Norwegian Breakaway Berlin Port Complaint

Really, so why provide transfers from EVERY OTHER PORT except Berlin.

 

Take a look at their website under planing for your cruise, then go to airport transfers and tell me again how they are not in the business of providing transfers

I'd like to believe this, but the first two I checked for (San Juan and Port Canaveral) are not listed. So it can't be EVERY OTHER PORT. IMHO, information is always better than exaggeration.

I found this transfer company https://www.suntransfers.com/berlin-tegel-airport-to-warnem%C3%BCnde

They offer a private 26 seater mini-bus from the TXL to Warnemunde for 1,081.71 Euro which divided by 17 comes out to 63.63 Euro per person. This might be something for you to look in to. You'll still come out much cheaper using the train though.

I found this transfer company https://www.suntransfers.com/berlin-tegel-airport-to-warnem%C3%BCnde

They offer a private 26 seater mini-bus from the TXL to Warnemunde for 1,081.71 Euro which divided by 17 comes out to 63.63 Euro per person. This might be something for you to look in to. You'll still come out much cheaper using the train though.

I appreciate all of the help

Because of you we are going to take the train( I love trains so this works out great )

I'd like to believe this, but the first two I checked for (San Juan and Port Canaveral) are not listed. So it can't be EVERY OTHER PORT. IMHO, information is always better than exaggeration.

You might want to look again since you are talking about private car with door to door service.

IMHO research is always recommended before trying to school others

Since you are so upset with NCL - just cancel and in the future do better research before booking. I would NEVER assume that NCL is obligated to provide transportation to the port. They sold you a CRUISE not a package holiday that included transfers. It's like saying that they should also provide airfare at a price to your liking.

If you have decided to take the cruise after all - make travel arrangements on your own and use the train.

The one thing I do agree with you on since not everyone looks at a map when they book (they really should), it would be clearer if NCL displayed the embarkation port as Warnemunde with Berlin in brackets. Good Luck.

OP, it sounds like you dealt with a customer service rep who will not win any awards for excellence. I would be upset, too.

The confusion seems to be about the wording for Berlin, which is of course, not a port., and nowhere near the actual port. But Warnemunde is listed. Why there are not bus transfers, I don't know, and it is possible they could be added. We are 10 months out, after all..

But there are other, cheaper options available. We have used NCL for transfers to airports, this year we used them from Southampton to Heathrow. It was convenient, but more expensive. Other trips, we have just used a train. The point is, NCL is not necessarily the best option.

Have you already bought your plane tickets? If not, you have the opportunity to spend a day or two in Berlin, then take the train up to the port without pressure. Give NCL another chance, one bad person, or one person having a bad day, shouldn't ruin your trip. I will say, dealing with a large group sounds a little like herding cats, but you have the trip of a lifetime.. Good luck!

You might want to look again since you are talking about private car with door to door service.

 

IMHO research is always recommended before trying to school others

Wrong. Dead Wrong.

Here is the link:

https://www.ncl.com/getting-to-the-pier/transfers-and-car-services

Underneath the heading "TRANSFERS SCHEDULE" is the list of all transfers that are offered. The ports that I stated were missing, ARE missing. Just as I said.

To see the private car with door-to-door service information, you would have to click the orange button and visit another page. The information on the page I provided, and referenced, is NOT for the car service.

IMHO, one should choose words carefully as those words may need to be eaten.

OP, it sounds like you dealt with a customer service rep who will not win any awards for excellence. I would be upset, too.

The confusion seems to be about the wording for Berlin, which is of course, not a port., and nowhere near the actual port. But Warnemunde is listed. Why there are not bus transfers, I don't know, and it is possible they could be added. We are 10 months out, after all..

But there are other, cheaper options available. We have used NCL for transfers to airports, this year we used them from Southampton to Heathrow. It was convenient, but more expensive. Other trips, we have just used a train. The point is, NCL is not necessarily the best option.

Have you already bought your plane tickets? If not, you have the opportunity to spend a day or two in Berlin, then take the train up to the port without pressure. Give NCL another chance, one bad person, or one person having a bad day, shouldn't ruin your trip. I will say, dealing with a large group sounds a little like herding cats, but you have the trip of a lifetime.. Good luck!

Thanks to the people on the thread we are going to take the train.

quote=SeaShark;54277412]Wrong. Dead Wrong.

Here is the link:

https://www.ncl.com/getting-to-the-pier/transfers-and-car-services

Underneath the heading "TRANSFERS SCHEDULE" is the list of all transfers that are offered. The ports that I stated were missing, ARE missing. Just as I said.

To see the private car with door-to-door service information, you would have to click the orange button and visit another page. The information on the page I provided, and referenced, is NOT for the car service.

IMHO, one should choose words carefully as those words may need to be eaten.

Mmmm tastes good. :*

Sorry I ment Baltic. I'm just very upset right now.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but if your handle is really your occupation take a deep breath. Planning a trip like this is extremely easy in this day and age with the internet. I’ve traveled all over Europe and all of it is less stressful than SWA’s boarding system. [emoji6]

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Don’t take this the wrong way, but if your handle is really your occupation take a deep breath. Planning a trip like this is extremely easy in this day and age with the internet. I’ve traveled all over Europe and all of it is less stressful than SWA’s boarding system. [emoji6]

 

 

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If you notice what started out as anger turned into taking the train. I can't say this enough THANKS TO THE PEOPLE ON THIS FORUM we are taking the train. The anger lasted all of 10 min. What is funny is the fact that people don't want to read the entire thread to see what transpired.

I can't believe how many grumpy old trolls are on CC. Seriously people, the OP had a legitimate concern and was looking for advice, and instead half of the responses are snarky and not helpful at all. If you can't say anything helpful and keep your negative opinions to yourself, please don't comment on here. That defeats the entire purpose of CC.

