I live in Berlin and much as though I think that Berlin is worth seeing, I definitely advise against such a day trip from a cruise. The single trip from station to station takes a hair under three hours at the best of times - leaving you precious little time between lots of time on trains. Furthermore, Deutsche Bahn is not terribly reliable. So if they choose to screw up on the day you decide to take that trip, you may well miss your ship and have to play catch-up from Warnemünde. Warnemünde is a relaxed seaside town to visit for a day - as many locals do. If you want to see a bigger place, take the S-Bahn to Rostock and visit its centre; it's charming enough and has a tradition as a major trading port and member of the Hanse.
It is definitely risky taking the journey but we figured it was worth the risk as we were not sure if/when we would have a chance to visit Berlin. We loved exploring Warnemunde before getting back on the ship.
@@OurMidlifeVan Your trip went well, obviously. It is just a major risk - friends of ours have been stranded on a small unstaffed station in the boondocks for five hours a few weeks ago. Deutsche Bahn has very limited liability for delays - so if you have to chase your cruiseship to the next port of call, the bill is on the passenger and all Deutsche Bahn will refund is either a quarter or half of the fare of the trip that was delayed.
Trains in Germany are not what they used to be. I grow up in Germany in the 70's and you could set your clocks to the accuracy of the schedule. With that said, it's still a great way to get around.
I live in Berlin and much as though I think that Berlin is worth seeing, I definitely advise against such a day trip from a cruise.
The single trip from station to station takes a hair under three hours at the best of times - leaving you precious little time between lots of time on trains. Furthermore, Deutsche Bahn is not terribly reliable. So if they choose to screw up on the day you decide to take that trip, you may well miss your ship and have to play catch-up from Warnemünde.
Warnemünde is a relaxed seaside town to visit for a day - as many locals do.
If you want to see a bigger place, take the S-Bahn to Rostock and visit its centre; it's charming enough and has a tradition as a major trading port and member of the Hanse.
It is definitely risky taking the journey but we figured it was worth the risk as we were not sure if/when we would have a chance to visit Berlin. We loved exploring Warnemunde before getting back on the ship.
@@OurMidlifeVan Your trip went well, obviously.
It is just a major risk - friends of ours have been stranded on a small unstaffed station in the boondocks for five hours a few weeks ago.
Deutsche Bahn has very limited liability for delays - so if you have to chase your cruiseship to the next port of call, the bill is on the passenger and all Deutsche Bahn will refund is either a quarter or half of the fare of the trip that was delayed.
Trains in Germany are not what they used to be. I grow up in Germany in the 70's and you could set your clocks to the accuracy of the schedule. With that said, it's still a great way to get around.
"Three years of German..." Uh huh.
3 years 40 years ago = 0 memories. 😀