First International Trip- any tips?

[NCLGirl2013]

Good morning! My husband and I are booked for a Europe cruise next October/Nov 2023 for our 10 year anniversary cruise 🛳  it has been my husband's dream to go to Europe so I booked it as a surprise for our anniversary 😀  this will be the very first time either of us have ever flown across the ocean and the first time we will be traveling internationally to any of these places. We are very much newbies to this part!

I am posting our itinerary below. We are beyond excited but very nervous too. 

Does anyone have any tips/tricks/suggestions of things you have learned about these ports? Things you would definitely do again or things you would NOT do again?

 

We are flying in 2 days early and flying out 2 days late to give us time to explore the embarkation and disembarking ports as well. 

[GloriaF]

It sounds like a fabulous 10th anniversary!  I'm positive you both will have a wonderful time, no matter exactly what you do in the ports.  There is no way to see everything in a one day visit, so my advice is to decide what most interests you, relax, and enjoy exploring.  

 

Cathedrals are usually free, open to the public and beautiful in every European city, some are almost like a museum.  

 

Often times, the ship's tours are slow - they can only move as fast as the slowest people on the tour, so it feels like we are waiting on the group.  But the flip side is that if you aren't keen on reading up on a port, the tour will point out things of interest.

 

My husband and I enjoy DIY tours, just wandering and rambling and seeing the sights.  We usually have some printed or online info and a map to help us, and we go on what we call a low-key adventure.  No matter what we see or miss, we always have fun together.  

 

This is what we did in the ports we have visited on your itinerary:

Bruges - took a ship sponsored bus for a diy tour.  The bus drops you off and pick you up at a specified time/place.

Amsterdam - we took a diy bus to Rotterdam.

Dublin - we spent a couple weeks in Ireland after our last transatlantic cruise.  With one day in Dublin I would suggest Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and walking through the city on you own, visiting cathedrals, grabbing a pub lunch, etc.

Edited April 3, 2022 by GloriaF

[tony s]

Check out the free walking tours which you only pay a tip especially in Bruge and Dublin. In Belfast hop on hop off as for Le Harve take ship tour to Paris Enjoy 

[phabric]

On disembarkment day

Southampton -  book www.internationalfriends.co.uk. It is cheaper if booked through www.londontoolkit.com.  A Coach tour will pick up at your Southampton ship dock, with stops at Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor then being dropped off at the door of your London hotel.  A great way to see another part of Britain on the way to London.  Purchase the tickets for Stonehenge and Windsor through them to save time at the sites.  I used them 2x and arrived at my London hotel around 6pm.

 

I have stayed at Premier Inn Westminster in London.  The hotel had a bar, restaurant, close to Big Ben, Thamas river, London Eye, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Hop On Hop Off (HOHO), regular bus, 2 tube stations, Waterloo Train station, restaurants, pubs.

 

I have used www.justairports.com, a car service from my London hotel to LHR.

 

Dublin - I took a taxi to Trinity College.  I purchased in advance (a must as tickets were timed) tickets for Book of Kells.  After Book of Kells took the HOHO bus (tickets purchased in advance).  A taxi back to the ship.

 

Belfast - I took www.belfasttoursni.com with stops at Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede rope, Old Bushmills Distillery.

- other people have taken www.paddywagontours.com

 

Paris (Le Havre) - I took a private tour with my Roll Call with

www.overlordtours.com, a tour of Normandy.  Highly recommended on Cruise Cruise past passengers. 

 

Find your Roll Call on Cruise Critic for your NCL cruise.  Join and talk to others on your cruise before your cruise.  Some people book private tours and want others to join to make up the number required to have a private tour.

 

Check when your cruise line air flights become available.  I think around Dec 12, 2022 (330 days + number of extra days (they add a day each day after the the 330) of your disembarkment day.  You can choose flights, airline, dates and times you want.  Usually cheaper than booking direct with airlines and most important you do not pay at final cruise payment.

