TRIP JOURNAL: Nicole721 Get[s]away to the Baltics

[Destaw71835]

I’m really enjoying your review. The photos are stunning!

 

 

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[Nicole721]

I am so pleased you have decided to post your trip report. Your photos are stunning. I look forward to the rest. We were on Serenade of the Seas out of Copenhagen at about the same time.

 

Ahh yes! I think we docked with the Serenade in...Tallinn? I think! I hope your cruise was as memorable as ours was! :)

 

 

Love all the posts including both narrative and the wonderful photos.

 

Keith

 

Thanks, Keith!

[Nicole721]

great review

 

we are doing Baltics this July embarking Warnemunde so have few days pre cruise in Berlin

Copenhagen will be a port stop for us.

Friends from Indianopolis are searching out reasonable air fare but will stay first few days in London so wont have that layover mess

Heathrow is a nightmare airport especially if have to travel between terminals

 

I know it -- we're connecting (again) in London on our way to Barcelona at the end of March. On the plus, I don't think we're changing terminals this time but on the minus, our connecting time is exactly one hour and 45 minutes. When you figure in boarding, it's an hour. We're going to cut it super tight :o

 

 

Great photos -arm chair traveling thru your review. This trip is on my radar!

 

May I ask what camera you have? Pictures are crisp & clear-color exceptional !

 

Thanks for reading along!! All of these are either from my Nikon D7000 or my iPhone :)

[Nicole721]

I’m really enjoying your review. The photos are stunning!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you so much!

[Captain-John]

Great review so far and really looking forward to the rest. We are doing this cruise in July on Breakaway. :D

[Nicole721]

Day 4: Copenhagen

 

Before we arrived in Copenhagen, I wasn’t sure how we’d fill the three days before our visit. We didn’t know much about Copenhagen beforehand, and Denmark, while a beautiful, culturally rich country, isn’t at the forefront of European history.

 

But when I woke up on our final full day in Copenhagen, I couldn’t imagine spending any less time in Copenhagen. In fact, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get to everything we wanted to visit. But this was vacation after all, and before we even left the hotel, we agreed that we didn’t have to see and do everything now…there’s always the next time (especially if airfare to Scandinavia continues to trend down). Instead of rushing through everything, the goal for the day was simply to enjoy ourselves and leave ourselves the flexibility to change our plans if we wanted to.

 

 

Our first stop of the day was at another food market, this time Torvehallerne, the Glass Market. Torvehallerne is quite the opposite of Copenhagen Street Food at Papirøen. It’s located in the middle of the city, right off Nørreport, and its offerings are a little more refined than the culinary craziness that happens on Papirøen. There’s some retail booths, as well, where you can browse and pick up some gifts, but we came with a purpose: Grød.

 

 

 

Grød is a cafe serving up traditional Danish porridge. They have a few set combinations on the menu, or an option to make your own. Mom and Stephanie went with the pre-set combinations and I opted to make my own – a base of oats, quinoa and chia made with almond milk and any three toppings I wanted. I stayed away from the traditional options and went with hazelnuts, berry compote and Valrohna chocolate drops and my small bowl was filled with rich, gooey breakfast goodness that was so good it should have been a dessert. It was super affordable, too – my small bowl of porridge translated to somewhere around $6 or $7.

 

 

I really enjoyed the food markets over traditional sit down meals for a few reasons: more options, fewer formalities and also a more affordable option. I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but everything in Copenhagen is pretty pricey. It took me a few days to understand that the reason why prices are higher here is because a 25% VAT tax is added to all purchases, and if I took that out, prices were more in line with other countries we’d visited.

 

It started to drizzle as we left Torvehallerne and we popped into a nearby Starbucks to plot out our next move. Before we left home, I was concerned about the availability of wifi in Copenhagen just because I had no idea if or how widespread coverage would be, and because I’d downgraded my international plan for this visit based on how little I used it the year before. Thankfully, my worries were for naught – free wifi is just about everywhere in Copenhagen and the moments where we had no connectivity were rarer than the moments where we did. The most reliable hotspots we found throughout the city belonged to Starbucks, Joe and the Juice (which must get some kind of kickback from the Danish government because they are everywhere!) and, believe it or not, 7-Eleven.

