Hotels near the Baltimore cruise port

You can't stay next to the ship in Baltimore. The Cruise Maryland Terminal sits inside the Maryland Port Administration's South Locust Point marine terminal, and there is no hotel at the gate. The question is which part of town to stay in, and that depends on what you want from the night before.

Where should you stay before a Baltimore cruise?

Visit Baltimore points out that cruise ships don't leave from the Inner Harbor, but from the port a few minutes away. The Maryland Port Administration puts the terminal 2.5 miles from the Inner Harbor and 10 miles from BWI Airport. That leaves three sensible areas:

• The Inner Harbor and downtown, if you want a night in the city. Visit Baltimore calls the Inner Harbor the focal point of the city, with waterfront views, seafood restaurants and museums.
• Federal Hill and Locust Point, the neighborhoods closest to the terminal. Visit Baltimore describes Federal Hill as brick rowhouses and local shops and restaurants with views over the Inner Harbor, right next door to Locust Point.
• The hotels around BWI Airport, if you are flying in late and want the shortest night. The ones we could check run a free airport shuttle, and the terminal is about 10 miles away.

From any of them, the last leg is a taxi or rideshare. There is no public transport to the terminal door.

Inner Harbor hotels

These two Inner Harbor hotels publish their parking terms on their own websites, checked on 25 October 2026.

Sonesta Hotel Baltimore Inner Harbor, 1 East Redwood Street. The hotel says it is 3.5 miles from the Cruise Maryland Terminal, a 10 to 15 minute drive. It says plainly that it has no park-and-cruise package and no shuttle to the port. Its front desk can often arrange extended parking for the length of a cruise, and its listed valet rate is $45 a day.

The Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore, 550 Light Street. It lists no cruise offer. Its page gives parking at $28 a day self-parking or $42 a day valet, although it isn't consistent about whether tax is included.

A hotel with a park-and-cruise package

Best Western Plus Hotel and Conference Center, 5625 O'Donnell Street, is the one hotel whose own site sets out a cruise package. Its Park N' Cruise package includes the night's stay, hot breakfast, free parking while you cruise and a shuttle to and from the terminal, run by KD Elite Transportation. The hotel says it is three miles from the cruise terminal and just off I-95.

You book the package by phone on (410) 633-9500 and give your ship details for the shuttle. The hotel publishes no price and doesn't say how many nights of parking are included, so ask before you book. It also says its own shuttle is not wheelchair accessible.

Hotels near BWI Airport

The airport hotels suit a late flight and an early start. Several Wyndham-brand hotels near BWI say on their own pages that they run a free airport shuttle. The La Quinta in Linthicum runs one around the clock, to the airport and to the light rail, and sells paid long-term parking. The Wingate also says its airport shuttle runs 24 hours.

None of the BWI hotels we could check offers a shuttle to the cruise terminal, so plan on a taxi or rideshare in the morning. BWI puts the drive into the Inner Harbor at about 20 minutes, and the terminal is 10 miles from the airport.

What about big-brand hotels near the Baltimore cruise port?

Booking sites advertise cruise packages at several Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and IHG hotels near the Inner Harbor and BWI. Those brands' own websites wouldn't let us check the terms, so we haven't listed them. If a hotel offers you a package, ask the hotel directly how many nights of parking it covers and whether the shuttle to the terminal costs extra. Then compare it with the port's own parking at $25 a day, which our parking guide covers.

Getting from the hotel to the ship

Don't arrive at the terminal before the time on your ticket. The port opens the doors at 8am, or two hours after the ship arrives, and asks passengers not to come earlier than their embarkation time. A late breakfast and a short taxi ride is the usual plan. Our terminal guide has the address, directions and the check-in rules.