Copenhagen, Denmark: RCCL Jewel of the Seas Northern Europe Cruise

We woke up to a cool, clear morning and enjoyed the view from our balcony as we cruised past a windmill farm at the entrance to Copenhagen harbor. We docked at Langelinie Pier, which is located a 20 minute walk from the city center. We gathered up as a group and were some of the first passengers to disembark, so we could meet our walking tour guide, Brett, from Copenhagen Walking Tours.
We found him waiting for us at the gangway exit. He thanked us for bringing the beautiful weather. He said the past few weeks had been very cool and rainy. We considered ourselves blessed to have such a warm, sunny day.
We walked along the scenic harbor front and made our first stop at the polar bear statue. It was here that we learned that Denmark has polar bears, because Greenland belongs to them. We continued on to the infamous Little Mermaid statue, erected in honor of native Hans Christian Anderson.
We walked through part of the old town where Brett described the role that Denmark played during World War 2, in saving thousands of Jews with their underground network. He also did a fantastic job of painting a picture of what it must have been like in Copenhagen during Nazi occupation.
We continued on to a section of the old town with wooden courtyard houses that have survived since the 1700’s. Once again, Brett demonstrated his wonderful narrative capabilities in describing daily life during that period.
We walked back towards the harbor for a view of the new Performing Arts Center and a peak at some of the multi-million dollar yachts. Brett also shared with us stories of those “damn Swedes” in a tongue and cheek manner. It seems the Denmark vs. Sweeden rivalry is similar to that of the New York vs. New Jersey one.
Our next stop was the Royal Palace courtyard, where we saw on-going construction to prepare one of the buildings for the Prince and Princess to move into, with their new baby. The Queen has the residence across the way, but she doesn’t stay there during the summer months.
Nyhavn was our next destination. This old port town with row houses was recently transformed into a chic, outdoor café area with plenty of waterfront restaurants and bars to choose from.
We followed the canal walkways to the main pedestrian shopping area called Stroeget, and finished our walking tour at the synagogue. It was unremarkable on the outside, but Brett described the beauty of the interior decorations. Unfortunately, we were unable to go inside, because someone with tight security was attending a service there.
We said our goodbyes to Brett, and headed back up the pedestrian area to get a bite to eat. We found this lovely little bakery that made fresh sandwiches and pizzas for takeaway. We grabbed food and drink to go and headed for the Blue Netto canal boat cruise. We enjoyed a delicious alfresco lunch on the boat, as we glided through the scenic, hidden canals and harbor of Copenhagen for the next 60 minutes. The guide provided a delightful, multi-lingual commentary of the sights along the way. This was a fantastic bargain at about $6.00 USD per person.
It was a 2 block walk to the bus stop from where we disembarked the canal cruise boat. We took city bus # 26 for a 20 minute ride to the Copenhagen suburbs, to visit the Carlsberg Brewery. The brewery has a multi-media exhibit explaining the brewing process and the history of the Carlsberg Brewing Company. The entry fee is about $8.00 USD and includes 2 brews at the end of the tour in the hospitality center. They had “A” beers (their special brews) and “B” beers (their regular brews). You get to try one of each type with your entry fee and can buy additional 330 cl glasses for about $4.00 USD each. A relative bargain, considering beer usually costs $5.00 - $8.00 in Copenhagen bars and restaurants. We had a wonderful time here, especially when we met up with some of the cruise staff from Jewel of the Seas.
From here, we took the city bus back towards the city center, so we could visit historic Tivoli Gardens. While the park was nice, it was a relative disappointment in comparison to the rest of Copenhagen. We walked around a while and then visited the local on-site brewery restaurant Faergekroen Bryghus. It was nice to eat alfresco alongside the lake. We shared a couple of tapas plates between us with some delicious red ale. It was the most expensive thing we did in Copenhagen at around $25.00 USD per person.
We checked out the very lame pantomime theatre and were disappointed in the “thousands of lights” display, that Tivoli is so famous for. I guess it was ahead of its time in its heyday, but doesn’t hold a candle to the light displays at today’s modern theme parks.
We caught a taxi for the 10 minute ride to the ship for about $24.00 USD. We made it in time for dinner in the dining room and enjoyed sail away with Pavlin, up in the Vortex lounge.

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