 

[fabnfortysomething]

I know it -- we're connecting (again) in London on our way to Barcelona at the end of March. On the plus, I don't think we're changing terminals this time but on the minus, our connecting time is exactly one hour and 45 minutes. When you figure in boarding, it's an hour. We're going to cut it super tight :o

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading along!! All of these are either from my Nikon D7000 or my iPhone :)

 

another thing I hate about Heathrow even if you in same terminal

We flew British airways Miami to Heathrow and then a domestic transfer also with British Airways back to Newcastle airport all within terminal 5

However flight connections route meant had to go through security again with the 100ml fluid restrictions and body and hand luggage screening which took ages

just as well we hadn't bought alcohol duty free at Miami or that could have been confiscated being over 100ml

 

I'd do a bit of investigation as to how your transfer will work and if this will happen to you

[Nicole721]

We realized we were a short bus ride away from Rosenborg Castle and decided that would be our next stop. Rosenborg Castle was built in the 1600s for King Christian IV. It hasn’t been used as a residence since the early 1800s, but the rooms are remarkably well-preserved and, even better for us, the site wasn’t crowded on the Monday morning we visited, and we were able to tour in peace, at our own pace, without being crowded in with others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

After we toured all of the rooms, we headed outside to walk along the pond and through the garden. The gray clouds and rain were disappearing into some warm sunlight and the castle made the perfect backdrop for some quiet reflection in the garden.

 

 

 

 

We planned to visit Amalienborg (home to many of the recent Danish Royals), but we put that on hold to visit Sct. Peder’s Bageri, a renowned bakery nearby that was known for some killer cinnamon rolls. I’ll vouch for them – they did not disappoint!

 

 

[Nicole721]

Satiated on carbs and frosting, we set out towards City Hall and walked around for a bit, stopping into a 7-Eleven to poach their wifi when we needed directions to our next stop, Freetown Christiania.

 

 

 

Christiania is like a community within a community. The town was formed by hippies who squatted in some military barracks in 1971, turning the abandoned site into their own community. The town is not governed by the Danish government, or really at all. There are very few things that are outlawed or frowned upon: no hard drugs, no pictures on Pusher Street (where hash and marijuana are openly sold and smoked), no cars, and no other rules. It’s very much live and let live. There are shops and restaurants and dozens of people live their lives out in this community. It was absolutely fascinating to me.

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Mom was getting a little freaked out by the open use of mind altering substances, so we hopped on a bus back towards Gammel Strand, where we could figure out our next stop in front of, you guessed it, another 7-Eleven.

 

 

 

We tried to make it to Amalienborg, but apparently it closes at 4:00 pm on Mondays and we were about an hour late on that one, so we hopped on a bus to at least see it while we were there. The dome capped top is just stunning and I could only imagine how beautiful the palace is on the inside. Another bullet point on the next time list.

 

 

None of us were sure what to do after Amalienborg. We were approaching the evening hours and we were torn between wanting to see more and going back to the hotel to get ready for embarkation the following morning. We hopped on a bus back towards the train station and made a compromise: instead of eating dinner at a third market, we’d grab a quick bite at Pasta du Nord, an organic pasta restaurant inside the train station where pasta is made from scratch, upwards of 80% of their ingredients are organic and where the menu is centered on about five simple dishes.

 

[Nicole721]

We walked off our dinner across the street at Tivoli, which Mom hadn’t visited yet. We took the shortcut in to take her right to the tulip garden (which was even more stunning on our second visit!). I guess it was a live music night because the lawn was packed with people on loungers, and the smaller stages featured some diverse performances (including a really interesting country music one!). We sat out and watched the amusement park around us. It was the perfect end to our last full day.

 

 

 

 

 

When we couldn’t avoid going back to the hotel any longer, we headed back to the bus stop to catch the 34 back to the hotel, where we packed, we watched a lot of CNN and some Scandinavian version of Jersey Shore before drowning ourselves in last minute embarkation and port research. It felt like our trip had already gone on for forever and simultaneously had never really started. I guess we were living in the perfect middle for the next few days.

 

[Nicole721]

Great review so far and really looking forward to the rest. We are doing this cruise in July on Breakaway. :D

 

Thank you! I hope you're treated to the same wonderful weather we had throughout our trip!

 

 

another thing I hate about Heathrow even if you in same terminal

We flew British airways Miami to Heathrow and then a domestic transfer also with British Airways back to Newcastle airport all within terminal 5

However flight connections route meant had to go through security again with the 100ml fluid restrictions and body and hand luggage screening which took ages

just as well we hadn't bought alcohol duty free at Miami or that could have been confiscated being over 100ml

 

I'd do a bit of investigation as to how your transfer will work and if this will happen to you

 

We're planning on it -- the first time we flew to Barcelona, we were connecting through Heathrow and our flight from Chicago was so delayed that we missed both our original flight and the first flight they rebooked us on! I was in an oh-my-god-am-I-ever-going-to-get-to-Barcelona haze, but I think we were in the same terminal and we needed to circuit through both customs and security, but if I remember correctly, it shortcuts when you don't have to change terminals (...at least, that's what I'm hoping for! I'll have my running shoes on just in case :D)

[fastpitchdad]

We are thinking of a Baltic cruise as well so looking forward to this...though we are hoping for one with Riga as one of the ports of call.

