clydeozzy

I wouldn't know, I'm sorry! Yes, there was a luggage storage for carryons. I kept mine with me just due to personal choice, but it's great it's offered! I also had a massive checked bag however, so left that with porters before boarding. Hope you had a good time on the previous two sailings. We had a bunch of people from the TA before still onboard! 😊

May 26 I checked out of my hotel and took the metro to Copenhagen airport. Once I'd checked my bag, got through security and all, it's a nice airport but I think there could be a few improvements. Firstly there is no massive seating areas with departure screens. The main departure screens have no seating! So you either end up standing or sitting on the floor which is just not really ideal. There's loads of restaurants/cafes and such with seating but no departure boards anywhere near them? Which I find really silly. I'm someone who likes to watch that board like a hawk, I can't relax until I'm back at home! In Gatwick airport (my home airport), in loads of the restaurants you'll find departure boards inside them so you can even keep an eye on them while eating or drinking. I think it should maybe be rethought a little? I also found boarding very silly too, at least at the gate I was at. There's again no seating at our gate, they don't check boarding group, and we went through the gate, went to another tiny seating area where half of us had to stand and then just let us all onto the flight as a free for all. Imagine someone had paid for priority boarding and it's just not even acknowledged! I got lucky as I was near the front of the group and boarded very early but uh yeah. Not sure if I just got unlucky with a poorly design gate but that was not the best. Those are my only critiques of the airport, otherwise it is lovely. My flight went smoothly and I'm now back home. As a summary of my first solo holiday and solo cruise, it was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I went. I was actually very nervous at first, I remember I even was trembling a little in the cruise terminal in Southampton before boarding because I was nervous. But as soon as I stepped on board it all washed away and I had such an incredible time. If anyone is wanting to go on a solo cruise but nervous, just do it! You'll have a great time. For the Getaway, I did have my critiques and I probably would avoid the Breakaway class of ships to be quite honest. It just wasn't my cup of tea but I'm sure others might like her design. I cruised with NCL ten years ago on the smaller ships, so maybe things have just changed designwise in ships since then but I remember the areas of Jade and Gem being much better thought out with more spaces to accommodate people and activities throughout the ship and a better designed Atrium. This is all my opinion of course, and I'm sure people will adore the Getaway design but it just wasn't for me unfortunately! The crew, almost all of the food, the solo studios, entertainment and solo programme that NCL does is amazing! I don't think any other cruise line treats it's solos as good as NCL in my opinion. I wasn't very social at all this cruise, but if you are a solo and want to be you will have no trouble with the solo meets and activities the host can plan. Overall an incredible holiday! Thanks to everyone who followed along. It's appreciated!! If you have any questions I can try my best to answer.

May 25 I took this day very easy as it was really hot in Copenhagen and I unfortunately had to wear long sleeves to cover my tattoo from direct sunlight and it was far too early to use suncream on it in the healing process. So today was just a small shopping day. The highlight would be Studio Arhoj which specialises in ceramics. You can buy online too at arhoj.com and they ship internationally. I saw loads in there that I want to buy but will need to save up for 😂 Tivoli Food Hall time and tried Cocks and Cows with the Fried Chicken Burger. Delicious. The rest of the day was spent packing my luggage!

May 24 I started the day by going to St Peters Bakery, the oldest bakery in Copenhagen. The pastry I got was absolutely delicious, please go if you get the chance. I ate my pastry as I walked to the Design Museum. I studied Graphic Design in university which covers pretty much all aspects of design you can think of. This museum reminded me so much of university! It was an amazing visit. They also had a section dedicated to Japanese wood block prints which I absolutely adored. I took the metro back to near my hotel since my feet hurt a little, which by the way the metro system for Copenhagen is amazing! It's really simple to use, lifts in every station, you can either get tickets on your mobile with the DOT app or at ticket machines. There is English everywhere and announcements on the trains too along with visuals of the map on the train so you know where to either get off or change lines. This time at the Tivoli Food Hall I went to the Kung Fu (I can't remember rest of the name) stall and got the beef ramen. I actually wasn't a big fan of this! Give it a miss if you are there. Their Korean pork buns looked really amazing though! My haul: The Japanese book has tons of examples of Japanese graphic design of advertisements and such it's beautiful.

