AntjeG

Hi all,

I live in Lübeck and can offer info for our cruise port in Travemünde. Some info is already here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2464864&highlight=Travemunde

Antje

Going on a Baltic cruise in summer. Bit concerned about incidents at both St Petersburg and Stockholm. Not sure what to do.

Europe in general is much safer than most other parts of the world (including the US). There is a new tourism report available which ranks countries in terms of tourism http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_2017_web_0401.pdf. The safety stuff is on page 51 and most cruise destinations in Europe are ranked way ahead of the US. OK, Russia is behind but most cruisers won´t go on their own there anyway because of visa requirements. Tour guides know where you will be safe. SPB is a major tourist attraction and I don´t think the Russians want to loose that by not caring for your safety.

Unfortunately, incidents in subways can happen anywhere nowadays. There was a panic in a NYC subway station, London has had it´s share of subway terrorism and so on. Best way of avoiding that would be to stay at home and also quit your job because it is more likely to get in a mess like that when going to work every day than when going on a cruise.

All statistics I have seen so far say it is more likely to be killed in a shooting on the streets in the US than in a terrorist attac somewhere in the world. Sorry to say that. I really like the Americans but I ´m concerned about their policy regarding firearms for private persons.

waterside lunch:

After crossing the bridge behind Holstentor there is a riverside promenade to the right with many restaurants. If you like to try local dishes and love seafood I recommend "Lübecker Pannfisch" served at the restaurants "Potters" or "Hotel Jensen". This dish is a variety of fresh catched Baltic Sea fish (fried) with fried potatoes. My favorite local desert is called "Rote Grütze". This is a fruit pudding which is served with either vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

If you turn left instead of right after crossing the bridge you will find "Block House" (a steak house) and some other restaurants.

My favourite location for a nice drink and watch the world go by is "Bar Celona". This is located at the promenade to the left in an old harbour storage building which has been restored. It is quite of a walk from the Holstentor bridge but worth it.

Gänge:

Sorry for the weird spelling. I wrote my post on the day cruise critic did site maintenance work and all the "non English" letters turned out on the screen as "?". So it is "Gänge" not "Gunge". A Gang could at best be translated as a backyard. Gänge are the backyards of the medieval merchant´s houses. In the old days the poor inhabitants of the city and the servants lived there in poor conditions. The Gänge are now very nicely restored and the tiny houses have all the modern facilities inside but the backyards make for unique communities and it is very popular to live in a Ganghaus (a house in a backyard). On the downtown island you will find many medieval houses which have a sign on the entrance saying "...gang" (put the ... for the name of the backyard).

Here is a YouTube Video on Gänge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7uhaEqEZA

canal/city boat tours:

they are all great, there is no line which I think would be better than the others.

boat trip to Travemünde:

doesn´t start at the same dock as the city boat tours. You will have to turn left after crossing the bridge at Holstentor and walk down the street along the river. There are 2 companies offering Travemünde boat tours:

Könemann who dock near Drehbrücke (approx. 1 km/15 minutes walk straight ahead) and MS Hanse who dock further down near Hansemuseum (about 30 minutes walk or take 3 stops on the city bus No. 3 from Holstentor).

Könemann´s timetable for the 2017 season is not yet online but once published you will find it here:

http://www.koenemannschiffahrt.de/04_fahrplan_preisliste.html

MS Hanse´s timetable is here: http://hanse-travemuende.de/fahrplan

If it is a day trip from Hamburg for you may I suggest you go from Hamburg to Travemünde by train (you will have to change trains at Lübeck main station), explore Travemünde and the beach and then catch MS Hanse at 11 AM from Travemünde Vorderreihe. They serve delicious lunch on board. You will dock in Lübeck at 12:30 and have the afternoon to explore medieval downtown and do the 1 hr city boat tour. As MS Hanse docks opposite Hansemuseum and not far from Bar Celona you could start your walk there and end at Holstentor not far from the railway station. Trains back to Hamburg run frequently until very late at night.

If there are any other questions I am happy to help. Time permitting we could arrange to meet at the MS Hanse dock and I could show you around medieval downtown if you want.

