Hamburg from the Kiel Canal

[mkccltr]

Has anyone taken the side tour to Hamburg from the 1st lock of the Kiel Canal.

 

If so what are your thoughts? Was it worth it or should you have stayed onboard for the full transit of the canal?

[Barbrox]

I have been looking for information on Kiel. It does not appear to be listed in the Baltic port list.

 

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[mkccltr]

The Kiel Canal is part of our 7/20 Ocean Princess Baltic cruise. The canal for the little that I've read is 60 miles long. Princess offers an excursion to Hamburg letting you off the ship at the 1st lock.

 

We have been through the Panama Canal and therefore know the lock process so wondering if the Kiel Canal passing would be about the same and therefore should we take the side trip to Hamburg.

[SoBaycruiser]

The Kiel Canal is part of our 7/20 Ocean Princess Baltic cruise. The canal for the little that I've read is 60 miles long. Princess offers an excursion to Hamburg letting you off the ship at the 1st lock.

 

 

 

We have been through the Panama Canal and therefore know the lock process so wondering if the Kiel Canal passing would be about the same and therefore should we take the side trip to Hamburg.

 

 

We did the Ocean Princess through the Kiel Canal last year. Because of the construction on the locks, the transit time became iffy so they cancelled the Hamburg excursion. You might want to check if the construction is still ongoing. Anyway, going through the locks themselves was no big deal. The enjoyment was seeing the countryside up close as you transited the canal. The people mustn't see cruise ships come through very often because they came out in the rain all along the canal to wave to us as we sailed by. It was also interesting how the canal, in many places, is only one ship wide so it's like approaching a one lane bridge. They've got operators directing ships to pull to the side to allow on-coming ships pass. I thought it was an enjoyable relaxing day after a very hectic 7 days in a row in ports.

 

 

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[mkccltr]

Thanks SoBayCruiser. Trying to decide to do the side trip to Hamburg or go thru the full transit of the canal. We have been thru the Panama Canal so the lock process is familiar.