May 23 This day will very much not be for everyone since it's very niche. I got a tattoo. I have four already so this isn't new to me. This was arranged far in advance back in late November 2023 with an artist I have followed on Instagram for a while. The studio is purely appointment only and most of the artists will be booked up very far in advance. Pictures of my finished tattoo here: I was pretty exhausted understandably after that and it took up much of the day so I just relaxed after. I think I fell asleep very early that day!!

Hello all. I'm safely back in the UK at home now. As promised, an overview of what I got up to in Copenhagen, Denmark. I took it at a very slow pace, so definitely did not cover everything there is to see but hopefully this might give some ideas for if you have a port stop in Copenhagen or if you want to have a pre/post cruise stay. May 22, disembarkation day I stayed at the Comfort Hotel Vesterbro which is right nearby the Copenhagen Central Station (and it's metro station) along with being a very short 5 minute walk from the centre of Copenhagen and walking distance of pretty much all tourist attractions. Pros: - Location - Price (this is on the cheaper end for Copenhagen, which is still unfortunately expensive) - Convenience (public transport links all right by your door, Lidl and 7-Eleven both next door, tourist attractions all nearby with Tivoli Gardens literally 5 minutes away) Cons: - No housekeeping until the 4th day of your stay (I'm not bothered by this but for some I know it will be a bit of a shock) - Luggage storage didn't look very secure (It's used with your room keycard to access a room which resembles a closet to put your suitcases communally with everyone else's but absolutely anyone can come in behind someone with a keycard and pretend they are grabbing their luggage and just take it. I payed for early check in as I just didn't like the look of it) Overall I would recommend this hotel for a short stay. After I had finished unpacking and having a bit of a rest after disembarking the cruise ship I got out exploring Copenhagen. I went to the town hall first, which is right in the centre. It's free to go in and wander around and take pictures. I then walked down to my next destination which was the Happiness Museum. It's created by the author of The Little Book of Hygge which is a common thing/concept in Denmark. Closest translation of Hygge might be comfort or cosyness? Denmark is ranked the 2nd happiest country in the world, with Finland at number 1. It took me about just over an hour to go through and read it all but could take a bit longer if you are with your partner, friends or family as it asks questions, has some fun activities it suggests you to try which could be fun for that aspect. The best part of the museum in my opinion is the sticky note hallway where you can read all the visitors of the museums idea of happiness and contribute your own. It's a nice museum, I'd recommend! Walking back to my hotel, on the way back I stopped by the Tivoli Food Hall which is a food hall full of different types of food stall/shops. There's so many different types like pizza, burgers, Asian, Danish, Greek, French and more. It's good cause if you're a group and perhaps you all fancy something different for lunch/dinner, you can all order separately and then eat together. You order by going up to a stall, placing your order, they'll give you a device which will beep/vibrate when your order is ready then you pick it up. Then you can eat wherever you want and there's loads of seating. I went here three times during my stay and it was great! On the first day I went to the 'Sushi Market' stall and got their 'The Bowl'. It was delicious!! My first day in Copenhagen haul:

Sorry to hear that.

It's all in USD / American dollars. So my final bill was in USD but my bank converts that to my actual currency (GBP in this case).

They were starting works even before we were all disembarked! Speedy speedy. Word has it on our Facebook group for the sailing they're adding an enclosed smoking area in the casino. When I was walking by on the way to the final breakfast this morning they were packing up all the casino equipment and some had already been removed. It was quite a problem I think as Shanghai noodle bar is right next to the casino and it's not nice to get smoke smell when you're eating (at least for me as a non smoker hence why I didn't go). Hopefully all goes well with your sailing!

