Warnemunde port- visit Schwerin castle?

We are thinking we didn't want to go as far as Berlin but am considering a tour of Schwerin castle and Rostock. I have two questions-

Is it worth the hour and half trip to see the castle?

We are considering going with Alla tours- they seem to offer everything the ship does (except a boat ride on the lake) for less than half the price. We are touring with Alla in St Petersburg. Are they as good in Warnemunde and other ports as they are in Russia?

Thank you for any advice!

I just noticed the Alla tour doesn't include a guided tour inside the castle while inside the castle but the ship tour does.

We just came back from our baltic cruise this week where we did a tour of Schwerin castle. The day that we went, it rained and the castle is currently under heavy construction. So we didn't get very good pictures outside. The inside is just ok, not amazing. The brochure and post card pictures were better than what we actually saw.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53352486#post53352486

see message 47

You should finish seeing castle by 1PM, you can spend rest of the afternoon visiting Rostock.

You can get to the castle on your own using the train and saving TONS of money!! Anni's website has details on how to do it and where to purchase the tickets. I can't think the castle is 1.5 hours away, it seems a lot of time.

Here is Anni's website for Schwerin: http://travelanni.webs.com/schwerin.htm

We are docking at Warnemunde on a Monday and Schwerin Castle is closed. Is it worth going there or would Wismar and / or the Molli Steam Train be a better idea? We want to look at Warnemunde and Rostock as well but prefer not to spend any longer than 1 hr getting to another destination even tho our ship is there for a long day. Is this easy to do also? Thanks for any help.

we are just back from our Baltic cruise.

we visited Schwerin on our own via a short visit to Rostock.

Schwerin was a highlight for us even though we were there on a Monday and the castle was closed.

we enjoyed walking around the picturesque castle and also walking around the gardens.

there is scaffolding around certain sections of the castle but it is only a small section.

the town of Schwerin itself is very pretty.

We also arrived in Germany on a Monday, so we chose the Molli steam train. This video will give you a sense of what it is like:

My 3 year old loved it. It was a pleasant - not amazing - day for the adults. Having not been to the grounds of Schwerin, I can't personally compare it but either way you should have a nice day. And the cruise overall was outstanding.