January 2007 Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Cafe Visit

Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe

Me and a friend had lunch at the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe today. Earlier, I found out that the Hard Rock Cafe Corporation would deactivate my Access Club membership if I didn't use it at least once every two years. That wouldn't be any big deal except I've earned a $60 credit with the club and I didn't want to lose that so I decided it was time to make a trip to either the Baltimore or Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafes. Both of the cafes are nice, though in my opinion, the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe is the easier of the two to get to. It's located in Baltimore's Inner Harbor and is within easy walking distance from the Maryland Light Rail line across from Camden Yards (where the Baltimore Orioles play).

The cafe is your typical Hard Rock Cafe. The walls are covered with loads of rock memorabilia. I saw a guitar signed by Chrissie Hynde, a poster from a Grateful Dead concert, a drum played by John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and they have a green Cadillac in the center of the bar.

Food wise, I had some outstanding onion rings which I shared with my friend. For main entrees, he tried their bacon cheeseburger and I had their pulled pork sandwich. According to my friend, his cheeseburger was fine. I thought they were a little skimpy with the pork bar-b-que on mine. Still, it was a good sandwich and it was served with small side orders of excellent baked beans and cole slaw and a nice side order of fries.
Overall, the food was very good though to be honest, you don't go to a Hard Rock Cafe to eat the food. You go to check out all the incredible rock memorabilia on the walls. The Hard Rock Cafe Corporation reportedly has the largest collection of rock memorabilia in the world. Each one of their restaurants is a small museum of Rock and Roll. They're really neat places in that way.

Update April 8, 2026: This cafe happily 😊 is still in business (so many have closed sadly 😥). I visited its Rock Shop on March 2, 2026 via Maryland Transportation Authorities light rail. I feel this is the cheapest way to visit Baltimore. Parking is free at Cromwell Light Rail station 🚉, fairly easy to get to and the fares are way cheaper than what it would cost you to park in Baltimore.

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.

Feedback On Cruising Out of Baltimore, Maryland

As I mentioned previously on my blog, I was going to do a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, Maryland. I did the cruise and thought I'd offer a little feedback/information on it.

The cruise started April 5, 2018 and finished April 14, 2018. It lasted 9 nights and visited the following ports:

Charleston, South Carolina,
Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida
Miami, Florida
Nassau, Bahamas (2 days)

The cruise was supposed to make port at King Bahama, Bahamas but, Royal Caribbean changed the itinerary to 2 days in Nassau citing necessary small repairs on the ship (don't know if this was true or not).

As far as in-processing at the Cruise Ship Terminal, people directing the traffic were mixed. Some were helpful and some definitely weren't. One guy told my driver and me to get off the crosswalk BUT didn't tell us where to drop my bags. Security was tough though not as tough as at any airport. The person who checked me in did a fine job and was very courteous. Once you've checked in, there is a waiting area if they haven't started boarding yet. Pinnacle Crown & Anchor members as well as those staying in suites on the ship have a separate waiting area.

The cruise itself went fine and, I'll be doing the same cruise again on Grandeur of the Seas in January 2019.

Upon the ship's return to Baltimore, disembarking went very smoothly and, I believe they stayed on schedule with getting the various groups off. Customs was a breeze to my surprise and, I didn't have to fill out a customs form stating what I'd bought in the Bahamas (the only foreign country the ship visited). I think I was through Customs in 5 minutes to my delight. When I exited Customs, the baggage handlers were on their mark and all my bags were in their assigned area waiting for me.

Some plusses I want to mention about cruising out of Baltimore providing you don't fly into Baltimore to catch the cruise like me. First, no baggage fees. Second, you don't have to worry about the weight of your bags. Third, no long travel time to catch the cruise (providing you live some where in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area). It took me only 30 minutes to travel from Jessup, Maryland to the terminal.

One potential negative is if you have to drive your own car to the terminal and park it there. I believe they charge $15 a day to park it there while you're off on the cruise. Another potential negative is if you have to use a taxi. Due to a friend dropping the ball on me at the last minute, I had to use a taxi (I didn't have the Uber or Lyft apps). I asked the taxi driver for an estimate and, he was very vague on it. The fare ended up being a steep $67! I wasn't pleased about this and will have either Uber or Lyft's app next time. One last negative is you will have at least 1 day at sea to get any where with as many as 3 (Royal Caribbean has that many coming back from their Caribbean cruise). I know some folks enjoy days at sea but, I don't.

Overall, I was very pleased with how things went at the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal. I'm looking forward to my January 2019 cruise on Grandeur of the Seas and feel my next visit there will go even smoother. I'd definitely recommend cruising out of Baltimore for those who live in the area.

