FraudBroad

This review, by far, is one of the best I've ever read! Keep it coming..

Oh my gosh...thanks so much...hope I can live up to your expectation! Thanks for following along!

Love love your review [emoji7]we are doing the Baltic but different cruise line in August and I am the same age as you and love modern history, the Czars, WW 1 and 2 and Cold War. The excitement you had arriving in Berlin and St Petersburg is what I am feeling right now and I cannot wait until I am walking off the ship and stepping onto Russian soil. Keep this fantastic review going it is the best I have ever read and you should publish it on the Ports thread as well and maybe even the Celebrity thread [emoji6]

 

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You are so kind! And yes, we have a lot in common! Same as you...Stepping onto Russian soil, for me, was just amazing. Never in my life did I think I'd do that!

You learn SO MUCH history throughout the Baltic that I need a vacation from my vacation to give my brain a rest...total overload and worth every stinking minute!!!

St Petersburg

We were up early today as we’d arrived at the crown jewel of the Baltic….St Petersburg.

And there was the really funny looking big, huge orange ball in the sky…foreign looking to everyone…then somebody remember it was called the SUN. YES…here we were in the jewel of the Baltic on a SUNNY day!

We’d arranged to meet our tour group (my six then 5 others from Cruise Critic) in the IC at 7:15. We’d reserved a private tour with TJ’s and were anxious to get going. As soon as we stood up to leave we heard those words…again…

“I’ve got to pee.”

Shockingly enough, it wasn’t either my mother or aunt. This time it was every single, solitary, man in the group. All over 55 years of age, all have prostates, all have to pee as soon as they stand up.

We walked into the terminal and stood in line for 10 minutes before we were called up to Passport Control. The review your passport, make you look straight again at them to get a good look, type something on their computer and then you’re free to go. From the time we left the ship until the time all 11 of us were through immigration it took less than 15 minutes. We were finally, OFFICIALLY, in RUSSIA!!!

A representative from TJ’s was waiting inside the terminal and directed us to walk outside to the left, across the street. There we were greeted by our guide for the next two days, Inna. Our driver would be Oleg and somehow it seemed appropriate to spend our time in Russia with Inna and Oleg.

Inna let us all know that the bus was equipped with free wifi. The giddiness that crossed the faces of my kids was unmistakable. Who cares if we are in Russia Mom…we’ve got free wifi!!! WOO HOO!!!!

We made our way into downtown St Petersburg and I was snapping pictures like crazy…of everything, of like really nothing at all…I think I was a little over excited. I mean seriously, I grew up during the cold war and never in my life did I imagine I’d step foot on Russian soil, yet here I was…with my darling baby girls, who could really care less and weren’t so impressed that they were in Russia.

I finally put the phone away and listed as Inna began to read the itinerary for the day. With the beautiful weather out I could hardly contain myself. The itinerary TJ’s had said pre-cruise stated that day one we’d be going to Catherine’s Palace and Peterhof. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the beauty of Peterhof with the shining sun…it was going to be spectacular!!!

Off in my own world daydreaming, thinking of what was to come…somewhere in my subconscious I heard Inna say “special opening of the Hermitage this afternoon….”

Huh? What? Hermitage? That’s inside…it’s sunny…it’s beautiful…today we are to go to Peterhof….

And my hopes and dreams were dashed and stepped on and crushed into tiny, million, billion, and gazillion pieces. We wouldn’t go to Peterhof until tomorrow…when you guessed it, it was going to rain!!!!!!!

It was a Monday, the Hermitage was supposed to be closed, but due to the large number of ships in port they were doing a special opening for tour groups. Now I know there are a LOT of art lovers out there…and some of you may not want to hear this (cover you ears) but I am not one of them. I’ve never understood art, been interested in art, learned to appreciate art. We all have our weird little quirks and this is just mine.

I will say it loud and proud…I AM NOT AN ART LOVER

There, I’m done, speech over…peace out.

Needless to say when I learned that we would NOT be going to Peterhof on this simply gorgeous, beautiful, PERFECT day…the first one of its kind on this trip….my hopes, dreams and all desires for the future were crushed. Again, crushed…into a million, billion, gazillion tiny pieces…just crushed.

We drove through St Petersburg as Inna pointed out the sights; the Hermitage, the Winter Palace, St Isaac’s Cathedral, Church of the Spilt Blood, the Bronze Horseman, General Staff Building, Rostral Column, Neva River and Peter and Paul Fortress. We all looked at and picked out every Subway, Burger King, McDonald’s and Starbucks we could see. We stopped briefly by the Neva River for a quick photo op before heading back into the van for our drive to Catherine’s Palace. The drive would take almost an hour.

Once we arrived Inna had us wait while she went and got the tickets. A band was playing as we walked towards the palace, and even played the National Anthem. To which my sweet mamma stopped in the street, put her hand over her heart and stood at attention until the band was done playing. Keep in mind, we are still in Russia.

We waited 15 minutes for Inna to secure our tickets and then we stood in line…in the bright sun…crushed together with a mass of humanity…and waited…and waited…and waited…and I got a sun burn…and we waited…and waited…After almost an hour we were finally cleared/approved/blessed to enter the grounds of Catherine’s Palace.