You can also ask at the reception of your hotel. Most hotels will be able to store your luggage for the day of your check out. If you check out in the morning you leave your luggage at the hotel, do your sightseeing and go back to the hotel to pick up your luggage before going to the train station.

Thanks for sending these. You should be a tour guide!

Thanks. The videos are no work of mine - just to get things right.

Well, I am a tour guide sometimes - sort of. I guide lots of friends and members of German sports groups in my home city. But I do it privately (as a volunteer so to speak) and not by profession. I don´t charge money and I always try to visit local venues with my groups in order to give some business to the businesses.

Plus, I do lots of tour planning not only for my own cruises but also for family and friends.

Can anyone comment on this tour company? www.fjordenligne.com/new-page/english/saguenay-guided-tours/

Itinerary looks good. Did they keep to the schedule? Did the guide give helpfull information? Did the guide speak English with not so strong French accent? (For me, English is a second language, too, and I find it difficult to understand English from people with strong Asian or French accent - plus, my French is very limited).

My port time is 11 AM to 7 PM.

Thanks.

I found some videos on YouTube which you might enjoy:

time lapse of the 1 hr boat tour:

a video with English commentary about the attractions

I live in L?beck so here is local information:

yes, the train is less than 1 hr from Hamburg central station to L?beck central station. Going to L?beck in the morning and to Hamburg in the evening you won?t expierence crowds as most traffic is in the opposite direction. Trains run every 30 minutes during rush hour and once per hour during the day.

I would suggest you skip the HoHo Bus which runs here for about 7 Euros. Bus is too big to get into the narrow streets in the historic downtown so you miss out on the most interesting part.

If you are a good walker do it on walking.

When leaving central station turn left. You will first see Holstentor, one of 2 remaining historic city entrance gates and the symbol of the city. Next to Holstentor is the tourist information with helpfull people at the desk who speak English and who provide maps and so on.

After crossing the bridge across Trave river next to Holstentor you find sightseeing boat stops on both sides of the bridge. The boat tours take approx. 1 hr and are lovely. I highly recommend you take them. The historic downtown is an island and the boats do a round trip.

After the boat trip explore Obertrave (to the right of the bridge. The most charming part of the city with restaurants, historic buildings and the university of music. There are daily free concerts at the university.

Look at "G?nge" downtown. These are charming residential parts which are behind the main houses. Very popular to live there and most residents will welcome tourists to have a look.

The cathedral is not far way from Obertrave. The church has 2 towers. As others have said, Marienkirche (also 2 towers) is more worth a visit (if you only want one of them - better to see both of course).

For shopping the pedestrian area is famous but don?t miss the little streets to the side. They are the "true" L?beck shopping experience with unique stores and galeries.

We have great museums with stunning exhibitions. Hansemuseum (history of the Hanseatic League) has the whole exhibition in English, St. Annen Museum is a great art collection of contemporary art and Behnhaus of art of the 18/19th century - to only name a few.

If you have more time you could take a 1.5 hr boat tour along Trave river to Travem?nde, our charming seaside resort which also is cruise port for smaller ships. There are busses and trains which take you back to L?beck in about 30 minutes for less than 4 Euros.

Here is the official tourism website in English: http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/

If you need more infor please post here.

Special offer: Time permitting I could show you around. I am no tour guide and I do not work in the tourism industry. Just a private person trying to be helpfull.

You fly in to Hamburg. Munich is at the other end of the country, it would take you a day in the train to get there and a day in the train to get back. I would suggest you stay in the North. Northern Germany is often underestimated by travellers from overseas. You folks all want Berlin and Munich and if it has to be the North you go to Hamburg and that was it.

So here is your itinerary:

start in Hamburg (HoHo Bus, Alster river boat cruise, take in the view from the Elbphilharmonie Plaza (viewing platform - you don?t need a concert ticket)

railway to Luebeck

walk the lovely medieval downtown (world heritage site)

go on a 1 hr boat tour around the downtown island

visit one of the many museums (if you are interested in the history of the Hanseatic League do not miss Hansemuseum (whole exhibition is in English!)