 

Take out travel insurance that include medical, trip Interruption and trip cancellation.

 

Book your hotels when they become available.  I have found I book early and watch their price and most times the price goes up.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by phabric

[Cotswold Eagle]

Important to realise that, despite cruise line marketing, Warnemünde is nowhere near Berlin and Le Havre is nowhere near Paris. There will be excursions from both ports to the respective cities, but a lot of travelling and there are other things to do much closer to the ports. 

[John Bull]

Currency

Denmark uses the Danish krone (plural kroner)

Northern Ireland (Belfast)  and England use the GB pound £

The Irish Republic (Dublin) and all your other ports use the Euro €

You'll need a small amount of each currency (say $30-worth per couple per day), top-up from an ATM if necessary.  But cards are in common use in all those countries, even for small purchases like a couple of beers or coffees. As well as the convenience of paying by card you'll always get a better exchange rate than than you'll get at cash exchange bureaux. 

Take at least two Visa or Mastercard cards (Amex & DC cards not so widely accepted).#

Cards which don't charge a fee for foreign transactions will save you money - if yours aren't fee-free for forex, ask on here and your fellow-countrymen can suggest some that are.

When using a card you will probably be asked if you would like your card to be charged in USD. Decline that option, always but always get your card charged in local currency because your card issuer will convert at a much better rate. That also makes it easy to check that you've been charged the same as the ticket-price or check. Same applies at ATMs, always but always select to be charged in local currency.

Whilst cards are widely accepted, foreign cash (USD,  Euros in Denmark, GB  in Euroland, etc) are not - and the few outlets which accept foreign cash will do so at extortionate rates.

Altho your cruise will be entirely in European waters, NCL's ship's currency will be in USD throughout.

 

Tips

Tipping isn't at the level of tipping in the States. Its not normal to tip bartenders or room maids, or for say a coffee & a sandwich.

For taxis just round-up the fare.

For guides or long-distance private transfer drivers, 10% tops for a good one, zilch for a poor one. 

Altho' tipping is common for meals,  the norm is  only around 10%, and if the service is poor you shouldn't leave a tip - nobody's going to chase you down the road because you didn't tip.

And check whether there's a service charge in addition to menu prices  -  if there is, laws throughout your ports require that the service charge be displayed before you order, usually somewhere on the menu. If there's a service charge, Europeans don't "double-tip" by also leaving a cash tip.

Tax

Throughout your ports,, tax is included in ticket / menu prices. That's another consumer law.

 

Language

Many locals, and everyone dealing with international visitors, speak  English.

You'll probably have more difficulty  in English-speaking Ireland (both ports) due to Irish accents 😂

 

JB 🙂
 

 

 

 

 

[ontheweb]

Sounds like a great trip, and congratulations on your upcoming 10th anniversary. (We actually did our first cruise, Barcelona to Barcelona, on our 25th anniversary.

 

If you are planning any museum visits, be aware that in many European cities museums are closed on Mondays.

[DRS/NC]

 

Random thoughts (no particular order):

* Go to the Dollar Store & get several disposal ponchos.  Umbrellas are cumbersome on a tour; ponchos can be trashed.

 

* Take a small wallet for each kind of money you need so you can take the 'wallet of the day' in the various ports.  See John Bull's post above.

 

*Comfortable walking shoes, not brand new ones!  Spray them w/waterproofing.

 

*Apply for your passport by Jan. 2023.  Give the govt. plenty of time.

 

*Start researching the various ports NOW; give yourself time to learn all the various possibilities. 

 

*Instead of the 10 hr bus tour to Paris or Berlin (most spent on the bus getting there & back), learn what's near the port -- small medieval cities in France or go to Normandy.  I can't advise about Germany because we took the LONG bus trip to Berlin.  We figured it was our only chance to see the Bandenburg Gate & the remnants of the Wall. We didn't plan to ever be there again. (We weren't).

 

*Northern Ireland/Belfast -- see the Giant's Causeway!  OK, that's my personal favorite.  Do your own research.

