case since it's so small and much easier to carry that my Canon Rebel XTi camera though I can't get as fancy with the Sony camera as I can with the Canon camera (I have a Canon.EFS 55-255mm lense which gives me great telephoto pictures).

Paradise Island Ferry

Here is a promised picture of one the ferry boats I took over to Paradise Island, Bahamas. The ferry was very reasonably priced. It cost $4 each way and took about 10 minutes. They had a booth in the shopping area by the cruise ship terminal exit where you would buy your ticket(s). The boat was located a little further on. They were supposed to run every 30 minutes but, I found they didn't. They ran when they got as many people as they thought they could get.

The ferry would tie up under one of the bridges that like Paradise Island to New Providence. You can see one of the bridge's concrete spans in the first picture. There were a few small shops at the pier.

Coming back, I took the second picture. Ironically, two of the ships in the picture decided to leave at the time my ferry was going back to the cruise ship area. One of the ships actually honked their horn at my ferry warning it off and causing it to turn around and wait for it to pass. This caused me problems with my Aunt Marge. My aunt, uncle, my some time travel friend Harvey and I were supposed to get together around 5:30 p.m. and go to one of our ship's bars for a pre-dinner drink. If my ferry had run on time, I would've made it in time. However, because they didn't stick to the 30 minute schedule and, the delay caused by the two departing cruise ships, I ended being serious late getting back to the ship. As I hadn't told any one of my decision to go to Paradise Island, my aunt was very concerned about my disappearance. I apologized and explained what had happened. I would still recommend these ferries if you want a cheap way to get to Paradise Island from the cruise ship area.

New Atlantis Pictures

Here are some photos I took during my 2nd cruise with my totally awesome Aunt Marge and very cool Uncle Dave (Mr. Spiffy). Sadly, the two of them didn't get to see this famous and impressive resort. This was my 2nd trip there and, it ended up being a bit of a misadventure as I took a cheap ferry over to Paradise Island and found out I had no idea where I was going and, I didn't have a map. Thankfully, after taking these pictures as well as new ones of the ruined French monastery which I'll post later, I was able to find my way back to the ferry landing and eventually made it back to our ship Majesty of the Seas.

The resort is impressive and, I think they did a great job of the Atlantis theme. I believe I posted pictures previously of my first visit if you want to see pictures of the aquarium part of Atlantis. The open aquarium is supposedly the largest in the Caribbean. Also, the resort has an impressive water park though I've never seen it. Water parks aren't my thing. Lastly, the resort has the 10th most expensive hotel room in the world - the Michael Jackson suite. I don't know if it's actually named after him but, people call it that after he stayed there 13 straight nights! Michael definitely had money as the suite costs $25,000 a night!

Atlantis Resort Photos, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Finished in 1998 by South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner, Atlantis is probably the most famous resort in the Bahamas. It has a water park, the largest outdoor aquarium in the Caribbean and a lot of impressive artwork specially created for the resort some of which you can see in the photos above.

My travel friend Harvey and I signed up for the Atlantis tour excursion through Royal Caribbean. It cost $39 and, I thought it was worth the money. The resort provided the guide for the tour who was very knowledgeable and funny. The tour included transportation to and from the resort. I think the tour took 3 hours. Next up - Key West, Florida

Oasis of the Seas Photos, Nassau, Bahamas

For those who wants lots of photos of this impressive ship, my apologies. I wasn't able to take lots of them from the pier at Nassau, Bahamas. I haven't sailed on the Oasis so, I haven't been able to get photos from on the ship. These photos are primarily to show my Aunt Marge just how BIG this Oasis is. It is HUMONGOUS!

The 2nd photo is a poor attempt to show the Aquatheater on the ship. This theater is noteworthy as it's largest swimming pool on a commercial vessel. It holds 1 million gallons of water and is 16 feet deep. It has to be deep because they have professional divers (not scuba divers) who dive into the pool during the shows they put on.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the Oasis or its sister ship the Allure will make port in Nassau during one of the two port calls my Aunt, my Uncle and myself will make to Nassau this coming January. Then, she can be Royally WOWED as Royal Caribbean says.

Next up: photos of the Miami skyline, cruise ship terminal and Royal Caribbean International Headquarters.