To say the Palace is magnificent would be a complete understatement. Maybe ostentatious, flashy, showy, brazen, flamboyant, grandiose? Take your pick. The place is freaking unbelievable. We spent over an hour walking through the various rooms admiring not only the artwork and furnishing, but moldings in solid gold that went on forever, doors that looked to be 20 feet tall and hardwood flooring inlayed with 16 different kinds of wood. It wasn’t hard to imagine why the Russian people finally overthrew the Czars. While the palace was lovely, and amazing, and I’m thrilled that we visited, I can see how the Russian’s felt the way the Czars lived was pretentious as best.

And then, I head these words…

“Look mom, there’s a penis!”

I know…they’re monsters…total monsters….

We wandered the grounds for a bit before getting back in the van. Inna told us that instead of going to a restaurant for lunch we’d pick something up and eat at a park. Well, between the wait to get into the palace and the wait for the food we ended up just eating in the van as we made our way back to the city.

Lunch consisted of a salad, steamed veggies, fried potatoes and rubbery chicken. I mean like REALLY rubbery chicken. If I’d thrown it on the ground it would have bounced back at me!

After about an hour we arrived at the Hermitage. Art lovers rejoiced at the site of the magnificent edifice. Again, we waited as Inna picked up our tickets and then we were able to head through the turn styles and begin our Hermitage adventure.

We started by seeing several rooms of the winter palace…oh hey wait a minute…I forgot the most important part…

There was no line.

I mean THERE WAS NO LINE.

We were the ONLY group there.

I mean the ONLY GROUP THERE.

Nobody but us.

Seriously, nobody but us.

It was almost weird. I’d read so much about the Hermitage being so crowded that a fitbit wouldn’t pick up any steps because you would shuffle your way through the entire visit. Not this time…It was just US.

The architecture, moldings, wall covering and sculptures throughout the Hermitage are amazing. Oh, and they da Vinci, Renoir and Rembrandt as well. My aunt drooled over Rembrandt’s “Prodigal Son.” Everyone seemed so excited…my kids looked like they were ready for bed.

Once we were done exploring the Hermitage (I think we were there a little over 2 hours) we were off to see Church of the Spilt Blood. The church got its name because it was built on the site where Alexander II died after being attacked by terrorist. Inside the church they even have the stones on which he laid before his death.

Before getting out of the van Inna warned us to leave any purses on the van. This site is known to be teaming with pick pockets and nobody wanted to take a chance on that. We did as we said and left everything in the van.

We entered the church quickly, only had to wait a few moments for Inna to pick up the tickets. For myself, I will say this church was one of the highlights. The mosaics inside the church as downright amazing. The artistry is second to none…we were all in awe. Except for my kids...who've now threatened me within a in of my life if I EVER take them ANYWHERE to see mosaics EVER again...ever...

It’s interesting to note this is a working church and they have services once a week. And there are no pews. You heard me…no pews…no place to sit, cop a squat, or relax. You stand through the entire service.

Once finished with the church we headed over to the Faberge Museum. This was the highlight for my sweet mamma. That lady REALLY wanted to see Imperial Eggs, and she wasn’t disappointed. The Faberge Museum is only a few years old. It was opened when a wealthy Russian purchased all of the eggs from the family of Malcom Forbes. There are a total of 9 Imperial eggs in the museum in St Petersburg while others are housed in the Armory in Moscow. They don’t know how many others are in hands of private collectors. All in all, 50 eggs were made by Faberge for the royal family.

In addition to eggs, the museum's collection contains more than 4,000 works of decorative applied and fine arts, including gold and silver items, paintings, porcelain and bronze. We looked through several rooms before entering the room with all of the eggs.

I particularly liked the Bay Tree eggs with its intricate leaves made of jade. But I’ve got to say all of the eggs were impressive! Except to my kids...who actually told me they thought the eggs were "stupid." Seriously...the said stupid...I'm still shaking my head...

We spent over an hour in the museum and it was pushing 6:00. It was time to leave and meet up with our evening guide because 10 hours of St Petersburg isn’t enough, there’s much more to see. My parents cried “Uncle” and fled back to the ship while my aunt, kids and another couple from the group stayed for the evening portion. We’d booked the “Russian Experience” that consisted of walking along Nevsky Prospect and tasting some vodka.

TJ’s, the tour company, had told me up front that we wouldn’t have time to return to the ship, that we’d have to go straight to the evening tour. They assured me that we could have dinner in town prior to starting the tour.

We met up with our evening guide, Steve, who was raring to go. As we started to walk and Steve started giving us more lectures on Russian history and I came to a stop. I looked at Steve and said “Dude, you need to give us a break. Everyone is overwhelmed, tired and hungry. We were told we could have dinner prior to starting the evening portion. Pretty please can you find us someplace to have a beer?”

And with that I hijacked Steve’s evening “Russian Experience” Tour. In reality, Steve was super nice. We explained to him that we just needed a rest and then we’d be good to go. He was more than willing to just chill for a bit.

We found an outside café and ordered a round of beer (coke for the kiddos), cheese plates, garlic bread and fried mushrooms. We had a great conversation with Steve who was more than willing to share with us about life in St Petersburg. He told us he lived outside the city as still over 30% of apartment buildings in downtown St Petersburg were communal; they shared both a kitchen and a bath.