* Ireland/Dublin -- see Phabric (above post for great ideas)

 

*Your cruise is port-intensive so enjoy/rest on the sea days.  Sleep in, order Room Service b'fast, do as little (or much) as you wish.

 

You've made me remember our first trip trip to Europe (London/Southern England on our own w/a rental car, June 1968). You'll get lots of good advice here at CC.  ENJOY!  

 

[Wayfairers]

As you are planning what to do at each port take the time to review the trip as a whole to ensure you are varying what you do day to day.  Our first longer cruise was to Hawaii/South Pacific and we hadn’t seen many volcanos then so I researched each port and booked volcanic related excursions on many of them  ….got so tired of volcanoes and we could have led the tour by the 3rd tour because the commentary was the same. 
 

Also we get touring and info overload if we take a tour more than 2 days in a row so I pick the things we really want to see then plan wandering town days too.  Not sure if that will apply to you. 
 

I’ve started using an envelope for each port.  On the outside I write the port, date, our plans, currency used, normal tipping rates and if we need to hit an ATM for local currency then how much we need to withdraw.   Everything I need for that port is inside.   Printed tour info.   If I’ve planned a private tour….Cash to pay the tour organizer (or tour guide if I organized) and a cash tip for the tour guide/driver. And I add local currency needed at that port after hitting the ATM .  If I’m with a ship tour…tickets for the tour and cash for tips.  If we are exploring on our own….map and info for self guided walking tour that hits spots we want to see (that we may or may not follow) and any tickets I pre-bought.   I also have an envelope for each type of currency to be used and any extra goes in there.  All envelopes are kept in the safe and pull out the one we need each day.  So much simpler than trying to figure everything out morning of the tour or frantically searching for tickets or paperwork. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Wayfairers

[gnome12]

15 minutes ago, Wayfairers said:

I’ve started using an envelope for each port.  On the outside I write the port, date, our plans, currency used, normal tipping rates and if we need to hit an ATM for local currency then how much we need to withdraw.   Everything I need for that port is inside.   Printed tour info.   If I’ve planned a private tour….Cash to pay the tour organizer (or tour guide if I organized) and a cash tip for the tour guide/driver. And I add local currency needed at that port after hitting the ATM .  If I’m with a ship tour…tickets for the tour and cash for tips.  If we are exploring on our own….map and info for self guided walking tour that hits spots we want to see (that we may or may not follow) and any tickets I pre-bought.   I also have an envelope for each type of currency to be used and any extra goes in there.  All envelopes are kept in the safe and pull out the one we need each day.  So much simpler than trying to figure everything out morning of the tour or frantically searching for tickets or paperwork.

I'm impressed! It makes a lot of sense.

[Wayfairers]

20 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I'm impressed! It makes a lot of sense.

Thanks!  Prep does take a little time, but worth it for me. 

[AndyB]

So excited for you on your first European cruise!!

 

Make sure to join the Roll Call for your sailing.  For European cruises in particular, it's a great way to build up your excitement for the cruise, meet others, and find tour shares - for when you don't want to be tied to the cruise line's excursions but maybe are nervous to do it on your own.

 

I'll also echo JB's advice about having some cash in hand.  Yes, most places do take cards, but you don't want to be at the shop that has the one thing you want to buy, but their machine is down or whatever.

 

A few port notes:

 

Brussels/Bruges - Like the Paris stop which is actually a good ways from Paris, you'll spend a lot of your day on the road if you choose Brussels.  We spend a lovely day in Bruges, with just a half hour ride to get there - joined up with a few from our roll call to book a private van with a timed pickup to get us back to the ship.  Bruges is very walkable and also offers canal tours for a different perspective.  It's an easy "DIY" town.

 

Dublin - also very easy to do on your own; the HOHO bus is a good option here; will get you to all the major sights and you can linger at the places that interest you.