railway to Schwerin

boat tour on the lake (excellent view on the castle from the water - boats dock in front of the castle)

tour the castle

stroll through the lovely historic city center

hotel recommendation: Weinhaus Woehler (historic wine merchant with lovely rooms in the heart of downtown)

train to Stralsund

walk the lovely medieval downtown (world heritage site)

visit Ozeaneum (thrilling museum about oceans and sea life)

if you have one more day:

rent a car and drive around the island of Ruegen (at Stralsund?s doorstep)

train to Rostock-Warnemuende to board your ship

do not miss a walk at Alter Strom, Warnemuende seaside promenade

There is a city train which takes you directly from the airport to downtown Hamburg for less than 4 Euros per person. Group tickets available. Ticket vendor machine understands English. HoHo busses start directly opposite central train station. River cruises start from Landungsbruecken (HoHo Bus and city train have stops there).

Train from Hamburg to Luebeck runs less than 1 hr and costs 15 Euros. English website of Hansemuseum: www.hansemuseum.eu/language/en/ and of tourism Luebeck: http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/

train from Luebeck to Schwerin runs 1:40 hrs and costs between 17 and 27 Euros per person depending on time and type of train.

English tourism website Schwerin: http://www.schwerin.com/en/

Train from Schwerin to Stralsund is 1:50 hrs and 19-36 Euros. The English website of Ozeaneum is here: www.ozeaneum.de/en/ and the Stralsund tourism website (English) is this: www.stralsundtourismus.de/en/welcome

Island of Ruegen tourism information in English: https://www.ruegen.de/en/ueber-ruegen.html

Train from Stralsund to Warnemuende (you have to change at Rostock main station) is 1:30 hrs and 20 Euros.

I live in Luebeck so here is a special offer:

time permitting I could show you around

I am a private person and not a travel guide and I do not work in the tourism industry. This is just a private offer to a member of the cruise critic community.

The cruise terminal in Kiel is next to the railway station. You could take the regional train from Kiel main station to Hamburg main station (runs every hour 8:21, 9:21 and so on). Journey will take 1:16 hrs one way. Back to Kiel from Hamburg 12:43, 13:43 and so on. You could then take the HoHo Bus in Hamburg.

With your limited time in Kiel I would however advice against a tour to Hamburg on that port day.

I would stay in Kiel. Here is their tourism website (in English): https://www.kiel-sailing-city.de/en.html

I recommend the new HoHo Bus tour and a harbour cruise by boat.

If you are interested in rural history you can visit the museum village in Molfsee. Public bus No. 501 takes you to Molfsee (get off at Rammsee and it is a 15 min walk from there to the museum). Busses run every 30 minutes and the trip to Rammsee takes approx. 30 minutes. Information on the museum can be found at the "other places of interest" section of the tourism Kiel website provided earlier.

I would advice against a tour to Berlin. You need so much time to get there and you dont even get a small portion of Berlin. Warnemuende & Rostock are worth staying there for the day. Here is their English tourist info website: https://www.rostock.de/en/

If you want to see Berlin I would fly to Berlin pre-cruise (or go to Berlin after the cruise before you go home).

If it has to be Berlin on your Warnemuende port day choose ship tour or a tour company who gives you a guarantee to be back at port in time. If you go on your own (rental car or train) you may experience traffic jams on the Autobahn (highway) or a train which doesn?t keep to it?s schedule and you may risk to miss your ship.

There are transatlantic cruises from Montréal to Hamburg which have all the St. Lawrence ports. The cruise line is German so the on board language is German only. If you understand German and are interested look at http://www.phoeixreisen.com.

great itinerary, good ship - go for it!

If you want you can check out my review and blog with lots of pictures (the English translation of the blog is on page 3) - see signature

Can anyone recommend a mid-priced hotel in Auckland in a good location for sightseeing?

I stayed at a budget hotel: http://www.jucyhotel.com/locations/snooze-auckland/

Great location just around the corner from the cruise terminal, ferry terminal, airport bus stop, HoHo bus stop, etc. and a short walk to the Sky Tower.

Room was clean, bed was comfortable, WiFi available and they stored my luggage after check out so I was able to do some more sightseeing before I had to catch airport bus in the afternoon.

Who did you book the tour with in Auckland?

The harbour ferries are at the ferry terminal next to the cruise pier. You can buy a ticket at their ticket sales kiosk at the terminal. I took the ferry to Devenport due to limited time and it was nice. On my cruise I met a woman who lives on Waiheke island and highly recommended it.