Once finished with our break Steve was kind enough to take us to a souvenir shop. There wouldn’t be time the next day to shop and I had it on my list to get some Matryoshka dolls. They had them on the ship but they started at $300 and went up from there…too rich for my blood.

We spent almost 30 minutes in the shop. I found my dolls, my kids found shot glasses and once again all was right with the world. We continued out walk down Nevsky Prospect with Steven spewing gobs of Russian History and pointing out important buildings.

Around 8:00 we arrived at out last stop, a small restaurant that was prepared with snacks and a vodka tasting. The “snacks” consisted of open sandwiches with either salmon, caviar or cucumber and salami. I don’t think any of us touched the caviar…just not our cup of tea.

We tasted 4 different Russian vodka’s in all. That means we did for shots of Russian Vodka. Remember the rubbery chicken for lunch? I don’t think anyone ate much of that….and the cheese platter and garlic bread didn’t go far. The 6 of us each did 4 shots of vodka on virtually empty stomachs.

I wish I could tell you more about the evening but I just don’t remember.

The van brought us back to the ship, we waited about 5 minutes to get through the immigration line and while we were headed back to the ship my oldest threw up. At least I know she’s prepared for college.

It was a bit after 10 when we got back on-board, all tired and downright exhausted from our first day in St Petersburg. We had another 8 hours to look forward to the next day.

Coming up…St Petersburg day 2

Sea Day

The sea day was, if I remember correctly, fun yet uneventful.

I started the day with my sweet mamma at morning trivia. I don’t recall if this was the session that my team won or not. I ended the cruise with two bottles of Champagne (yes/no game show and sound effects person) and a pen so I know at some point I won some type of trivia I just haven’t a clue which one.

I checked out the on-board shopping, spent some time in the casino, lunch in Alfredo’s then it was time for afternoon trivia. After which I stopped by the Princess Live Bar to check up on the kiddos (it’s great when they’re being looked after well by the bartenders) and before I knew it it was time to get ready for our daily cocktail hour in Club Six.

Tonight was formal night (the first of two, second is Helsinki night) and after cocktails I had made reservations for the Crab Shack for me and the kiddos. It was an immense amount of food. They start by bringing you Manhattan clam chowder and a huge bowl of hush puppies and fried shrimp. The shrimp is HUMUNGOUS…and super yummy…I just love fried shrimp. We all chose the crab boil with the King Crab Legs and were not disappointed.

I’ll be honest and say it was a bit salty, but we were all stuffed and had a lovely dinner. Surprisingly, both girls were kind and loving towards me and towards each other during dinner. Guess I need to mark that one down on the calendar. It’s amazing how they will act to get free crab. Should try it more often.

After dinner I headed to the casino for a bit to make my daily deposit before attending the Liar’s Club at 10:15. This is the first time ever I’ve seen a Food and Beverage Director from the ship be one of the panelists. He was hysterically funny, as were two members of the cruise director’s staff.

It was time for bed as the next day we were in Tallinn. The girls and I had already decided that for our own sanity we’d do Tallinn just the three of us and give the walking tour to the old folks to navigate. My Dad was a Navigator in the Air Force so I felt pretty good that they’d be able to find their way to town and back again without me leading the way. I also knew the walk would difficult for them and they’d probably prefer the shuttle.

Although the ship arrived at 8:00 we opted to wait until 9:00 to disembark. This mainly because I had two overly tired and very crabby teens and wanted to somehow attempt to appease them and make them happy. Seriously…what was I thinking? You can’t ever make teens happy.

As luck would have it, it was once again raining. As we left the ship I realized that the zipper on my brand new Princess Jacket that I’d purchased the first night had gotten smashed (the door of the van in Berlin closed on it) and I wasn’t able to zip it closed. Just what I needed in cold rainy weather…a coat that wouldn’t close…just my life…you can’t make this stuff up.

Because I’d done all of my homework (I’m such a smarty pants) I knew the shuttle into Old Town was 5 Euros per person and that the cabs would cost 15 Euros to take you to old town. I’d read that if you walked outside of the port you could catch a cab for 5 Euros. Being so smart, and so thrifty, we made our way out of the port, in the rain. Did I mention it was raining again?

And guess what? Not one stinking freaking cab to be found. Nada, nothing, zero, zilch. So if you’re a smarty pants like me and think you can find a cheaper ride you, like I was, are totally screwed.

So we walked, all of the way to the upper part of Old Town Tallinn. And just for reference, maybe it’s because I’m short and I walk slow…I read several places that it was a 10 minute walk. Biggest lie I’ve ever read. Took us almost 35 minutes to get there from the port. All uphill (no, I’m not one of those moms that says every time I walked to school it was uphill) it was REALLY UPHILL…and did I mention it was raining…and that my jacket wouldn’t zip shut and it was cobblestone???

We saw the huge church and walked in to take in the breathtaking interior and all we saw were people’s backs, shoulders, backs of heads. In all seriousness it was freaking WALL TO WALL PEOPLE. A mass of humanity had descended upon the church at the same time…while a service was going on. I tried to find out how to get a candle that I could light but no luck….And I’d love to tell you that it’s a lovely church but I have honestly no freaking idea what the place looks like.

