I chose the Pride because I live in PA and the Port of Baltimore is only 3.5 hr drive. We are a family of 5 so flying is extremely expensive. So it was a no brainer to chose Baltimore. We decided to drive down the night before so we would be comfortable knowing we wouldn’t miss our cruise due to any unexpected traffic. We found an awesome Park & Cruise deal with the Staybridge Suites. You can’t beat it! The service we encountered was second to none. From the moment the valet attendant greeted us with a welcoming smile, to the lovely front desk young lady that checked us in to outstanding free breakfast chef it was absolutely amazing. The rooms are gorgeous and the beds are like sleeping on a cloud. This hotel is a real Gem! The shuttle service from www.ezconnectshutle.com was the best we ever had. The driver we had was early picking us up both times which made us stress free, he loaded every bag we had from the lobby to his beautiful Mercedes Metris. The van was extremely clean and smelled great. The knowledge of the city and the cruise ship he had was so helpful to my family and I we couldn’t thank him enough, on the return trip he even made sure the valet attendant had our vehicle waiting for us because he knew we had to drive home immediately after the cruise. Kudos to the Staybridge Suites and EZ Connect Shuttle. The cruise was our 1st out of Baltimore bow that we are a family of 5 cruisers and it will definitely not be our last. The ship was so fun and family friendly. We were deck 3 and we had zero issues. We could move about the ship easily and everything was well organized. The ladies and gentlemen carnival hire are outstanding. I want to thank everyone who played a major part in our vacation and I will surely do this again in the near futur!