Almost live: First cruise EVER, Nieuw Statendam Baltic Jewels June 8-18

[washiotter]

Today we went to Berlin. A city which is considerably inland! We docked at Warnemunde, and HAL chartered a train that stopped just outside the port. We chose the option to explore the city on our own.

 

 

We visited the Brandenburg Gate briefly, then went on to the Berlin Wall Memorial. Mr. Otter and I both felt very emotional about that, having been at formative ages when the Wall came down. 
 

The one scheduled activity we had was a tour with “Berlin Underworlds,” which took us down into a civilian air raid shelter from WWII. This was an absolutely fascinating tour. Alas, no photos were allowed, but we saw (among other things) walls painted with phosphorescent paint that are too dangerous to touch; a bomb that an enterprising German woman defused and turned into a stove; materials from the pneumatic tube mail system that operated from the 1860s to the invention of the fax; and a FREAKING ENIGMA MACHINE. 

 

We finished our day at the DDR museum, which had great exhibits with sarcastic commentary about life in the former East Germany. 
 

 

We got back to the ship to find that they were hosting a Bierfest, including a grand variety of beers, bratwurst, and a German oompah band. It was a lot of fun! We met a lovely Bavarian couple, who told us they were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the music and beer. 

 

 

Really good day, is what I’m saying.

[Mike07]

5 minutes ago, washiotter said:

Today we went to Berlin. A city which is considerably inland! We docked at Warnemunde, and HAL chartered a train that stopped just outside the port. We chose the option to explore the city on our own.

 

 

 

How much was the train?

[washiotter]

12 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

How much was the train?

It was expensive - at $180, it used virtually all our HIA credit. However, it was incredibly convenient - literally a three-minute walk from the gangplank to the chartered train - and we wouldn’t have felt comfortable venturing so very far from the port on our own. 
 

The “Berlin on your own” thing included a light morning snack and a more substantial evening snack, cartons of water, maps, and a guide on the train who could provide advice. 

[Mike07]

2 hours ago, washiotter said:

It was expensive - at $180, it used virtually all our HIA credit. However, it was incredibly convenient - literally a three-minute walk from the gangplank to the chartered train - and we wouldn’t have felt comfortable venturing so very far from the port on our own. 
 

 

I just ran the cities.... it's a 3 hr train ride. 😬 And yes, I'm generally adventurous about getting out and about, but a 3hr one-way train ride is dangerous.

 

 

[washiotter]

37 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

I just ran the cities.... it's a 3 hr train ride. 😬 And yes, I'm generally adventurous about getting out and about, but a 3hr one-way train ride is dangerous.

 

 

It worked out to about 2 1/2 hours each way on the charter, and we had 7 hours in Berlin. Rick Steves says it’s not worth it, and I’m sure it isn’t if you frequently visit Europe, but we had never been to Berlin and hugely enjoyed it. 

[WANative]

Hi! What did you do on the train? Is the scenery interesting? Did they have food and drinks for purchase? What was your free snack? 🙂

 

Thanks for posting, and for all the tips! We hope to do a similar cruise next year!

[Mike07]

4 hours ago, washiotter said:

It worked out to about 2 1/2 hours each way on the charter, and we had 7 hours in Berlin. Rick Steves says it’s not worth it, and I’m sure it isn’t if you frequently visit Europe, but we had never been to Berlin and hugely enjoyed it. 

 

 

I don't think you made a bad choice at all, and this is coming from somebody that does not hand out five-star reviews like candy and is disappointed at the dollar:value ratio HAL charges for shore excursions. Like you said, you had never been to Berlin, and the option was to either A) stay on the ship, or B) spend the money and at least do something.

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Mike07

[whogo]

8 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

I don't think you made a bad choice at all...

Nor do I. I think you got a lot out of that 7 hours in Berlin and riding a German train is an experience in itself. I remember doing similar day trips into Chicago as a youth, the long train ride was one of the joys of the experience.

 

Thanks for the great blog, washiotter.

[washiotter]

6 hours ago, WANative said:

Hi! What did you do on the train? Is the scenery interesting? Did they have food and drinks for purchase? What was your free snack? 🙂

 

Thanks for posting, and for all the tips! We hope to do a similar cruise next year!

Some of the scenery was interesting. We mostly read our kindles & kids listened to music. There was no wifi on the train and no cafe car to buy snacks. 
 

