HWH

If you don't want to go to Berlin, you've got a good long day to see things nearby. There is at least one tour company that offers a local tour, including Warnemunde, Wismar, and Schwerin. I loved Wismar. I imagine that your ship will offer some local excursions as well. You could also using public transport to do much of this on your own, if you're so inclined. In Warnemunde, the ship docks within an easy walk to the train station.

If you want to be super relaxed, just wander around Warnemunde. If it's a nice day, there's a beach where you can rent a nifty chair and just relax, then get back on the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet until the hordes return from Berlin!

If you don't mind staying outside of downtown, the AC Bella Sky Hotel might be a bit less expensive. It's only a couple minutes walk to the Metro which will get you to downtown in less than 10 minutes. They also have shuttle service to/from the airport and the cruise terminals. I stayed there for 1 night precruise in July and liked it.

Reputable student travel agencies do a great job with trips like this (I've chaperoned plenty of land-based student trips, but never on a cruise ship). I assume that the agency will book your group into appropriate rooms (all on the same corridor, no balconies) and that the agency will have a representative on the trip with you, so from that standpoint, monitoring the students after curfew shouldn't be any different, or any more difficult, from being in a hotel. If the agency doesn't do this at a minimum, I wouldn't work with them. And under no circumstances should adults share a room with teenagers that are not family--beyond being awkward, it is fraught with danger, and school administration will certainly not allow it.

My thought is that the difficulties will be dealing with any unstructured time on the ship during the day . On the plus side, the ship is a finite space so no one can get well and truly lost, but there are still many opportunities for an unsupervised teenager to make a poor decision. I'd recommend having frequent, formal, organized group activities often and require attendance. I also think it's essential that everyone have a passport, and that you do any shore excursions as a group--it is, after all, an educational experience, as well as an opportunity for group bonding.

Be very clear about the expectations you have about behavior--i.e. no playing instruments in staterooms, etc.--as well as the consequences for not living up to these expectations.

Really, my biggest concern would be that the chaperones might not all be on the same page. It's too easy to picture a bunch of parents volunteering, and then disappearing to enjoy the cruise. Or worse, as the poster above describes. I personally wouldn't do this unless a critical mass of the chaperones were teachers, who have a bit more incentive to manage the students than parents, and any parent chaperones that do sign on need to have "earned their stripes" chaperoning other band events prior to the cruise.

Yes!! I'd go to Asia and Australia/New Zealand. Living on the east coast of the USA, I've got no problem with an 8-hour flight to Europe, but I'm not ashamed to admit that the thought of a super-long-haul flight makes me uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that, since I'm still working, it's hard to take a vacation long enough to justify spending 3 or 4 days of it in transit.

There are a number of excellent tour operators, including the one you have selected, that run tours at the Baltic ports, and they know how the cruise ships operate in terms of giving ship excursions priority disembarkation. You will be docked at the port so no tendering, so you should be able to get off quickly. Check the documents you got from SPB which should tell you where your guide will be--shouldn't be more than a few minutes walk after stepping off the ship.

That said, I would recommend getting up early and having some breakfast (check the daily program that your steward leaves in your stateroom the night before to see the hours). You will have 3 hours on the bus to nap!!

I just spent 12 days solo on the Zuiderdam and really enjoyed the anytime dining option. When I was in the mood to be social, I requested to be seated with others, and on the nights that I preferred my own company, I asked to sit alone, and my wishes were always accommodated. Of the 12 nights, I probably shared a table 5 or 6 times, ate alone in the MDR 3 times, and opted for the Lido on the other nights. For me, having the same server every night isn't a priority, though, so YMMV.

I am making plans similar to yours (Bella Sky pre-cruise and Citizen M for 3 nights post cruise), but my situation as a solo traveller is quite different from yours. I'm a big fan of the CitizenM brand, and they are great for solos and couples who are VERY comfortable with one another, but I cannot recommend them for families. Rooms are quite small with a king size bed which requires the person sleeping against the window to climb over their sleeping partner if they want to get out of the bed. There is no room for a rollaway bed. Also, the toilet/shower area is separated by frosted glass rather than in a separate bathroom so privacy is limited.

I am staying at the Bella Sky for my 1 night pre-cruise as it offers shuttle service between the hotel and both the airport and the cruise terminal. As far as getting into the city center, it appears that it is a short walk to the subway which can get you to where you want to go. If you're the type who likes to go back to the hotel room throughout the day, though, that's not particularly ideal. I'll be there on 23 June so my firsthand observations may be too late to be useful to you.

You are not alone! It takes me two or three days to lose that feeling! It usually hits me when I'm sitting or standing still. If I walk a bit it gets better.