Cloister Photos, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Here are 2 photos I took of The Cloisters on Paradise Island. I took 3 others but, I used those in a review that I wrote for Tripadvisor.com. As I don't want to use those again and possibly have some trouble with those folks, I'm using my remaining 2 photos.

The Cloisters were the last thing I got to see on my first excursion in Nassau. I think they're the prettiest too though the Queen's Staircase was pretty neat. The Cloisters have an interesting story. William Randolph Hearst, the great newspaper magnate, bought the ruins of a French monastery and had them shipped either to the U.S. or the Bahamas (that point wasn't clear in my researches). Apparently, no one thought to note how the various pieces went together. When they tried to put the pieces together, they realized they had a BIG problem. Hearst never put the ruins back together. Later, his heirs I believe sold them to the A&P heir (I forget his name) who was building a super posh hotel on what was then known as Pig Island (I believe that was the name then, he later petitioned the Bahamian Parliament to have the name changed to Paradise Island, a lot more appealing to people staying there you know). He bought the ruins and hired an artist who then spent 2 years trying all kinds of combinations till he finally came up with what you see today.

The ruins are stilled owned by the hotel the heir built. I forget it's name though I do remember it's part of the One and Only Chain of hotel. The hotel allows anyone to visit the ruins and, there isn't any charge. They're open 24 hours a day. They are very popular for weddings according to the guide I had. It would sense as they would be a great setting for a wedding.

After visiting these ruins, my tour group returned to the cruise ship terminal where I would take some photos of the Oasis of the Seas. Stay tuned for those photos tomorrow. Happy travels all!

Nassau, Bahamas Harbor Pictures

Time to post some more Bahamas cruises pictures for my totally awesome Aunt Marge. The first picture here is of the entrance to the harbor at Nassau, Bahamas. This is noteworthy because the Bahamian government had to widen the channel entrance to the harbor so the Oasis and its sister ships could visit Nassau without running the risk of running aground. It would've been a tight fit for the ship otherwise. Two pictures of the Oasis will appear in future posts as I was able to get up close to the ship in Nassau.

The second picture is to the left of the harbor entrance. You can see some kind of factory out that way as well as a nice beach. As I remember, there were food stands by the beach too.

The third picture is of the 4 ships that were in port the first time I made port in Nassau on Majesty of the Seas. From left to right, you have the Oasis, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship (name unremembered), a Carnival ship (name unremembered but always easy to identify due to their unique smokestack) and Majesty of the Seas.

The fourth picture is another picture of Majesty of the Seas that I didn't know I had. This shows the ship from the pier close to the building where you pass through security to enter Nassau.

Next up will be the Cloisters which you won't want to miss. They are really pretty, have an interesting story and are very popular for weddings in Nassau. Stay tuned.

Fort Fincastle and Queen's Staircase Pictures

Fort Fincastle was built in 1793 by Lord Dunmore, the governor of the Bahamas at the time. It was named Fincastle after his 2nd title Viscount Fincastle. The fort was 1 of the 3 forts that protected Nassau. The other 2 forts were Fort Charlotte and Fort Nassau which no longer exists. The fort had 2 12 pound, 2 24 pound and 2 32 pound cannons as well as 1 howitzer. Oddly, the fort is shaped like a paddle steamer. You can see what looks like the front of a ship in the 2nd picture.

The Queen's Staircase was built so soldiers could easily get to Fort Fincastle. According to my guide, it took slaves 16 years to hack out of stone the steps that led to the fort. Later, as far as I know, they beautified the staircase and, there is now a pretty waterfall as seen in the 4th picture as well as plants along the staircase. The guide for the tour I did was kind enough to give those who wanted to see the staircase the option of walking down it and joining the tour bus at the base of the staircase. My travel friend Harvey and I took him up on the offer and enjoyed checking it out barring the hustler who tried to get a tip off us for some information on the staircase we didn't ask for.

Coco Cay, Bahamas Photos

Here are the best photos I took of Coco Cay, Bahamas. The first photo shows the small cove that the tender boats would take folks to. There were 2 docks for the boats to tie up and unload their passengers.

The 2nd photo shows one of the beaches on the island. Another beach had cabanas for rent.