May 21 Kiel, Germany Apologies for the delay with this, and I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the Kiel freestyle daily. I'm writing this from my hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark so have disembarked the ship now and had a fab first day in Copenhagen so far. I'm staying here for a few days so will make a summary of all I did in Copenhagen once that's over for anyone who might either have a port stop there and like some ideas or might be considering a pre or post cruise stay there. For Kiel, I had booked an excursion with NCL to Lübeck which is about an hour and a half drive from Kiel. I was a bit stumped with Kiel so decided to go with this, Lübeck on your own as it looked quite scenic and nice to have a wander on the last port day of the cruise. I had breakfast in the main dining room, having eggs, tomato and bacon. And french toast if I remember right? I don't think I took a picture though. Lübeck is well known for it's marzipan and also used to be a big merchant's guild. I've attached some pictures for you all. It was nice to have a wander around and buy some marzipan/nougat from the oldest marzipan shop in Lübeck, but otherwise I wouldn't go back. But it was the last day before disembarkation and I didn't want to trek to Hamburg either so yeah. I also probably would have done a Kiel excursion or by myself honestly if I go again. I only recently found out that my grandfather had done his national service there after WW2 and worked there on making sure the submarines/uboats were not used for malicious intent again. I definitely would have liked to have seen if there was anything there like a museum or such to explore that but yeah, too late now. If/When I go back, I will explore Kiel! I had an early dinner at O'Sheehans as I sadly had to pack my luggage and get ready for disembarking the next day. I left my big luggage outside my door but had a hand luggage to keep with me and my backpack for the next day. I got an early night for disembarking tomorrow. To save a post, disembarkation went smoothly all the way up until getting into the luggage claim area. The queue/waitline for a taxi was so massive that it was obscuring any view of bags/suitcases at all. It was so busy. I just about finally figured out where my suitcase was and then was able to get out of the terminal, not wanting to deal with any of that taxi line. It looked like a wait of two hours for a taxi! I took the public bus which drops you off right next to the metro station which I then rode to the central Copenhagen station and then a quick walk to my hotel. You can also on that metro journey switch lines to the line that takes you to the airport if you need a flight home instead of a hotel stay. Of course if you're not very mobile or have tons of bags, a taxi would be the best but yeah.. just saying public transport is an option too! In summary, the cruise was great! I enjoyed it so much, and as my first solo trip it was such a great experience! I'm so glad I took that leap of faith and did it. Overall I had a very positive experience and any negatives have been incredibly minor in the grand scheme of things. I can't wait for my next solo cruise which will be next year but this time with Celebrity aboard the Millennium going around Japan. It will be interesting to compare the ships along with the cruiseline differences. Millennium is a much smaller ship than the Getaway and I wonder if that will play a difference in my experience on sea days? We'll see. Thanks for following along with my journey. Like I said, I'll be posting a summary of what I get up to in Copenhagen after my trip here ends (I fly back to the UK on Sunday 26 May) for anyone who will be interested in that. Annabelle

Two things I forgot to mention (probably due to tiredness) from yesterday. The laundry was on my bed all clean when I came back from Berlin. They gave us a little disembarkation procedure with our freestyle dailies along with luggage tags to be picked up in the Atrium on deck 6. They are staggered by timeslot and such or you can choose to self disembark. I've chosen a pretty late slot as I have no flights to catch (I'm having a few days stay in Copenhagen, Denmark).

May 20 Warnemunde, Germany This was a very early start as I had the Berlin On Your Own excursion booked with NCL. The meeting for all the Berlin excursions via train was at 7am and it was a bit of a nightmare/not organised well. They started calling out stickers/numbers but half of us didn't have stickers and nobody was giving out any. The whole Getaway theatre was packed. Then it seems they gave up with calling out stickers and instead just reading out our excursion tour specific number one by one for us to go off the ship. It was a bit poorly executed but we all did eventually get off and onto the train to Berlin. The carriages were organised by excursions so 1-2 excursions would sit in one carriage and the whole train was filled up this way. I chose the on your own just because I prefer to do things on my own, at my own pace and to my own schedule and I'm confident by myself. I'm fine with public transport in getting around big cities and so was ready to tackle Berlin! Super excited for this one. The train ride is just over 2 hours. For the Paris excursions, I think they used coach instead of train? But this is a very similar length of day to the Paris ones from Le Havre to give you an idea of the kind of day you'll be having if you decide to make the trek. I have never been to Germany, let alone Berlin, so I didn't want to pass this up, however do not expect to see everything in a day of course, or your expectations will be shattered. They gave us information on the train such as a map, details of the meeting point and time back and tips. When we got to Berlin Central Station, at around 9.45am, I went off on my way to my first stop the Brandenburg Gate. It's right near the Central Station! I then kept walking to the memorial for the Jewish people who were killed which is nearby. I then made the next short walk to the Topography of Terror. It's a museum in the old SS Headquarters, now focused on educating on the beginnings of the SS and their crimes. It took me a good two hours going around reading everything, it's extremely saddening too. Just around the corner is Checkpoint Charlie. Just across the street from it, there is a small free little exhibition/explanation talking through the history of the East and West Berlin and the gate to add to the experience. I had already tackled a lot but still had one more place I wanted to go before heading to the meeting place. For this I hopped on Berlin's metro system (U-Bahn/S-Bahn) and went on my way. The U-Bahn which I used is really simple. You can find a map of all the lines/routes here at https://sbahn.berlin/en/route-map/, then go to your station and use the ticket machine to buy a ticket. They have English and other language options and accept cash or card. Then validate your ticket using one of the validator machines on the platform and you're good to go. No ticket barriers or anything. The stations are all really nice, nicer than our tube in London in my opinion! 🤭 I was visiting Pasaje Arte Independiente which is a few narrow streets filled with art and graffiti and a hip spot for creatives. It was absolutely beautiful. If you hadn't guessed by how much I'm drawing in my free time on this cruise, I'm an artist myself having studied it all the way until university and I keep doing it as a hobby. I love finding these kinds of places. There's a shop in this area which is an a screenprint studio but also selling artwork from the independent artists in the area too such as screenprinted tshirts, patches, notebooks etc. The stairs up to the shop/studio are incredible too. I then made my way back to the meeting point where we got our train back to the ship. It was around 6.45pm when we got back onto the ship. My Berlin haul! The green and red men pins are the traffic light signs in Berlin, 'Ampelmannchen' ! They were what you could tell if you were in East or West Berlin back in the day. I then just had a quick burger at O'Sheehans for dinner. I got a nice view of the band playing in the Atrium with dinner.

