Warnemunde Train to Berlin

[Billthekid]

We are on the Ms Eurodam arriving 6:00AM June 22 and staying overnight. Yesterday I booked a DB Ice Train (300+mph) from the cruise port to Berlin main train station and Return for $37 pp non refundable (I think). The train station is a 10 minute walk from the ship and the train leaves at 6:58AM and arrives 2:30 later. The return ICE train leaves 6:18PM and arrives 8:42PM. In Berlin a large portion of the sights are walking distence from the train station inlcuding the Brandenburg Gate, Linden Street with its museums, churches and shops.

 

This will work if the ship arrives on time. If not you are out the price of a bottle of wine. It sure beats the $199 price of the Shore excursion for the same trip of train to Berlin on your own.

[Travelanni]

We are on the Ms Eurodam arriving 6:00AM June 22 and staying overnight. Yesterday I booked a DB Ice Train (300+mph) from the cruise port to Berlin main train station and Return for $37 pp non refundable (I think). The train station is a 10 minute walk from the ship and the train leaves at 6:58AM and arrives 2:30 later. The return ICE train leaves 6:18PM and arrives 8:42PM. In Berlin a large portion of the sights are walking distence from the train station inlcuding the Brandenburg Gate, Linden Street with its museums, churches and shops.

 

This will work if the ship arrives on time. If not you are out the price of a bottle of wine. It sure beats the $199 price of the Shore excursion for the same trip of train to Berlin on your own.

 

Hi, good deal, I think it is roughly US$50 at the present rate of exchange so if you have got it cheaper even better. But be aware that there are construction works in June to upgrade the line and enable the ICE to travel at the higher speeds which it cannot do at the moment. Trains are expected to be about 25mins late in both directions. This is official information from the DB web site.

Unfortunately this trip only works if you are cruising with HAL and arriving on a weekday. The other lines dock too late and there is only an ICE in one direction on each of the W/E days, ie to Berlin on Saturday and from Berlin on Sunday. For more details of the alternatives if you are not with HAL please see my blog.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Danish viking]

Now I´m revealing myself as a train nerd :D

 

The ICE (InterCityExpress) is only going up 300 kilometers per hour and not miles and depending on what type of train they use on that line the top speed varies by model, the ICE 1 and ICE 2 can go up to 280 km/h and the newest model ICE 3 can handle speed´s of 300-320 km/h.

 

Also the Speed limit on the "Neustrelitz-Warnemünder Eisenbahn" and the "Berliner Nordbahn" is limited to 160 km/h and somewere even 120 km/h so don´t expect the trains to go on top speed.

 

But the train is modern and has a great seating comfort.

[Danish viking]

What is the new speed after the lines are upgraded?

[Billthekid]

"But be aware that there are construction works in June to upgrade the line and enable the ICE to travel at the higher speeds which it cannot do at the moment. Trains are expected to be about 25mins late in both directions."

Is it just the "ICE line" only tracks or are the regionals included?

[Travelanni]

"But be aware that there are construction works in June to upgrade the line and enable the ICE to travel at the higher speeds which it cannot do at the moment. Trains are expected to be about 25mins late in both directions."

 

Is it just the "ICE line" only tracks or are the regionals included?

 

Hi,

There is only one line, used by both the ICE and RE trains but only the ICE seems to be affected which means that the construction works are slowing its speed to the same as that of the REs. It might be worthwhile to check again nearer the date.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Travelanni]

What is the new speed after the lines are upgraded?

 

Hi, I did reply to your question last night, or thought I did. It got lost somehow, sorry.

Not being a train 'buff' myself I'm not sure but assume that the upgrade is to allow the ICEs to travel at the speeds of which they are capable. It seems to entail straightening out and relaying the track with concrete sleepers, strengthening bridges and eliminating level crossings as was done on the route between Berlin and Hamburg where it passes through the former DDR. At the moment we only have one ICE a day and if you are only travelling to Berlin (the train carries on to München) there is very little advantage in paying nearly twice as much for a ticket when it is only a few minutes faster than the RE.