Inner Harbor Barnes & Noble Wi-Fi Review

After I had a nice lunch at the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe, I walked next door to the Barnes & Noble located at 601 East Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor. The store is located in a former power station. The store has retained some of the huge piping and wooden floors from the former power station giving the store a nice character. In terms of Wi-Fi, once you press to connect to B&N under the Wi-Fi signals, a disclaimer may pop up. I don't remember if one did. I do remember I had fewer hassles hooking up to their Wi-Fi then I had when I tried to connect to the Wi-Fi at the Starbucks I tested in Columbia, Maryland. If you have a Nook e-reader like I do, the store will offer you free reading for up to 1 hour of a number of e-books. I didn't try it out so, I don't know how well it works or how vast the selection is. The store offers drinks for sale which can be nice while your surfing the web.

Overall, I was very pleased with this store. It was easy to connect to their Wi-Fi and, I had no serious hassles (see my review about Arundel Mills Mall). This is definitely an easy place to hook up to the web if you're in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Happy surfing all!

Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe Review

I haven't been to the Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Café in months so, I thought I'd treat myself to lunch there today. Here's how my visit went.

I got a surprise when I walked in as the Baltimore Hard Rock Café underwent a $4.5 million dollar renovation (source: the bartender). The café looks a good bit different. The biggest change I noticed was at the bar area. Previously, there was a real Cadillac above the bar. They removed the car and put a good size multi-light fixture about the bar. There are also multiple tv screens there so patrons at the bar can easily watch the de rigeur rock videos (I particularly enjoyed the Night Shift video by the Commodores - great song).

Service at the bar was excellent. The bartenders never let my glass run empty and were very willing to get me some items I wanted from the gift shop.

Food wise, overall, it was very good. I wasn't wiped out with the taste of the strawberry basil lemonade. It just didn't taste very good to me and normally I like strawberry lemonade. Also, I wasn't wiped out with the price - $8.40. I had to 2 sides as well as their turkey burger. The skewered shrimp was very good. You got 6 medium size shrimp for $6.75. Also, since I like onion rings, I ordered some of those. They were a good size serving of them and came with a fine bar-b-que sauce to dip them in. They cost $5.75. The main course i.e. turkey burger was pretty good. It came with pepper jack cheese, avocado slices and tomato with an order of fries or salad on the side. I'd never had a turkey burger before and found it pretty tasty though I could tell the difference between it and beef. The cheese and avocado helped give it a nice flavor. The burger cost $14.95.

Gift shop wise, I found the folks there helpful though to be honest, there wasn't a while lot I wanted there. I already have 2 Baltimore Hard Rock Café t-shirts and don't need another. They had some nice hoodies but who needs a hoodie when it's 80 plus degrees outside. I think their selection could've been better.

Overall, I was very pleased with my visit to the Baltimore Hard Rock Café. I'd definitely recommend it. The service was great and, the food was very good. Also, they do participate in the new Hard Rock Rewards program so, you can earn points there toward your next award certificate. Bon Appetit all!

Grandeur of the Seas

This past Friday, I returned to Baltimore after spending 16 consecutive nights on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. I enjoyed myself so much, I didn't want to leave and, I'm already working on my next cruise on Grandeur. That'll be to Maine and Canada in either September or October of this year.

Concerning the ship, I found it in outstanding shape. The ship's crew is doing a great job of maintaining the ship. When we were in port, I saw them touching up spots with a fresh coat of paint. The décor of the ship was very nice and, there were a number of pieces of art placed throughout the ship. All areas of the ship were very clean and, there were lots of hand sanitizer dispensers so people could avoid catching and spreading norvovirus (I think that's its name).

I stayed in an inner cabin for the first time because of a good deal I was offered on the cabin. I found the cabin small but, I managed fine in it. My room attendant Hylton was outstanding. At the end of the 2nd cruise, I gave him an extra tip on top of the regular one because I was so pleased with the job he did.

Crew wise, I found every one very helpful. I was particularly impressed with Francis Vasconcelo, the ship's fitness center director who I took 3 yoga and 3 pilates classes with. There was a charge for these classes but, you got your money's worth from Frances. By the end of each class, you were sweating and knew you'd gotten a work out. Another person I'd like to commend is Pumza, the Ionithermi treatment specialist. This was the first time I'd ever used one of Royal Caribbean's spas and, I was very impressed with it. Pumza was very professional and really strove to help me reach my health goals.

Food wise, I found myself unimpressed with the main dining room. They didn't serve anything that really wiped me out barring the lobster tail on the fisherman's platter. I was particularly disappointed that they didn't have escargot like they normally do. I found it more convenient to eat at the Windjammer Café as I could get my food immediately. The Windjammer Café offered a good choice of entrees and desserts. The only problem I encountered with the Windjammer was trying to get a table at times.

Excursion wise, the shore excursion desk was very helpful and, the ship offered a good selection of excursions at what I thought were reasonable prices. I got to do a number of firsts for myself on these 2 cruises. I rode a Segway, an ATV and a jet ski for the first times. I did a walking tour of Labadee, Haiti that was particularly good as I learned a good bit about Haiti from the tour. The drive around tour of Tortola offered some great views of the island. The 5 hour bus tour of Bermuda was extremely good. The group I was with got particularly lucky in that the person driving the bus was the bus driver's union vice president who was driving a bus for the first time in 6 months. Normally, he's busy dealing with paperwork. This driver/guide was particularly awesome as he was very knowledgeable and funny. Plus, he seemed to know every one of the 65,000 people who live on Bermuda!

