cardbucfan

Trying to discuss a tour in our roll call and my posts with the link or even just talking about it are all going to review. What’s up with that? I understand not posting them in the Port section but this is our Roll Call.

Great review-thanks for posting! I’ve always wanted to do this cruise but other trips keep getting in the way. It just moved up on the list!

@Tom O.-we'll be one day behind you for most of the ports! We go right to Warnemunde after Copenhagen then hit all those same ports. So we'll be in Copenhagen the same time lol.  We are getting in 2 days before the cruise but flying out on the 19th.  What about you?

@DebQ5-have no fear- I always do a review!  (Don't usually include the Dailies though so I'll try to remember to do that this time).

Thanks @Travelanni-that’s where I’m leaning. We are using Best Guides in St. Petersburg so would definitely use them. Our cruise is round trip out of Copenhagen and flights are booked giving us a couple of days in Copenhagen pre-cruise and an overnight in London at the end so Berlin isn’t an option. I always look at cruises as an opportunity to “taste” a place and see if it warrants a full trip. I’d love to do a full trip to Germany-just so many places on the bucket list and so little time!!

2 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

OK, Just asking because we are on the Zuiderdam which will be visiting Tallinn, and it departs Copenhagen on Aug. 9! A bit of a coincidence. 

What's the rest of your itinerary?!

We leave Copenhagen on the 9th as well!

Thanks @dogs4fun-I got it!!

@Tom O.-we are not.  We are on the NCL Escape.  I've sailed on the Zuiderdam before though (long time!) and really enjoyed it though!

Thank you for all the wonderful information!

I have a question and I know the answer is very subjective but I'm hoping you all will give me your opinions.

My friend and I are sailing in August and will be in Warnemunde on a Monday (so Schwerin is closed).  We've looked at the Friends of Dave tour and it looks great but neither of us has ever been to Berlin before (and honestly don't know when/if we will).  I know that Berlin is far from Warnemunde and I am also aware that it's a great city and really requires more than a 6 hours to "do it".  But I'm having a really hard time passing up the opportunity to see it!  I love history and typically don't "go back" to places.  

Can you all help me with this decision with the pros/cons as you see them?

Thanks in advance!

On 12/23/2019 at 8:25 AM, dogs4fun said:

I found the walking tour that we used on our first visit to Tallinn. It provides walking directions from port, hits all of the high points of the old town & includes photos. If you would like a copy of the PDF, email me (address included in signature).

 

@dogs4fun-I sent you an email as well.  We are sailing August 9 and are trying to nail down all of our port activities.

Thanks so much for your offer!

I'd secure them like you would if you were flying.  Both for theft and breakage. 

I remember a couple on our Med cruise on the Spirit a couple of years ago who were incensed they couldn't go see the David in Florence.  It was 100% NCL's fault.  I tried explaining nicely to them that we were in port on a Monday and the research I did pre-cruise let me know that it's closed on Monday.  Nope.  They didn't buy it.  And they waited until they were on board to book excursions.  SMDH.

Thanks @FredZiffle! I look forward to hearing your report when you get back! 

3 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

 

lol.  I'm using my IHG credit card points as well.  Let me know if you need the specifics on using public transportation from the hotel to the port.

Oh, that would be wonderful!  We aren't cruising until next August but our flight gets in around 9:00 p.m. and I know we'll be stupid tired by then (have a planned 9 hour layover in Amsterdam first!). I was really hoping there would be a Hilton as I have a ton of Hilton points but there aren't any in the whole country!

@FredZiffle-thanks for this.  I have free night certificates from my IHG credit cards and could use them there but it seemed so far away from everything for just 2 nights. I usually prefer boutique hotels but free is a better option!

I've sailed most of the mainstream lines (RCCL, HAL, CCL, Princess and NCL) and truly find them more similar than different.  I've not sailed the Joy so can't speak to that.  I cruise to get a taste of places to see where I might like to have a land vacation.  I've found that the food in the MDR on all the lines is similar-some very good, some awful but most at least edible.  I certainly never starved.  I find NCL to be more affordable than Princess.  I'm doing a 9 day Baltics cruise next year and there was a Princess cruise with a very similar itinerary to NCL but with the "offers" from NCL the Princess cruise would have been close to $2k more pp. I'd certainly give it NCL a try. 

Perfect-thanks for this!

6 hours ago, Danish viking said:

Sorry I was to tired when i posted yesterday, you do indeed need to clear the passport control when flying from Copenhagen to London. 

 

I don't know why I posted otherwise.

 

Sorry if I confused anyone. 

 

 

US pre check will off course happen at London as Hallasm wrote. 

No worries! Thanks for all your advice!

Excellent! Thanks so much!

@hallasm- the ship is scheduled to arrive at 7:00 a.m.  We will have an overnight in London before continuing on to the U.S. So if I'm reading your post correctly, give ourselves minimum of 5 hours from disembarkation to flight time since the UK is not a Schengen country. Right? There's a 1:40 flight. Would that be too tight? We are spending a couple of days in Copenhagen prior to the cruise so I'm OK heading out the day the ship docks.

So leaving Copenhagen would be considered a "domestic" EU flight with no passport control so would need less time at the airport? How easy is the airport to navigate and how early we should get there prior to our flight?

Hey all, our cruise ends in Copenhagen and I'm starting to look at flights.  What's the earliest return flight time you'd recommend? I've searched and keep getting weird results. We will be connecting through London vs the US so don't know if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

Again, thanks!

Thanks for posting. I'm just starting my research for our August 2020 cruise.

@Nola26 and @newmexicoNita, thanks. I’ll look into the shore excursions but I don’t think $50 will go far in Europe. Plus I like the smaller size of independent excursions. I’ll sure try and use it though! I wish they’d give it to you in a lump sum vs a daily amount. It would definitely make me more inclined to use it then.

not a fan of lox so that’s no loss to me!

3 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

It's been the last day for the "Free at Sea" promo every day for the past three years  ..... It never ends. 

The Free for All is different than the Free at Sea (although last time we cruised we could pick the 2 things we wanted for the free at sea whereas it now looks like you don’t have that option). 

Does LeBistro still have the mussels appetizer? I dreamed about those!