Living by a cruise port

[Sandy]

You can drive to Baltimore, too. More ships are sailing from Baltimore each year.

[fredo]

Originally posted by f-mattox:
I really miss the good 'ol days when you could go aboard and look around.

So those days really existed ...
Rick, the more you say the more I would have lived in your times ... when music was music, cars were cars, gas was cheap, ship onboarding was free and so on ...

I've asked the Cruise Line if they could allow my brother to get on board some five minutes as we embarked last time, and the answer was "no, absolutely impossible".
I replied "but I've seen many times, as the ship was docked, people with a badge saying "visitors" ... so what ?"
"Um ... well, they were Travel Agents".

Yes I can understand there's a security issue, but it wouldn't be that difficult checking a few persons without baggage ...
Can it be they prefer you to check the ship by booking a 2-days cruise (e.g. Genova - Montecarlo) or even "cruise-to-nowhere"?

[Cruise Fanatic]

Travel Agent and Media visits are planned weeks in advance. Their names and passport numbers are on a roster given to security in advance. They are usually escorted as a group on the ship.

[Dwayne]

With security the way it is now, and with good reason I doubt those days will ever return. Now a days you have to have an invitation to tour a cruise ship. And as Cruise Fanatic noted, the security information is given well in advance.

I don't exactly live real close to a cruise port. Charleston SC isn't very far away though, and I look forward to welcoming the Carnival Fantasy to her new home port.

Dwayne