Berlin Ship tour via train from Rockstock

Hi, Has anyone taken the ships tour via train from Rockstock to Berlin?

They have 3 different ones and I just want to make sure we're seeing all we can once to Berlin.

If anyone has a review that would be great since X no longer has them on any shore excursions, its hard to tell if they are good or not.

I did do a search on CC, but it was more of a why dont you do a private tour instead, and we're only researching the reviews for this ship/train tour.

If you can provide stops and what you did, that would be great!

Thanks in advance.

Tammy

On our roll call someone mentioned that the ship tours in Russia are run by Arcturs Travel http://arctur.spb.ru/about.html

There may be some reviews of them as a company.

I think the OP means Rostock which is in Germany not Russia.

I think the OP means Rostock which is in Germany not Russia.

Whoops - sorry you're right. I really wasn't paying attention there!

I can't directly answer your question, and hopefully someone can tell you about the tours themselves, but just for thought (and expectation management)...

It looks like the tours put you on regional trains. That works out to 2 1/2 hours each way on the train.

The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is fairly centrally located, just north of the Reichstag and near the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, etc. So that's a plus on time.

Berlin is HUGE. Pull it up on Google maps. If I remember right, the Tiergarten is the largest urban park in the world. You need to have some expectation management of what you can see and do.

Beyond that, it's been over 20 years since I was last in Berlin (unfortunately). If looks like some of the tours spend a lot of time on the Ku-damm, which is great if you want to shop, but that's also the area of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a major landmark.

So, depending on the tour options, a lot of the decisions on the tours would depend on whether you're interested in architecture, Prussian history, WWII history, Soviet era history, shopping, etc.

There are reviews of the tours to Berlin from Warnemunde/Rostock here:

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/shore-excursions/excursion/794/

Note not all appear to be ships tours but many are.

Thank you all! I am doing all non ship tours for all ports except this one, and I am aware we're on a train for a while, but we come from a family of train lovers, so to us that is a plus. I'd rather be on a train then in a bus.

I am not a huge shopper, I'd rather see sights then shop. And its a real expectation that I wont see it all, nor do I want to, if I wanted to see it all I'd not go there on a cruise for sure. But highlights would be nice :-)

Thank you for the link to the reviews, that was wonderful!!

I like the idea of train, with bus, walking and river tour. I was hoping for folks that have done this one and if it was worth the time and money, its super expensive ($350 pp)

But you all have given me things to look at so thank you,

Thank you all! I am doing all non ship tours for all ports except this one, and I am aware we're on a train for a while, but we come from a family of train lovers, so to us that is a plus. I'd rather be on a train then in a bus.

I am not a huge shopper, I'd rather see sights then shop. And its a real expectation that I wont see it all, nor do I want to, if I wanted to see it all I'd not go there on a cruise for sure. But highlights would be nice :-)

Thank you for the link to the reviews, that was wonderful!!

I like the idea of train, with bus, walking and river tour. I was hoping for folks that have done this one and if it was worth the time and money, its super expensive ($350 pp)

But you all have given me things to look at so thank you,

Here is another option, a few years ago when we were there,we took the train to Rostock and spent the day there. It is a beautiful city. Then we took the ferry back to the ship. The next year we did a land tour and spent 2 days in Berlin. Best of both worlds. We did not want to spend 5 hours on a train with approximately an equal time for sightseeing. Enjoy your holiday.

Here is another option, a few years ago when we were there,we took the train to Rostock and spent the day there. It is a beautiful city. Then we took the ferry back to the ship. The next year we did a land tour and spent 2 days in Berlin. Best of both worlds. We did not want to spend 5 hours on a train with approximately an equal time for sightseeing. Enjoy your holiday.

Not really looking for another option, just want reviews from folks that may have taken this tour in the past. We will be doing this tour, but want to hear reviews so we know what to be on the lookout for, good or bad.

But thank you :-)

A few years we did a tour to Berlin while on a Baltic cruise. We were very concerned about how taxing it would be especially since it was the last day of the cruise and it was a 12 hour day. It turned out to be a very nice surprise. We saw a great deal and felt we learned a lot about the city. It was very manageable and enjoyable. Go for it.

No matter how you do it Berlin is a long way. The main railway station is near the Reichstag - if you plan to go in it is free but you must apply online before you go if you want to be certain of getting in. Museum island is too big for one day, a single museum may be possible. The city is of course dominated by WWII - the monuments to murdered Jews & burnt books are particularly moving. The Topography of Terror is another site that falls into the 'must see' for all the wrong reasons - site of the former SS/Gestapo headquarters and one of the longest sections of 'wall' still in situ, it is also very near 'C'point Charlie.'

Berlin is worth visiting - but do your homework - pick the sites you most want to see - the ones I've mentioned are very close to each other. It is impossible to site see/shop/river cruise on the same day - you are probably only going to have 6-7 hours in the city. Arranging it yourself is very easy - especially if you use the train.

Good luck.

A few years we did a tour to Berlin while on a Baltic cruise. We were very concerned about how taxing it would be especially since it was the last day of the cruise and it was a 12 hour day. It turned out to be a very nice surprise. We saw a great deal and felt we learned a lot about the city. It was very manageable and enjoyable. Go for it.

Thank you! We have 3 days in St Petersburg as well, with 12+hour days, so we'll be making the best of our 2 at sea days for sure! And I think we can really relax on the train going there and coming back, which will be nice.

The tour is arranged by the ship, so we'll see what they bring us to. I am really not interested in seeing any concentration camps, so I hope they arent on the itinerary. I just want to see the basics, and if we love it, we'll go back to just that city not on a cruise.

Seems lots of folks have done the tour but via bus, which I would not want to do. I like to get up and walk around and use the restroom! So train sounds great to us. And my Dad is a former railroader, so we love trains anyway.

I hope it will be fun.

I'm sure you'll have a great time. We were in a bus with one bathroom break. A train ride sounds like it would be ice. Enjoy

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I'm sure you'll have a great time. We were in a bus with one bathroom break. A train ride sounds like it would be ice. Enjoy

 

 

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Thank you!

Hi, Has anyone taken the ships tour via train from Rockstock to Berlin?

They have 3 different ones and I just want to make sure we're seeing all we can once to Berlin.

If anyone has a review that would be great since X no longer has them on any shore excursions, its hard to tell if they are good or not.

I did do a search on CC, but it was more of a why dont you do a private tour instead, and we're only researching the reviews for this ship/train tour.

If you can provide stops and what you did, that would be great!

Thanks in advance.

Tammy

We did a walking/tram tour of Wernemunde & Rostok from Alla tours (based in St. Petersburg)

We actually did a 5 city tour with them. They were great

If you wish, I can give you more details.

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We did a walking/tram tour of Wernemunde & Rostok from Alla tours (based in St. Petersburg)

 

We actually did a 5 city tour with them. They were great

 

If you wish, I can give you more details.

 

Thanks Tom, we are doing 6 tours with Alla this cruise. I got a birthday gift of this tour, so we are taking it for sure with the cruise line. Just wanting to know if anyone else has taken it and what to expect.

So glad you liked Alla, they have been a delight to work with for sure!