Coach & Minibus Hire in Germany

From the airport to the ship, with your luggage

Cruise days come with suitcases, fixed boarding times and ports that can be a long way from the airport. A minibus or a car with driver takes your family or group straight to the right quay.

Hamburg: find the terminal first

Hamburg has four cruise terminals in different parts of the port: Altona, Steinwerder, HafenCity and Baakenhöft. Look up the one on your cruise documents before booking, because Steinwerder is on the far bank of the Elbe.

From the HafenCity terminal you can walk into the city centre in a few minutes, which makes a sightseeing stop before boarding easy to fit in. With bags locked in the vehicle, you can stroll the Speicherstadt first.

Full-size touring coach parked for boarding
Full-size touring coach parked for boarding

Kiel and Bremerhaven by road

Kiel's Ostseekai terminal is about 91 km from Hamburg airport, roughly an hour in light traffic. For Bremerhaven, Bremen airport is the closer one at about 72 km; from Hamburg airport it is around 193 km.

Families with big cases should check the luggage space as well as the seats: a full minibus leaves little room at the back. Allow for motorway traffic on a Saturday embarkation day.

Rules to know before the day

  • Cruise Center HafenCity, opened in spring 2025 in the Überseequartier, is a few minutes on foot from Hamburg's city centre
  • Berlin is about 243 km by road from Warnemünde, so a Berlin shore excursion is a long day

Warnemünde and the long day to Berlin

Berlin lies about 243 km from Warnemünde, so a shore excursion there is a long day with a fixed time to be back on board. A small group may prefer Schwerin, about 98 km away, or the centre of Rostock.

Excursion vehicles must be registered with the port beforehand, and nobody may park at the terminal during calls. The partner operator handles the registration and agrees the pick-up point.

Questions travellers ask

What if our flight is late?

Send the flight number and the ship's name. The pick-up follows your actual arrival, and the driver knows you have a boarding time.

Car or minibus for a family of six?

A car with driver can carry six. With cruise luggage for six people, though, a minibus gives far more room for the cases.

Can you collect us after the cruise?

Yes. Give the disembarkation date and port, and the train or flight you need to make.

Can we stop somewhere on the way to Bremerhaven?

Of course. Bremen's Marktplatz is about 68 km from the terminal, so a walk round the old town fits well before an afternoon boarding.

More places your group could visit

Other vehicles with a driver