Germany has six sea cruise ports: Hamburg, Kiel, Warnemünde (for Rostock), Bremerhaven, Travemünde (for Lübeck) and Wismar. Then there are the river towns on the Rhine, Main, Danube and Elbe. Hamburg is the biggest turnaround port, Kiel and Warnemünde take most Baltic starts, and river ships moor in city centres rather than sea terminals.
Germany cruise ports map
Germany’s 15 cruise ports run from Kiel and Warnemünde in the far north to Passau and Regensburg in the far south. Tap a pin to open that port’s guide.
Hamburg: Steinwerder, Altona and HafenCity
Hamburg is Germany’s largest turnaround port, sitting on the Elbe, and Cruise Gate Hamburg runs three terminals there. Cruise Center Steinwerder takes the biggest ships, Cruise Center Altona takes the mid-sized ones, and Cruise Center HafenCity is in the city quarter itself.
Steinwerder is about 8 km and 30 minutes by road from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, and it has no S- or U-Bahn station of its own. The shuttle from Veddel S-Bahn runs on ship days but you have to book it online, and ferry 73 from Landungsbrücken to Argentinienbrücke takes about 12 minutes and runs Monday to Friday only, so at weekends it’s the bus or a taxi.
AIDA, Cunard, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian usually turn up at Steinwerder. P&O Cruises, Princess and Fred. Olsen appear on the HafenCity list, and TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd use all three.
A ship doesn’t always get the same terminal, so your cruise documents are the final word. Long-stay parking is around €49 a day at Steinwerder and around €39 a day at Altona, cheaper booked online with Cruise Gate Hamburg than paid at the gate, so check the current rate when you book.
Kiel: Ostseekai, Ostuferhafen and Norwegenkai
Kiel is one of Germany’s two main Baltic turnaround ports, with five cruise berths and terminals close enough to the city centre to walk. AIDA and TUI Cruises usually use Ostseekai, about 300 m from the centre and 1.6 km, roughly 15 minutes on foot, from Kiel Hauptbahnhof.
MSC and Costa usually berth at Ostuferhafen, about 8 km out. Smaller ships use Norwegenkai.
Port parking is booked online in advance and works out at roughly €13 to €22 a day depending on which car park you choose, so check the current rate when you book.
Warnemünde (for Rostock): berths P7 and P8
Warnemünde is the Baltic port for Rostock, and the main berths, P7 and P8 at Warnemünde Cruise Center, sit beside Warnemünde station, about 500 m and a five-minute walk. If your documents say LP31, LP32, LP41 or LP42, you’re at the Rostock seaport berths instead, where a free shuttle runs to Warnemünde station.
From P7 and P8 the Alter Strom, the old harbour channel with its fish stalls and captains’ houses, is 8 minutes on foot, the lighthouse 9 minutes and the beach 17.
Berlin is about 3 hours 10 minutes each way by train, so treat 11 hours in port as the minimum for that trip and 12 or more as comfortable. If you’d rather the day was organised for you, book shore excursions in Germany direct before you sail.
Travemünde (for Lübeck): check the berth before you book
Travemünde is Lübeck’s port, and it works as a call to pair with Lübeck rather than as a place to join a big ship. The central Ostpreußenkai berth was closed after a structural inspection found the quay edge at risk, so larger ships fall back to the Skandinavienkai ferry terminal and planned calls have been moved or cancelled, including a Hapag-Lloyd guest change switched to Kiel.
Check that your call is still running before you build plans around it. Trains run to Lübeck Hauptbahnhof and on to Lübeck-Travemünde Strand; for Skandinavienkai take bus 30 or 35 from Strand station or bus 50 from Lübeck Hauptbahnhof.
Bremerhaven: the Columbus Cruise Center and its shuttle
Bremerhaven has one cruise terminal, the Columbus Cruise Center on the Columbuskaje, and it can take two ships at once. It sits inside a closed container and car-handling port area, so you can’t walk out into town.
On ship days a bus marked Kreuzfahrt-Terminal links the terminal, the Havenwelten district and Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof, and a taxi to the centre takes about 5 minutes. The terminal is about 2 km from the city centre, and TUI Cruises, Phoenix Reisen and AIDA are the main lines calling.
Parking is at P1 directly at the terminal for cars up to 4.90 m, around €15 a day, or at P3 about 400 to 500 m away, around €10 a day, so check the current rate when you book. Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Emden complete the German North Sea side.
Wismar
Wismar is one of the six German cruise terminals, named alongside Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Kiel, Lübeck (Travemünde) and Rostock/Warnemünde. The berth and terminal details in your cruise documents are the ones that count, because they’re confirmed sailing by sailing.
Cologne: river ships on the Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer
Cologne’s river ships moor along the Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer rather than at a sea terminal, and the KD landing stage is at Trankgassenwerft, Landebrücke 8. The ticket office is at Frankenwerft 15, up to 10 minutes’ walk from the ship, so allow for that with luggage.
