Original Berlin Walks

[leenie29]

I saw Rick Steve's program on Germany and his very favorable mention about Original Berlin Walks. And searched through this site and found the same type of comments as Rick Steves from cruisers who have taken excursions with them.

 

We're (me, hubby and the 2 boys ages 14 and 9) holding a cabin on the NCL Jewel Baltic June 2008 so I'm in the pricing mode.

 

Original Berlin Walks was wonderful in their handling of my quirky requests of what we wanted to see in the short 7 hours we were in Berlin. I requested that our Berlin tour include Jewish/****/Spies with only the Pergamon Museum since I know that would be the most interesting to the boys (there are others I would like to see but time is very limited) plus I wanted to see what a unified Berlin looks like since I was there in November 1988 when it was still divided. The kids want Doner Kebabs for lunch since I remember them being a wonderful lunch staple when I was there.

 

NCL wanted $319 pp for a tour of Berlin with either a **** or Jewish theme. But for 849 Euros we get a customized tour for up to 6 people including pick up at the port and tax but not lunch or museum fees which they said figure on 8 Euros pp for entrance fees and whatever we want to spend on lunch.

 

When it gets closer we will be booking an Original Berlin Walks tour because it is a much better value than the ship's excursion and so much easier with kids.

 

Thought I would pass along my findings.

 

Eileen

[paulanddarnell]

I asked for a tour quote. My request was different than yours, but they quoted the same price $849 Euros. They totally customized it to what I wanted and made some great recommendations.

 

They seem great!

[zeitgeist]

For me as a German, 849 Euros seem very expensive.

 

If you take the train to Berlin, fare will be less than 80 Euros per person.

 

If you rent a car, you will pay about 150 Euros for the car and gas.

 

In Berlin, you can easily and inexpensivly move by underground or bus. The public bus #100 is perfect for sightseeing and HOHO and costs almost nothing.

 

Entrance fees are also low, and döner kebab will be 3 Euros per person.

 

No need for a guided tour. You can easily explore Berlin on your own.

[leenie29]

For me as a German, 849 Euros seem very expensive.

 

If you take the train to Berlin, fare will be less than 80 Euros per person.

 

If you rent a car, you will pay about 150 Euros for the car and gas.

 

In Berlin, you can easily and inexpensivly move by underground or bus. The public bus #100 is perfect for sightseeing and HOHO and costs almost nothing.

 

Entrance fees are also low, and döner kebab will be 3 Euros per person.

 

No need for a guided tour. You can easily explore Berlin on your own.

 

Zeitgeist,

 

Thank you! It seems even more expensive to me at over a $1000 for the four of us. But I'm traveling with my husband and two kids ages 14 and 9 who are not the greatest travelers and love to be lead around by a tour guide. Then they worry about getting back to the ship in time and not seeing everything, basically driving me crazy with their constant anxiety. Me, I'm more of an independent traveler that loves to explore. I've been to Berlin but it's been 19 years.

 

Could you tell me more about the hop on hop off buses in Berlin? How about the name of a good kebab place to eat lunch? I think I would prefer the train than driving to Berlin since I won't even drive with my husband in the states. Any information you can share would be great.

 

Thank you.

Eileen

[HeinBloed]

Have you already checked this thread?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=454630

 

There are frequent HO-HO-operators in Berlin like

 

BVG

Severin+Kühn (in pool with other privte operators)

 

Any Döner-Kebab restaurant in the district of KREUZBERG =

largest Turkish city outside of Turkey

can be recommended.

The less Germans inside - the more Turks inside - the better.

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

 

 

But Berlin DIY is really something for someone who is willing to do it yourself. If you feel uncomfortable and can afford it I can fully understand your intention to book all-inclusive-care-tour.

 

Additionally you can expand your time in Berlin of more than 5 hours if you are using such a private tour.

 

Train users can normally be in Berlin for only 5 hours.

 

Depending on the ship's itineries you can expand the time in Berlin for some more hours.

 

By this way: the travel on German Railways can be already made on weekdays for FROM 25.60 pp (return) and weekends 6.60 EUR pp (return) which will also include the use of bus 100 + 200 (and all other local Berlin buses, trams, subways). So 80 EUR only for those who are not willing to do any plannings ahead of of the cruise.

 

But only 5 hours in Berlin and willingness to take something in your hand yourself.

[exarche02]

We are going with Berlin Walks on our upcoming cruise and they have been fantastic to work with! We got a group together through our roll call and now have 24 people that have paid. Because we had a larger group, it was 1066 Euros for the bus, but only 44.42 per person which was an awesome deal!

[NanceVV]

I see a number of people are using Original Berlin Walks. I am a little put off by the 25% non-refundable deposit. Would like feedback as to how others feel about that. It is a fair amount of money to lose and it seems as though you will lose it if you cancel for any reason. Any opinions or more info. with regard to this????

[raynvic]

We opted to use another company because the deposit is non refundable. When I notified them as the reason we chose another tour company they seemed not to care too much. Most of us are responsible enough to cancel if we are not making the cruise, but we have no control over the ships we sail and stuff does happen. Perhaps if enough people balk at the non refundable deposit, they will change their policy. We still had to make a deposit with the company we did book (a good investment with the continuing decline of the dollar), but it is refundable with a 48 hour notice. Good luck!

[Coastaljen]

Dang I wish I had taken German in high school. :(

 

I just am not too sure about getting to Berlin without knowing a single word in German. I am going solo, and I am trying to find people to do a private tour of Berlin, but our roll call is pretty small with most wanting ship tours. I posted on websites I found, but at this point it isn't working.

 

I am starting to think Rostock looks interesting. At least I would feel o.k. going that distance on my own.

[nolaAlive]

I see a number of people are using Original Berlin Walks. I am a little put off by the 25% non-refundable deposit. Would like feedback as to how others feel about that. It is a fair amount of money to lose and it seems as though you will lose it if you cancel for any reason. Any opinions or more info. with regard to this????

 

It can be a shocker. On the other hand, if they arrange for a driver and bus to pick you up at the dock and your ship (or you) don't show up, someone is out that time and money. It doesn't seem reasonable to me that they pay for the loss when it wasn't their fault.

[NanceVV]

That is true, although we personally would not ever just not show up. Also, I have been booking these private tours for a number of places in the past and no one ever had a cancellation charge so I was a bit taken aback. Also, none of the other Berlin tours do it. Oh well, in the end we decided to go with spt-tours and they were absolutely wonderful with responses to emails and offering suggestions, etc. They also had received lots of favorable feedback on this board.