ok, i give up, where is berlin (hopefully still in germany)

[complawyer]

we're booked on the sept 16th sailing from london to copenhagen. i was reviewing the shore excursions, and noticed that berlin is no longer on the itinerary., and has been replaced by some obscure port in denmark and no shore excursions are listed as yet

 

while i understand that a cruise line can change the itinerary at any time, i think a little prior notice would have been nice. while i usually wait until i'm on board to book shore excursions, im curious as to what may have happened had i booked and paid for berlin in advance. i probably would have gotten the money back, but i'm sure you will all agree that ncl's bookkeeping procedures "suck" to say the very least. add that onto the $50 off and the 15% as we're sapphire, it seems to me that would have been a nightmare. My wife and I have always wanted to see london and paris. we're going into london 3 days early, and i'm bookingthe river seine cruise in paris. since the date of final payment was may 19th, i can live  with the minor disappointment of not seeing berlin, but if paris is cancelled, believe me i'll be major p***ed off.

 

has anyone else noticed this port has been taken away

[rnfulk]

When a shore excursion is cancelled NCL will proactively contact you and issue a refund. In my experience it has all happened fairly smoothly. 

[debenson0723]

If there is a particular city you want to see, the best advice has always been to go there on land and not depend on a cruise.  Even if the port isn't cancelled, there is always the possibility that the excursion could be (or delayed)l. You aren't going to see much of Paris by going to Le Havre; the bus ride alone is a few hours each way. The Siene river cruise is nice but what if the weather is bad? When I wanted to see Paris I flew and spend 5 days there (still didn't see everything) then took the train to London. 

 

As for Berlin,  I did the same thing...flew there a few days prior and took the train to Warnemunde to catch the ship. I have no idea why the port is missing but enjoy your time in the Haven.

[julig22]

Sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm next month and Berlin still on the itinerary.

Check your email/spam folder.  They usually send out a notice if they make a port change a few months in advance- might want to check the roll call to see if others got notified.

[milolii]

What ship? 
What are the ports for Berlin and Paris?  
Aren’t both far from the ports?  
 

[Zippeedee]

The Seine cruise was wonderful and we got a nice overview of the city on a short tour before the lunch cruise. It isn’t a week in Paris with in depth visits to all the museums but it is a worthwhile day trip.

[TrumpyNor]

You do realize that Berlin is situated INLAND Germany and quite far from the actual cruiseport (Warnemünde) - distance is about 200 km/126 miles (2,5-3 hours by train or bus)...

Edited June 19, 2022 by TrumpyNor

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

and has been replaced by some obscure port in denmark

 

Hmm... the second largest city in the country

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, milolii said:

What ship? 
What are the ports for Berlin and Paris?  
Aren’t both far from the ports?  
 

 

The OP is on the Star sailing from Southampton (not London) on Sept. 16.  And yes, Berlin and Paris are not port cities and are located a good distance from the actual ports.  

[LGW59]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

we're booked on the sept 16th sailing from london to copenhagen. i was reviewing the shore excursions, and noticed that berlin is no longer on the itinerary., and has been replaced by some obscure port in denmark and no shore excursions are listed as yet

 

while i understand that a cruise line can change the itinerary at any time, i think a little prior notice would have been nice. while i usually wait until i'm on board to book shore excursions, im curious as to what may have happened had i booked and paid for berlin in advance. i probably would have gotten the money back, but i'm sure you will all agree that ncl's bookkeeping procedures "suck" to say the very least. add that onto the $50 off and the 15% as we're sapphire, it seems to me that would have been a nightmare. My wife and I have always wanted to see london and paris. we're going into london 3 days early, and i'm bookingthe river seine cruise in paris. since the date of final payment was may 19th, i can live  with the minor disappointment of not seeing berlin, but if paris is cancelled, believe me i'll be major p***ed off.

 

has anyone else noticed this port has been taken away

Sure prior notice is ideal but they can also change it mid cruise even the day before it is scheduled.

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

has anyone else noticed this port has been taken away

 

The folks on your Roll Call have, they've been discussing it since June 8.   

Edited June 19, 2022 by Turtles06

[CptBoatface]

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin!

[FreestyleNovice]

Don’t forget Amsterdam!

[complawyer]

trumpynor. 

 

im  well aware that berlin was quite a ways from the port, and any excursion took 2-3 hrs to arrive. i was looking forward to taking the train. i am also aware that paris is about 3 hrs from le harve, but ive always wanted to see paris (even briefly) and will not be deterred!

 

just a little miffed about not getting any notice from ncl about the cancellation, and admittedly, havent read the roll call lately

[phillygwm]

2 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

You do realize that Berlin is situated INLAND Germany and quite far from the actual cruiseport (Warnemünde) - distance is about 200 km/126 miles (2,5-3 hours by train or bus)...

I just visited Berlin a couple months ago so when I saw the OP I thought "Wait, Berlin isn't close to the sea..."  I'm not sure if there's anything interesting closer to Warnemunde but spending 4+ hours RT on a bus isn't something I'd want to do.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

trumpynor. 

 

im  well aware that berlin was quite a ways from the port, and any excursion took 2-3 hrs to arrive. i was looking forward to taking the train. i am also aware that paris is about 3 hrs from le harve, but ive always wanted to see paris (even briefly) and will not be deterred!