Cheers, Anni

[Danish viking]

That would be good with a better connection to Berlin, I did travel on the Cologne Frankfurt line a few weeks ago and it was very fast. :-D

[Travelanni]

But be aware that there are construction works in June to upgrade the line and enable the ICE to travel at the higher speeds which it cannot do at the moment. Trains are expected to be about 25mins late in both directions. This is official information from the DB web site.

Hi everyone, further to the above information.

There will be major changes in both departure times and stations for the ICE during June, July and August. Some trains will depart 25mins early and some from Rostock Central station. There is no pattern to the changes, as gazetted they seem to vary from week to week.

So, if you are thinking of travelling on the ICE between Warnemunde and Berlin please let me have your dates and I will be happy to check the individual times etc. locally for you.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Charles4515]

But be aware that there are construction works in June to upgrade the line and enable the ICE to travel at the higher speeds which it cannot do at the moment. Trains are expected to be about 25mins late in both directions. This is official information from the DB web site.

Hi everyone, further to the above information.

There will be major changes in both departure times and stations for the ICE during June, July and August. Some trains will depart 25mins early and some from Rostock Central station. There is no pattern to the changes, as gazetted they seem to vary from week to week.

So, if you are thinking of travelling on the ICE between Warnemunde and Berlin please let me have your dates and I will be happy to check the individual times etc. locally for you.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

 

 

My date would be August 14. Ship arrives at 9:30 am and leaves at 11:59 pm. I did not know there was a station 10 minutes walk from the dock. I thought the station was in Rostock, farther away. Or is it that the Rostock station is only ten minutes walk away from the dock?

[Sauer-kraut]

 

 

My date would be August 14. Ship arrives at 9:30 am and leaves at 11:59 pm. I did not know there was a station 10 minutes walk from the dock. I thought the station was in Rostock, farther away. Or is it that the Rostock station is only ten minutes walk away from the dock?

 

There is a train station at Warnemunde, you have to walk through it to get to the town from the docks.

 

You might have to change trains in Rostock depending on where you are going. (I'm not really paying attention to where you are planning on visiting). Anni's website has lots of information that you can use.

[Travelanni]

 

 

My date would be August 14. Ship arrives at 9:30 am and leaves at 11:59 pm. I did not know there was a station 10 minutes walk from the dock. I thought the station was in Rostock, farther away. Or is it that the Rostock station is only ten minutes walk away from the dock?

 

Hi Charles, There is a station in Warnemünde, literally alongside the cruise terminal, 10 mins walk from the ship to the platforms. Mostly it is served by S-bahn (local suburban) trains connecting with the main station in central Rostock. However, an Inter City Express departs once a day (Mon-Fri 6:58, Sat 9:01) from Warnemünde to München, via Berlin. At any other time travellers to Berlin take the S-bahn to Rostock and the RE to Berlin.

Your arrival time would not permit use of the ICE but for other train times to Berlin please see my web site www.travelanni.webs.com

At the moment there are no changes published for the RE trains but I will post any changes as they occur.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Charles4515]

 

Hi Charles, There is a station in Warnemünde, literally alongside the cruise terminal, 10 mins walk from the ship to the platforms. Mostly it is served by S-bahn (local suburban) trains connecting with the main station in central Rostock. However, an Inter City Express departs once a day (Mon-Fri 6:58, Sat 9:01) from Warnemünde to München, via Berlin. At any other time travellers to Berlin take the S-bahn to Rostock and the RE to Berlin.

Your arrival time would not permit use of the ICE but for other train times to Berlin please see my web site www.travelanni.webs.com

At the moment there are no changes published for the RE trains but I will post any changes as they occur.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

 

If the ship docks at 9:30 am can we make the connection in time to catch the 10:34 am to go to Berlin?

 

We are still trying to decide whether to visit Berlin or use the port time and visit your local area. The port times, 9:30 to 11:59 pm seem too short for Berlin and a little long for the local area!

[Travelanni]

 

If the ship docks at 9:30 am can we make the connection in time to catch the 10:34 am to go to Berlin?

 

We are still trying to decide whether to visit Berlin or use the port time and visit your local area. The port times, 9:30 to 11:59 pm seem too short for Berlin and a little long for the local area!

 

Hi Charles, If the ship docks right on time (rarely happens) and you can get off within a few minutes you could possibly do it.

