NCL Getaway cruise stopping in Hamburg Germany

NCL will almost certainly provide a shuttle bus into the centre of the city, which they will not tell you about until the night before (to protect shore excursion sales) and will be at a premium prize, but that is how cruise companies work.

Otherwise, if it is a Monday to Friday there is a waterbus from stop just outside the terminal.

Or take a frequent bus from a stop outside the terminal gates to the closest S bahn station then take the train into the city centre. This service runs 7 days a week,

For either route pre purchase a HVV day ticket (HVV is the Hamburg Transport Authority). If taking the waterbus it can also be purchased at the machines at the pier.

The ferry already mentioned is part of the HVV public transport and would take you to Landungsbrücken (assuming you are at the main Steinwerder cruise terminal, which is likely). The ferries are just like the metro or bus system--on the same ticket. A day ticket is about 13 Euros after 9am.

From Landungsbrücken you can get on a Hop-on tour, take a ferry to the Elphi, take a hop-on boat tour of the harbour (Maritime Circle Line), or take the excellent public transport to pretty much anywhere you would want to see with relative ease.

If you only have a few hours, the red HO-HO is great. You can see the Elphi (HOP OFF!! Go up to the deck!!), the Rathaus / Binnenalster (HOP OFF!! See the Rathaus), and the Reeperbahn (you can hop off if you wish--this tour only goes to the tame parts, not the more raunchy parts--but there is no need). It also stops at the St. Michaelis Church (HOP OFF!! See the church and the Krameramtstuben in the little alleyway behind the church--a hidden gem. The Großneumarkt across the street has good food options, or you can skip the last bit of the tour and walk down from the St. Michaelis to the Landungsbrücken via the Portuguese Quarter for good food) You also get a good overview of the city and can hop off based on your interests, with the Speicherstadt, Planten un Blomen, the Alster, and the Kontorviertel as part of the tour.

I don't know what qualifies as a "longer" walk, but if you are facing the Rathaus, walk past it on the left and turn left on Börsenbrücke and then right onto the Trostbrücke. This little bridge lets you see the Pudelhaus and takes you right to the back of the St. Nikolai, which is WELL WORTH a visit. If you are still ambitious, you could cross the street to the Deichstraße, which is nice. That dumps you out at the Speicherstadt again near an early spot on your route. Or you could, from the Nikolai, simply hop back on the S1 at Stadthausbrücke or the U3 at Rödingsmarkt and head almost anywhere.

The tour does not cover the Fischmarkt / Altona, the other side of the Reeperbahn where Beatles Platz is, or Sternschanze, the hipster and leftist areas. All of these are easily reached by public transport (the Fischmarkt by ferry, the other two by S / U bahn from Landungsbrücken).

Those are kind of the standard one-day-in-Hamburg options. Hope that helps, but if you need more specific, interest-based recommendations, let me know.

The highlight of my trip to Hamburg was a visit to Miniatur Wunderland.

The craftsmanship and technology was amazing. It's been six years for me since I visited and I plan to go back to see what they've added.

Hint.....buy tickets ahead of time. It can get crowded and the queue for tix can be long.

Is the bus near the cruise terminal that goes to Veddel S Bahn station not working on Sundays? The ferry is not operating on weekends. I can not seem to find any options for public transportation from Steinwerder Hafen cruise terminal (MSC Euribia) on a Sunday in November. Is a taxi or a shuttle hopefully offered by MSC our only options?? Anyone know who much the shuttle would cost?

We were thinking of use the red double decker bus to stop at Miniatur Wunderland and the Christmas markets.

Looking at the HVV journey planner- https://geofox.hvv.de/web/de/connections?execute=true&date=08.10.2023&time=08:45&language=de&start=Steinwerder%20(F%C3%A4hre)&startCity=Hamburg&startType=STATION&destination=Veddel%20(BallinStadt)&destinationCity=Hamburg&destinationType=STATION&timeIsDeparture=1&wayBy=train&desiredType=fasttrain%26extrafasttrain,longdistancebus:10000&toStartBy=FOOTPATH&toDestBy=FOOTPATH&forVisitors=0&useStationPosition=1

you want Bus #256 at 44 minutes past each hour arriving at Veddel at 56 minutes past each hour.

It returns from Veddel at 23 minutes past each hour, arriving at 42 minutes past

Perhaps check Cruise Critic for options? Good luck,