Ports of call wise, I thought the itinerary on my first cruise, the re-positioning cruise was particularly good as we made port 6 days in a row before spending 2 days at sea en-route to Baltimore, Maryland. The Bermuda cruise was interesting in that it was the first cruise I'd ever overnighted at a port. The dockyard facilities were very good and, there were regular ferries that would take you to the capital Hamilton for a charge (I don't know how much it was)

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal wise, I found it very convenient. It's easy to get to and, the people processed you very quickly. The people at the terminal were courteous. The ship was late boarding (Noon) the 2nd of my 2 cruises and yet, the terminal got them through so quickly, we were still able to depart on time i.e. 4 p.m. I was surprised how close the ship gets at high tide when it sails under the Francis Scott Key Bridge. I swear we made it by just inches. There's no way they can bring in a bigger cruise ship unless they move the terminal some where past the bridge.

One unique highlight of my 1st cruise was as we were sailing in to Baltimore. Grandeur of the Seas was returning for the first time since departing Baltimore in 2009 (I think) and was given a special welcome. Baltimore's one fire fighting boat shot off its 4 water cannon as we sailed in and supposed the state's governor welcomed the arrival of the ship. News helicopters repeatedly flew around the ship. I don't know if they got the best side of my profile.

I only had 1 persistent problem during my 2 cruises. Twice, I submitted my discount coupon for the ship's WiFi service and both times, I wasn't credited my 15% (I'm a Platinum level Crown & Anchor member) discount. I caught the problem both times but on the 2nd time, the officer spoke with at Customer Service didn't keep their word about fixing the problem. I forgot to double check my final account statement at the end of the 2nd cruise until I got home and found out she failed to solve the problem. I would recommend people watch out for this. I know I will be when I sailed on Grandeur in September/October.

Overall, I had a fantastic time on Grandeur of the Seas. I'd gladly sail on this ship again (and I will be) and would recommend it to others. It's a very nice ship with a great crew. Baltimore is a very convenient port to sail out of barring it can take you a while to get to the Caribbean or Bermuda (1 and 1/2 days out, 2 days coming back).

Update July 27, 2014: I didn't end up doing the September cruise on Grandeur. I will be doing a cruise up to Maine and Canada this September on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, the same ship I did the Panama Canal cruise on. I hope to cruise on Grandeur again in 2016 to Bermuda with a couple friends I've made at the Extended Stay Hotel I live at.

Update: August 4, 2021 Grandeur of the Seas was moved to a port in Texas by Royal Caribbean. Their ship Enchantment of the Seas which was previously homeported in Baltimore will move back to Baltimore when Royal Caribbean starts sailing out of Baltimore again. I haven't seen a date when that'll be.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

Today, I made it to the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal finally to take some pictures. It was something to be able to drive to a cruise ship terminal vice having to go through all the hassle of flying and then catching a shuttle to the terminal. Key roads leading to Baltimore and the terminal had signs reminded folks of the exit 55 (last exit before you go through the Harbor Tunnel on your way to New York). Things were busy at the terminal as Carnival's Pride ship was departing for a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas. The Pride is approximately 57 feet longer than Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas which will start sailing out of Baltimore on May 3rd. Also, it carries slightly more passengers - 175 more. For those who like Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, this coming Saturday will be its last time to depart from Baltimore as it sets off on a 12 night cruise finishing in Port Canaveral, Florida.

The cruise ship terminal was supposedly a converted warehouse. Also, I suspect they had to install a boarding ramp as pictured below.

The terminal does have parking for those who want to drive to the terminal and leave their car during the cruise. According to the terminal website: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov/content/parking-rates, parking is $15 a day payable upon arrival by cash, credit card or traveler's check. Here's a picture of the parking:

The terminal can get busy on the day a ship is sailing as shown in this picture of cars lined up to get in.

Three cruise lines currently sail out of the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal - American Cruise Line (smallest of the 3 lines, carries no more than 100 passengers) which sails up and down the East Coast, Carnival which sails to the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean and Royal Caribbean which sails to Canada, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean. For more information on the terminal please check out the terminal webpage at: http://www.baltimorecruiseguide.com/cruise-terminal.html.

Update posted on 8/5/13. Carnival announced on June 27, 2013 that the Carnival Pride will redeploy to Tampa, Florida December 2014. They haven't said anything about a ship replacing the Pride. Royal Caribbean stated on July 17, 2013 that it would continue to run cruises out of Baltimore on it's Grandeur of the Seas.

Update posted on 7/27/2014: In a press release from the Maryland Governor's office dated January 20, 2014 which you can find on www.cruise.maryland.gov, Governor O'Malley announced that Carnival would continue to offer cruises out of Baltimore. The plan according to the press release is for the Carnival Pride to redeploy to Tampa, Florida in October 2014 at which time it'll receive upgrades including scrubbers to reduce emissions. The ship will return to Baltimore on March 29, 2015 and resume cruises out of Baltimore.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas did begin offering cruises out of Baltimore on May 3, 2013 and continues to offer them at the time of this post. I did the May 3rd cruise on Grandeur and had a great time. I hope to sail on the Grandeur again in 2016.

