Our Trip to a Baltic Sea cruise on Princess Cruises - Friday, July 29, 2011

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Today is the day we started our 11-day cruise on the Baltic Sea. After eating breakfast in the concierge lounge, the four of us ventured out to explore as much of Copenhagen in 4 hours as we can. Our mission was to visit Christiania, Nyhavn, and the Little Mermaid. The weather today was in the low 60’s and a little drizzle. Jacket weather for us Southern’s.

Let me tell you about Christiania. This is considered its own country (it is located within the city limits of Copenhagen) where they pay no taxes, no rental, and smoking pot is legal. Prior to the people of this country took control of this country, it served as a military barracks. At first, we circled part of the perimeter, however we sent the kids in first to explore. After about three minutes my wife and I decided to go in also. Immediately we noticed the place with the covered with graffiti, buildings and the general area were dirty and rundown. The air had a slight smell of pot, however part of it could have been in our mind. We did notice while walking around there was one exit that had an overhead sign stating “no entering the EU.” This is the European unit. Believe it or not, this location is in the top three tourist’s spots to visit in Copenhagen. Well worth the visit if you mind being a little edgy. I attached a photo for your eyes only. Photos were not allowed here, however we took a few.

After leaving Christiania, our next stop needed to be Hyhavn. I have vivid memories of visiting this area in 2003 when left on a cruise from Copenhagen. When walking into the area, you have an overwhelming sense of wow. The area has a canal filled with sail and motor boats. In the surrounding streets, there are beautifully colored buildings with cafés and restaurants outside the buildings. At 10:30am people were eating breakfast, people watching and yes, drinking beer. The Nyhavn was crammed full of people. This area is great for photos with awesome background potential. There a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Since our time was limited we walked over to the little mermaid statue. The little mermaid statue is from the movie Little Mermaid. The area around the statue was full of summer flowers. The statue is perched on a rock just off the rocky coast, far enough away for people not to climb on her. This is a great photo place, however because it is so small, your window of time to take a photo is limited. Enjoy the photo on this blog.

By 12:15pm we were back at the Marriott Hotel packing our bags and getting ready to catch a cab to the cruise ship.

We arrived at the Emerald Princess at the port of Copenhagen around 1:15pm. Immediately after being dropped off at the check in area, there was someone already there ready to take our bags to bring to the ship. The line was long to check in. To our surprise, the line went quickly and by 1:45pm we were boarding the ship.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Princess Cruise ship, Emerald Princess. This is probably the largest cruise ship we have been on out of the 8 cruises we have taken. There are 3050 passengers and 1000+ crew. There are at least 6 pools (this is what I counted), a putt putt golf course, virtual golf range, walking and running track, outdoor movie theater next to the pool, numerous lounges for the adult stuff, a three tiered atrium of shopping, 3 large dining rooms, and an internet café. The entire ship is wireless. I am sitting next to the pool this morning writing this travel blog. Life can’t be any better. I hope you enjoy the photo of the ship.

Both of the kids were so excited to be on the ship. My daughter was upset to hear the cruise was only 11 days. She got spoiled on the 20 day cruise we took in 2007 to South America/Antarctica.
After boarding, we hustled up to the Lido level and ate a quick lunch in the Horizon Court. This is a buffet style lunch full of yummy food. The food ranged from hot and cold items, to salad and desserts. By the time we got back to our room, our luggage arrived. It took us a good 2 hours to unpack and organize our stateroom so we felt like we were at home. The rooms are very small, but who cares. We are just sleeping there anyway. Our son is staying with my in-laws and they have a suite with a balcony, awesome view.

Dinner that evening was awesome. We are dining the whole week in the Botticelli Dining Room. We are so lucky to have a window next to our table. During the first part of dinner, we were able watch the ship set sail on our cruise. To be honest, the meal was so good, but I cannot remember what I ate. I did notice on this trip the portion sizes were smaller. This is a great thing because of the gaining weight thing that always kills me on a cruise.

By 10:00pm in the evening, I was so tired still from the jetlag I was crashed in bed.

I can’t wait to share our Oslo experience in my next blog post.

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