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Kiel Cruise Quays: Moving Groups to Hamburg and Back

Kiel turns ships around for the Hamburg region, so most group transfers here are road runs of an hour or more each way. Two things shape the plan: which quay the ship is using, and where the coach stands while it waits.

City quay or east bank

Ostseekai (berths 27 and 28) and the Norwegenkai, opposite the Hauptbahnhof across the Hörnbrücke, are both in the city centre. The Ostuferhafen is not: its berth lies on the east bank of the Kieler Förde, about 8 km from the centre and about 9 km, some 16 minutes, by road from Ostseekai. A call time that works at one quay is wrong at the other, so the quay is fixed before anything else. On the approach, drivers follow the "Fähre" signs.

Iveco 29-seat midi coach, exterior
Iveco 29-seat midi coach, exterior

Where the coach stands while it waits

None of the terminals has published coach parking. For waiting time, Kiel's official tourism pages refer bus firms to a commercial lorry and coach yard on Edisonstraße in the Wellsee business park, about 9 km or 15 minutes south of Ostseekai. On a turnaround the coach therefore stages at Wellsee and is called forward to the quay; the operator confirms the stopping point there. Call times include that drive.

Airports for fly-cruise connections

Terminals and berths

  • Ostuferhafen, Grenzstraße, 24149 Kiel: berth 1 (395 m quay) on the east bank of the Kieler Förde, about 8 km from the city centre, for up to 6,000 passengers
  • Schwedenkai, Kaistraße, 24103 Kiel: a ferry terminal in the city centre
  • Ostseekai, Ostseekai 1, 24105 Kiel: berths 27 and 28 (355 m and 285 m quays) in the city centre, for up to 6,500 and 4,500 passengers
  • Norwegenkai, Zur Fähre, 24143 Kiel: berths 21 and 22 in the city centre, opposite the main station across the Hörnbrücke footbridge, for up to 2,500 passengers

Hamburg Airport, Hamburg city, Lübeck, Berlin

Hamburg Airport is about 91 km from Ostseekai, about an hour in light traffic, and Hamburg's Rathausmarkt about 99 km. Set the latest safe flight from the road time, a peak-traffic margin, loading at the quay and check-in, not from the disembarkation slot alone. Lübeck, about 81 km away, fits a shore day comfortably.

Berlin is a different matter: about 357 km by road, at least 3 h 45 min each way by car and longer by coach. With EU limits of 9 hours' driving a day, that programme needs careful timing and may need a second driver. Guests travelling on alone can take the direct RE7 or RE70 trains from Kiel Hauptbahnhof to Hamburg; Ostseekai is about 1.6 km from the station.

Planner questions

Can the coach wait at the cruise terminal?

No coach parking is published there. The coach normally waits at the Edisonstraße bus park and returns for the agreed time.

Which quay is furthest out?

The Ostuferhafen, on the east bank. Pick-ups there take longer from the city and from the Wellsee bus park.

How early should we leave Kiel for a Hamburg flight?

Allow about an hour of driving in light traffic, more at peak times, plus loading and check-in. The quote states the call time it is built on.

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