Review: First time cruiser, Emerald, Baltics

[Genessa]

SJ27,

 

you mention you took a Princess tour in Warnemunde to Schwerin & Rostock. We have one booked there and I was wondering which one you took and if you enjoyed it.

 

Thanks!

[SJ27]

Hi Genessa,

 

I think there was only one Princess one available that went to both Schwerin & Rostock. It involved inter alia, a boat ride across Schwerin Lake, the castle, walking tour of Schwerin, lunch (with a bit of free time to wander around this lovely town), then some time in Rostock, mainly to see the Cathedral. We did enjoy it a lot. There were a few coachloads for the tour so different guides for each. Our guide, Karin, grew up in the area when it was the former East Germany and had some fascinating insights into what life was like then. And then our guide for the castle tour (I can't remember her name) had actually grown up in the castle when it was a school (her father taught there) so she really knew it well!

Incidentally, we looked into a few private tours in the area and (surprisingly?) we could not one find one that cost less than the Princess one!!

 

We got back to the ship around 5 or 5.30pm as I recall, so there is still time to see Warnemunde if you want as the ship only leaves at 10pm, which is around sunset.

[Genessa]

thanks, SJ27

 

it is the only Princess tour that I booked, mostly because I couldn't find anything like it for a better price, either. And Schwerrin and Rostock sounded interesting.

 

Berlin I'll have to save for a land trip!

 

good to know that I don't have to choose completely between the tour and seeing some of Warnemunde, either.

 

 

I saw on another post that you did the tour with Alla in St. P. We are booked with her, too!

 

Thanks again for your review and your reply!

[DFWDebbie]

We took this tour a couple of years ago and I was so impressed with Princess that when planning an Alaska cruise this year, I really tried to find a Princess cruise with my desired itinerary. (I did).

 

It was my second cruise and my niece's first and at this point, 2 years later, I can't think of a single problem or complaint. The ship was great. The staff was great. Dana loved the food. (I'm not a big foodie so it was fine to me.) Gabor was our waiter and we kept seeing him all over the ship and by the second day, he remembered us, too. He filled up my water bottle every morning before we headed off the ship while we filled up with breakfast.

 

We took took a couple Princess tours and headed off on our own for some ports. I would highly recommend Rick Steve's book on Scandinavia (forget the exact title). It has things to see and not miss and even walking tours for all of the ports. Very handy! We did the St Pete 2 day with the Catherine Palace evening. Never enough time to see everything but I don't think I'd change a thing.

 

If anyone is interested in some pictures - I took a whole bunch! Here is the link to my albums on WebShots.

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/debdunlap1?action=publicAlbums

 

Debbie D

[azgrandmax3]

Why would you change anytime dining. It is so convinent. Go when you want and sit with however many of people you choose. The longest we have ever waited for a table is 5-10 minutes. Also enjoyed sitting in many different areas of the dinning rooms. Taking of orders and serving we found to be much quicker with anytime dining.

[cormike1]

Thanks for your post SJ27. We were on the same cruise and it is too bad you couldn't have made it to the "CC Meet & Greet" It was so nice to put a name to a face after chatting on CC to everyone. I know you had kids and said you might not make it.

We met twice and enjoyed it alot. What a great cruise!!!

[cormike1]

thanks, SJ27

 

it is the only Princess tour that I booked, mostly because I couldn't find anything like it for a better price, either. And Schwerrin and Rostock sounded interesting.

 

Berlin I'll have to save for a land trip!

 

good to know that I don't have to choose completely between the tour and seeing some of Warnemunde, either.

 

 

I saw on another post that you did the tour with Alla in St. P. We are booked with her, too!

 

Thanks again for your review and your reply!

 

I think you will enjoy Schwerrin and Rostock alot more than Berlin. Yes the history is there but it was such a long drive and when you realize that most of Berlin is rebuilt and not the real thing, well what can I say. We talked to alot of people that did not do the Berlin tour and enjoyed walking around Warnemunde and then going to Rostock so do Berlin another time.

[Genessa]

I think you will enjoy Schwerrin and Rostock alot more than Berlin. Yes the history is there but it was such a long drive and when you realize that most of Berlin is rebuilt and not the real thing, well what can I say. We talked to alot of people that did not do the Berlin tour and enjoyed walking around Warnemunde and then going to Rostock so do Berlin another time.

 

Thanks for the info!

that was the general idea I had gotten from reading on here, but I hadn't seen any mention of this tour until this thread.

 

I am so looking forward to this entire trip!