 

just a little miffed about not getting any notice from ncl about the cancellation, and admittedly, havent read the roll call lately

We felt lucky when we picked a cruise that had alternate weeks with Berlin as a "port" and Olso that we had an Oslo week instead of that journey to get to the alleged port city. (We actually picked the date because it included our wedding anniversary, but Oslo which we very much enjoyed was a bonus.)

[julig22]

4 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I just visited Berlin a couple months ago so when I saw the OP I thought "Wait, Berlin isn't close to the sea..."  I'm not sure if there's anything interesting closer to Warnemunde but spending 4+ hours RT on a bus isn't something I'd want to do.

I think all the NCL excursions to Berlin go by train

[complawyer]

thank you all for your responses, i never imagined i would get this many. and julig22, yes the excursions got to berlin by train, but the berlin port has been unceremoniously canceled without (imo) any notice whatsover.

[Yesimapirate]

7 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Hmm... the second largest city in the country

Is it Aarhus?  I don't see it named in the thread but I believe it's the 2nd largest city.

 

If so, the open air Danish history museum is fantastic!  There's also a well known modern art museum in town and some viking ruins not far outside town.

[phillygwm]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

I think all the NCL excursions to Berlin go by train

You're right, just looked that up.  Looking at some of the excursions, it describes a 2.5-3 hour chartered train ride.  I'm someone who loves train travel (and trained it from Prague to Berlin a few months ago,) but that's 5-6 hours of your 12 hour day in transit on a train without air conditioning.    

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by phillygwm

[complawyer]

it may be a fascinating city, and i confess, the only city in denmark i wanted to see was copenhagen. as yet, no shore excursions are listed. as delightful as aarhus may be, it doesnt overcome the disappointment of losing berlin as one of the ports imho

[Globaliser]

5 hours ago, complawyer said:

it may be a fascinating city, and i confess, the only city in denmark i wanted to see was copenhagen. as yet, no shore excursions are listed. as delightful as aarhus may be, it doesnt overcome the disappointment of losing berlin as one of the ports imho

 

Trying to see Berlin as a day trip from a port 150 miles away is actually a really frustrating waste of time. I have done this once, but there was literally a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see one thing (it was when Christo had wrapped the Reichstag), so it was worth organising even though normally the idea of a day trip to Berlin of this kind would be faintly insane.

 

Without something like that, you really are better off just flying to Berlin and seeing it for itself. It deserves so much more time and effort than snatching a few hours between two long train journeys through uninteresting countryside.

 

All of this also applies identically for Paris.

 

If you want some fun in Aarhus, try Legoland. It will make you laugh, even if you don't have any children in tow.

[phillygwm]

2 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Trying to see Berlin as a day trip from a port 150 miles away is actually a really frustrating waste of time. I have done this once, but there was literally a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see one thing (it was when Christo had wrapped the Reichstag), so it was worth organising even though normally the idea of a day trip to Berlin of this kind would be faintly insane.

 

Without something like that, you really are better off just flying to Berlin and seeing it for itself. It deserves so much more time and effort than snatching a few hours between two long train journeys through uninteresting countryside.

 

All of this also applies identically for Paris.

 

In fairness, this applies to many cruise ports.  I did the Mediterranean cruise a number of years ago.  Ran myself ragged on excursions in Rome, Florence, Naples, etc.  By the end, I could hardly walk yet I know I didn't scratch the surface despite spending several hundred dollars per excursion.  When I did a recent land holiday to Prague and Berlin, it was a week long; we hired guides and spent a few days in each.  I didn't see everything but we hit the major places (particularly in Prague where we had a much better guide, which was key.)

 

Of course,  when the destinations are several thousand miles away that's more of a challenge.  I understand trying to see what you can as the circumstances allow.  But the given transport to tour ratio, Berlin from Warnemunde just seems less than worthwhile.

 

[Turtles06]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

Trying to see Berlin as a day trip from a port 150 miles away is actually a really frustrating waste of time.  ... All of this also applies identically for Paris.

 

Unfortunately, and as I'm sure you know, the cruise lines (not just NCL) market these cruises in a way that makes it seem reasonable to be able to visit Berlin, Paris, etc. as "port" calls.   Indeed, they list such cities as Ports of Call and then, in parentheses, identify the actual port.

 

For example, for the OP's cruise, "Paris" is on the list of Ports of Call, with "Le Havre" in parentheses after it.  I'm sure far too many Americans (and others) have no idea where Le Havre is, let alone how far from Paris it is.

[njkate]

38 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Unfortunately, and as I'm sure you know, the cruise lines (not just NCL) market these cruises in a way that makes it seem reasonable to be able to visit Berlin, Paris, etc. as "port" calls.   Indeed, they list such cities as Ports of Call and then, in parentheses, identify the actual port.

 

For example, for the OP's cruise, "Paris" is on the list of Ports of Call, with "Le Havre" in parentheses after it.  I'm sure far too many Americans (and others) have no idea where Le Havre is, let alone how far from Paris it is.

Imo you’re better off spending the day touring Normandy, the museums, landing beaches etc then a long bus ride to and from Paris where you really don’t have much time