Morning snack: carton of sweet, milky iced coffee and a big cookie. 
Evening snack: pretzel roll with very tasty real butter, peanuts, big candy bar/cookie thing. 

[washiotter]

Day 10: Kiel.

 

Okay, there is a new thing that I’m excited about that everyone with cruise experience already knows, and that is: the joy of staying on the ship at a port, when most people have gotten off. 
 

Kiel didn’t look exciting. We could have taken a long bus ride to Hamburg, but that didn’t appeal either. So instead we stayed onboard, relaxing in the quiet. 

This morning, Ms. 18 and I bought day passes to the thermal suite. There’s a huge hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam rooms (aromatherapy and non-), special showers, a cold plunge, and heated ceramic loungers. Y’all, I am TERRIBLE at relaxing, but I felt every scrap of tension drain out of my body. It was so. Lovely. 
 

Hung out on the nonsmoking side of the Sea View pool, which I’ve decided is my favorite place on the ship, to watch sailaway. It’s the first day of Kiel Week, which is apparently one of the largest sailing festivals in the world, so there were lots of pretty boats making life exciting for the bridge crew. 
 

We had dinner at Rudi’s Sel de Mer, where we drastically overestimated how much food we could eat. We got the Fruits de Mer appetizer to share (along with our individual appetizers), and that was spectacular. My entree, however (grilled swordfish with tapenade), was just okay. Mr. Otter got the rack of lamb and thought it was excellent. 
 

 

Mr. 14 and I packed in a hurry so we could catch the last BB King set, which was outstanding. We both really, really enjoyed the band on this cruise. 

 

 

Tomorrow morning, we disembark and then fly home in the afternoon. Thanks for traveling along with me! I’ll post some wrap-up thoughts when I get home. 

[QuattroRomeo]

Absolutely fantastic review! Thank you for sharing. Do you think you have become addicted to cruising?!? 🚢

[LnWG]

I also think you were very wise to take the ship’s train into Berlin, and even wiser to use the time in Berlin to see things on your own. 
 

Our story: We had never been to Berlin before, and are not likely to ever go back. So we took a very expensive excursion that included the train and a guided tour of many other sights. Everything was going great until the early afternoon when we were leaving the Brandenburg Gate. The count had been correct when we arrived, it was not correct when they counted people on the bus - one woman was missing. We sat on the bus for a full hour while our guide went looking for her, and when he could not find her our tour eventually resumed. But we had no tour really…our guide was on the phone non-stop, and we were so far behind that we had missed our time slot for a museum. By the time we got to the area where we were to have free time in a “shopping” area we had a full five minutes. Which was no big deal for us, but many were highly upset. The train had to be held back because by then every single tour group arranged by the ship had been searching for this woman. 

 

And while we were on the train, our guide came and spoke to everyone in our group to let us know that the woman had been found. She apparently was back at the train before most of the tour groups who had been looking for her arrived. And she’d been spotted stepping out of a cab and she had a bunch of shopping bags. Hmmmmm.

 

Yes, you did things in Berlin the exact right way, in my opinion anyway. I’m glad you are having a great trip.

[washiotter]

8 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Absolutely fantastic review! Thank you for sharing. Do you think you have become addicted to cruising?!? 🚢

My husband bought some future cruise credits!

[Iamthesea]

12 hours ago, washiotter said:

It was expensive - at $180, it used virtually all our HIA credit. However, it was incredibly convenient - literally a three-minute walk from the gangplank to the chartered train - and we wouldn’t have felt comfortable venturing so very far from the port on our own. 
 

The “Berlin on your own” thing included a light morning snack and a more substantial evening snack, cartons of water, maps, and a guide on the train who could provide advice. 

 

5 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I don't think you made a bad choice at all, and this is coming from somebody that does not hand out five-star reviews like candy and is disappointed at the dollar:value ratio HAL charges for shore excursions. Like you said, you had never been to Berlin, and the option was to either A) stay on the ship, or B) spend the money and at least do something.

 

I also think that you did the right thing given the amount of time you had.  A train beats a bus tour anytime!  When we took a similar tour, we decided to fly into Berlin and stay for two nights before heading to Amsterdam for a few nights before getting onboard our cruise.  Then, when we stopped in Warnemunde did option C.)   Took a private tour with a few fellow passengers from CC.  The tour included Warnemunde and a train/tour to Rostock.  Both cities were beautiful and interesting.  We were so glad that we were able to do all 3 cities.