No worries, we will just walk around town….in the rain, on cobblestone streets. BRING GOOD SHOES PEOPLE!!! I cannot stress to you enough that Tallinn is TOUGH to walk around. You’ll be in poor shape if you don’t have a good pair of shoes covering those little piggy’s.

Now, I would have personally loved to learn about the history of Tallinn and all about the years of Soviet occupation but let’s be serious, I’m traveling with teens and Berlin was about as much history as their little brains could take for a few days. So in Tallinn we were there to see the old buildings and visit as many flipping souvenir stores as we could within the time available.

Around lunch time we were in the center square area of lower old town and walking through the maze of vendors when my Mom texted me and said they were sitting down at lunch did we want to join them. I dragged the kids away from their shopping and we joined the old folks at an outdoor restaurant. And of course, we were sitting outside…in the rain…under an umbrella, with the heat lamps facing the other direction….in the cold. Lovely...

I have honestly no idea how much lunch cost as dear old Dad paid the bill before I could have a chance to even see it. But I know from the prices the burgers were almost $20 each. And they weren’t anything to write home about. I’d written down the name of a restaurant in Tallinn that had been recommended on Cruise Critic but alas, they old folks were already seated and ready to eat. Here’s a tip, stay out of the main square area for lunch and you’ll find better, more reasonably priced restaurants on the side streets.

The old folks wanted to shop and walk back to the ship with us and we agreed. Within sheer seconds of consenting we heard the words: "I have to go pee." A look of terror crossed the faces of both of my children followed by sadness and I do think a small tear. We'd make it all day long without a potty stop. A personal record for this trip.

After lunch we continued to shop. I picked up a beautiful sweater wrap, a fur hat (no judgement please) and some juniper trivets and the kids picked up shot glasses. I really need them to get stop hanging out at bars. We shopped our way out of Old Town Tallinn and were thankful to get a cab back to the port.

As Tallinn day was also Father’s Day I’d made reservations for all of us to enjoy the Crown Grill that evening. Our reservation was at 6:00 and 4 of the six of us showed up on time. The teenagers eventually made it but they’d yet to be on time for dinner.

Our meal was good, not great. My overall opinion on the food on this sailing was good, not great. I think the beef in the US is better than what’s available in Europe…which is my own personal opinion so please don’t blast me :eek:

After dinner we headed to the Vista Lounge for the 8:00 Multi Media Trivia: Name that Musical. Now, I will tell you, sweet mamma went with the expectation they’d play a song and you’d write the name down. That isn’t how it was done and she was MORE THAN HAPPY to let EVERYONE IN THE ROOM know how displeased she was. It started off with posters (you had to ID the Musical) then went to questions that you had to answer (all about musicals) and finally ended with actually playing music that you had to name that tune. The game would have been wonderful if sweet, adorable mamma hadn’t been complaining after every FREAKING QUESTIONS THAT SHE DIDN’T LIKE HOW THE GAME WAS PLAYED. Just shaking my head….

At 9:00 we headed to Princess Live (said hello to the kiddos at the bar) and played “I’ll take Trivia for 100.” Ended up on a team with folks from our Cruise Critic Roll Call and we had a great time.

I was done for the day at that point and tomorrow morning we were headed into St. Petersburg. Never in my life did I think I’d go to Russia…and now I was going to be there in just a few hours.

Final thoughts on Tallinn

You will think your brand new jacket will keep you warm and dry...and then you will realize you should have tried to zip it up BEFORE leaving your cabin...

You think you're smarter than everyone else that's paying 15 Euros to get into town partially dry only to find out you're a schmuck...and your kids will be more than happy to whine about it all of the way there...

You will walk all of the way uphill from the port to the top of old town, expecting amazing views...only to have everything shrouded in cloud cover...and you're soaking wet from the walk...and cold...nothing new there...

You'll be excited to see the inside of the cathedral only to be almost crushed to death by tourists all jockeying for position...

While the cobblestone streets are quaint and lovely to look at they'll kill your feet...

By the third day of walking in the rain you REALLY regret not bringing that travel umbrella...especially when you coat doesn't zip up...

And finally...all you will hear from your kids is...."When can we find some decent American food...you know...like tacos?"

Coming up….Two amazing, beautiful, exhausting and overwhelming days seeing EVERYTHING in St Petersburg

I rarely post as you can see from my join date and number of posts. I usually lurk. However, I had to tell you I LOVE your review. You missed your calling in life, you should write! I was seriously laughing out loud about the visit to the "penis" gallery.

 

Having toured with seniors and teens I can completely relate to your experience.

 

Eagerly awaiting your next installment.

You are so sweet! Thanks so much for your kind words! More penises to come!!!