You're all good!! Laundry talk is important to know! And I totally forgot the freestyle daily for Aarhus, here it is:

May 19 Aarhus, Denmark Apologies for the delay on this one. I had to have an early night because of going to Berlin today. Thank you to the people who have answered questions while I was busy! I had a morning breakfast at Taste, and got a window seat as we were making our way into Aarhus. I had a ham and cheese omelet and pancakes. I got off from the ship pretty much as soon as it docked. It was a public holiday today though and hence a lot of things were shut in Aarhus. I hadn't made any plans to do in Aarhus, so I just ended up walking around and taking photos. It's very pretty! It was good to get out and wander for a few hours! It was lovely weather for it. I got back on the ship for lunch at O'Sheehans. I had the sausage sliders and the fish sandwich. I relaxed and drew for a few hours on the waterfront on deck 8. It's definitely my favourite spot during the day for quiet. I had to have an early dinner and night because of the Berlin excursion I had booked through NCL tomorrow. I had it at Taste again, and again got a window seat just in time for sail away! I ordered the scallops, a steak and carrot cake. Lovely ! Some people on our Facebook group for our sailing don't like the food and I can't really relate! I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've eaten so far. I guess if you have very high standards?? Or I just have basic taste lol!! Which might very well be the case. I went by the photo gallery to check out my photos that got taken last night and yeah they were really good! I bought the best one as a digital download and they will send them via email to you after the cruise but also give you a QR code to access it immediately too. I'm tempted to buy another too however it's $29.95 for a digital download, probably just one more. I got an early night as the meet time for Berlin excursions is 7am! (I'm writing this as we wait for the train back to Warnemunde now!)