The museum guided tour was booked with the museum. They have different packages which can be bought at their ticket sales counter. For times and prices see here: http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/

I also loved the view from the Sky Tower: https://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/attractions/sky-tower/

Again I just bought my ticket when I got there. It was a 20 min walk from my hotel. For a city tour I took the HoHo Bus which was very good http://www.explorerbus.co.nz/. For Airport transfer I took SkyBus which has several stops downtown (one is at the ferrry terminal/cruise terminal): https://www.skybus.co.nz/ It was a one hour ride from the ferry terminal to the airport.

Here is a 2.5 minutes photo slideshow of my time in Auckland post-cruise:

Thanks! I will be back with questions I'm sure -- but 2019 is a long way away [and I haven't really convinced DW that she can manage the long flights from the East Coast :eek:]. It's reassuring to know that you are still monitoring this thread -- it's a really valuable resource.

Terry´s blog is worth a kingdom! I´ve used it pre-cruise also.

As for the long flight: Overnight stopover might be a great idea. I had a stopover in Singapore and a few days Down Under pre-cruise which worked fine. Auckland is a great location for a pre-cruise stay. May I suggest a relaxing tour on the Auckland Harbour Ferry to Waiheke island and also a guided tour to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The tour in the Museum includes a Maori cultural performance and gets you into NZ mood quickly.

For Bay of Islands I can recommend Celebrity´s Hokianga excursion which was great.

I like the AIDAsol best of all the AIDA ships I sailed on so far.

AIDAsol and her sister ships and Celebrity Solstice class ships all come from Meyer shipyard in Papenburg/Germany.

Thank you for this wonderful review. Brought back great memories of my reverse cruise last year.

Yes AntjeG we made it home safe and sound , but for some strange reason , I can't see your photos , only icons which won't link when I click on them . ;)

 

 

:eek: don´t know what happend. I´ll try again:

inside Tower Bridge

the view from the Shard

the Eclipse and AIDAsol in Lisbon

Well, that´s what I would call a stress test! But as you are at your home posting a review I suppose you got your belongings and your loved ones back :D

Did you take Tyler inside Tower Bridge? Fascinating. Here is an inside photo taken on my NCL Escape cruise Oct. 2015 which had a London city tour after the cruise:

And the view from The Shard´s observation platform:

I met the Eclipse on my recent AIDAsol Western Europe cruise. We were docked very close to her in Lisbon:

Can´t wait to know how you managed to find Pat and Ty in big crowded London.

All the best for your upcoming health stress test!

 

What did you do? How do you wish you had prepared? Did it go smoothly?

What would you do? How would you prepare?

 

My idea is to prevent the kind of panic I felt due to my need to pack the cabin with the help of room stewards and find the important papers and all that while my husband couldn't help me. [Celebrity handled their part wonderfully but I was not a calm, cool, fall-apart-later person. I was crumbling then and there. Always thought I was an independent woman, I've got to work on that.] Our emergency turned out not to be at all serious but at the time, I didn't know that.

 

Things I wish I had or did have:

• Passports in the safe, ready to go
  
• Medications in a bag, ready to go
  
• Lists of regular medications for each person
  
• Emergency phone numbers (health insurance, travel insurance, doctors at home, the port agents)
  
• Where everything you've unpacked is located in the cabin (maybe a list? photos?)
  
• An organized list of the private excursions you have planned with the phone numbers for the people you are with (I didn't have this and wasn't sure what I could do to deal with the excursion and transfer I had planned if we didn't continue). Not everyone reads Cruise Critic Roll Calls when they are on board.
  
• I was just hoping we would be back on the ship by the next port or so if not that night.
  
• A guide book with simple phrases in the languages of the ports. Amusingly, I did do this for the Roll Call, but I never printed it for myself and in an emergency, you can't go fooling around with your computer. I'm printing these lists soon to add to our Next Cruise file.
  

What would you do?

 

Thanks,

 

Beth

Well, thankfully I have never been in this situation while on a cruise but I had stressfull moments during the land portion of my Australia/NZ-trip last year when a tour company cancelled a tour last minute and I had to find transportation to my next destination.

