Should You Rent a Car for a Baltimore Cruise?

The “own car” answer pushes hard toward no, because the rental question disappears — what’s left is the terminal lot, priced further down.

Five or more travelers push the other way — the flat-fare cab takes four at most, so a big family books two.

Light RailLink leaves from just outside BWI’s lower level by Concourse E for $2.00 one way, to downtown stops including Camden Yards and the Convention Center.

BWI lists Light Rail hours of 4:45 AM to 12:40 AM on weekdays, 5:05 AM to 12:45 AM on Saturdays, and only 10:35 AM to 8:40 PM on Sundays and holidays. A Sunday flight that lands before 10:35 AM misses the first train.

Every one of these still ends with a cab or a car door. Light rail stops downtown, not at the ship, and no bus or train we found reaches the terminal, so a cab finishes the trip either way.

BWI’s cabs run the meter only — $2.90 for the first tenth of a mile, then $2.50 a mile, and “Flat rates are not permitted”; you pay any tolls. On the meter, BWI to the terminal comes to about $29 on distance alone (our arithmetic on the 10.5-mile routing), before waiting time and tip.

Uber and Lyft use the outer curb of BWI’s Departures level, Doors 5 to 12; The Points Guy put an Uber at about $30 and an XL at about $40 in September 2024, a two-year-old estimate. We can’t check a fare that isn’t published — open the app before you decide.

MARC’s Penn Line charges $6 from BWI to Baltimore Penn Station, on its 2021 fare chart. From there a cab finishes the trip; the flat fares we found run from the terminal, not to it.

The other way it’s a flat $30 a cab from the terminal to BWI, set by Maryland’s Public Service Commission, four passengers at most. It’s a fixed price, not a meter — traffic on I-95 doesn’t move it.

The commission’s flat fare from the terminal to Penn Station is $12.50, for anyone taking the train home.

Six or seven of you means two cabs and $60, our arithmetic. One BWI car day at Discover Cars’ “from $54” rate (Oct 2, 2026) comes to about $68 with Maryland’s tax, fuel and the $5.75 facility charge from a consultant’s survey, our arithmetic. That rate is the page’s lowest headline price, so price a seven-seat van separately — and someone still has to collect and return the car.

Four people on the light rail pay $8 to downtown, but the cab from there isn’t flat. Baltimore City meters run $1.80 for the first 1/11 mile and 20 cents for each 1/11 mile after.

Cabs wait at the passenger building on the way home, not in the private-car lot.

If you live within a drive of Baltimore, the rental question flips: it’s your own car and the lot.

At $25, a five-night Bermuda trip comes to $125 to $150 in the lot, and Carnival’s 12-day sailing $275 to $300, our arithmetic. Cruise Maryland’s notice says a day and its passenger page says a night — we show both.

You pay by card at the gate, with nothing to reserve.

Royal Caribbean says getting from the main gate to the terminal doors can take up to 25 minutes, so leave time for the gate line.

The terminal entrance opens at 8 AM, or two hours after the ship arrives; drop your luggage at the designated boxes before you park.

The hub has the rate notice and the RV prices, and our Baltimore parking page covers the lot itself.

The split runs by distance. A day that leaves the city tends to favor the car, and a day you could cross by cab almost never does.

Collect the car the morning of the trip and return it before the desk shuts — 6 PM on a weekday, as early as noon on a Saturday.

Check the exact hour on the hub’s hours checker before you choose the return time.