A slightly surreal Shore Excursion...

[techwatcher]

We were on the 3rd July Eclipse sailing to Scandinavia and Russia. Really enjoyed the cruise (review has been submitted) but had an almost surreal shore excursion in Warnemunde.

 

We booked the Panoramic Rostock and Touring tour. There were two coaches on this tour and we set out first. Firstly we were taken for a 30 minute stop to a monastery, which was closed, and the guide knew it would closed. Being a 30 minute stop and having just set out this was not a toilet stop and was too long for a photo stop - the stop is intended for guests to visit the monastery. I asked why the tour could not be operated in a different order so that we could enter the monastery, to be told "I must follow my plan". Literally as we started to leave the monastery opened and the guide reluctantly allowed us off the coach to visit the monastery - her actual words were "I don't care - I give you 15 minutes".

 

As we walked to the monastery we passed the next group from our ship; their guide was giving the group much more information than we had received. Our guide's response was that "I have been guiding for 13 years, that guide is new, she is wrong in what she is doing"! So a guide giving more information to a guest is wrong? It seemed so...

 

The tour tickets specifically said, in bold, that there would be no shopping stops on the tour. However we were then driven to Rostock and basically dumped for an hour with not much to do except shopping.

 

It was all slightly odd and not what we were expecting for $75 each. It seems this tour is not as described and we did ultimately get our money back but it was slightly surreal!

[TeaBag]

Was this tour through Celebrity? Sounds like a very lazy uncaring guide.

[bengaltiger1]

We were on your cruise. We went on the Molli steam train excursion. We were all on board the coach fifteen minutes before the departure time. We sat for fifteen minutes because they stuck to the scheduled departure time. I had a wry smile on my face at the fact that we had to wait.

Your experience is unacceptable and you should complain. The cost of tours through Celebrity is high and lots of people book them, because they think that they will have a better experience.

 

 

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[AntjeG]

Well, the Molli is a train and not able to leave ahead of schedule. If the train would leave earlier this would cause traffic problems. So your smile was the right thing to do.

 

I am embarrassed about the experience the Rostock guide gave you. But on the other hand: if you didn´t want to use your free time for shopping you could have used your time to just walk around, admire the city, have a look at the famous clock at the medieval church and so on. Or try some of the excellent fresh fish snacks you get everywhere in the north.

I am sure nobody would force you to go shopping.

[bengaltiger1]

Well, the Molli is a train and not able to leave ahead of schedule. If the train would leave earlier this would cause traffic problems. So your smile was the right thing to do.

 

 

 

I am embarrassed about the experience the Rostock guide gave you. But on the other hand: if you didn´t want to use your free time for shopping you could have used your time to just walk around, admire the city, have a look at the famous clock at the medieval church and so on. Or try some of the excellent fresh fish snacks you get everywhere in the north.

 

I am sure nobody would force you to go shopping.

 

 

The steam train was not the first part of the excursion and we could have enjoyed fifteen minutes more at the Church at Bad Doberan. I understand the need for sticking to a schedule.

 

Why do people have to put up with 'shopping time' when it's not included in the blurb for the excursion? This is a genuine question.

 

 

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[AntjeG]

Sorry, I didn´t get the part about missing time in Bad Doberan. It´s a pity it was shortened. But on the other hand you need to be on schedule at the train so better leave the church early than be stuck in the traffic and miss the train.

[techwatcher]

Was this tour through Celebrity? Sounds like a very lazy uncaring guide.

 

Yep, this was a Celebrity Shore Excursion.