The 3rd photo shows the guide for the nature walk tour my travel friend Harvey and I did. The tour showed some of the plants on the island that Bahamians used for bush medicine. The tour was very interesting. Sadly, I don't remember the guide's name.

The 4th photo shows some of the iguanas that live on the island. Surprisingly, these lizards are very agile climbers and, they'll actually climb up into trees by their little inlet. My travel friend Harvey was so taken by the iguanas that he bought a t-shirt from one of the souvenir stalls on the islands that showed iguanas with sunglasses on relaxing and enjoying the sun.

The 5th and final photo shows one of the trees the guide showed us. This tree produces such large leaves that Bahamians will break them off and use them for make shift plates.

Here's a little more info about the island though I can't state that it is 100% accurate. First, the island is owned by an unidentified marine biologist who has a home on the island on the other end of it. The biologist supposedly leased the island to Royal Caribbean for 99 years. The biologist and their family can apparently still stay at their home when they feel like and, they can visit Royal Caribbean's facilities on it. Second, some Royal Caribbean staff actually live on the island. The guide I mentioned pointed out the housing facilities for those staff during my tour. I suspect the staff stay busy as Royal Caribbean has various ships come here. The Majesty of the Seas comes here twice every week alone. Third, Royal Caribbean offers a number of activities on the island. You can snorkel, scuba dive, jet ski, parasail and go on a glass bottom boat ride. Keep in mind there is a charge for a number of these activities like the glass bottom boat ride, scuba diving, jet ski and the snorkle treasure hunt (I plan to do that one during one of my visits there with my Aunt). Fifth, Coco Cay is one of two private resorts Royal Caribbean has. The other is their resort at Labadee, Haiti which I've been to and is very nice. Sixth, there are some souvenir stalls on the island though not tons by any means. I believe some of them are run by Bahamians. I don't think there were more than 15 of them.

Thats's all for this post. The next one will be on the history tour I took of Nassau and will have pictures of Fort Fincastle, Fort Charlotte and Nassau harbor. Stay tuned.

Atlantis Resort Tour Review

I thought it was time for another travel blog entry. As any of my readers know, I visited Nassau, Bahamas twice this past September. On my second visit, I did the Discover Atlantis tour. The tour cost $39 as I remember. Here is a picture of the resort:

As far as I know, the Atlantis resort is the most famous one in the Bahamas. It was built with an Atlantis theme and features the largest open water aquarium in the Caribbean. Here is a picture of some of the fishes in their tank:

The tour guide my group had was very good. She was funny and knowledgeable. I don't know about others in the group but, I was shocked when the guide told us how much the Michael Jackson suite was. The suite goes for $25,000 a night with a minimum 4 night stay. Supposedly, a butler is included. I still can't imagine a hotel suite being worth $25,000 a night. Also, there is supposedly a 6 month waiting list for the famous suite. I think those folks don't have better things to spend their money. The resort has some impressive artwork that artists created that was supposed to have been created by the Atlanteans. Here are 2 examples:

Overall, the resort was impressive though I don't have any desire to stay there. It's too expensive. Also, to me, the Bahamas are just another sun and sand Caribbean island. Plus, I didn't find some of the Bahamians very friendly. I found the people in Bermuda to be nicer. However, if you're going to visit Nassau, I would recommend you do the Discover Atlantis tour. I was very pleased with this tour and would highly recommend it.

Correction: the cost of the Discover Atlantis tour is $59 not $39. I got the price mixed up with the Hemingway walking tour I did in Key West.

Coco Cay Bahamas

Here's the first of my travel pictures I took while on my back-to-back cruises to the Bahamas and Key West. This first one shows one of the beaches on Royal Caribbean's private island resort Coco Cay. Interestingly, the island belongs to a marine biologist who has a home on the island he and his family visit occasionally. Supposedly, the biologist signed a 99 year lease with Royal Caribbean. I bet he got some serious bucks!

Another interesting feature of the island is its iguanas. You can see one in this picture. There's a small cove they like to frequent. When I visited, I saw 5 of them laying around on the ground and in the trees. My travel friend Harvey thought they were so neat, he bought a t-shirt that featured the iguanas. Supposedly, people can feed them pieces of banana though I didn't try it.