 

So sorry that you had the Stockholm break-down.  We were lucky that we found our way over to the Vasa museum with no problems.  As I recall, there was a tender from the ship that took us across the water.  From there we walked.  I admit to getting a little lost, however.  

 

On our last cruise, my breakdown came on the next to last day of our entire trip of 22 days.  I had been anticipating seeing Brugges for many years, so we worked out a day trip from Belgium.  We were with friends from Germany.  The husband, who had never been there, used his phone app to get us around.  After having a lovely hot chocolate after arriving, our group took off following the friend.  I had told him of a beautiful canal that I had seen in a movie.  We went the opposite way that all the tourist seem to be heading.  These included horse drawn carriages.  The further we got away, the less crowded the area became, but also the most commercial.  A shopping mega!!!  That's when I had my breakdown and started mentioning more than a few times, and quite loudly,  that we should be following the tourist.  Yes, I got mad.  Thankfully, after having a refreshing lunch, and a couple of drinks, we got on the right track and saw a few sights.  Unfortunately, everyone was tired by then, so we did not stay long.  Fortunately, I get to go back next May with the cruise ship when we stop in Zeebrugge.  I plan to be my own tour guide.  😁

[Florida_gal_50]

Really enjoyed your review.  Have a pleasant flight home.  Looking forward to your final thoughts.

[oakridger]

I loved your report and writing style.  It's nice to get a different perspective on things to do and see in the future.   

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

[ofallongirl]

Thank you for bringing us all along on your trip. I have been reading along on your journey. It sounds like it was an amazing trip your family will remember for a long time. Don't worry bad days/meltdowns/hitting the wall happen to everyone sometime but its how you recover and carry on that matters.  Thanks again for all you effort in writing and sharing photos. Hopefully you'll be cruising again soon.

Take care and safe travels home.  Amy.

[albingirl]

Loved your review and pictures.  This is a trip I've been longing to do. Thank you.

[BetsyS.]

Thanks for sharing your travels.  Great pictures!  It's wonderful that you brought your kids along. Safe trip home!

[VMax1700]

Everybody deserves at least one meltdown during a cruise.😉  Rumour has it that a meltdown will soon be part of HIA! 😁

[travelholics]

Thank you so much for your wonderful report of your family's first cruise on a HAL ship. My brother and I still remember clearly every day of our first cruise when we were your teens age! It is now 50 years later and we completed a 35 day cruise together, with our spouses, in March. Travel is one of the best investments we can make in our kids lives and I am sure your family will remember their time in Europe for many years to come. Thank you for sharing.

[Avery's Gram]

I have enjoyed reliving one of my favorite cruises wihile reading your posts!  We were traveling with a 12 year old granddaughter, and her parents agreed that visiting a concentration camp near Berlin would be a good but intense experience.  We chose to plan a private tour for the 3 of us….expensive, yes, but we knew we could judge how well Tess was doing and leave if it was too much for her.  We asked for a tour guide who was used to kids and told her to focus her tour on Tess, not on us.  

it was well worth the extra cash.  We were picked up at the ship by a driver who got us smoothly and quickly to Sachsenhausen Camp.  The tour was great….we adults learned a lot, but Tess did, too.  Our guide asked her questions, made her think out her own answers and never talked down to her or past her to us.  Sobering but very informative….

 

After this part of the tour, we had lunch in  Merlin, a quick drive around and stop at the typical tour stops, but again on our own time frame….then another drive back to the ship.  We learned how smoothly and fast a good German car can travel on the Autobahn!  I don’t expect to go back to Berlin, but I am glad we went once.

 

Barbara M. In NH

[Avery's Gram]

Make that “lunch in Berlin…..”

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, Avery's Gram said:

Make that “lunch in Berlin…..”

 

Hope the lunch was also..... magical .....😉

[Iamthesea]

 "We learned how smoothly and fast a good German car can travel on the Autobahn!"   

 

Try doing that in a Mini Cooper with 3 people riding in the back seat!!!  That was my experience last month with our German friends driving us around Germany, and the Netherlands.  My back will never be the same!!! 😁