I love it so far!!! When we flew to Tallinn from O'Hare last year we had a similar issue with the carry on weight limit. My carry on bag is 5 pounds empty, so not much fit in. One outfit. I am a woman of a certain curvature and I was terrified of being without clothes in Tallinn. We checked our toiletries and extra clothes, carried on medications and cameras and as much clothing as we could, and I wore 3 outfits on the flight. I had a shorter skirt, covered by a longer skirt, covered by the longest skirt. Same with blouses. And I wore my rain jacket. I rolled it up and stuck it under the seat on the flight. It was miserable travel, but it worked, and I didn't have to worry too much about lost luggage. I HAD 4 outfits on me (some literally). I'll check the carryon weight limit before I book an international flight from now on! I even added a tag to the outside and inside of my bag with my info, final destination airport code, hotel name & number, itinerary, etc. I take no chances!

 

I'm booked on Regal for the Caribbean this winter, but now I want to take a Baltic cruise! And learn from you! Look forward to the rest!

 

 

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OMG...LMAO...I can't imagine how uncomfortable that flight was for you! I'd purchases an ultra light carry-on but 18 pounds ain't much. And I did so much switching around before we left I had such a potpourri in that case! Trust me...next time will be much different!

Do the Baltic...it's a can't miss...everything is just AMAZING!!!! I spent a lot of money and planned for a very long time...and it was worth every stinking penny!

So I guess that I waited to long to book our hotel because all the hotels in the downtown area are pretty much out of our price range!! I don't really want to stay by the airport because we came to Seattle a day early to see the sights... Space needle, pikes market. Can any one suggest either a hotel in the downtown area that is under $200. That is close to these. Or another area that we could still be close to the sites and easily get to the cruise ship the next morning, thanks so much!!

 

 

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If you can find one for under $200 a night EVER you're doing well. Seattle is very expensive. If you need something under that price range do stay by the airport. Light Rail is super easy to take into the downtown area to see the sights. Also know that restaurants are expensive downtown as well. Good luck on your planning...you'll love Alaska!

Berlin Day

Berlin is the whole reason for this itinerary. My oldest was graduating from high school and I told her I wanted to take her on a cruise, destination of her choice. And she chose this itinerary…well, not really, she wanted Australia and I told her that was out of the question because it was too much money. I suggested the Mediterranean (you know, with the nice, warm, sunny weather) and she asked if she could see a concentration camp there. The kids’ pretty smart, has always been interested in WWII and the Holocaust, but evidently needs to take a Geography class so she can figure out they don’t have concentration camps in the Med. That’s how we landed on the Baltic itinerary.

Anyway, back to my saga. The highlight of this entire trip for her was going to be Berlin and our time at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. After much research on Cruise Critic I booked a private tour with Heidi Layton. We’d have a driver meet us at the ship and Heidi would join us once we got to Sachsenhausen.

****DISCLAIMER****

I did a LOT of research for this trip and I understand that some do not feel that Sachsenhausen is a “good” concentration camp. Don’t gasp, I’ve actually had people say that to me. Sachsenhausen was not a death camp but a work camp. They didn’t immediately kill people, they worked them to death over a matter of weeks or on the rare occasion months. I understand that people feel that other camps make more of an impact, but this is what we could see by cruise ship. I’m just not brave enough to traipse through Europe on my own with two teenagers in tow. The end…

Our driver was there exactly when he was supposed to be and we hopped into a nice VW van, more than enough room for the six of us, the driver and Heidi when she joined us. Sachsenhausen was an approximately 2 hour drive from the port. The drive was uneventful and the scenery reminded me of southern Wisconsin.

We picked up Heidi at the train station and as soon as she entered the van she started giving us the background on the camp and pointed out the prisoners were made to run this same route from the train station to the camp. My daughter was surprised to see the camp was literally in the middle of a neighborhood. Heidi told us the town looked much the same when the camp opened in 1936. She said there are stories of townspeople lining the root and yelling and throwing objects at the prisoners as they marched/walked/ran to the camp.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was constructed as the first purpose-built camp of its kind. It housed the Inspector General, making it the administrative center of the entire concentration camp system. Amongst other things the Forensic Institute there researched killing process efficiency, and on-site SS training included perfecting methods for subjugation and terror. In the camp itself more than 200,000 inmates were imprisoned, tens of thousands of whom did not survive.

The camp is located in former East Berlin thus was under Soviet rule after the war. Much has been dismantled, but a few barracks still stand and where the remainder stood they are outlined and filled with gravel. Heidi explained that the Soviets felt that if it didn’t exist, it never happened. We started out at one of the barracks that was a living quarters. Over 500 people lived in each barrack, sleeping three to a bunk. It was almost impossible to imagine that many people living under such a small roof let alone sleeping three to each small bunk.

As we walked throughout the camp the rain continued to fall and the temperature continued to drop. There was something so appropriate about walking through the camp cold and wet.

We then entered another barracks that had been turned into a museum. It was here that we saw devices they used to haul away bodies, a device they made that would shield the guards from actually seeing the people they were shooting to death, the crude beginnings of what they used to test a gas chamber at Sachsenhausen as well as actual uniforms the prisoners wore. At the end of World War II the prisoners were liberated, but for five years the camp lived on as an internment camp in the Soviet occupied sector under the new name of Special Camp No. 7. A further 12,000 people lost their lives during this post war period.

The time at the camp was full of history, horrible history, it was draining, it was exhausting and it was something that I think every single human being on earth should have to see. In fact, all German students between the ages of 12 and 14 are required to visit a concentration camp. I can tell you that of all of the sites we saw over our 14 days in Europe, none, rightfully so, made an impact on all of us the way Sachsenhausen did. We headed back to the van, cold and wet, for our one hour drive into Berlin.