May 18 Oslo, Norway Bright and early I got up and made my way to the main dining room for breakfast. I had the express breakfast, a fruit salad and my favourite French toast. This is the first port of the trip where the weather is amazing today! 22-25c in Oslo and bright and sunny. For Oslo, I'd made plans to visit the Edvard Munch museum, famous painter behind the iconic The Scream along with other amazing works. The walk over was roughly 45 minutes from the port. Oslo is a really cool and modern city, I liked the look of it as I was walking. Here's a few pictures. The Munch Museum can either be booked online in advance with tickets in timeslot entry or you can get tickets on the day by queuing up. I'd booked mine in advance for a 10.30am entry. The museum has three versions of The Scream on display and they go on display each in thirty minute intervals. To see all three you'll need to stick around for a bit. I was able to see all three during my visit. Aside from The Scream, Munch has such a massive catalogue of pieces. The museum does a great job categorising/organising them by themes. Here's a few of my favourites. After I'd finished, I made my way back to the ship. I got back at just after 1pm, all aboard was printed in the freestyle daily as 3.30pm but announced and signposted at the gangway as 4pm. I didn't really want to take any risks still and preferred getting back early. I had a quick bite to eat in the buffet. It's my first time actually going there! They have a big selection of lots of different foods to choose, pasta, burgers, Asian, salads, etc. I decided on pizza because I was craving some haha! It was very greasy, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless 😋 I then settled in on some of the seating on the waterfront on deck 8 with a strawberry daiquiri to enjoy the warm weather and draw until sail away. The waterfront is a great place for a quiet spot during the time the ship is in port and you have good weather. You're shielded from the harsh sun (I have extremely pale skin and burn very easily even with suncream) so you can still enjoy the warmth without risking any burning. At about 5pm I went back to my cabin to get ready for dinner at 8.30pm which was Le Bistro! I decided to put full effort in on this one as it was a more formal setting so nice dress, full makeup etc. The interior/theming of the restaurant is lovely. There's also an "outdoor" section too, not really outdoors but it's just at the entrance to Le Bistro and you'll get to see all the people walking by along with being opposite/nearby Teppanyaki, Headliners comedy club and the staircase up to deck 7 and 8. I ordered the escargots (snails), filet de canette roti (roasted duck) and fraisier (strawberry and pistachio goodness). The food was amazing, absolutely lovely. My favourite would have to be the escargots! As I was dining I had a view out to the staircase and could see the photographer. I'm the kind who finds it awkward to take selfies of myself in public and being solo you don't have anyone to take pictures of you. Of course you can ask strangers, but I just don't want to bother people. I was thinking aw, it might be nice to give the photographer a go, I'd gotten all dressed up and such, but I wasn't sure... Well low and behold she must have read my mind as I was leaving Le Bistro she asked if I'd like to have some pictures taken. I decided to give it a shot. She made me do a few poses on the stairs, and the pictures will be available to view tomorrow in the Photo Gallery. Hopefully at least one of them I don't look too awkward haha! One other thing to note is a few days ago I got the laundry bag and offer in my room. I waited a few days to get some more dirty laundry for the bag and have filled it up and left it on my bed for tomorrow morning. It's a good offer I think if you have lots of laundry to do, maybe if you've had a pre-cruise stay and not had the chance to do some laundry yet. I've got a post-cruise stay in Copenhagen, Denmark, so I still need clothes for that so I used the offer. A much better day than yesterday! 🤗

Apologies for the delay, here they are. I will start posting them with my summary of each day with the corresponding one. I will see if anyone knows in regards to the dry dock but honestly I've heard nothing so far !

May 17 At sea I've been pretty much positive this whole time so far and not had any issues at all, which is great. And I still had a great day today, however this is the first day where I will be a bit more critical. I woke up quite late but it's a sea day so I think I'm allowed to indulge haha! I had a late breakfast at O'Sheehans and had the French Toast (forgot to take pics sorry but it was great!) It was roughly 10am when I was having breakfast and I could already see the ship was extremely busy in the Atrium below and the bar seating surrounding the atrium above. I think this cruise is sold out, I might be wrong, and I'm not sure if it's a capacity issue or a ship issue but I found the ship to be so busy today. Of course it will be since it's a day at sea, but in my opinion I'm not sure the ship's design lends itself to this. Basically, a lot of the daytime and even evening entertainment takes place in the Atrium. This ranges from the trivia quizzes, game shows, future cruise presentations and such. I really do think this needs to be a bit rethought of, as not in the atrium do you have all the guest services such as shore excursions and such but then also the atrium bar, along with Starbucks and the internet cafe. There is no other real lounge/big area to seat people aside from outside on the top decks on the loungers which in the weather we are on the way to Oslo, Norway, is not exactly ideal to be sitting out in. The seats in the atrium were basically all taken at 10am, only to get busier during the day and evening. There are so many bars on the Getaway, I just think maybe if one of those could maybe be made into a lounge type area that could host events like trivias and other interactive game show type entertainment it might benefit the congestion that congregates in that Atrium area? I know it will always be busy but I'm sure something could be done to help lessen it a little bit. Of course this is all my opinion! Don't take it too seriously or let it dissuade you. I love the ship and I am a lover of peace and quiet, so I of course will be biased to that. I would have liked to have done some of the trivia activities today but with no seats in the Atrium and not really wanting to stand in a busy place I just decided not to. Luckily my lovely cabin steward had made my room and I was able to draw and read in peace and quiet. The studio lounge was also a big help for this too with snacks as well, as I knew if I had lunch I'd get too full up for dinner which I was excited for. I had Teppanyaki booked this evening. However again, a few small critiques of this do come in too unfortunately. Teppanyaki, that I know of, is not so entertainment focused, the entertainment or art of it comes from the chef's preparation of the food, it being an art in itself how they prepare it for you. I'm not sure if it's changed but on NCL it's about singing songs while cooking your food and juggling a few kitchen tools? I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, and the chef's enthusiasm was really sweet and infectious. But yeah, not what I was expecting! The food was great. You choose your main and dessert, as you are served miso soup and salad before hand and mains are served with a bowl of fried rice. I chose the Yamato which is combination of chicken and jumbo shrimp and had the green tea cake for dessert. I'm don't think I'd go again sadly. But glad to have tried it out! Like I said the food was really great! Something which is nothing on the restaurant or crew but on myself is I felt a bit awkward eating there by myself tonight. I have no issues eating alone in the MDR or O'Sheehans, however in a group/shared table setting like Teppanyaki I felt quite awkward. I find it very hard to initiate a conversation or insert myself into one that other people are having, plus people there are usually dining in either couples or family groups that I really just do not want to bother anyone. This only really made me feel it during the down time moments when either the chef wasn't cooking for us or I had finished a meal and was waiting for the next part but yeah. It will probably also depend on who you sit with too, I'm sure there are people out there who might like to converse or include a solo in conversation or if you are much more extroverted/confident than I am so don't take my experience as the be all and end all. I have Le Bistro booked for tomorrow which I should hope will be better! (I'm looking forward to trying the escargots) Going to bed now ! Apologies for the critiques, hopefully the last of them as I don't like to be negative.

