Warenmunde or the long day trip to Berlin?

We are going on a Baltic cruise next year that goes to Warenmunde, Germany.....should I take the long all day tour to Berlin or stay in the port area??:)

We are going on a Baltic cruise next year that goes to Warenmunde, Germany.....should I take the long all day tour to Berlin or stay in the port area??:)

We have recently returned from the Star Princess Baltic cruise 13th August sailing. The itinerary is very very tiring, especially the two days in St. Petersburg. Personally we chose not to take the trip to Berlin-having had spine and hip surgery in April I thought it advisable not to do too many long journeys involving hours sitting in a coach or on the train. We spoke to some people who did make the trip to Berlin and although they thought it worthwhile they also said it involved a lot of travelling. I think the trains left at around 7.30 in the morning and people were not back to the ship until around 9.30 at night. From an English passenger's viewpoint we can always make a long weekend trip to Berlin but obviously if you are coming from further afield it may make sense to take the Berlin trip.

We got the train to Rostock which was an interesting place and on our return to Warnemunde just after lunchtime we wandered around there - it was a delightful place with quaint little houses and cobbled streets in the old part and we also wandered down to the modern promenade and went on the beach which was clean and stretched for miles.

If you are interested I have posted a review of my cruise and it can be found on

www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=12469

You will certainly enjoy the Baltic but as I say be prepared to tackle a very hectic schedule.

Regards

Suron, in Bristol, England

If you have never been to Berlin, and are coming from someplcae where you might not return so soon (e.g., North America - if you're from the UK I wouldn't bother), then do go to Berlin. It is an absolutely wonderful city, and for me was easily one of the highlights of our Baltic cruise.

We enjoyed our day in Berlin. It was a whirlwind tour, and relatively expensive, but we felt it was worth it. We also enjoyed the train ride to Berlin and back. We had expected it to be tedious, but found it enjoyable and rather relaxing.

I think Host Doug hit the nail on the head. We had never been to Berlin and are not sure we will get back that way again, so we bit the bullet so to speak and opted for the long day trip to Berlin. We were very glad we did. We did not find it as tiring as we thought it would be, however. We have friends who opted to stay with the local excursions around Warnemunde and Rostock and they had good experiences as well.

We opted for the excursion which included the boat ride and lunch, which we thought gave a unique perspective to Berlin.

It is a long day, but the train ride was enjoyable. Hope this helps you decide!

Berlin is worth the long train ride. The tour was a little bit expensive but very much worth it. It is a large city, and I'll guess that if you tour it on your own you might miss some important spots.

I recently did the Star Baltic cruise. We opted to stay in Warenmunde. I loved it. We walked around town, went to the beack & boardwalk, sat for hours in a lovely sidewalk cafe having a nice lunch & drinks.

Those that went to Berlin did enjoy the trip. It was a long day, but, most said worth the travel.

Here is a link for some of my cruise photos:

http://community.webshots.com/user/sunprincess8

Thanks to all of you for your responses........we appreciate it.....our best to you!

Just returned from the August 29 Westerdam Baltic cruise. It was fabulous. We chose to take the Bus run by Holland America into Berlin. It was expensive but comfortable and fast. The charge was $150 per person and that included 2 snacks. It took 2 1/2 hours each way and that gave us 7 hours in Berlin. I was sorry we didn't have 2 days to spend in Berlin like in St. Petersburg. There is a lot to see and it is easy to do on your own. The drop off point is about a 20 minute walk to the Brandenburg Gate or you can catch a Hop on Hop off bus. When I am unpacked I will write a Westerdam review and post it. I hope to go back to Berlin some day.

I was also on the August 13 Star and did the Berlin tour. Having never been there before it was a great overview of Berlin. It is a long day but most of it is on the train or in a bus. You do get to see a lot of history - past and present. Our group ages ranged from 17 to 70 and all enjoyed the city. One note: if you go on a Sunday NOTHING is open and they take you to this flea market to "shop".:eek: This is not a good flea market. We went to the hotel located on the same street as the flea market, had a beer and relaxed in the lobby. If you have never been there and enjoy history you will like this excursion. Also for some reason that night was king crab night on the ship and they do keep the restaurants open late so you can get dinner since the train gets back to the ship round 9:30 that night. Hope this helps:) !

Hi all,

We sailed on the Constellation in May and did the excurision to Berlin. It was along day but so glad that we went. You can nap on the train. Glad the next day was a sea day and could sleep in a little. My husband being a retired history teacher really enjoyed seeing all the historical sites.

My attitude is, see all you can while there, you never know if you'll get back there. Vacations are for having a great time, you can rest at home on the weekends

Elaine