29 Days Till I Cruise on Grandeur of the Seas

As you can tell, I'm counting the days till I fly down to San Juan, Puerto Rico and board Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas for her re-positioning cruise which finishes in Baltimore, Maryland. Once there, she'll take the place of Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas which is re-positioning to possibly Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The cruise should be particularly good. One down side to cruising out of Baltimore, Maryland is you spend a lot of time at sea getting to and from places. The Baltimore cruise to the Bahamas takes 2 days at sea each way. With the re-positioning cruise, you'll only spend 2 days at sea en-route to Baltimore. Also, the cruise pulls into 6 ports: St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Kitts, British Virgin Island, Dominican Republic and Haiti (Royal Caribbean's resort at Labadee) (this may not be the correct order though these are all the port calls it'll make).

Others apparently think the cruise should be a good one as the last time I checked, the only cabins that were left were suites on the cruise which were going for over $2,400 per person! I managed to get a pretty good deal on an inner cabin. It'll be my first time in one of those cabins (I normally do balcony cabins) and, I'm curious to see what they're like. Also, it'll be my first time on Grandeur of the Seas though I did get to sail on her sister ship Splendour of the Seas last November on 2 great cruises to the Greek Islands.

After the re-positioning cruise, I'll be doing a follow on cruise on Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda. That cruise will be interesting as that'll be the first cruise I'll ever done where the ship overnights at a port. Also, it'll be my first visit to Bermuda.

Both cruises should be a lot of fun plus, it'll be very convenient finishing in Baltimore. I won't have to worry about the weight of my suit case and, I'll only have to pay $35 for a shuttle to take me to the Extended Stay Hotel in Jessup, Maryland where I'll be staying again for at least another 2 months. So far, I've been very pleased with the Extended Stay Hotel. I plan to write on a review on it later on Tripadvisor.com. Stay tuned for my cruise updates. Happy travels all!

Update on Baltimore's Future Royal Caribbean Ship

I found out from an anonymous commenter that Grandeur of the Seas had been posted to Baltimore previously before Enchantment of the Seas took over. Also, Enchantment of the Seas is scheduled for a refit in December 2012 (source: Royal Caribbean website). I did some Internet research and found out some more information on Grandeur of the Seas which will be returning to Baltimore on May 3rd when it arrives from a re-positioning cruise which begins in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 24th.

The people of Baltimore will be getting a vastly improved cruise ship when the Grandeur of the Seas arrives. According to the Incentive Travel and Corporate Meetings website http://www.incentivetravel.co.uk/cruise/7768-royal-caribbean-internationals-grandeur-of-the-seas-completes-refurbishment-, Grandeur of the Seas finished a $48 million dollar refit on June 1st. The refit was part of the Royal Advantage program where Royal Caribbean upgrades its older ships with things that have proven popular on its newer ships like its Izumi Restaurant or pool side LED screen. The ship will also have Royal Babies and Tot Nursery as well as a brand new Diamond Lounge for it Diamond (and above) Crown & Anchor members (source: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/grandeur-seas). All the improvements should make for a really nice cruise experience. Personally, I'm looking into the re-positioning cruise as I think it's a great cruise (6 port of calls and only 2 days at sea) and, it would be cool to sail into Baltimore and see Fort McHenry from the sea. We'll see on this. Stay tuned.

Enchantment of the Seas Re-positioning

I think I posted recently that I didn't know where Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas was going to go once Grandeur of the Seas took its place in Baltimore, Maryland in April 2013. This morning, I received an email from Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (their frequent cruiser program). As luck would have it, they let people know what new cruises will be available on the Enchantment of the Seas. On April 13, 2013, Enchantment of the Seas will do a special 12 day cruise where it departs Baltimore and makes port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao and Labadee, Haiti. At the end of the cruise, it'll arrive at its new home port of Port Canaveral, Florida. Once it arrives there, it'll do 3 and 4 day cruises to the Bahamas. Presumably, later in the year, it'll receive its refit though I haven't seen any word on that yet. That's the latest (for what its worth) per Royal Caribbean on the Enchantment of the Seas (Source: Royal Caribbean website). Happy travels all!

New Ship in Baltimore in 2013

About 3 weeks ago, Royal Caribbean posted its 2013-2014 cruises for Baltimore, Maryland. The information that surprised me about the posting was the changing of the ship they home port in Baltimore. Currently, it's Enchantment of the Seas. This will change in April 2013 when another Vision Class ship the Grandeur of the Seas will take over their cruises out of Baltimore. At this time, I know nothing about this ship barring the fact it's the same class as Enchantment of the Seas. Presumably, once Grandeur of the Seas takes over, Enchantment of the Seas will be free to get a refit. Royal Caribbean was planning to refit the ship sometime in 2012 or 2013 (source their website). Nothing specific has been announced about that as far as I know. Currently, Royal Caribbean isn't showing any further cruises for Enchantment of the Seas on its website http://www.royalcaribbean.com once it finishes its last cruise out of Baltimore. At this time, Grandeur of the Seas is running cruises out of Venice, Italy. In November 2012, it'll cross the Atlantic Ocean en-route to the Caribbean where it'll offer cruises Caribbean cruises out of Colon, Panama (source: Royal Caribbean website) until it re-positions to Baltimore in April 2013.