Ideally you would have to catch the 9:52 from Warnemünde or the 10:07 at the very latest but then you would have only 6mins to change trains in Rostock. Difficult enough for someone who knows the station.

With a sailing time of 11:59pm I assume that you will have to be on-board by 11pm. The last possible train from Berlin therefore would be the 6:45pm which would give you only just over 5 hours in Berlin for more than 6 hours travel time.

The other possibilites in the area are Schwerin, Wismar and Stralsund, all of which are within one and a half hours travel time from Warnemünde and any of which can fill your day leaving time for the evening in Warnemünde. Warnemünde is a very pleasant and popular place to spend the evening in summer and only 10mins walk from the ship. All the above places and how to get there are covered on the website.

Your date and docking times tell me that your ship is Celebrity Constellation. Celebrity is the only line which docks so late making a visit to Berlin on anything but one of their tours well nigh impossible.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[John Bull]

The Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Jewish holocaust memorial (super museum under it) & Unter den Linden are grouped together about a 20 min walk from the rail station.

The Berlin ho-ho buses call at the rail station in Berlin, travelling away from that Brandenburg Gate grouping - worth taking it for an initial tour, stopping off at Checkpoint Charlie (remains of a section of wall nearby plus super little museum of wall-escapers right by the checkpoint, IMHO skip the "other" Holocaust museum near Checkpoint Charlie - its more "arty" than interesting or instructive and has remarkably few exhibits, continue on the ho-ho route & spend your remaining time around Brandenburg Gate.

 

JB :)

[Charles4515]

 

Your date and docking times tell me that your ship is Celebrity Constellation. Celebrity is the only line which docks so late making a visit to Berlin on anything but one of their tours well nigh impossible.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

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It is the Constellation. We could also book an independent tour. There are several independent companies that would pick us up and bring us back to the ship by car, van or bus.

 

My main issue with the Celebrity tours is they keep mentioning the lack of air conditioning on the trains they use and if we take the bus that they might put us on the train without AC. Since it will be an August sailing it could be high temperatures.

[Travelanni]

 

It is the Constellation. We could also book an independent tour. There are several independent companies that would pick us up and bring us back to the ship by car, van or bus.

 

My main issue with the Celebrity tours is they keep mentioning the lack of air conditioning on the trains they use and if we take the bus that they might put us on the train without AC. Since it will be an August sailing it could be high temperatures.

 

Your comment about the trains hired by the cruise lines for their tours is quite right and, with the exception of the s-bahn, they are the only trains in this area which do not have air-con. At least Celebrity, unlike most of the other lines, have the decency to warn you.

I do not have any personal knowledge of the independent tour companies but from reading the posts on the various threads here it would seem that they are excellent, especially the larger ones. Many of them do deals if you book tours in both St Petersburg and Berlin.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

[mommamd]

We would like to stop in Berlin on the way to Rome for a Med cruise. What is the closest international air hub that would have flights to Berlin, and/or hub that has a 2 hour train to Berlin? We are thinking of spending 2 days before the cruise. I see there are few flights from the US to Berlin.

We are in Central USA.

[Sauer-kraut]

Look for flights into Hamburg, you can get a direct train from Hamburg to Berlin.

 

Otherwise you can do a London Heathrow and get a discount airline to Berlin.

[Travelanni]

We would like to stop in Berlin on the way to Rome for a Med cruise. What is the closest international air hub that would have flights to Berlin, and/or hub that has a 2 hour train to Berlin? We are thinking of spending 2 days before the cruise. I see there are few flights from the US to Berlin.

We are in Central USA.

 

Hi, the nearest International 'hub' to Berlin is Frankfurt, 4 hours by train or 1 hour flight from Berlin.

I would avoid London Heathrow if possible, Frankfurt is much easier and from there you are flying domestic or by train direct from the airport.

At present United Airlines has 3 or 4 flights per day from Indianapolis via Newark, New Jersey to both Berlin Tegel and Hamburg. Hamburg has good train connections with Berlin, travel time 1hr:40mins.

