Today is our last day in Rostock, Germany. Later this afternoon, we will board the Regal Princess and begin our Baltic and Transatlantic Cruise. We slept in a bit before getting all of our gear repacked into the suitcases. At least it appeared we would have some sunshine today after all of the rain yesterday. However, it was a little cooler and very windy.
After we got everything packed, we headed out to the Neuer Markt to one of the breakfast bakeries we had seen while walking around yesterday. The plan was to get some breakfast, and then go back to the hotel to check out and put our luggage into the Hotel’s secured storage while we went to visit some of the sights in Rostock. We found a “self serve” breakfast eatery where you used tongs to select your items and place them on a tray, somewhat like a cafeteria. Most of the items were rolls and pastries, but there were a few sandwiches. No eggs or hot items other than a self serve coffee machine. It was quite good.
After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel and finished our packing and headed downstairs to the hotel front desk to check out. We also checked our luggage with the hotel staff and headed out into Rostock. There were just a few sights we wanted to see, a couple of the old city gates, which were large brick towers, some of the remains of the old city wall, and several churches. All of these sights were within walking distance from the hotel.
The Kropelin Gate
The first old city gate, the Kropelin Gate, was a very tall tower that looked more like a bell tower than a gate. There was also a long section of the old city wall nearby in the Wallangen Park, and we walked through the park along the wall until we came to the second old city gate called the Stone Gate, that actually looked more like a gate into the city than the much taller Kropelin Gate. We then walked toward an old Orthodox Church called St. Nikolai’s Church. Unfortunately, it was not open for touring, they were making preparations for a private event and we could only get a small glimpse of the inside from the doorway.
The next sight on the list was the much more impressive, at least from the outside, St. Petrikirche, or St. Peter’s Church in English, located up on a hill. This Lutheran church had a very tall steeple with an observation platform that was open to the public for a small fee.
St. Petrikirche
We paid the 3 Euro fee and rode up the elevator to the platform inside the wooden framed steeple. The “windows” were screened for for safety, but had small areas opened up for pictures, probably done by tourists. The openings were in random locations in each screen. It offered us the best views of the old city. The inside of the Church was very plain, typical of Lutheran Churches in Europe.
From there, we headed back toward Neuer Markt to visit the most impressive church in Rostock, St. Mary’s Church, built in the 14th Century. The church was heavily damaged in WWII, and the restoration of the church was finally completed in the 1990’s.
Inside the church was a very impressive astronomical clock from 1472. We happened to be there at noon, and were able to somewhat see the clock function for the noon hour “show”.
Astronomical Clock In St. Mary’s Church
Of course, most of the tour groups were also here, making it really hard to really get close enough to see the clock operate since it was so crowded. There was also a giant pipe organ in the church, and it also was part of the noon hour daily performance. We had never been in a church this large and heard the main pipe organ being played. It was quite impressive to hear it. After the clock and organ performances, the tour groups all left, heading to another sight, so the church was pretty empty and we were able to see the clock and other items inside the church without all of the people being there.
The church was not very ornate inside because it is also a Lutheran Church, the prominent religion in northern Germany, but it was more decorative inside than the St. Peter’s Church.
After spending about 30 minutes inside, we left and headed back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage from the hotel storage and transition from sightseeing mode to travel mode for the trip to the port to board the ship. We had to put away the camera gear from my backpack and put the backpack into the suitcase, along with our jackets since it was now sunny and a little warmer.
Pipe Organ in St. Mary’s Church
After getting our luggage transitioned, we headed back to the Tram stop in Neuer Markt to take Tram 1 to a station called Dierkower Kreuz. From there, we needed to take a bus for the remainder of the trip to the port. The tram ride was not that long, and the bus stop area was right beside the tram stop, so we did not have to try and figure out where to go when we arrived. We had three different bus line number choices we could take of the several that stopped here, all three of which go to the port, just at different times. We saw that the Number 46 bus was the next one to depart, and it was already at the station, waiting off to the side until the scheduled departure time.
Our single journey tram ticket was also good for a single bus connection, so it was only going to cost us about 5 Euro total to get to the port from our hotel via public transportation. The total journey time was about 40 minutes. We arrived at the port bus stop and could see the Regal Princess tied up at the pier.
Regal Princess at The Port in Rostock
We departed the bus and had about a six block walk to the ship, all on a nice sidewalk. When we got to the port entrance, we could see a white building which we correctly assumed was where we needed to check in. There were not many passengers starting the cruise from Rostock, so by this time of the day, there was no line to check-in. We asked if we could just carry on our luggage, and were told we could, so after getting checked in we headed out to the ship. Most passengers were here for just a port stop, having started their cruise from Copenhagen three days earlier.
We headed up the gangway, and found that although it was a tight fit, luckily, our luggage would fit through the x-ray machine. This was a nice benefit, now we could go to our room and unpack our clothes without having to wait for our bags to be delivered later in the day.
It was about 2:30 PM, so we needed to first go and eat some lunch after dropping off our luggage in the room. We also had to get a beverage to celebrate making it to the ship. For some reason our Beverage Package was not loaded onto our cruise cards yet, so we had to go to passenger services to get that straightened out. Apparently, they had not yet loaded up some type of computer program to designate the services for each cruise card for passengers starting from Warnemunde today. We could still order drinks, but would need to go back to Passenger Services again later to get the charges reversed, a little bit of an inconvenience, but not terrible.
After finishing lunch, we headed back to the room and got unpacked and settled in. We were scheduled for a special muster drill at 7:30 PM, so we knew we were not eating in the dining room for dinner tonight. It would just be too early to eat there before the drill, and too late to eat there afterward. There were only about 400 passengers starting their cruise from Rostock, so the muster drill was in the Vista Lounge, not in any specific designated muster station like a normal cruise when everyone attends the drill at the same time.
Enjoying a Glass of Wine at Vines
We went to Vines for a glass of wine before the drill. After the drill was over, we went to eat at Alfredos, our favorite Italian eatery that is included in the cruise fare, but is like eating at an extra cost specialty restaurant.
After dinner, we headed to Crooner’s Bar to see Jason, a bartender from Jamaica that we knew from a previous cruise two years ago, and that Stephanie knew was going to be on this cruise through Facebook.
We stayed at Crooners for a while visiting and then headed to the room for the night. It had been a nice day and we were glad we were now able to relax on the ship and not be living out of suitcases.