Berlin Private Tour Company

[CruisingChick]

Has anyone take a tour using Jo Eckardt at "A Friend in Berlin." We are going next year on Constellation and are trying to gather information and opinions on her tours.

 

Thanks.

 

Anne Maria

[Denverite]

We were on the Star Princess 7/24 to 8/3 this year and used Jo for a private tour in Berlin. Our ship docked at 8am and we had arranged for pick-up at 8:30 am. The drive in was about 2 hours--uneventful. We were 4 people and were picked up in a Mercedes 6 seater van (could hold 3 people per bench seat). We met Jo at the Charlottenburg Palace about 10:30am. Our tour lasted until 5pm and we were back on the ship at 7pm. For Berlin, you need to specify exactly what you want to see--what to visit and what photo stops. There is not enough time to do a lot. If you are there on Monday, most of the museums are closed. We visited the Jewish Museum (no lines), the Holocaust Memorial and Documentation Center (short wait) and had lunch at the Reichstag. The wait to get into the Reichstag was 2 hrs, but Jo got reservations for lunch atop the Reichstag and we walked right in. We really enjoyed this. Lunch was from 10 to 18 Euros. We also paid for Jo's lunch. Entrance fee was 5 Euros for Jewish Museum. We had photo stops at various places, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish cemetery, Brandenburg Gate, etc.--traffic in Berlin is congested with a lot of construction. We also visited the KaDeWe Department Store--very interesting. You really need to specify what you want to see and where you want to stop; otherwise, you will just ride around in the van. We originally had planned a visit to the concentration camp but decided that there was too much to see in Berlin and opted out of that additional excursion. If you need more information, feel free to email me at FSusman@aol.com. Also, Wendy (WhenZuc) on this board was the one who told me about Jo and Wendy will probably chime in with additional comments when she sees your posting.

[CruisingChick]

Thanks for your response to my question. Sorry it took so long to get back.

I can't believe you were the only one. Wendy did send me an e-mail about Jo.

 

Does anyone know if there are any other tours operators besides A Friend in Berlin and Berlin-Stadtrundfahrt.

 

So far these are the only 2 I can come up with.

 

Thanks.

 

Anne Maria

[aqua]

Our family used info@berlin-starting-point.de and were very happy with them.

[elin]

Our family used info@berlin-starting-point.de and were very happy with them.

 

We also used Berlin Starting Point. We had a large bus for 10 people. Thomas the driver was very pleasant. We picked up Andre our guide at the McDonalds in Berlin. He was excellent.

I would totally recommend this organization. For a group up to 16 people it was $790 Euros + tip which was so much cheaper then the ship tour of "Berlin on your own". We had a great guide and a great day.

 

Elin

[CruisingChick]

Aqua and Elin, thank you so much for the info. I have e-mailed them and can't wait for a reply.

 

Is there anything specific you suggest we do or we DON'T do now that you have been there?

 

Thanks again.

 

Anne Maria

[elin]

Aqua and Elin, thank you so much for the info. I have e-mailed them and can't wait for a reply.

 

Is there anything specific you suggest we do or we DON'T do now that you have been there?

 

Thanks again.

 

Anne Maria

 

If you like architecture, Berlin is bursting with it. If you go to the Sony building, please please please go inside the courtyard area. That is the real gem of the building. If you only look outside you will miss it.

 

e

[aqua]

I didn't go to Berlin, but 5 members of my family group went. (I just made the arrangements.) My 17 year old daughter said to tell you that she loved standing on both sides of the Berlin Wall and also seeing the Brandenburg Gate. She also said the downtown area with a bombed out church was very interesting. I hope you have a great time. We will be happy to try to answer any other questions!

[Hawaiian Eye]

6 of us did the Berlin day trip, using StartingPoint.de as our tour. Our guide was Andre. He was very knowlegable and flexible.

 

We wanted to go to Pottsdam, a suburb of Berlin. There's a lot of history there, too. Post war Europe was divided there amongst Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin as well as WW1 began there. Frederick the Great's palace is there also. And the bridge where Gary Powers was exchanged back to the US.

 

The highlights of Berlin were the remnants of The Wall and the Brandenberg Gate.

 

On the way back our driver, who was from Warnemunde, took us on a tour of his city, letting us off at the lighthouse where we shopped, ate dinner and walked the 1/2 mile back to the ship. He could have just dumped us off at the ship but he was proud of his town and we enjoyed having him show it to us.

 

:cool:

[CruisingChick]

Hawaiian Eye,

 

Thank you so much for the information. We are leaning towards using Berlin Starting Point. I am going to see if we can request Andre for our tour guide.

 

Anne Maria