Update on Royal Caribbean Baltimore Cruises

I found out some people were unaware that Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore, Maryland. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is home-ported in Baltimore. It sails year round out of Baltimore to different destinations. In the fall, they offer cruises to Northeastern United States. During the winter, they offer cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. In the summer, the ship sails repeatedly to Bermuda or Bermuda and Boston. While I imagine Bermuda is nice (I've never been there), I don't understand why Royal Caribbean sails there so much during the summer. I'd like to do one of their cruises down to the Bahamas as I've never been there. I know I'd have a number of days at sea (3 days) but, it would work in this case. As it is, Enchantment of the Seas stops sailing to the Bahamas after the beginning of April. Also, Royal Caribbean's prices aren't cheap for Bermuda. For their 25 May 2012 cruise, as of this post, you're looking at $1,400 per person for a balcony cabin on a 6 day Bermuda only cruise. To me, that isn't cheap. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Baltimore cruises is convenience if you live in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia or Pennsylvania. You can drive to the Baltimore cruise ship terminal, park your car there for $15 a day and board the Enchantment of the Seas. Compare that to driving your car to the long term parking lot at whatever airport you fly out of or using an airport shuttle, flying to whatever destination (airfares aren't cheap) and have Royal Caribbean shuttle you to the cruise ship terminal where you'll board your ship.

Update: I will get to see what it's like to sail out of Baltimore with Royal Caribbean in 2013. I won't get to see how smoothly the in-processing goes as I'll do that out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (it's the re-positioning cruise where Grandeur of the Seas will take over for Enchantment of the Seas). I've heard it goes pretty quick. I found out that GO airport shuttle (http://www.theairportshuttle.com/) will drop off and pick up people at the Baltimore cruise ship terminal. I plan to try their service when I get back from my 2nd cruise (Bermuda). Price wise, for 1 person, you'd save money using them vice parking your car at the terminal (I think they quoted me a fare of $35 1 way). For 2 or more people, it would be more affordable to drive your car and park it at the terminal. Also, how far the shuttle has to take you would be another factor on whether to use the shuttle or drive. Concerning Bermuda, the Bermuda cruise should be interesting because Royal Caribbean ships overnight there. I've never seen them do that any where else. In the case of my Bermuda cruise, we'll stay in port 2 nights before departing. It should be interesting to see what that's like. Lastly, I hope to post some pics on here around then as I think there will be some seriously awesome views of Fort McHenry from the water. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

I've been seriously looking at Royal Caribbean's cruises out of Baltimore. Royal Caribbean has a really nice cruise on their Enchantment of the Seas that sails to Bermuda and Boston. You get to stay in port overnight in both ports and, you have just 3 days at sea - 1 day to get to Bermuda, 1 day to get to Boston and 1 day getting back to Baltimore. Another plus for me travel wise is that I wouldn't have to fly any where to get to this cruise ship terminal. I live outside Baltimore but, it's a very easy drive to get to. So, I decided I'd ride my Yamaha TMAX down to the cruise ship terminal and find out how easy or hard it is to get to the terminal.

I hopped on the Baltimore Washington Parkway (I-295) heading to Baltimore. Then, when I reached Interstate 95 (I-95), I switched over to I-95 North heading to New York City. At this point, it was a very short drive before I had to take exit 55 (last exit before you have to pay the toll and go through the harbor tunnel). The exit sign said Fort McHenry and something else. The exit will put you on what I believe is East McComas Road. I drove along this not sure how far I'd have to drive though I knew the road would eventually end at Fort McHenry. After Fort McHenry, you hit water.

Before I got to the terminal, I could tell I was going the right way as I saw a Carnival cruise ship (Carnival Pride) in port. Baltimore has only 1 cruise ship terminal so I knew I was going the right way. I drove along and sure enough, I soon spotted the entrance to the terminal. The terminal isn't super big. I read on the internet that it's a converted warehouse. However, as far as I can tell, it should be able to do the job. I don't believe any of the cruise lines send any of their really big ships to Baltimore. The Enchantment of the Seas is a Vision class ship which is Royal Caribbean's 2nd smallest class of ship (only their Sovereign class is smaller).

The terminal has secure parking however, there is a $15 a day charge for it (source: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov). There are hotels that offer stay 1 night and, you can park and leave your car in their lot during your cruise. However, these might not be cheaper than the parking.

Overall, I found the cruise ship terminal very easy to get to. I hope to take cruise out of the terminal in April 2013. If I get to go then, I'll do a blog entry on how good or bad the terminal itself is. Happy travels all!