May 16 Amsterdam, Netherlands This is the first port on the cruise I've been to before. I went for a short city break here with my family a while back, Amsterdam is great! I was very excited to be back. I had O'Sheehans for breakfast as I again woke up a little late for the MDR. This time I got my ordering correct and got the full English breakfast to prep me for my day full of walking. I disembarked as soon as possible as I had pre-booked the Anne Frank museum and had to walk over. From the cruise terminal it's a roughly 15-20 minute walk to the central Amsterdam station and then from there you can get to anywhere central in Amsterdam on foot very easily or catch any of the numerous public transport available. It was about another 20-30 minutes on foot to get to the Anne Frank House. There is a tram stop right near if you would prefer that, however I wanted to do some photography as I walked so that's why I opted for the longer journey. If you are interested in visiting the Anne Frank House, you will need to book a timeslot/ticket a bit in advance online as they sell out very quickly. They can booked online on https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/tickets/ and the dates for booking will open up every Tuesday week by week, six weeks in advance. You then pick a timeframe of 15 minutes to enter the house to help stagger out visitors, but the visit itself takes about an hour. For reference, I entered at 11.15am and came out at 12.30pm. No photos are allowed, so I cannot share any with this thread but I highly recommend a visit. It's a must do in my opinion for Amsterdam. If you're familiar with Anne Frank and her family's story, you'll know how tragic it is. To stand in the exact location where they hid along with seeing recreations of how it looked (advised on how they should look by Otto Frank himself) and seeing the journey the family went through is very moving and powerful. Especially when you consider how close they were to almost making it through being undiscovered. I then went on a leisurely walk to a museum I had wanted to go to, Katten Kabinet. It's focused primarily on cats, specifically artwork of cats. I'm a cat lover, so this was a must. If you're also a cat lover I'd highly recommend, thought be aware it's quite small but densely packed. You'll get around very quick. You might even see a real life cat which live there like I did if you're lucky! Tickets are €10 and there is a lovely gift shop too with cat postcards, posters, books and such! The crazy cat lady might be coming off very strong right now. I then walked to my last stop in Amsterdam, the official Miffy shop, or in Dutch called de winkel van nijntje. Miffy or 'Nijntje' in Dutch is the iconic white rabbit character created by Dick Bruna. I grew up with Miffy being on a few of the television shows when I was little and I'm a lover of all things cute (Hello Kitty, Sanrio etc) so I knew I wanted a Miffy plushie! Of course you can get these cheaper online or find cheaper knock offs/not official ones elsewhere, but isn't there something nice about having a Miffy from the official store and from the Netherlands itself? I then had a leisurely walk back to the ship which took just under an hour. I did a ton of walking today. I've attached some photos I took of Amsterdam below. Part of my walk back to the ship involved going through the red light district very briefly. I'd advise if you're not interested or not aware of what you'll see there, that there will be scantily clad women dancing/showing off their services in windows there, yes even at around 2-3pm when I was walking back. I've been before so I knew what to expect from that area and I just keep walking, but just in case you're not or do not want to see that, I'm telling you now haha! Here was my haul from Amsterdam! I had a bit of a rest for my feet until about 5.30pm where I went down to O'Sheehans for early dinner. I have reserver Teppanyaki for tomorrow and Le Bistro for the day after and all my heart was craving was a bit of comfort food after all that walking so I let myself have some. Smoked BBQ chicken wings, chicken sandwich and cheesecake. I haven't attended the past few solo meets just because I've not really been in a social mood honestly. I'm a big introvert, but that's one of the good things about being solo is you can choose when you want to and when you don't want to socialise. Tomorrow is a sea day, so I should be full of energy to attend then! Going to have a relax before bed time.