And to the OP, glad you found a resolution to your transfer situation. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks to the people on the thread we are going to take the train.

VERY good decision - trains in Europe are efficient and a LOT cheaper.

The train station is a 10-15 min walk from the cruise terminal (without luggage), just fyi. All flat surface, I believe you just cross 1 set of stairs to cross some tracks as you exit the station.

I wonder how much time in those less than 24hours have been put into researching train travel in Germany, regarding the time of the year, climate, air conditioning, luggage space in different types of trains, time of the day and direction and how commuters might affect it.

To put it in perspective, here's a picture of the train station from the ship from the port in Warnemunde . . . .

The station itself is over on the left (you can see the platforms).

There is no short cut, you have to walk along the road to get to the ship. The cross-over is at the far end, so it is about a 10 minute walk (maybe a little longer with luggage).

I also called Norwegian regarding same cruise earlier in the season and was told no flights and very expensive transfers. You can see if NCL will allow you to change and take the round trip Copenhagen option (departs day earlier). Or arrange private transfers; a van and driver for 4 of you will likely be half as much as what NCL will charge and will pick you up at the airport or your hotel in Berlin. Be sure when you book flights that you know how much time to allow for getting to the ship and then back to the airport on time if you are flying in/out on the same day. A TA might be able to help get you flights, pre or post hotel and transfers as a package.

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I literally booked the same cruise today and had been researching the same issue. Going to make the change to the Copenhagen version tomorrow.

We booked a cruise on The Norwegian Breakaway for Aug 2018 with a departure from Berlin on a 9 day Mediterranean cruise. Fast forward to today and I am trying to find out about purchasing transfers from the airport to the cruise ship and back and guess what its nowhere to be found. You can find info on all of the other ports that Norwegian serves EXCEPT Berlin. So I call Norwegian and they inform me that 1. They have no airfare to berlin from JFK, "you find your own way" and second the transfer from Berlin to the cruise port is $600 PP EACH WAY. yes that is 4800 for 4 people roundtrip. To make a long story short no matter what I tried to ask the supervisor her answer was "we reserve the right to modify anything we want, if you don't like it then cancel otherwise find your own way!

 

OK norwegian I will speak with my wallet!

I'm glad it all worked out for you, enjoy your cruise, and the Train, so much better then our Trains here in the US

Some uses the long train ride in going to the cruise port. There could be transport info from members with actual experience on the Northern Europe Port of Call Forum:

 

Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?192https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?192

 

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We booked a cruise on The Norwegian Breakaway for Aug 2018 with a departure from Berlin on a 9 day Mediterranean cruise. Fast forward to today and I am trying to find out about purchasing transfers from the airport to the cruise ship and back and guess what its nowhere to be found. You can find info on all of the other ports that Norwegian serves EXCEPT Berlin. So I call Norwegian and they inform me that 1. They have no airfare to berlin from JFK, "you find your own way" and second the transfer from Berlin to the cruise port is $600 PP EACH WAY. yes that is 4800 for 4 people roundtrip. To make a long story short no matter what I tried to ask the supervisor her answer was "we reserve the right to modify anything we want, if you don't like it then cancel otherwise find your own way!

 

OK norwegian I will speak with my wallet!

I had booked an August 2018 cruise to the Baltic embarking in Berlin?Warnumude, I then researched as I knew Berlin was no where near water, realizing Warnumude is the port. I quickly called and changed embarkation to Copenhagen as Berlin is 250 miles to cruise port, rep said I would be better off flying in to Hamburg, I think 150 miles away, nope nada nope changed to Copenhagen, this far out was very easy to do

Old thread, but no matter what, in 99% of the cases, doing a transfer on your own is way less than through NCL. They did you a favor.

I can't believe how many grumpy old trolls are on CC. Seriously people, the OP had a legitimate concern and was looking for advice, and instead half of the responses are snarky and not helpful at all. If you can't say anything helpful and keep your negative opinions to yourself, please don't comment on here. That defeats the entire purpose of CC.

And to the OP, glad you found a resolution to your transfer situation. Enjoy your cruise!

I can understand the OP's frustration, but I just read this entire thread and I really didn't see a mass of posters jumping down the OP's throat. In fact most people offered very solid options and it did seem the OP was so aggravated that he/she sort of jumped down their throats. People told it like it is, you need to do some homework and that's all. One poster even went out and found a bus they could hire so I really think MOST of the posters who responded were trying to be very helpful and NOT grumpy old trolls. I really think an apology is in order to those 'grumpy old trolls' who tried to help.

Cheers

Len (old and sometimes grumpy, but not a troll :))

Yep. There were some good options given.

Personally, I would hope they are spending a day or two in Berlin before heading to the ship... but it appears a very high percentage of folks miss that sort of opportunity.

I had booked an August 2018 cruise to the Baltic embarking in Berlin?Warnumude, I then researched as I knew Berlin was no where near water, realizing Warnumude is the port. I quickly called and changed embarkation to Copenhagen as Berlin is 250 miles to cruise port, rep said I would be better off flying in to Hamburg, I think 150 miles away, nope nada nope changed to Copenhagen, this far out was very easy to do

We found this too, thought we would fly into Berlin...thinking it was close, but on doing some research found that Berlin was nowhere near the port, ( though the port is labelled 'Berlin' in the brochure!!) so did a bit of homework and decided to fly into Hamburg, which is closer, but, looked into it a bit more and final decision was to fly into Copenhagen.... which suits us perfectly, and board from there!!! So now we are leaving from NZ 4 days earlier than originally planned, so we can spend a few days recovering from jetlag and exploring Copenhagen before our cruise!!!! Very excited, first cruise for us kiwi gals!!!!