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Published: April 20th 2014
Our lovely beach
Some people say they can see Russia from their house, but I say I can see my house from the beach. There have been a lot of rumblings surrounding Mr Putin and how our Summer Baltic season will be affected, and most people here believe that everything will be fine: "No one in Russia wants to hurt the St Petersburg tourist trade," they say. Yet any time something happens that might affect my guests, I put my thinking cap on and analyze the situation to see where I can optimize, improve.. and most importantly, I trouble shoot every possible scenario. After 85+ cruises (and all those years at Disney, Hilton, Cruises Only and Carnival Corp) I think I know what my guests want... plus, I am pretty good at knowing what the trends are. I'd already noticed last year that lesser copy cats were trying to do what I was by using trains, but with over-sized groups -without headsets- and the noise and chaos they created was annoying to both me and the local passengers. The previous charm of using the train was gone and now I not only saw potential for conflict on longer routes, but after witnessing my competitors lose guests during a train change in Rostock* last August, I knew that this year I would again have to innovate
Wismar / Krämer
One of Wismar's pedestrian zone shopping areas and create something amazing for my guests.
(* Does it make me wicked that I think the best part wasn't reading about that incident at Trip Advisor, but knowing that it happened the same day Rick Steves came to visit me and tell me about putting Friends of Dave Tours in his book Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports? I must admit it was sweet karma after having held my tongue all Summer.)
Leaving all of that Russian roulette business behind, I looked at what the very best parts of the three cities I toured in were: for example, I love showing Warnemünde in the morning before it gets too crowded; I anticipate people's gasps every time we enter the Nikolai Church in Wismar and their happy Mmmmmms while eating at the brewery; and while everyone takes guests to the castle in Schwerin, I like showing people the little areas around the old town and sidestreets, too. During each phase, I tailor the stories to bring my guests' entire Baltic cruise into context and I love watching people's faces and reactions as they learn while they laugh. Yet there were also a few negatives
Parachutes and Dave's Balcony
I think they were trying to land on my balcony to my old tour that I always hoped to change; not enough free time for shopping and self discovery, and some ship's schedules made it impossible for the guests to enjoy Warnemünde at the end of the day; it's really worth hanging out in.
With all of that in my head, and feeling uncomfortable that I could no longer control every aspect of my guests' experience on the multi-leg train journey, the decision became clear: I needed my own bus. My own Priscilla. With a bit of canoodling and playing with my schedule and by adding three people to my tour (19), I am now able to combine all three towns together into one great big Mega Mecklenburg tour. Even better, when looking at schedules and drive times I realized that I could do someting even better: I could also give a later start time so people wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn for the fourth day in a row.
There's a new dawn and a new tour!
Complete Hansa and Magical Mecklenburg have been in 9 months of nurturing and have now come out as MEGA
Hansa Sail
One of the best seats in Warnemünde for Hansa Sail is my balcony... MECKLENBURG! This all inclusive and all encompassing tour will begin shipside. I'll give a highlight version of my Warnemünde tour and introduce my guests to this truly charming seaside village, planting seeds and ideas of things to do later. From Warnemünde we'll board Dave's Magical Mecklenburg Bus and head to Wismar. On the ride we'll learn about Rostock, the Hanseatic history of the area and Q&A about current events in our area: post WW2 to Reunification to today. In Wismar we'll tour my favorite hiden corners and let this UNESCO World Heritage city steal everyone's hearts. As always the brewery lunch will have people so happy they'll want to stay and drink more of the delicious beer. But it'll be off to Schwerin to visit the former ducal residence of the Mecklenburg family. We'll have time at the palace grounds and people will be able to decide to go inside for the tour or to enjoy the gardens and have an afternoon refreshment. Then we'll walk into town, have a bit of free time for shopping or sitting on the market square, and then it's back to Warnemünde. Our return wil be early enough for people to enjoy dinner in
Wake Up
Not a bad front yard, eh? town or stroll to the beach. At the end of the day, they'll be back early enough to explore the shops along the harbour, head to one of the beer gardens (they'll get coupons, too!) or go back up to the beach promenade: the very best time to enjoy this area is from 5 - 8pm!
The best thing is if I add three people to my maximum groups I don't have to raise the price from it's current level. 130€ per person will cover the tours in all three towns, commentary on two bus rides, a traditional German lunch (a la Carte selection) w/ 1 beverage, private coach, afternoon refreshment, and the 19% German sales tax. That aint too shabby!
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Carol Fredlund
non-member comment
I think you always have your thinking cap on, Dave. On my tour with you, I would have liked some time in late afternoon to enjoy charming Warnemunde. Now, you're going to make that happen. Smart guy!