Visit to Stutthof- Enough time?

[auntshushy]

On the Constellation Aug 26th sailing. We wanted to visit the Stutthof camp when we arrive in Gdansk, however time seems very short- 7AM to 12:30 PM departure. Tourinpoland has offered us an abbreviated excursion, but I am not sure the distances are worth it. Is our time better spent exploring Gdansk or some other nearby areas? Any thoughts,remembering time constraints,would be appreciated.

[mycruz]

The drive from port to Stutthof took about an hour. Once there we spent about another 1 1/2 hours touring the camp. If you drive directly back, you should have enough time. I think you would have enough time to visit However missing Gdansk would be a tough call. Depending on what you think you would enjoy the most, either would be a good choice. The town of Gdansk was very interesting, not to mention the shopping there. Experiencing the camp and the nice drive through the Polish countryside was also enjoyable. One more word of caution, we ran into some very bad traffic on our way back to the ship but we made it. If you choose the camp, there may be vendors set up at the dock that you can browse through before getting back on the ship.

[Choices]

Been there....Done That Just recently returned from our Baltic cruise, and DID use toursinpoland as our guide. We got off the ship early, close to 8:00 A.M., and with one other couple were met by a lovely young guide who took us immediately to Stuthoff....about an hour trip. We were literally the first people to arrive at the camp, and had a very sobering but informative several hours there, including a film as well as the guided tour by our guide.

 

From there we went in to Gdansk, had a terrific walking tour, saw all the main sites, the 14th Century granary, buildings, dockside,waterways etc. for several more hours (this also included a brief authentic Polish lunch of golubchakas). From Gdansk we made our way to the seaside resort of Sopot, spent about 45 minutes there, saw the Grand Hotel, the beautiful beaches, the long pier, etc. Had a bit of time left over and saw several other naval sites, training areas, etc. We were back on the ship with about 30 minutes to spare, and in total spent about 7-8 hours doing the entire day.

 

At no time did we feel rushed...but we were organized and knew what we wanted to see and do in the time alloted, and asked our guide to tailor our time accordingly, which she did wonderfully.

 

My only regret, is that more people do not make the trip out to the Stuthoff Concentration Camp as a reminder of man's inhumanity to man, however I do understand that people are on vacation, cruising, and may not want to expose themselves to that type of experience while on holiday.

 

Hope this helps fill in some of the gaps....I believe you can see and do all that you wish, if you are motivated, organized, and flexible.

 

Enjoy

 

Choices

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[spuds]

If you are leaving at 12:30 and the only thing you want to do is Stutthof I think you will have enough time - however I do not think you will have time to see the lovely city of Gdansk. We did very similar to the previous poster (Choices)... we were off the ship at 7:10 and needed to be back for 2:30 and just made it (for a 3:00 departure). We drove to Stutthof (first ones there), spent a couple of hours there and then went to Gdansk for a small tour and approx an hour of free time (we had lunch). We also used Tours of Poland and I really enjoyed our guide (Joanna).

 

I also agree with Choices that Stutthof is an important site to see... it's not a pleasant place but we wanted to see it so we could pay our respects in some sort of way and I think everyone should see it to be reminded of how horrible hate can be. I also read the book 'Night' from Elie Wiesel before I went - it is about his true life experience of Auschwitz and it really hit home when I was able to visually see what he must have went through.

 

It's too bad that Celebrity does not stay longer in this wonderful port - there is so much to see.

 

Travel Safe,