Because it was raining so much, we ended up pretty much “driving by” almost all of the sites in Berlin. We started off driving by the UNESCO World Heritage site Museum Island – a relic of great Prussia, housing; the Berliner Dom, the Altes Museum, the Pergamon Museum, the Neues Museum, the National Art Gallery. We saw Angela Merkel’s residence (she’s the FIRST Woman PM and the first PM born in East Germany and the German’s call her Mamma Merkel) and as we drove along saw the famous TV Tower.

Then we saw Babel Platz the site of the famous **** book-burning, a square that started out with enlightened purpose; the Royal Library 1785, Stadt Opera House (1742), St Hedwick Cathedral (1940) and the crowning glory - Humboldt University (1801) - where Einstein lectured and Karl Marx was expelled for his anti-monarchical politics.

It was getting close to noon so we stopped to eat at an “authentic” German restaurant. Problem was, we were 15 minutes early and it wasn’t opened yet. Did I mention it was raining? We walked a bit and stopped at a café. My parents split a beer while my youngest and I had milkshakes that weren’t by our standards milkshakes. It was hot chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and can I just say it was fabulous!!!

We walked back to the restaurant which was finally open. And boy did Heidi pick the right place to eat. We ate a full-on authentic German meal including fabulous rye bread and delicious beer! We didn’t stop for too long as there was much more to see.

After lunch we headed to Unter den Linden a Royal Boulevard with the Princes Palace and the Princesses wing, the former Royal Arsenal, now the German History Museum with I.M. Pie's extension and a former Guard House and then the Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny. We were able to get out at the memorial and were moved by the beautiful sculpture.

As you drive through Berlin you cannot discern between what was once West Berlin vs what was once East Berlin. I guess I thought you still could. What’s most disconcerting as we drove through the streets is the number of building that you see with the facades still riddled with bullet holes. We stopped and viewed a parking lot which beneath lies the Führer bunker, on top of the very room where Hitler finally ended his life. The site is marked by a sign, but Heidi explained that a private group put the sign up, the German people did not in any way want to mark that spot. We then drove down the street to experience Peter Eisenman’s iconic ‘Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe’.

We then drove by the Reichstag, Parliament Library, Chancellery, Paul Löbe Haus, Swiss Embassy and Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag. We saw post-war commercial modernization of iconic architecture at Potsdamer Platz and the euphoria of the 1990's. We saw the famous Sony Center, and a hidden Guard tower. Heidi explained to us the guards could not know each other and they must have family. The guards always walked with their backs towards each other never seeing each other’s faces and forbidden from speaking to each other. They took every precaution against any type of collusion.

We stopped at a remaining piece of the Berlin wall and were able to see both sides. I guess I didn’t know or never remembered the space in between the wall. If you made it over, you still had a distance to go to get over another wall before you were truly free.

We drove by Check Point Charlie and Heidi did offer for us to stop. But it’s seriously in the middle of a busy street. And did I mention it was raining? We settle for pictures through the window!

We stopped and wandered through the Holocaust Memorial while Heidi asked us why we thought the cement blocks were at varying heights, why were they in perfectly straight rows? Did that signify soldiers marching? Jews marching into concentration camps? She asked us questions to make us think about what we were seeing, simply priceless.

We stopped at Europe’s largest department store, KaDaWe, in order to pick up some chocolates to bring home. My oh my… is that place HUGE. Puts Macy’s in NYC to shame FOR SURE….Of course it gave time for ANOTHER potty stop….

We drove by the bombed out Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the center of town that will always be a reminder of what happened here so many years ago. We should never forget.

The traffic throughout Berlin was pretty heavy. Heidi explained that due to the European Cup they had what they refer to as the “football” mile blocked off. This is mile stretch of road behind (or in front of depending on how you look at it) the Brandenburg Gate. They have a jumbotron set up to watch the games as well as rides, vendors, etc…But not everyone was listening….

When we finally made it to our last stop, the Brandenburg gate, my Dad got out of the van and said “Are you freaking kidding me? What do they have set up behind there? How ridiculous is that?”

Shaking my head folks…just shaking my head….

Right next to the Brandenburg gate is the American Embassy. Our day in Berlin was only 5 days after the Orlando attacks. In front of the Embassy were flowers, candles, notes of condolences, flags…it was both heartwarming and heart wrenching at the same time. It was a beautiful to see how much the German people think of Americans and how they too were grieving.

We then got back into the van and headed to drop Heidi off at the train stations. We said our good-byes and began out 3+ hour drive back to the port. As a note, Heidi doesn’t have a set rate for her tours. She tells you to pay her 55 to 95 Euros per hour based on your satisfaction. That is a per hour rate, not a per person rate. The cost for the driver was 480 Euros and we tipped him another 50. We paid Heidi 665 Euros for the day as she was downright amazing. I wouldn’t tour Berlin with anyone else!

The drive back to the port was LONG…bad traffic getting out of Berlin and construction once we were outside of the city. Of COURSE we made a potty stop of the way back to the ship and finally arrived at 8:00. Well ahead of the 8:30 All Aboard time!

