Best way to get to Gersthofen from Munich airport?

Gersthofen has a train station and train is the best way to get around Bavaria.
Schedule to anywhere by train are at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
Should be bus service to/from Augsburg.
I assume your cruise is proving "free" transportation to Regensburg, but it might be easier to just go there on your own. You can travel anywhere in Bavaria by train, bus, local transport with a Bayern Ticket for 31 EUR each travel day. Use only regional trains and travel after 9 am weekdays, anytime weekends.
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0060_REGIO-INDEX-LAENDERTICKETS_LZ01

You just buy it out of the ticket machine on the day you want to travel. It costs 2 EUR more if you buy at a ticket window. You can use it to get from the airport to Gersthofen, any extended day trips, and to get from Gersthofen to Regensburg.

If you are staying at a hotel in Gersthofen, your hotel may have a guest card that will allow you to use the local public transportation system. Otherwise you can buy system wide day tickets (tagekarten) to get around the Augsburg area. I updated the link for the Bayern Ticket as the other one appeared to be broken.

Thanks, Sam! Was also wondering about just GETTING to the Munich Bahnhof from the airport? I had just about decided a BUS would be the quickest transportation route, based on what I've read?

Thanks for the recommendation/suggestion on going straight to Regensberg from Gersthofen. So many options running around in my brain; that was one I'd not even considered.

Look at www.bahn.com for trains that go from Munich to either Donauwörth or Treuchtlingen (via Augsburg not via Ingolstadt!). That way you will have just one transfer from the S8*) to the regional train, either at Munich Hbf or, preferably, at Munich Pasing. Gersthofen is the second station after Augsburg main station (Hbf). There are two ways of public transport from Gersthofen into Augsburg: train, at least hourly, or a Bus / tram combo. Which bus you take depends on your position in Gersthofen. From the station it would be bus Nr. 54 to Oberhausen, then transfer to tram nr. 4 to the center (Königsplatz). For details cf. http://www.avv-augsburg.de/fahrplan/fahrplanauskunft, the pages of the Augsburg Verkehrverbund or go to the AVV info center opposite Augsburg Hbf at Halderstrasse 29 (Bohus center). Please note: Augsburg Hbf is presently a big construction site and the DB ticket office is in a container outside the (emptied) station building.

*) For the transit from the airport to the regional train I'd would take the S8. The bahn web site will bring up connections with the S1 too, which are a few minutes shorter for westbound traffic but imply an additional transfer at Munich Laim, where the platform (tracks #2/#3) wich you are arriving at from the airport doesn't have an elevator.

Was also wondering about just GETTING to the Munich Bahnhof from the airport? I had just about decided a BUS would be the quickest transportation route, based on what I've read?

No. The Lufthansa bus takes a few minutes longer than the S-Bahn and it is subject to delays as it has to make it's way along the stau-prone autobahn into Munich center. I'd always take the S-Bahn.

If you are staying at a hotel in Gersthofen, your hotel may have a guest card that will allow you to use the local public transportation system. Otherwise you can buy system wide day tickets (tagekarten) to get around the Augsburg area. Here is a map of the bus, tram, and train connections for the Zones 10 and 20 of Augsburg, which includes Gersthofen.
http://www.avv-augsburg.de/tl_files/avv_files/tarifzonen/avv_tarifzonenplan_innenraum_06_2017.pdf
You can buy a Familientageskarte (Family Day Ticket) for 8.40 EUR that will cover both of you for travel all day in the area of the map.

PS; I updated the link for the Bayern Ticket in the first thread as the other one appeared to be broken.

About the only time I would consider the bus would be if I were going to a hotel (e.g., Marriott, Ibis) in the Schwabing area. The bus stops near them, at Nordfriedhof; if you take the train, you'll need other conveyance(s) to get to Schwabing.

The bus only stops at Schwabing and the Hauptbahnhof. If you are staying very far from either, you'll need additional transportation, which is included with the S-Bahn ticket but not with the bus.

In your case, changing to a train to Augsburg, if you change S-Bahns at Laim and go to Pasing, you might be able to catch an hour earlier train coming from the Hauptbahnhof and stopping in Pasing.

Hi, Lee! I'm in Castle Rock!!

Is there any chance that we might chat? LIVE, in person? Your clarification would be wonderfully helpful. Less than 2 weeks out, and I'm kinda' freaking out with variables up in the air. Can I post my phone # and/or email on here?

All this info is helpful, but, it is all Greek to me. Lack of familiarity with the public transport (ie, not knowing even WHAT the Si and S8 are). I'm sorry to say this info has confused me even more.

Train from airport to Munich station--is there only one?

Catch train (any # of choices; I don't know the geography to know which would be the best. (one of the posts lists a couple of town names I'm clueless about!) to Gersthofen. Would we then catch a bus or use taxi to get to hotel?

We are Senior Citizens (no duh): would it be the smartest thing to spend the first night in Munich, and then tackle the trip to Gersthofen/Augsburg? I picked Gersthofen due to Augsburg proximity and it looked like a nicer hotel for the $$. After 12+ hours of travel, my brain will be unraveled.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

Peggy