Amtrak to Baltimore, Hotel, Cruise - suggestions needed

[Gma&Gpa]

For our Baltimore cruise, we are contemplating taking Amtrak to Baltimore (which is apparently right at BWI), staying in a hotel overnight and then heading to the port. When we return from the cruise, it will of course be straight from ship to Amtrak.  Are there hotels near the airport/amtrak that would have a shuttle to the port the next day?  We are figuring we will get a taxi or uber from the train station to the hotel.  or should we plan to stay closer to the port and maybe just catch a taxi to the port?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.   We don't need fancy, just clean and safe will do.  and hopefully close enough to someplace to eat dinner, since we won't have a car.

 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Gma&Gpa said:

For our Baltimore cruise, we are contemplating taking Amtrak to Baltimore (which is apparently right at BWI), staying in a hotel overnight and then heading to the port. When we return from the cruise, it will of course be straight from ship to Amtrak.  Are there hotels near the airport/amtrak that would have a shuttle to the port the next day?  We are figuring we will get a taxi or uber from the train station to the hotel.  or should we plan to stay closer to the port and maybe just catch a taxi to the port?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.   We don't need fancy, just clean and safe will do.  and hopefully close enough to someplace to eat dinner, since we won't have a car.

 

I can't answer your question about which hotels offer a shuttle to the port, but your information about Amtrak service is incorrect. Baltimore Penn Station, BAL , is not at the airport, it is in downtown Baltimore. The BWI station is a different station located, as you would expect, at BWI airport.  While all Amtrak trains stop at BAL not all stop at BWI, so in booking your train travel and hotel you need to take care about whether you need to book tickets to BWI or BAL based on what hotel you're staying at, and if the hotel is near BWI you have to be sure you're taking a train that stops at BWI.

[Rubyfisch]

I'm going out of Baltimore in December. I booked at the Courtyard Marriott at McHenry Row, which is basically down the street from the port. There is a grocery store and some shops and restaurants in walking distance. I'm planning on taking Amtrak to DC afterwards - it looks like it's a pretty cheap taxi/Lyft from the port.

[navybankerteacher]

After Amtrak from  CT to Baltimore, we sailed out of Baltimore in early 2019 - we stayed at Hilton Garden on President Street - good price. good neighborhood, lots of great restaurants.  Mc Henry row is closer to cruise terminal, but not really easy walk - especially with baggage - and kind of sketchy neighborhood.

Taxis are not that expensive and worth the price for the better area.

[GTJ]

22 hours ago, Gma&Gpa said:

We are figuring we will get a taxi or uber from the train station to the hotel.  or should we plan to stay closer to the port and maybe just catch a taxi to the port?

If you elect to stay overnight near the railroad station adjacent to the airport, many of the hotels will send a courtesy vehicle to pick you up at the airport train station (be certain to tell the hotel that you are waiting at the rail terminal and not an air terminal . . . the two are widely separated!). The airport is so far away from the port in Baltimore that it is unlikely that any hotel will dispatch their courtesy vehicle to the port.

 

If you elect to stay overnight near the railroad station in the city center of Baltimore, few, if any, hotels have courtesy vehicles to pick up up at the downtown train station (but if so, be certain to tell the hotel that you are waiting at Pennslyvania Station and not at Camden Station--the latter being much closer and more convenient to both the port and most city center hotels, but served by MARC trains and not Amtrak trains . . . though you could easily change from an Amtrak train to a MARC train at Washington Union Station). The city center is close enough to the port in Baltimore, that if in the unlikely case that there is a hotel courtesy vehicle then I would expect the hotel to dispatch the courtesy vehicle to the port.

 

Note that while all trains from Richmond, Virginia, will stop at the city center station in Baltimore, fewer trains will stop at the airport station . . . and you may even need to change trains at Washington Union Station in order to arrive at the airport station. My opinion is that a hotel within easy walking distance would be best, so as to obviate the entire issue. Otherwise, I see little benefit to staying near the airport, other than, perhaps, lower hotel rates compared to the city center, or if you simply like being near airports (e.g., plane spotting opportunities) rather than city centers.

Edited June 21, 2022 by GTJ