Once back we learned that the second train into Berlin that day was delayed so the people onboard that train would be delayed coming back. We would later learn that one of the passengers from our ship had a medical emergency on that train and later passed away. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the passenger and his family.

After having sat for 3+ hours in the car none of us were looking forward to the dining room that night so we all did our own thing for dinner. Some ate at Alfredos, some the IC and others the buffet. Rest assured NONE of us went to be hungry!

At 9:15 my girls, my Dad and I made our way to the Vista Lounge for “Sherlock Homes Musical Murder Mystery.” I hadn’t seen this one before so I had to give it a try. Before they started Corey asked for a volunteer and I (much to the appall and chagrin of my children) gleefully volunteered by raising my hand. As I rose to walk to the stage I could here behind me….”She’s going to embarrass us…what is she thinking???” God how I do love my children…and how I do love to make an arse out of myself in front of them.

Corey took me backstage and handed me the script and informed me that I’d be doing the “sound effects” for the show. Seriously? Are you kidding me? Me? Sound effects? This outta be interesting….

The show was a scripted murder mystery and the cruise staff members all read from the script and occasionally I’d make some odd sound…some odder than others….a clock ticking, footsteps walking, footsteps running, easy stuff…and then it happened….they wanted me to make the sound of a seagull squawking…so not in my bag of tricks…I mean really so not in my normal sound effects repertoire (like I do this for a living or something). But I tried….I think I sounded my like a sick cat, but I tried….all the while watching my darling children covering their heads with their arms trying to become inconspicuous and hoping nobody knew we were related.

And then….in the script…seriously…in the script…I was asked to not speak, but YELL a…a….a….BAD WORD…oh my…who would I offend? Would any of the little old ladies in the audience run screaming? Report me to guest services for inappropriate and offensive behavior? Would they make me walk the plank? I gave Corey the look of “Dude, you’ve got to be kidding me….” He just looked at me, nodded yes, and stood there and laughed while I yelled “OH SHIP”…or something very similar ending with a different letter.

Believe it or not people actually laughed at me, I survived the entire ordeal without being slapped in the face, got a free bottle of champagne and found that my kids had left before the end of my performance. They are just both so freaking supportive. Of course, I’d find them at the bar afterwards…

I shook hands with my adoring public before making my way out of the Vista Lounge and to the casino for my nightly deposit. I didn’t deposit much because after the long grueling day in Berlin it was time to call it a night.

Final thought on Berlin

Every human on earth should be made to tour Berlin, see the bombed out cathedral in the middle of town, buildings with facades still bullet ridden and visit a concentration camp. May then the world would be a nicer place.

Up next…another sea day….Tallinn and the crown jewel of the Baltic…St Petersburg

Both entertaining and informative. Already picked up a couple of ideas and things to avoid for our upcoming voyage on the Regal Princess.

The trip is simply amazing. I'd love to one day go back...with my luggage...and fully enjoy the entire trip. Besides, I have an entire day in Copenhagen to make up for!

In a nutshell here would be my advice: If you don't book a tour in each city use public transportation, it's super easy. All of the big tour operators out of SPB offer tours in the other cities. People on our ship that used those tours in other town (Helsinki, Tallinn, Oslo) saw and learned a LOT more than we did.

Guess I'll have to go back and do it again to make up for my mistakes! I hope you have an amazing journey!

Good advice.

 

Oslo has an excellent public transportation system (trams and busses) that run more frequently than the HOHO busses and have just as much commentary as non-working HOHO earphones.

 

No need to take HOHO busses or a ship's tour.

Absolutely...and I would have done exactly that but I was planning and guiding six people 3 of which are senior citizens. This is what I felt, at the time, would make the day much easier on everyone including myself. Hindsight is always 20/20! Live and learn! There are wonderful threads out there that will give you specific direction on how to get everywhere in all of the Baltic ports. I don't believe, after our experience, that the HoHo is the way to go in any of the cities.

Thanks so much!

You are so funny and s great,writer 😜!! What is your occupation ? So happy about your luggage, but looking forward to hearing about your other "misadventures lol

Misadventures are my life :)

I'm an Information Security Risk Analyst with a large corporation specializing in metrics and reporting. Just riveting to say the least :)

Thanks for following along!

Loving the review, FraudBroad, you're a riot! :D

Thanks so much...just wish my kids would find me funny!!!!

Thank You so much for taking the time to write a wonderful review filled with great facts and wonderful laughter. We're on the Regal boarding in CPH. on 8/30 and we're very excited. I will now NOT be packing any summer clothes, oh the beautiful things that I've bought! They'll be replaced with everything I can layer, my wonderful new hooded raincoat and lots of shoes for the rain I've read about! Thanks So Much, Great Review.

I seriously stalked the weather for two months before the trip...up until an hour before we left for the airport. It was SUPPOSED to be 70 and sunny everywhere we went.....bring layers, a waterproof jackets and waterproof shoes.

That way you'll be sure to have 75 and sunny everywhere you go!

Oh wait, that's just MY luck with the weather....

This is great reading �� I can't wait for the rest. We are on at the end of July, hopefully with our luggage.