Baltimore Update

I got to visit Baltimore's Inner Harbor today. I rode my TMAX in and to my surprise, I found a parking space about a block from the Hard Rock Cafe. Parking was $2 an hour with a maximum stay of 2 hours. However, I doubt anyone would check if you ended up staying longer. As I came into the harbor area, I noticed there was a large warship tied up at one of the piers. It turned out to be the Brazilian training ship NE Brasil. The ship is supposedly 427 feet long so it is a good size ship. During its visit, they'll be offering free tours at set times and dates. I don't happen to know those. After looking over the ship, I walked back to the Hard Rock Cafe where I had a nice lunch and looked over their rock memorabilia collection. They have a bust of rubber hips Mick Jagger, a number of guitars including one by the rock group Slaughter, they had the shoes worn by Olivia Newton John in Grease, a movie poster from Elvis Presley's movie Girls! Girls! Girls! as well as other stuff. I bought one of the cafe's signature t-shirts. This one is from the rock group The Who and helps support the City of Hope which does research concerning cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. 15% of the purchase price goes to that foundation. After lunch, I walked by the ESPN Zone on the way back to my bike and to my surprise, I found out it had closed on June 16th. It seems it and a number of other ESPN Zones had closed for reasons unknown to me. As it was in a prime location in the Inner Harbor, I wouldn't think it'll be long before some other big name restaurant moves in. We'll see on that. That's all for this update. Cheers all!

Baltimore Duck Tour

I've been wanting to do the Baltimore Duck tour for a while. I wanted to see how it stacked up against the Washington D.C. Duck tour. I thought the D.C. tour was nice but, the water portion was a total waste. As it turned out, the Baltimore tour was better even though it doesn't have all the historic monuments D.C. has. I got to see the first memorial built to honor George Washington. The tour drove by where Edgar Allan Poe, his wife and his mother-in-law are buried. Every year, on the day of his death, someone sneaks into the graveyard at night and places 3 roses and a bottle cognac at this tombstone. Everyone can figure out what the 3 roses represent but, no one understands what the cognac is for. There was also a touching memorial to the Holocaust.

The water portion of the tour was very nice. We got to see the U.S.S. Constellation, Lady Maryland and Pride of Baltimore ships. The guide told us about some of the construction going on close to the harbor. They're building a new hotel and a new office building. Lastly, we got to see some nice boats tied up at the various marinas. According to our guide Captain Joe, a number of boats are passing through Baltimore on their way south. They've been up in the waters of New England and the Great Lakes and were now making their way south to Florida, the Bahamas and possibly the Caribbean. It must be nice to be able to do that. I'd hate to think what it costs in terms of gas.

Overall, I was very pleased with the tour. Afterwards, I had a very nice lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I like the Baltimore cafe because it's very easy to go to. It's in the Inner Harbor area and within walking distance. Cheers all!

January 2008 Baltimore, Maryland Hard Rock Cafe Visit

I finally made it to the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe today. I drove down to the Glen Burnie Cromwell Station and caught the light rail train into Camden Yards. Parking is free at Cromwell Station so it makes sense to take the train in from there. Round trip train fare is only $3.20. One place I passed on my way back from the Inner Harbor was charging $7 an hour for parking. The light rail train is an easy way to get to either the Raven's football stadium or Orioles baseball park. It stops at both.

Once you get off the train at Camden Yards, you cross the street to the Baltimore Convention Center and keep walking that way passing the Sherator Inner Harbor Hotel and the Hyatt Inner Harbor Hotel. When you reach the Inner Harbor, to your right is the Science Center and to your left the U.S.S. Constellation which is the last wooden warship ever built for the U.S. Navy. You'll walk toward the Constellation and keep walking around the harbor. The Baltimore World Trade Center building is about 40 or 50 feet from the Constellation. It goes up 24 stories (I think). At the top, it has nice views of the harbor.

Once you pass the trade center, the Aquarium and a World War II submarine are on your left. I don't know what the admission for the Aquarium or the submarine is. When I arrived, they had a good size line for the Aquarium. The Hard Rock Cafe is part of a building that was a former electrical plant for the city. You can still see the former smoke stacks coming out of the Barnes and Noble bookstore. To the left of Barnes and Noble, they have an ESPNzone place (I don't know what ESPNzones are). Some day, I'll have to check out the ESPNzone thingy and find out what it is.

The Hard Rock Cafe itself has a nice collection of rock memorabilia. I saw a guitar played by Mark Slaughter of the group called Slaughter. Also, they had a guitar autographed by the group Poison. There was a bust of old rubber lips Mick Jagger. They had stain glass windows that showed various rock instruments. The centerpiece of the cafe was a 1960 teal Cadillac which presides over the bar. Price wise, the cafe is expensive. Starters ranged from $9.80 to $11. I tried their nachos. I got a good size plate of chips covered with 2 cheeses beans and jalapenos. If you wanted beef, chicken or guacamole, it cost extra. Entrees ran from $7 (I think) to over $22. The ribs I tried were $22.50. I got a good plate of bar-b-que ribs with a good size order of fries and small cups of beans and cole slaw. Drink wise, I ordered a very berry smoothie in a Pilsner glass you get to keep. That cost $8.99. Also, I found out they came out with a new city t-shirt. This one shows a raven and a crab. The raven I believe has to do with the football team though it could have connections to Edgar Allen Poe who I think wrote stories here. The crab is definitely a connection to the Chesapeake Bay. Eating steamed crabs is a tradition here. When they're in season, you can get all you can eat crabs (not at the Hard Rock Cafe). They're pretty good though you will work to get the meat out.