May 15 Zeebrugge, Belgium I had a lay in for this one and ended up missing the main dining room breakfast, so I decided to try out O'Sheehans. I think I misunderstood how the ordering works. I thought I'd ordered the English breakfast, which had listed under it things like eggs, bacon, tomatos, etc. but when it came out it was just the eggs which you had to tell how you'd like them done. I realised you had to tell your server your selection of the items listed under! A very silly mistake by me which is probably obvious to everyone else, but nothing I was too bothered about to bother the servers with, they have enough going on. Fried eggs, toast and a fruit bowl for me. I then got ready to head out to Brugge, the port do. If you're interested in going to Brugge I have a few tips. It's a roughly 15 minute train ride away from Zeebrugge. Ignore the transfer they try to sell you immediately as you get out the terminal or the taxis, they cost €25 each and take a lot longer! Instead take the roughly 15-20 minute walk to the train station and get a return ticket for €7,50 each. It's a very easy walk and the train ride is lovely. The ticket machine is on the platform and has English language option, just follow the instructions. The trains run every hour. I've left a few screenshots below. Once in Brugge, I had a nice walk around. It's a lovely place and very beautiful. The place I wanted to eat that I had looked up prior on Tripadvisor happened to be closed on Wednesdays, so that was a bit of a let down! But was still nice to have a wander about for a few hours. Again, if you're into photography, this is a lovely place for it. I got back to the ship and had a late lunch/early dinner at O'Sheehans at 3pm. I had the buffalo chicken wings for starter, cheeseburger and fries for main and carrot and walnut cake for dessert. Lots of comfort food I'd call it! I saw some other things on the menu I'd like to have so will definitely be back sometime. I just drew and spent some time relaxing until the show at 7pm which was Million Dollar Quartet, the Broadway musical onboard the Getaway inspired by the recording session that brought Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins together for the one and only time. It was incredible!! Highly recommend. I am not familiar with that era of music but I enjoyed it nonetheless. And now bed time!

I would highly recommend their studios if you just want a small room for yourself. You also get access to the lounge too which is usually very quiet so if you need a quiet retreat it's a great exclusive space. The Getaway is quite busy at times especially around bar areas in the evening so having that option to always have a place to get some peace and quiet is nice.

May 14 Le Havre, France I got woken up by the announcement into the cabins that we could go off the ship into Le Havre. Regal Princess was also in port with us for this one. I had an excursion booked with NCL for this port. Most of the ports I've decided to make my own plans or just explore by myself, as I am confident exporing and planning by myself, however this one I was a bit stumped about what to do in Le Havre, so I decided to go with the excursion Colourful Honfleur as it looked quite nice! I opted out of the Paris ones as I can easily get to Paris whenever really as someone in south England plus it's a very long day for those ones. The excursion wasn't until 2.30pm, so I enjoyed a breakfast in Taste one of the main dining rooms. Avocado and egg wraps and French toast. French toast is my favourite so I throughly enjoyed that. I then spent the morning drawing in a quiet spot on the Waterfront which runs around deck 8 until the excursion. The things you can see in front of where the ship is docked is Siemens building wind farm energy parts there! The first half of the excursion is a drive to Honfleur (around 30-40 minutes) and then the tour guide shows you around Honfleur. Then you are given free time to do as you please before heading back to the ship. The tour guide was really informative, lots of history behind Le Havre and Honfleur. If you're a fan of photography or just pretty places to wander about, this is one for you. Honfleur was beautiful. I've attached a small selection of some pictures I took below. I brought my 35mm film camera which I have set a rule to try to discipline myself with only using 1-2 shots in each port to save some film on each port and have some leftover for Copenhagen, but I used 3 here haha!! We got back at around 6pm, so I had missed the daily solo meet at 5pm. I'd say if you're solo to be aware of that if you're spending time out late in ports, you might miss a few, but you are under no obligation to show up to those every single day. I got quickly ready for the show tonight which was Ian Shaw's Magic Show. Quite funny, he had some technical issues though with his camera, bless him! I then had dinner in Savor, which I had the cobb salad for my starter (without cheese sorry cheese lovers!) and parmesan crusted pork chop for my main. I think I'll try out O'Sheehans tomorrow to branch out! And now it's bed time!