 

LHR can be an interesting challenge. I probably would have gotten a hotel although my wife and I once had a 20 hour layover in London ahead of a connecting flight to BCN and got a hotel. We overslept and woke up at 11AM for a 12PM flight (and this was ahead of Mobile World Congress...so alternate flights would have been extremely difficult).

 

Could your OW status gotten you into an arrival lounge?

 

I agree about the 787...fantastic in business class (although what plane isn't?) but uncomfortable in coach and E+. I think what they say about the humidity leaving your more refreshed on arrival is true though which probably makes it worth it.

 

Looking forward to what you thought of the other stops...from that list I have only been to HEL (well CPH I guess but I always only took the train across the bridge to Sweden...and Paris but not sure if you will include that).

Edited January 14, 2018 by fastpitchdad

[bbyost]

Really enjoying your review! Trying to decide when I can book a Baltic cruise and your review makes me want to do it now, and you haven't even posted the cruise portion!!

[Keith1010]

Your review and those beautiful photos is truly amazing.

Keith

[SenatorsFan]

Hi, Nicole, it's nice to see you back with some more wonderful pictures and a great narrative. Hope you enjoyed Getaway; we sailed on her in the Caribbean in July '15 and had a great time. :)

Heather

[debenson0723]

Loving your review! I did this cruise in May 2017 (so before you, I think) but boarded in Warnemunde and debarked in CPH, so spent my time there after the cruise (then onto Norway for a few days). Your stunning photos are bringing back great memories. Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

[Kealy]

Enjoying your trip report. You're off to a fantastic start! Eager to read more.

[Nicole721]

We are thinking of a Baltic cruise as well so looking forward to this...though we are hoping for one with Riga as one of the ports of call.

 

LHR can be an interesting challenge. I probably would have gotten a hotel although my wife and I once had a 20 hour layover in London ahead of a connecting flight to BCN and got a hotel. We overslept and woke up at 11AM for a 12PM flight (and this was ahead of Mobile World Congress...so alternate flights would have been extremely difficult).

 

Could your OW status gotten you into an arrival lounge?

 

I agree about the 787...fantastic in business class (although what plane isn't?) but uncomfortable in coach and E+. I think what they say about the humidity leaving your more refreshed on arrival is true though which probably makes it worth it.

 

Looking forward to what you thought of the other stops...from that list I have only been to HEL (well CPH I guess but I always only took the train across the bridge to Sweden...and Paris but not sure if you will include that).

 

All of the arrivals lounges were closed by the time we landed (n)

 

((And Riga is on my list, too! A great excuse to do another Baltics cruise ;)))

 

 

Really enjoying your review! Trying to decide when I can book a Baltic cruise and your review makes me want to do it now, and you haven't even posted the cruise portion!!

 

I can't recommend it enough, Brenda!

[Nicole721]

Your review and those beautiful photos is truly amazing.

Keith

 

Thanks, Keith! So glad you're enjoying them!

 

 

Hi, Nicole, it's nice to see you back with some more wonderful pictures and a great narrative. Hope you enjoyed Getaway; we sailed on her in the Caribbean in July '15 and had a great time. :)

Heather

 

Hiya Heather! We *loved* the Getaway! A little odd to sail on a Miami-themed ship through Europe, but hey -- part of the fun :D

[Nicole721]

Loving your review! I did this cruise in May 2017 (so before you, I think) but boarded in Warnemunde and debarked in CPH, so spent my time there after the cruise (then onto Norway for a few days). Your stunning photos are bringing back great memories. Can't wait to read the rest of your review.

 

Ours was in May, too! When did you sail?

 

 

Enjoying your trip report. You're off to a fantastic start! Eager to read more.

 

Thank you!!

[Nicole721]

Day 5: Embarkation

 

It’s kind of hard to believe that it took us 13 years of cruising and 20+ cruises to book our first cruise on Norwegian.

 

I’m not entirely sure why it took so long – everything about the concept of freestyle cruising appeals to us and Norwegian builds some pretty cool ships. But we didn’t book this cruise just to try Norwegian. We booked this cruise because Royal Caribbean and Carnival weren’t offering this kind of itinerary. Trying out NCL for the first time was an added bonus.

 

We woke up to cloudy, gray skies in Copenhagen. Cold with bursts of drizzle. Not ideal sail away weather, but when I bartered with the cosmos in my head about the weather forecasts, I had much rather have cold, dreary weather on the day we sailed away than on the days we were out exploring Copenhagen, so I wasn’t complaining.