 

LeHavre - if your heart is set on being in Paris, you can certainly see a few major sites, but as others have noted, it's a lot of bus/car time to get there.  If you're not taking a tour, HOHO bus works well in Paris too.  It's doable, but it's a long day. But, you've got a sea day afterwards to rest up.  Lots to see in Normandy as well, though - Caen, Rouen, Bayeux, etc.

 

Always remember, you can do each port differently - ship tour, private tour, just exploring on your own.  You've got plenty of time to plan, and that will only increase your excitement.  Have a wonderful time!!

 

[BuckeyeMark]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:16 AM, Wayfairers said:

Thanks!  Prep does take a little time, but worth it for me. 

Wow - there should be an award on CC for genius ideas.  Envelope of the Day would most definitely win. Thank you!

[Wayfairers]

12 hours ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Wow - there should be an award on CC for genius ideas.  Envelope of the Day would most definitely win. Thank you!

Thank you!   You made my day…hope the idea is helpful for you. 

[nini]

I was also going to write about currency. We are AAA members and went to one of the office locations to obtain foreign currency. We used it for transfers, small purchases and gratuities. If we needed more cash, we have a credit/ debit card which does not  charge any fees in foreign ATM's.I

 

Also, if your  cruise is departing from Copenhagen, your flight(s) may involve a connection, please be aware of having a sufficient time for that. We had never been to Europe and had a connection in London to Rome. We booked through the cruise line and thought we might miss our next flight! It was a bit stressful.

 

Also consider booking air through your cruise line. Go to the "Cruise Air" forum and there is a wealth of information there with very experienced fliers.I

 

And finally, join your "Roll Call" for your cruise. We were able to book private shore excursions with other cruisers and get better quality and rates.

[John Bull]

On 4/7/2022 at 2:38 PM, Wayfairers said:

Our first longer cruise was to Hawaii/South Pacific and we hadn’t seen many volcanos then so I researched each port and booked volcanic related excursions on many of them  ….got so tired of volcanoes and we could have led the tour by the 3rd tour because the commentary was the same. 
 

 

We made much the same mistake on a 28-day cruise in SE Asia - it wasn't long before we were templed-out. 😂

 

But the OP has a much more varied itinerary 🙂

A few port notes...........

 

Copenhagen

Consider a longish but pleasant waterside walk from Nyhavn (lots of harbourfront bars) to the Amalienborg palace complex and  the "kastellet" earthwork fortification, to the Little Mermaid at the start of the Langelinie quay (and she really is little, so rather than looking for her look for a group of tourists taking photos).

Boat trips and the water bus available from Nyhavn   https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/harbour-bus-gdk447302

You'll probably be berthed at the newish cruise terminal outside the city, requiring transportation to your ship.

 

Berlin (Warnemunde)

As per the Eagle's post, you'll have to get used to cruise lines' misleading destination names.🙄 Warnemunde is 3 hours from Berlin.

Because ships don't usually sail away from Warnemunde until mid-evening, visiting Berlin is possible but you'd need transportation in Berlin as well as to Berlin because public transportation or hop-on buses between sights won't work in the limited time-scale.  So it needs a tour, either a ship's tour or private tour.

Since a port-of-call visit from Warnemunde is so brief in a city worth several days, my advice is that if you expect to be able to visit Berlin at some time in the future put it on a back-burner and visit more-local places like Rostok. But if the prospects of a "proper" visit to Berlin in the future are slim-to-nil then take this opportunity.

 

Amsterdam

....... is very easy to DIY on foot.

But do include a canal cruise, lots of inexpensive glass-topped tour boats for a one to one-and-a-half hour tour. We much-preferred the small open eco-boats - but  the web seems to suggest that nowadays you have to book the whole boat, which means finding sharers via your RollCall, something I'd advise a newbie against.

 

Brussels (Bruges)

Brussels is about an hour away by train. But it's a commercial city & home to the European Union administration, with very little of interest to a tourist.

Your port is actually Zeebrugge, about 8 miles from Bruges (also spelt Brugge), a historic cobbled city and definitely the place to visit. Again very easy to DIY, but you need transportation from the port.

