Wednesday, May 27 — Warnemünde, Germany to start our Baltic Cruise
Embarkation day has a rhythm all its own, and it’s pretty much the same regardless of the cruise line or the port. Our Baltic Cruise was no exception. Everyone arrives at the terminal at once, the lines shuffle forward in fits and starts, and there’s a frantic, slightly bewildered energy as two thousand people simultaneously try to figure out where they’re supposed to be. We were no exceptions.
Getting to the port was its own small adventure. Cruise lines love to market these itineraries as visiting Berlin. The reality is that there is no ocean anywhere near Berlin; the ship docks in Warnemünde, about two hours away by train. “Berlin” simply looks better on a brochure. Despite what the itinerary says, Warnemünde is a solid two hours from Berlin by train — two trains, in fact. The German rail network, which we’d been hoping might redeem the reputation of its Polish counterpart, proved equally creative with its scheduling. A late departure from Berlin cascaded into a missed connection in Rostock, which put us toward the back of a very long check-in queue. From the moment we joined that queue to the moment we reached our cabin was forty-eight minutes. Not bad, all things considered.
On Board the Ship – Our Home for 9 Days
Once on board, we did what you do on the first day of a cruise. You get lost, wait for elevators, and slowly start mapping the ship in your head. We caught a yoga class, unpacked our bags — properly unpacked, for the first time in 10 weeks. We made it to the evening’s early show before dinner. The entertainment was a high-energy musical tribute spanning four decades, with great costumes and an equally great cast. After sixty-plus days of hotels and hostels, having dinner prepared and entertainment laid on felt like a small miracle.
This nine-day journey will take us through six countries, with only one sea day. We still have plenty of ground to cover before we fly home, but for now the simple pleasure of unpacking once and staying put is more than enough.
Thursday, May 28 our first port — Gdansk, Poland
We started the morning with back-to-back yoga classes — a thirty-minute stretch session that rolled straight into a second class when the instructor kindly offered to keep going. A good breakfast followed, and then we got ready to go ashore as the ship arrived at 10 AM.
There’s a small asterisk on “Gdansk” as a port. The ship actually docks in Gdynia, an industrial city about thirty kilometres away. The smoke stacks and container ships weren’t exactly calling to us, so we focused on getting to Gdansk instead. The ship was running a shuttle for €60 return; we found a FlixBus leaving at 11 AM for €4.50 a person. The bus ride was uneventful, and we arrived at the main bus and train terminal just before noon.
From the station it’s a short walk into the old town, and the reward is immediate. The buildings are charming — tall, colourful, and elaborately decorated — the streets narrow and cobbled underfoot. Much of the city was rebuilt after 1945, yet it carries a genuinely authentic air. Rather than feeling like a reconstructed tourist attraction, it feels like a city rebuilt for the people who live there and only incidentally enjoyed by visitors. The area around the famous medieval water crane was buzzing with visitors from what seemed like half the ships in the Baltic, but it’s busy for good reason. We found a table at an open-air café, ordered something cold, and spent a happy hour watching the world go by.
We also spotted a handful of Solidarity signs. Quiet nods to the movement that began here in the 1980s and changed the course of European history.
Getting Back to the Ship (The Hard Way)
The return trip provided the afternoon’s entertainment. At the train station, we purchased tickets from a real person after the automated kiosk defeated us. We confirmed our platform, and boarded with confidence. Then, just before the doors closed, doubt crept in. We looked at each other, decided we were on the wrong train, and jumped off. We ran across the tracks and boarded the train going the other way — sitting down, quite pleased with ourselves — only to realize we were now definitely on the wrong train. At the first stop we hopped off, crossed the platform again, and boarded yet another train pointing in the correct direction. Ten minutes later, we were heading back to Gdynia. We were back on track — ha! — and laughing about it before we even reached the ship.
That evening the entertainment was a skilled violinist, and over dinner we received news that the clocks would be moving forward an hour overnight. Given the ship’s 07:30 arrival in our next port, that meant an early start by any measure. The travel tax — not the financial kind, but the accumulated toll of early mornings and busy days — is part of the cruising life too.
Next up: Klaipeda, Lithuania — quirky statues, a high school parade, and a brilliant afternoon on bikes in a national park.
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Quote – “Travel aspirations? Don’t put them on your bucket list, put them on your to do list.”
Cam and Meg.