Hi Tony, It's so great you enjoyed the Getaway and as a fellow solo too! I'm still finding my way around but it's a lovely ship so far, absolutely stunning. Enjoy your cruise! Where will you be heading on it? Annabelle

As an introduction, I'm Annabelle! ☺️ I'm a 25 year old from the south of England, United Kingdom. I've been on a few NCL (along with a few other cruise lines) before but this was quite a while ago and when I was younger, with my family. This is not only my first venture back into cruising again, but my first as an adult and as a solo traveller! This will be quite solo orientated as I am one, but I will try to also share information on other aspects too! The cruise departs from Southampton UK and stops in Le Havre France, Zeebruge Belgium, Amsterdam Netherlands, Oslo Norway, Aarhus Denmark, Warnermunde Germany, Kiel Germany and ends in Copenhagen Denmark. I'm a big fan of Northern European cities which is why I chose this one, however I would advise that if you are thinking of booking a similar cruise and attracted to how they word the ports with Paris, Berlin and Hamburg, to please be aware that these cities are quite a ways from the ports. For Paris, the journey is around 2 hours there and back. It's doable but it will be a very long day and honestly you cannot see everything of such big cities in one day! I'd recommend you visit them either before or after the cruise for a short trip, especially if you are from further away like USA, Canada, Australia or Asia as you want to make the most of that trip. For me in the UK, I can hop on the train anytime to Paris, but for further away it's much harder. Two days ago on 12 May, my dad very handily drove me down to Southampton where I stayed in the Novotel Hotel which is located just a 5 minute walk from Dock Gate 10 which is the entrance for the Horizon Cruise Terminal where the Getaway would be tomorrow. I'm very used to walking with luggage and such, so if you are okay with that and your ship will be docked there, I'd highly recommend the hotel for it's convenient walking location. There's also an Ibis and Ibis budget right next to it for a little bit cheaper options. The hotel was nice too, a nice big spacious room for myself. There's a McDonalds along with a TGI Fridays right next to it along with a hotel restaurant. For breakfast included, there is a small fee. On the morning of 13 May I walked down to the Horizon Cruise Terminal and checked my big luggage in with the porters. We were the only ship in port which was handy! I had selected my arrival time as 10:30-11am and was on board the ship at 11.30am. I had lunch in one of the dining rooms, Taste as I much prefer a quieter dining experience. I had tomato soup for starters, fish and chips and orange chocolate mousse for dessert. I then was able to go to my room which is in the Solo Studio area and unpack my bags. The solo cabins are great in my opinion! I don't need much space personally and have no desire for a balcony or such, plus they have an exclusive Studio lounge too! Of course if you like balconies or just having a view to the outside, I wouldn't recommend! I attended the solo meet at 5:30pm and there is a dedicated solo host who will help with reservations along with organise activities. The solo host has organised a reservation for main dining room dinner for a group of 30 but I passed this up, as I much prefer a quieter dining experience, and also organised front row seat reservations for Million Dollar Quartet which I will be going to! I forgot to take pictures at dinner, but I went to Savour, which is just opposite Taste, with two solos I had met at the solo meet and I had shrimp cake for starter, Calamari shrimp pasta for main and a fruit platter for dessert. I decided to turn in after that and will update this thread with today on 14 May in Le Havre soon!

Thank you for the info and link !

Thank you for the responses! I will double check with NCL just in case, but this reassures me. 😊 And great idea @John Bull I will do that!