We learned that the big thing to buy in Poland is amber. We were advised by the ship' shore excursion people to not buy amber from street vendors, who often will be selling imitation stuff made of plastic. Instead it was recommended that we buy from established retail shops. This we did, and were satisfied with what our strong US dollar was able to buy. We got some nice, good quality jewelry.
We were also told to be on guard for pickpockets working the crowd. We took prudent precautions and had no incidents.
Rostock and Berlin:
The Millennium docks in Warnemunde, a small seaside resort located on the Baltic Sea, just north of the city of Rostock. We opted for the $295 per person all-day excursion by train to Berlin.
The train station is a five minute walk from the ship. We boarded an unimpressive, second-class chartered German train for the journey. The train was not air conditioned, but luckily the day was cool, and cracking the window a bit was sufficient for us to remain comfortable.
The elapsed time to Berlin was 2:40. A snack (a little of this and a little of that, but enough) was served in each direction. There was no water available for them to make coffee.
We were met at the railroad station by tour buses, all first class equipment. The overall operation was very precise, very well organized. Our American-born tour guide was excellent.
We visited many of the major sights in Berlin, stopping often for photo ops and for just walking around. At mid-day, we were taken to the Steigenberger Hotel, a high quality place. We were served a very nice lunch which was quite satisfactory, to say the least.
After lunch, we were given a 1-hour + shopping opportunity on the trendy nearby Kurfurstendamm, the premier street for such things in Berlin.
In examining the bottom line as to whether the excursion was worth three hundred bucks, we would say yes, it was. Berlin is an exciting place with a lot of history and offers many things worth seeing. If you feel as we did that it is unlikely we will ever have another opportunity to visit there again, then being as close as theMillenniumtook us, it's worth a look. Considering the logistics of moving about, the meals, and the limitations we had in time and energy in getting it all done, we feel it was not a bad deal after all.
We didn't buy much while in Germany, just a few souvenirs. However, with the exchange rate now at 2 DM per dollar, some of the bargains to be had appear to be irresistible.
As a sidelight to this, there was a small carnival taking place literally on the pier where the Millienniumwas tied up in Warnemunde. The local townspeople were out with their families by the hundreds, to look at the ship, take a lot of pictures, blow horns and whistles, and shoot up a few fireworks when we sailed away at 10:30 that night. It was very stirring.
In fact, in every port in which we stopped, the Millenniumn its blue and gold colors seemed to be the biggest thing to hit town in quite a while.
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