But as a standard I have most of the things you mentioned. Passport, wallet and emergency contact numbers go into the safe first thing after I first get into the cabin. Meds are packed in a little bag in the bathroom, ready to take whereever I may need them. A folder with my excursions will have its place on the desk for the entire cruise.

What I don´t have and don´t think I will have in the future is a list/photo of where I put all the other stuff in the cabin. The most important things are in the safe, bathroom and on the desk. If I forget to pack something else I can cope with the loss.

The simple phrases for the ports: No. I think in a real emergency I would need to find somebody who speaks English or German anyway and English has taken me almost everywhere in the world with little to no problems. So no phrases in writing for my emergency procedure. What I do is I try to learn please and thank you and good morning in the language spoken in any country I travel to.

I too have seen the Aida ships all over the world and would like to try it at least once if the itinerary or price was good. We just don't get any advertising for them down here in Australia.

Mic, they mostly advertise in German speaking countries and in Eastern Europe where more people learn German at school than in Australia. AIDA just anounced a world cruise for AIDAcara (their smallest ship) which will be their first time in Australian and NZ waters.

You can book them from all over the world via their website http://www.aida.de but you should have someone with German language skills help you as the website is German only, too.

How about a Baltics cruise? If we find the same cruise I could help you with some translations :)

The biggest differences between Celebrity and AIDA (besides the language) are:

- tips for crew and drinks with meals are included in the cruise fare

- cruises are priced in Euros and Euro is on board currency

- credit card payment will cost 1% surcharge (you can pay with a European debit card charge-free)

- dining is buffet only in the included restaurants

- dining is freestyle, no fixed dinner times

- very few tables for 2-4, mostly 6-8

- specialty dining is with service at the table

- the younger ships have their own brewery on board and make their own beer

- spa prices are about half of Celebrity´s

- cabins are smaller

- if you travel with children and young adults you get a discount (kids 2-15 yrs 35% off, youth 16-24 yrs 25% off, babies and toddlers travel free)

- lots of party going on in the evenings

- the 7 bigger ships don´t have a "real" theatre but a venue called Theatrium which works as both Atrium and theatre

- they have their own production shows which are developed in cooperation with Hamburg based Stage Music (a broadway style musical company)

- they do fantastic laser light shows on the pooldeck

scubacruiserx2, sorry for the off topic.

Back to your wonderful review and pictures, please.

Love Vigeland, too.

 

I watched as we passed the other ship The ADIA bella , and went down to the cabin to see if Pat was awake . I told her that we had just passed another cruise ship that had two lips on the front of the ship.

 

AIDAs 11 ships all have the smiling lips. They are an artwork made for AIDAcruises by Rostock-based artist Feliks Büttner. They call their own ships "smiles for the waves" and their advertisement says (translated - original is German) "where the smile is at home".

AIDAs on-board language is German only (Crew speaks English of course but dailies and entertainment and excursions are German only) so maybe you wouldn´t have such a great time but I love them. Sailed on AIDAbella twice. Unfortunately, AIDAbella will be removed from the German section and be their first ship with on-board language Chinese only from next year.

Oh by the way - AIDAs headquarter is in Rostock. The brand is part of Carnival corporation but they do their own thing - like Costa for the Italian part.

Thank you so much for this great read (and all the others), scubracruiserx2! I have been following along without posting anything but I just want to let you know how much I enjoy your reviews.

A few suggestions for your next cruises:

MicCanberra is of course a much better source of information for the southern hemisphere but maybe you want to check my review from a 2015 Celebrity Solstice cruise from Sydney to Auckland and a 2 weeks land vacation in Australia prior to the cruise. The English translation of my German blog is on page 3 (see signature).

For your next Baltics cruise may I suggest a pre- or post cruise stay in Northern Germany? Most overseas visitors go straight on to Berlin (I understand your reasons of course) but in my opinion the north is highly underestimated by you folks. I think MicCanberra has chosen a very good itinerary for his day in Warnemünde. There is so much more to see. Cities like Hamburg, castles like Schwerin, medieval architecture in Lübeck or Wismar, great landscape around the Mecklenburg lakes district, cold war history, art and culture, great seafood... I could easily pack you a 1-2 weeks package.