Great Belt Suspension Bridge

[ffnole]

Do you cruise under it on the Baltics ten day cruise on Marina from Stockholm to Copenhagen (or in reverse)? Going in August and wanting to see the worlds second longest suspension beidge.

[bbwex]

You are coming from the East and heading for Copenhagen. Only Captain Schettino could manage to go near the Great Belt Bridge on that route! It is way, way out of the way.

 

We certainly did not on a cruise that left Copenhagen afterwards and went to Warnemunde either.

[rubysue]

It depends on the size of the ship. We most certainly DID sail under the Great Belt Bridge going from Copenhagen to Warnemunde and again in the reverse leaving the Baltic in 2010 on Disney Magic (90,000 GRT). It was a fantastic experience - certainly worth seeing the bridge. It makes you appreciate what RCI had to do to clear that huge bridge with Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

 

Not sure if Marina is "on the edge" size-wise. I believe the constraining factor that dictates the route is clearing the much lower bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo. R-ships can probably do that.

[bbwex]

Well, it would appear that I stand corrected. If the Wonder could go under it, and it is more than double the size of the O ships, then the Marina can make it as well. The bridge has a 65m clearance, and while I cannot find the statistic for the maximum height of one of the O ships, I cannot imagine that it is anywhere near that high -- my aircraft carrier had many more decks above the waterline and a monstrous, tall mast above that and was less than 65m. I still think it is an odd route to use, but perhaps they did it to see the bridge. I always enjoyed sailing under the Golden Gate!

[rubysue]

I need to clarify, apparently. The Great Belt Bridge route into the Baltic is the ONLY route for ships of any substantial size. I'm not sure what the "cutoff" is for Marina versus the R-ships and it depends on the clearance of the lower bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo, Sweden. Marina is a larger ship (duh!) and, depending on seas and tides, it may have to go under the GBB to enter the Baltic.

 

It is "not out of the way" as a scenic route to go under this bridge. It is a necessity based on the size of the ship. The BIGGER the ship, the more likely it will have to go north out of Copenhagen, then south again under the Great Belt Bridge. The larger the ship, the more likely it is that it will have to go under this bridge. Is that clear?

 

And our cruise was on Disney Magic, not Wonder. I guess I have flunked basic communications skills, although my original post seemed clear enough to me.

[bbwex]

Remind me never to get into any discussion with Rubysue!! Yes you did say "Magic" and not "Wonder." OMG such an error on my part! A thousand pardons.

 

That being said, I am fairly certain that the Regatta went into and out of Copenhagen from and to the south. The "lower bridge" as Rubysue put it, is part tunnel from Peberhold Island to the Copenhagen side, thus providing a clear channel with no bridge overhead for ships coming from and going to the south. There is no "clearance" issue to the south!

 

This is not to say that going the other way is not done, but depending on where you are going, it is likely to be a much longer route the other way, might require a pilot for substantially longer (not sure what the cruise lines will require as they near Helsingor and the GBB itself).

 

Again, I am not trying to start an argument, I am not trying to be mean (yes, I can read, and yes I did make a major, major, major mistake in using the wrong Disney ship, though Wonder and Magic are just about the same in size, draft and height above the waterline), but I can and do read nautical charts (the southern approach is fine for large ships), and watched our entry and departure from Copenhagen. I was just trying to help ffnole with what I knew, and my best guess. I admitted that error, which evidently was insufficient for Rubysue.

[rubysue]

Sigh...I'm not trying to start an argument, either. The OP likely lost interest in this thread with the first response that was completely dismissive of the question and even managed to invoke Captain Schettino.

 

My frustration is that my first response, that contradicted the idea that a cruise ship would never go under the GBB because it is out of the way, was completely misread, leading to my (admittedly a little more pointed) second response. The ship name is irrelevant, but it did reinforce my perception that my response was not read. Whatever...

 

The bottom line question is whether or not Marina would be able to go south from Copenhagen or if it would have to be routed under the GBB. I mistakenly referenced the bridge clearance as the factor, so the information about the configuration (bridge and tunnel) is appreciated. We were told by a junior officer on Magic that reason for the GBB was the Oresund bridge, so he was mistaken.

 

Looking at the facts about the Drogden tunnel between Peberhom and Amager, I found an interesting risk assessment document on ship traffic through this area and some other links (including a discussion on CC in 2007 by a person who lives in Denmark indicating that most cruise ships would probably use the GBB passage). I can provide the links if we want to get that pedantic. The draft of a ship through the Drogden area must be less than about 7.7 meters. Regatta has a draft of 19.5 feet (6 meters) so it can clear this area. Marina has a draft of 24 feet, which is indeed borderline and just exceeds the clearance required. Disney Magic has a draft of 26 feet.

 

Given this information, I would say the odds are pretty good that the OP WILL see the GBB, although Marina is right on the borderline on the Drogden clearance. Actual experience from someone who has done a Baltic cruise on Marina would be valuable.

 

I'm not trying to have the last word, but I did want to understand the facts, which took just a few minutes of Google time, What I have found on this board is that the first response from someone who has a lot of posts is often taken at face value when the information may be situationally dependent (as it would be in this case - we both have different and equally valid experiences) or sometimes the information has been incorrect or misleading.

[ffnole]

Much appreciated. I have followed with interest.