Celiberity Baltic cruise in august 2017. Tour question.

[american gal]

We are using the ships excursions for all touring one tour is 12 hours with transportation by train so we will have time to relax to and from ship. Has anyone here been on such long tours and found the guides walk way too fast? In Rome, a number of folks almost lost the group because of this. anyone have this with Berlin 12 hr. tour?

[sonia2509]

We took a private tour of Berlin - it was 4 of us. We were picked up in a car driven to Berlin in 2 and half hours spent approximately 6 hours and saw what we wanted to see and when it was quicker to take the car to the next spot we could as it could park anywhere. It was our favourite port on our Baltic cruise last August. I would have no hesitation in doing it again but only as a private tour not in a train with 50 other people

 

 

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[easyboy]

We have been on such long tours in Berlin, but with a private tour, SPB Tour. We were just 6 in the van and being a small group, the tour guide paced the walk according to our capabilities.

[merlin5353]

We are using the ships excursions for all touring one tour is 12 hours with transportation by train so we will have time to relax to and from ship. Has anyone here been on such long tours and found the guides walk way too fast? In Rome, a number of folks almost lost the group because of this. anyone have this with Berlin 12 hr. tour?

Since you asked about SHIP tours, not private tours, I thought I'd share our experience. We took a (rare) ship tour to Marrakesh from Agadir, Morocco last fall on the Equinox. It was a 12 hour tour, since it's about 3 hours each way to Marrakesh. We split into 2 groups at one point and our group (the shoppers) were late getting back (with our guides) to the rendezvous point in the main Souk. By the time we all assembled on the bus to return to Agadir, we were running quite late. The ship waited. So, just tell the guides to SLOW DOWN. You are paying a premium for a ship tour, so you are entitled to enjoy it at your pace. The ship will wait.

[stephenp]

We are using the ships excursions for all touring one tour is 12 hours with transportation by train so we will have time to relax to and from ship. Has anyone here been on such long tours and found the guides walk way too fast? In Rome, a number of folks almost lost the group because of this. anyone have this with Berlin 12 hr. tour?

 

Just a tip.

If you take the Train to Berlin for example Dep. 10.03 arr 13.16 - ret 18.41 arr 21.54 costs approx 52 Euros for

2 persons. Trains are bookable 3 months in advance.

You can also take the 100 Bus and see most of Berlin very cheap.

 

Happy cruising

[Ranasa]

We cruised on the Eclipse in August 2013 to the Baltics and did the all day excursion through Celebrity to Berlin. My husband (44 at the time) and I (then 40) chose this since we really didn't expect to get back to Berlin for a vacation at any point. We loved it. Be warned - it takes about 3 hours each way on a bus to get to and from Berlin so that leaves about 6 hours for touring. The pace was definitely leisurely. Our guide was very good. We stopped at Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate (I'm doing this from memory 3 years later so I can't remember it all). Our guide was very proud of her city and the transformation it has undergone post-war so she also walked us through some local neighborhoods so we could see where / how Berliners lived.

 

It was quite a nice tour since I never felt like we were dragged to any obligatory shopping stop. We did spend about 20 minutes in downtown Berlin where you could stop (if you chose) at a Christmas ornament / decoration shop and other general souvenir stops.

 

The bus stopped at least once for a bathroom break (each way) and they gave you a snack on the bus too. We also had a lunch stop at a very nice hotel with some traditional German fare (but also a good array of more general cuisine).

 

As I mentioned before, the pace was measured but there was a lot of walking and a lot of on and off the bus. I would have felt comfortable taking my elderly mother with me on this excursion (she's 82 and has had 2 knee replacements) - she likely would have slept the entire ride back and been a bit tired the next day but I really felt like the day was quite interesting and worthwhile (especially if you're not likely to get back that way again).