Overall, I had a nice meal at the cafe. My waitress Chrissy did a great job and was kind enough to get me a closeable tray so I could take home the half rib slab I couldn't finish. I earned $68 total my next $20 reward with the All Access club. The All Access Club gives you priority seating at all Hard Rock Cafes as well as earning $20 credit when you spend $200. You can use the $20 credits for merchandise or food. I've earned $80 in credit with them so far.

I took some pictures with my Canon Rebel XTi digital camera. I'll try to get them posted within the next couple days.

Small side note: I just discovered that the Sydney and Melbourne Hard Rock Cafes apparently closed (they're not listed on the Hard Rock Cafe list anymore). I remember visiting both during my 2004 Globus tour of Australia. I wear proudly my t-shirts from both of them. It's a bummer they closed.

Update June 28, 2014: First, the All Access club/membership is no more. They came out with a different program called Hard Rock Rewards which I don't think is as good. Second, the ESPN Zone thing closed and was replaced with a Philips Harborplace restaurant. Third, the Cadillac is gone. It was replaced during a remodeling with a light fixture.

Matinee Show

I worked a matinee show at Medieval Times yesterday. The matinee show is different from the regular show. It is a show tailored for school groups. The first 30 minutes of the show is an entertaining lesson on life during the Medieval Age. Princess Esperanza talks about the clothes women would wear and how marriages were arranged during that time. King Alphonso tells how a man could become a knight, how a coat of arms works and what a man would wear during that age. The King of Arms demonstrates some of the weapons of the time and talks about the armor a knight would wear. The Lord Falconer demonstrates falconry by by giving a demonstration of lure flying.The Lord Chancellor opens the instruction and helps things run smoothly between King and Princess and those in the arena where the weapons demonstrations and falconry take place. It is a very interesting and effective way to teach students in grade school, middle school and high school about the period.

After the instruction on the age, the show reverts back to a normal show with a couple exceptions. In order to make up for the time lost to the instruction on the age, two parts are cut out of the show. The Master of Horse doesn't do his demonstration of maneuvers done on horse and the Guards Quadria don't do their demonstration of precision horsemanship. Nothing is lost by cutting out the two parts. The show retains its suspense of who will become the new King's Champion as well as the romantic story of Princess Esperanza being in love with one of the knights.

Overall, the show is a very effective way to teach students about the age while enabling them to have some fun and enjoy some good food. It is very popular with school groups for these reasons. I personally think it is a neat way to teach about the age. I also enjoy working the show as it breaks up the monotony of working at the castle. I'd definitely recommend it to any school groups out there who want their students to learn something of the age. Cheers!

Changes at the Castle

I've been surprised recently by a number of changes at the Medieval Times I work at. I found out yesterday that the Reservations Manager had left a month ago. I found out so late because it seems those of us who work in Sound & Lighting are out of the loop as far as what is going on the castle. In regards to the Reservations Manager, I was sorry to see her go. She was always very kind to me while I was working in security. Sadly, I didn't see much of her after I moved to Sound & Lighting. I wish her the best at her new job with Holiday Day Inn.

I was also surprised to find out our Operations Manager had moved to the castle in New Jersey. I suspect this is so he can be closer to family up there. I was sorry to hear he'd left. I found he could be very kind. I remember having a hard day at the castle. He could see it'd been rough. He came up to me and told to me to take a break so I could recover. He was also very kind during my gall bladder surgery. Conversely, if he got a hair up his butt, he was someone to avoid. I found that part annoying. Overall, I'm sorry to see him go. He was very kind to me. He was instrumental in helping me get free tickets for some friends using my birthday voucher. I wish him the best of luck at the New Jersey castle.

One nice bit of news concerned a former co-worker in security. He's been working in security for over 3 years. He dreamed of getting the Lord Chancellor or King part. This year, he vowed to get one of the two parts. Just three weeks ago, he was selected for both parts. One of the people playing the King gave notice and then the main person playing the Lord Chancellor got fired. He's now scrambling to learn all the lines for the Lord Chancellor part. In my opinion, it's the hardest in the show. I wish him the best of luck with it.

Another delightful bit of news was a co-worker in Sound & Lighting getting selected for squire with the prospect of him becoming a knight in 2 years. He's a super nice guy and it's nice to see him get it. It's also nice to see the castle promote from within. Both, my former co-worker in security and my co-worker in Sound & Lighting paid their dues. It's great to see them move up to bigger and better things at the castle.