By train involves a ship's shuttle from the port to the train station at Blankenberge, and altho the train ride takes about ten minutes its only an hourly service so you could lose valuable time. There's an independent transfer bus from Zeebrugge to Bruges or (more expensive) the ship's "Bruges on your own" transfer bus. By bus or by train involves a walk of 15 to 20 minutes to the cobbled centre. Or by pre-booked taxi or van - a shared taxi / van (check your cruise's RollCall for fellow-cruisers seeking sharers, as per AndyB's post)  is economical, and can drop you in the centre of Bruges.

 

Paris (Le Havre)

Same routine and advice as for Berlin.

But there are better local options than for Warnemunde, notably the D-Day beaches and sights.

For D-Day, public transport doesn't work, you need either a tour or a rental car. Ships offer D-Day tours, or look for sharing opportunities on your RollCall.

Overlord is the most highly-recommended tour operator.  As well as bookings by the van, they do offer seat-in-bus tours from cruise ships - those seat-in-bus tours spend half the day in Bayeux, an attractive & historic little city, but with no D-Day connections. Overlord does book-out early. https://www.overlordtour.com/product/tours-from-cruise-ports-9b/?cn-reloaded=1

 

London (Southampton)

Again mis-leading, Southampton is about 80 mile / 90 minutes by train from London.

England is more than just London (in fact to most of us London is on a different planet 😂), and there are plenty of day-trip options from Southampton

But London is a bit of a must-see for international visitors, you're going to have to fly from a London airport anyway, and you've given yourselves just about enough time to make a decent fist of seeing that big bad city

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by John Bull

[joyy7403]

I don’t want to be mean when I say this, but don’t be an Ugly American, like some will refer to some of us.  Try to learn please, thank you, hello, in their language if possible. Smile! Some people expect everything should be the same as the US.some things are much better! I love seeing dogs lying under their owner’s chairs in the cafes! I love talking to the people we meet on the streets! You will find the world is so much smaller the more you travel. And we are all alike, we love our home country. Enjoy!

[couplelovestravel]

All these ports are great.  Number one suggestion I have is to try to eliminate bringing a checked bag so you do not have to be concerned about lost baggage.  If unable to do this, make sure you pack your most important items and a lot of your clothing in your carry-on bag, including coats or anything you may need for the weather.  We found this out the hard way when visiting London and all our cold weather gear, including coats were in our checked bag, which got lost. (we did get it 3 days later).  I hope you are staying in London for your last few days.  There is so much to do in London.  My favorite city.  Copenhagen:  look into a free walking tour.  We did Copenhagen free walking tour and had Jared as a guide, best guide we have ever had.  Also do a boat ride. Belgium:  Bruges and Ghent are charming cities.  Google transportation.  I believe there is a bus you can take from port that is much cheaper than cruise, but I do not still have information.  We are doing Flanders Fields.  We have been before and the area is beautiful.  Berlin:  this is over a 3 hour train ride from where we dock.  Unless you really want to see Berlin, I personally do not feel like it is worth it.  Paris:  unsure what excursions they are offering.  Versailles is a nice place to visit, as well as Normandy.  Of course a day in Paris is a great option.  Belfast we are doing an excursion to Giant's Causeway with Odyssey tours.  Dublin we are doing HOHO bus.  Dublin is a great city.  We also did a free walking tour here as well.  Also Guinness is located here and does tours.  London, Buckingham Palace is doing tour through October, Parliament tours, Westminister Abbey, Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Jack the Ripper tour, London Eye, British Museum (free and they have everything from other countries that these countries want back, i.e. Rome and Egypt).  Go to the direct websites and do not look on Viator and Get Your Guide.  You can book your own tours through websites.  For instance I am booking Buckingham Palace tour right now at tickets.rct.uk.  Have a great anniversary. You will have a blast.  We are doing a similar cruise in August and I have already visited most of these ports.