Sion ALWAYS knew where the closest restroom was, and he even had change for the restrooms in case we needed it (for those who don't know, in Europe you frequently have to pay a small fee to use the restrooms). One thing I loved about touring with Sion is that he was very conscious of those of us who require frequent restroom breaks. I cannot remember his name, but he was very friendly and even photo-bombed one of our pictures at the Olympic Stadium (smile). We also were met by the husband of the owner of SPB Tours. He is originally from Wales in Scotland, and I loved his sarcastic humor about Germany and its rulers. He has lived in Berlin for about 30 years and is very knowledgeable about Germany, and he loved talking about it. After our 3-hour bus ride on a very comfortable coach bus (with a bathroom break 90 minutes into the ride), our bus was met in Berlin by our tour guide Sion (pronounced Sean). The ship docked in Warnemunde, Germany, which is about 3 hours from the city of Berlin. We cruised on the Norwegian Star in early September, 2014, and while in Germany, we chose to tour with SPB tours. We would totally recommend SPB for your Berlin Tour. Preston was very knowledgeable and interesting, balancing history and anecdotes for a very entertaining and informative tour. We viewed the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust memorial, Hotel Adlon, remains of the Berlin Wall, and amazingly, the unmarked parking lot below which is buried the remains of Hitler's last bunker. Traffic in Berlin was killer, and there were several demonstration planned for the day, but Preston and Klaus got us to many interesting sites. We viewed the grounds and then hopped back on the bus. Many deer! Many windmills! Our guide, Preston, met us at the Charlottenburg Palace. It was a three hour ride each way to Berlin, but the bus was comfortable and I had an audio book to listen to while gazing at the German countryside. Our driver, Klaus, met us at the Warnemunde port promptly, and although he didn't have much English he was an excellent driver.
We booked a Berlin tour with SPB while on a Baltic Capitals Cruise.