 

And on the topic of Copenhagen, I was so, so sad to leave it. All of the worrying I wouldn’t like it as much as I do Barcelona and the other European ports we’d visited were for naught – Copenhagen is nothing short of wonderful (even if I still can’t pronounce any words in Danish or really understand the concept of Hygge. I did leave, however, with the ability to roughly convert Krones to Dollars).

 

Our documents had mentioned that boarding wouldn’t start until noon, so we didn’t rush through our morning. Stephanie wasn’t feeling well, so we mostly took it easy, but the excitement to get onboard was too much. Hotel checkout time was at noon, but we checked out a few hours early and got a head start on our cruise adventure. We weren’t sure how long it would take to get to the port or to check in, so we wanted to give ourselves enough time, cognizant of the fact that being first time cruisers on Norwegian meant no special line and no priority embarkation.

 

 

The hotel concierge called a cab for us to ensure we’d get one large enough to fit the ridiculous amount of luggage we were carrying across the Baltics with us. We noticed many other cruisers were waiting for their taxi’s, having also chosen the Tivoli Hotel for their pre-cruise stay and, as long as you can manage with the thin mattress, I highly recommend it (if for nothing else, the clean and modern accommodations, the centralized location and the replica Little Mermaid statue in the lobby).

 

 

Our cab driver came to find us with our room number written on a white board (total VIP style, right?), packed up our luggage and we drove off, leaving the Tivoli in the rearview mirror. The ride from our hotel to the port was around 20 minutes and cost 271 Krone, which converts to roughly $40 (per my converter app – four days in Denmark only taught me to divide Krones by 7 to get USD, and I’m not that good at math).

 

We pulled up to the cruise terminal at Oceankaj just before 11:00 am. Norwegian had secured two terminals for boarding to expedite the process (the Getaway is a super ship and over 3700 passengers were boarding in Copenhagen) and we were dropped off at Terminal 2, as NCL had assigned us on our documents. There were no baggage porters to handle luggage right out of the car. Instead, passengers had to take their own luggage in and place it onto a conveyor belt for security and sorting. And, of course, the conveyor belt had broken as we had walked in, so we stood there for about 15 minutes while they fixed it.

 

Thankfully, it was all smooth sailing from there (and thankfully x2, Oceankaj has free wifi). We walked right through security, there was no line to check in (there were at least ten agents doing check in at this terminal and I imagine an equal amount at the other) and we were seated in the terminal within a half hour of arrival.

 

Haven passengers had a separate seating area next to the boarding door with all kinds of beverages and snacks. Sailing in a balcony cabin only got us a few seats in the general boarding area, where they had coffee, tea and water, but we weren’t complaining. Before boarding began, agents came through to pass out boarding numbers to everyone seated in the terminal, and we were assigned Group 2. Boarding went quickly and we were walking onto the ship by 11:45.

 

 

 

We boarded through Deck 0, so our first impression of Norwegian wasn’t of a grand atrium or a spirited casino. In fact, our first impression was that two of our three sail and sign cards didn’t work and we were those people holding up security as they tried to figure out why our cards weren’t pinging. Sorry, everyone behind us.

 

 

The security issue was quickly resolved and we were ushered into an elevator to go up to deck 15 for lunch. The first thing I noticed was that everything was very orderly and thought out – even at boarding, the elevators were cordoned off to control for traffic. And the elevators, themselves, were deeper than standard elevators.

 

[Nicole721]

We had a choice of a few places for lunch but we settled on the Garden Café, the standard buffet. Even with all of our research, it was going to take us a few days to really get used to this whole freestyle thing. I’m all for options, but put too many in front of me and I become indecisive. The Garden Café was a solid choice, though, because it literally might have been the most expansive buffet I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. Asian food, Indian food, a grill, a salad bar, hand scooped ice cream, build your own sandwiches, did I mention hand scooped ice cream? And the CHEESE! So much cheese! And even better was the fact that everything we tried was absolutely delicious.

 

Why did it take us so long to book a Norwegian cruise again?!

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Staterooms wouldn’t be ready until 1:30 pm – that took some getting used to. Our Platinum status on Carnival has our room ready at boarding, and we find it super convenient to be able to drop our bags off at the room so we can go explore the ship without our carry luggage weighing us down. Instead, we took turns walking around. The Getaway has a rock wall (like Royal Caribbean) and some pretty baller water slides (like Carnival), but it also has a Margaritaville (!!!!!), two pools and four main hot tubs (two specifically designated as adults only). I wasn’t sure we’d find much use for any of these things on a port intensive cruise through the Baltics, but it was fun to compare this ship to the ships we’ve sailed the past.