The Cruise Maryland Terminal at Port of Baltimore has introduced that efficient August 1, 2024, parking charges on the terminal will enhance. The rise is a major one – as a lot as 33 p.c per night time, relying on the kind of automobile being parked. Over the course of a weeklong cruise, this is usually a a lot bigger expense for cruise vacationers to think about.
The parking charges for all automobile varieties are rising. Passenger automobiles and SUVs will rise from the present $15 per night time to $20 per night time, whereas leisure automobiles (RVs) beneath 30 toes will rise from $30 to $40 per night time.
For each these classifications, the parking value is rising by 33%. Bigger RVs over 30 toes will price $50 per night time for parking relatively than the present $40 per night time, a rise of 25%.
Parking charges for Cruise Terminal Maryland have stay unchanged since not less than 2017, regardless of fluctuations in operational prices, inflation, port improvement, and different components.
No different operational practices for parking at Cruise Terminal Maryland are altering right now. Parking will proceed to be a cashless system that accepts solely main bank cards (Visa, Mastercard, Uncover, and American Categorical). No advance reservations are required, and parking should be paid upon arrival.
Learn Additionally: Baltimore Cruise Port Parking – The whole lot You Have to Know
Particular wants accessible parking is obtainable on website with lodging for vans and different automobiles.
The brand new pricing does deliver prices nearer to homeport parking expenses at different main US homeports, the place passenger automobile day by day charges are as follows: PortMiami ($22), Port Canaveral ($17), Port Tampa Bay ($15.75), Port of New Orleans ($25), Port of Galveston ($18-25 based mostly on availability), and Port of Lengthy Seaside ($23).
Parking charges at each homeport are all the time topic to vary with out discover, as are any discounted charges obtainable at close by heaps or different parking services near cruise terminals.
Why the Value Enhance Now?
Whereas no direct rationalization has been provided for why the parking charges are being elevated, the prices could be associated to restoration efforts and the financial impression following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024.
That tragic occasion closed the Port of Baltimore for 2 months, with solely restricted and restricted site visitors permitted till deeper channels could possibly be safely cleared.
Throughout that point, Royal Caribbean Worldwide and Carnival Cruise Line – each of which homeport ships from Baltimore – relocated operations quickly to Norfolk, Virginia. This permitted cruises to maintain working however created logistical challenges for port operations in addition to passenger arrivals and departures.
Cruises have resumed from Baltimore for each cruise traces, with Royal Caribbean Worldwide’s Imaginative and prescient of the Seas returning to the port on Might 25, adopted shortly by Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Pleasure on Might 26 – two months after the bridge collapsed.
Due to the great prices related to reopening the port, eradicating bridge particles, and ultimately developing a brand new bridge, it’s not stunning that port parking – which has remained at a comparatively low price for years – will now enhance.
Cruise traces may see a rise in port charges and taxes at Port of Baltimore, which might be mirrored in passenger fares from these homeports.