One last departure of sorts was a move from Sound & Lighting to Reservations. One of my co-workers decided to move to reservations as it would give her more hours and greater flexibility. She's a nice lady and I always enjoyed chatting with her. Today was her last day in Sound & Lighting. I'm saddened to see her move to reservations.

Later this week, I'll get to meet a new hire in Sound & Lighting. All I know about him is his name. As far as I know, he is a totally new hire i.e. not someone moving from another department at the castle. This week, he'll be busy learning how to operate the spotlight and the cues we use during the show. It shouldn't take that long for him to get up to speed.

That's all the news at the castle. I may get to work Thursday's matinee show this week. It would be my first matinee show in quite a while. I've told the Post Office I won't be working the city side Tuesday through Thursday. I've gotten a bit burned out at the Post Office and I don't want to see the place for a few days. Conversely, my job at Medieval Times continues to be fun. Unlike the Post Office, they don't treat me like a slave there. Hopefully, I'll get to work the matinee show. We'll see. Cheers all!

Show Review - "Annie"

I got to see the musical "Annie" last night at the Baltimore Hippodrome Theater. The show is based on the depression era comic strip Orphan Annie. It tells of the 7 or 8 days leading up to Christmas in 1933 and shows how she meets her future step-father billionaire Oliver Warbucks.

I found the show to be absolutely delightful. The young girls in the show who play Annie's fellow orphans were outstanding. At times, they were very funny. At other times, they were very touching. All did a great job with the songs they sang. Marissa O'Donnell who plays Annie did a fantastic job as she sang and acted into people's hearts. The interaction between her and Conrad John Schuck who plays Oliver Warbucks was particularly touching and amusing. Warbucks doesn't know what to do with this precocious youngster and it makes for some great laughs. Elizabeth Broadhurst who plays Warbuck's kind hearted personal secretary Miss Farrell was equally outstanding. She exuded great amounts of warmth in the show that were very touching.

Overall, the show was fantastic from beginning to end. It had great song numbers and superb acting. I was surprised by a number of great comic lines they had in the show. You'll get plenty of laughs during the show. Kids will particularly like this show as they'll be greatly amused by the antics of Annie and her fellow orphans. The show was superbly supported by an excellent orchestra conducted by Kelly Ann Lambert. This is one show those with kids or who are kids at heart won't want to miss. I believe it plays for another 13 days at the Hippodrome. If you live in the area, this is one show you'll want to see.

On a slightly separate note, the Hippodrome offers reserved Grand parking. They have an 11-story parking lot which is attached to the theater. I found using this parking lot to be an invaluable convenience. I was able to park my car and and take one of the parking lot elevators right to the theater. The cost is $10 if you reserve in advance and $7 of the show though you risk them selling out if you try to use it the day off the show. I would definitely recommend using this lot as it makes things enormously easier in seeing any show you decide to see at the Hippodrome. For further information on up coming productions at the Hippodrome, check out their website at: http://www.france-merrickpac.com/home.html.

SHARE

I helped out at the Washington D.C. SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange) yesterday. It was the first time I'd been there in probably three months. Due to work at the Post Office and Medieval Times, I haven't been able to get down there to help out. I did the job I first did when I arrived at SHARE (3 or 4 years ago?). I bagged potatoes. What you do is break down 50-pound sacks of potatoes into 3-pound bags of potatoes. The 3-pound bags are part of the monthly food package SHARE sells. Potatoes seem to be a staple of the package. I suspect it's because they can be used in so many different ways. You can boil, bake, fry and mash potatoes. You can also include them in soups. They're a very versatile vegetable. The amount of potatoes SHARE handles is impressive. I would guess it's at least 5,000 pounds.

Volunteer wise, the largest group was from Prince Georges County Department of Correction. I was impressed with the group as they kept at it and did a good job. The table I was at had two elderly church going ladies. I enjoyed chatting with them. It helped make the time go by Groups of volunteers come from all over Washington D.C. and Baltimore. They come from churches, schools (a lot of high school students do their community service at SHARE) and organizations. I first got involved when I was on active duty with the Air Force. The volunteers are vital to SHARE as it would be impossible to run the program without them. The SHARE staff has only 9 people who have to keep track of all the volunteers, keep the books, do community outreach, seek funding (SHARE is a non-profit that relies on donations as much as the money they make through the food packages they sell), decide what items to include in the package and then organize delivery (Ollie does this) and keep the five warehouses as well as the freezer and chiller clean. It's a massive undertaking.

Volunteering at SHARE can be fun. You meet nice people and you help the community. I very much enjoyed chatting with the two elderly ladies I met. The program itself helps considerably the poor stretch their food dollars so they can have enough to eat. It also covers a wide area. The program reaches Northern Virginia, all of Washington D.C. and Baltimore. If you have some free time and would like to help a worthwhiled organization, you might want to give SHARE a try. Their website is http://www.sharedc.org. If you want to see what SHARE looks like, stay tuned to this blog as I took a few pictures which I plan to post later. Cheers!