The new International airport in Berlin, Berlin Brandenburg, will be fully operational soon so maybe there will be a better service later in the year.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[Travelanni]

We are on the Ms Eurodam arriving 6:00AM June 22 and staying overnight. Yesterday I booked a DB Ice Train (300+mph) from the cruise port to Berlin main train station and Return for $37 pp non refundable (I think). The train station is a 10 minute walk from the ship and the train leaves at 6:58AM and arrives 2:30 later. The return ICE train leaves 6:18PM and arrives 8:42PM. In Berlin a large portion of the sights are walking distence from the train station inlcuding the Brandenburg Gate, Linden Street with its museums, churches and shops.

 

This will work if the ship arrives on time. If not you are out the price of a bottle of wine. It sure beats the $199 price of the Shore excursion for the same trip of train to Berlin on your own.

 

Hi,

Further your question on my website this is the current information re ICE #1609 on 22/6/2012

Current information about your connection:

ICE 1609: Warnemünde - Rostock Hbf: Construction work. Interruption on the line between Warnemünde and Rostock Hbf. Unscheduled start of the train in Rostock Hbf. Please check your itinerary again shortly before departure.

ICE 1609: Rostock Hbf - Berlin Hbf (tief): Construction work. Train is running 55 minutes early. Please check your itinerary again shortly before departure.

This means that on that particular day the train will not start from Warnemunde but from Rostock HBF at 6:24am.

Hope this clarifies things for you.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[mommamd]

Thanks Anni, our trip will be in 2013 so we will look for the new Brandenburg airport.

Michelle

[Billthekid]

Hi,

Further your question on my website this is the current information re ICE #1609 on 22/6/2012

Current information about your connection:

ICE 1609: Warnemünde - Rostock Hbf: Construction work. Interruption on the line between Warnemünde and Rostock Hbf. Unscheduled start of the train in Rostock Hbf. Please check your itinerary again shortly before departure.

ICE 1609: Rostock Hbf - Berlin Hbf (tief): Construction work. Train is running 55 minutes early. Please check your itinerary again shortly before departure.

This means that on that particular day the train will not start from Warnemunde but from Rostock HBF at 6:24am.

Hope this clarifies things for you.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

Well that is cute. Our ship docks at 6:00am and the Warnemunde Hbf is a ten minute walk from the ship. The S-Bahn takes 18 minutes to Roostock Hbf arriving after the ICE train #1609 has departed. So basically cruise passangers from the Ms Eurodam on June 22 traveling independently with reservations on the ICE train are out of luck. Can we switch our tickets for a Regional Train? Or are they affected also.

[Travelanni]

Well that is cute. Our ship docks at 6:00am and the Warnemunde Hbf is a ten minute walk from the ship. The S-Bahn takes 18 minutes to Roostock Hbf arriving after the ICE train #1609 has departed. So basically cruise passangers from the Ms Eurodam on June 22 traveling independently with reservations on the ICE train are out of luck. Can we switch our tickets for a Regional Train? Or are they affected also.

 

Hi,

Yes, you will be able to use an ICE ticket on an RE train as the fare on the RE is less. The ticket and the seat reservation are quite separate and you cannot reserve a seat on an RE. The speed restriction between Berlin and Rostock only affects the ICE.

 

The s-bahn connection with the ICE would leave Warnemunde at 5:52 which is unfortunately too early for your ship. The next best option would be to take the s-bahn at 7:52 to Rostock and the RE at 8:34 from Rostock arriving Berlin Hbf at 11:14

You can use the ICE to return from Berlin departing at 18:13 but at the moment it is shown as arriving 25mins late in Warnemunde, that is 21:07 rather than 20:42.

The warnings that there will be track work and schedule changes are always published on the website timetables when tickets first become available, ie 92 days before the date of travel using the international warning symbol beside the time of departure and an explanation underneath.

The fact that the changes may not suit your plans is a risk you take when buying early, discounted tickets without knowing exactly what the schedule changes will be. If you bought through a travel agent I would take it up with them.

Once again, if anyone is thinking of using the ICE this summer please let me check for any schedule changes on your date before you buy a ticket.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

www.travelanni.webs.com

[SweetBiscuits]

We're taking the same Eurodam cruise right after yours is finished and are extremely interested in the train into Berlin. How can I get the same ticket you found?