The riverside Frankenwerft and Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer is where the landing stages and ticket offices cluster, which puts you in the middle of the city rather than out at a dock.
Koblenz: moorings below the Deutsches Eck
Koblenz moorings are on the Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer below the Deutsches Eck, where the day boats and river ships tie up. It’s about 2 km from Koblenz Hauptbahnhof and 1.5 km from Koblenz Stadtmitte station. This is the northern end of the Middle Rhine gorge, the UNESCO-listed stretch between Bingen and Koblenz with more than 40 medieval castles, and it’s the stretch that Rhine river cruises in Germany are sold on.
Düsseldorf: the Rheinuferpromenade and high water
Düsseldorf’s river ships moor along the Rheinuferpromenade below Burgplatz, 10 minutes on foot from Heinrich-Heine-Allee U-Bahn, with parking in the Altstadt Rheinufer garage reached through the Rheinufertunnel. Two commercial docking points on the right bank take vessels up to 135 m. High water on the Rhine can stop ships docking in the centre, and they move to the Reisholz industrial port instead, a 20-minute bus transfer away.
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main is a river cruise stop where the ship moors at an inner-city landing stage, not at a terminal outside town. That means you walk off into the city rather than taking a shuttle, and the landing stage is confirmed in your cruise documents.
Passau
Passau is a river cruise stop with an inner-city landing stage rather than a sea terminal, so the ship is your way in and out of town. The landing stage and the day’s timings are confirmed in your cruise documents.
Regensburg
Regensburg is a river cruise stop with an inner-city landing stage, so you’re ashore in the town rather than at a port terminal on the edge. Confirm the landing stage in your documents before you arrange a taxi or a pick-up.
Nuremberg
Nuremberg is a river cruise stop, and ships moor at an inner-city landing stage rather than at a sea terminal. The landing stage you use is confirmed in your cruise documents.
Dresden
Dresden is a river cruise stop with an inner-city landing stage, and ships moor in the city rather than at a terminal outside it. Your cruise documents confirm which landing stage.
Berlin
Berlin is a river cruise port in its own right, with landing stages in the city, which is a different thing from the Berlin day trip run from Warnemünde on the coast. If you’re joining or leaving a river ship here, the landing stage is confirmed in your cruise documents.
Merzig
Merzig is a river cruise stop with an inner-city landing stage rather than a sea terminal. The landing stage and call times are confirmed in your cruise documents.
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a river cruise stop where ships moor at a landing stage in town rather than at a terminal outside it. Check the landing stage in your cruise documents before you book a transfer.
Germany currency: the euro, and no Deutsche Marks
Germany uses the euro, written €, as one of the EU member states that form the euro area. The Deutsche Mark is not in circulation; the euro replaced it, and old notes and coins cannot be spent. Every price you meet ashore, from a tram ticket to a car park ticket to an attraction, is in euros, so there’s no second currency to juggle on a port day.
Coming from the UK you’re converting from sterling, and the rate moves, so check it before you travel rather than working from an old figure.
German cruise ships: AIDA, TUI Cruises and the German-language product
Germany is the largest national cruise market in Europe, and its own brands sell a German-language product, which matters if your German runs to ordering a beer. AIDA is the largest of them; TUI Cruises and its Mein Schiff fleet, Phoenix Reisen, Plantours and nicko cruises cover the premium and river side; Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Sea Cloud sit at the luxury end.
TUI Cruises is a 50/50 joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean, based in Hamburg.
If you’re booking a German-market ship, check what language the entertainment, the daily programme and the excursions run in before you commit. The lines most UK passengers book, from Cunard and Royal Caribbean to P&O Cruises and Fred. Olsen, are not German-market brands, so that question doesn’t come up.
Germany cruise port FAQs
How far is Rostock from Warnemünde cruise port?
Rostock Hauptbahnhof is about 22 minutes from Warnemünde station on the S-Bahn, which runs every 10 to 15 minutes, and the station is a five-minute walk from the P7 and P8 berths.
How do I get from Hamburg Airport to the Steinwerder terminal?
Take the S1 into the city and continue by bus or ferry to the Argentinienbrücke stop, about 47 to 48 minutes from the airport in total. Allow longer with luggage, because the last stretch from the stop to the terminal is a walk of about 1.1 km.
How long before all-aboard should I be back at Warnemünde?
Plan to be at the pier 90 minutes before all-aboard, and take one train earlier than the last that technically fits. The ship waits for its own excursions, not for independent travellers.
Can I leave my luggage at the Bremerhaven cruise terminal?
No. Port security rules mean there are no public lockers at the Columbus Cruise Center, but there are lockers in the main lobby at Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof.
How busy does Kiel get on a turnaround day?
Ostseekai handles up to 11,000 passengers a day across terminals 27 and 28, so build in extra time for check-in and for the 15-minute walk to Kiel Hauptbahnhof.
Will I have a passport check at a German port?
Non-Schengen travellers should expect one at Bremerhaven even on an all-European sailing, so keep your passport with you rather than leaving it in the cabin.
Last Updated: 3 November 2026