Luggage is ALWAYS a good thing...why don't they ever lose it on the return trip?

Loving this review!!!

Thanks so much!

OMG! You had me hooked after your first post! This sounds like something that should be on a reality show.:eek:

 

FraudBroad, you really know how to hold people's attention. I can't wait to read the rest.

Seriously, this is my life sweetheart...and this is only 14 days of it!!! Fortunately or unfortunately it's MY reality!! Thanks so much for following along!

Looking forward to the rest of your review. My wife and I were onboard for part of the same cruise, we boarded in Warnemunde on the 17th to the 28th. Just got back yesterday after a night in Berlin. Since only about 200 people boarded in Warnemunde it was the easiest, fastest embarkation ever. Can't wait to read your reviews of the ports we shared!

When we looked to book this cruise we really thought about boarding in Berlin because there was just so much to see. It ended up just being easier for us to start in Copenhagen. We LOVED Berlin and would love to go back and really get to see all the city has to offer. Thanks so much for following along!

Wonder review. Love seeing my favorite part of the world (I lived there for awhile) through your eyes.....wish everyone traveled with your great sense of humor and appreciation. Thank you!,

Thanks so much for your kind words. Although I say this was a "once in a lifetime trip" I can't stand the thought of NOT going back. Besides...I need to see Copenhagen!!! Thanks for following along!

LMAO! Love your writing! Thank you.

OMG! You have me laughing with tears in my eyes! :D I love your attitude...and sense of humor! :D

Seriously...didn't mean to make you cry folks...thanks for your sweet words!

Oslo day we awoke to rain…a lot of rain…and it would continue throughout the day.

My group of 6 met two other Cruise Critic folks in the International Café (IC) at 10:00 to walk off together and catch the hop on hop off (HoHo) bus. My group had pre-purchased our tickets online at www dot city-sightseeing dot com/tours/norway/oslo. I’d pre purchased as much as possible for this trip to minimize wait times. Ha! Best laid plans…

We met our group and when everyone was ready to leave someone had to go to the bathroom. This became a reoccurring theme throughout the trip….I heard more times than I can count over those eleven days “I need to pee.” Once the bathroom break was taken care of we headed off the ship and to the bus.

As luck would have it, my sweet mamma left her HoHo tickets in her cabin. So the other 7 of us waited…in the rain…for 15 minutes for her to get back on the ship, get to her cabin, get the tickets and come back out. Waiting….oh how I love to wait…

Finally, the eight of us were together and we were ready to start our Oslo adventure!!!! So excited we made our way towards the bus and then we saw it…the line…the very, very, very, very, very long line. Buses were coming quickly, but not quickly enough. We waiting a half hour in line to board the bus…in the rain…did I mention it was raining?

No worries! We were finally onboard the bus and ready to start out adventure! At last we were here and ready to go!!!

And then the headsets didn’t work. At least 4 of the 8 headsets on the bus were dead and you couldn’t hear any of the commentary. No worries, I can look at the map and identify all of the landmarks!!! We are here, in Oslo, on a moving bus, no commentary, but I have a MAP and we can start out adventure. Did I mention it was raining? Do you know what happens on the bus when it’s raining outside and the bus is full of people on the inside? The windows all fog up….

It’s okay, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…we will have fun!

And then the bus comes to a complete stop.

Did I mention that John Kerry was in town? Yes, he certainly was! And do you know what they do in Oslo when John Kerry is in town? They block off streets….a lot of streets….and it was raining…and the headsets didn’t work and we couldn’t see anything….

No worries, we are here…in Oslo…on our adventure…and the bus with no commentary with fogged up windows is going to get us through the grid lock and we are going to the Sculpture Park and it’s going to be fun…in the rain….FUN!!!!

I don’t care what country you are in but grid lock ain’t fun any way you try to enjoy it. Especially when you want to see the sights and the FREAKING WINDOWS ARE ALL FOGGED UP!!! It took us over an hour to finally get to the Sculpture Park.

We FINALLY made it! We ran out of that bus like our lives depended upon it…FREE AT LAST!!!!! So excited to make our way through the rain and see all of the beautiful sculptures…and then someone said….

“I need to pee.”

Seriously?

So we waited…they stood in line of course…they peed…and we finally began to make our way through the beautiful Vigeland Sculpture Park, one of the highlights/can’t be missed places in Oslo.

Did I mention it was raining?

Even in the rain the park is lovely. Lined with beautiful sculptures….very breathtaking….and then you can pick out the Americans.

They’re the ones pointing at the sculptures and exclaiming “IT’S A PENIS!!!! HAHAHAHA”

I heard the word penis more times in one day than I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

At one point I asked my kids “Where’s Grammy?”

Their response: “Looking at penises.”

My response: “That’s because she’s never seen one that big before.”

And then I look over at my dad pointing at a penis with his mouth hanging open.

Case closed

Seriously folks, I can’t make this up…

We spent about an hour at the Sculpture Park before we decided to head on to our next destination. You guessed it…huge HoHo bus line. So we waited…in the rain…for the bus…for thirty minutes…in the rain.

The bus arrived and we decided that we’d next head back downtown to the Nobel Museum and City Hall. Back on the bus we went, wet, with windows fully fogged…and made our way back downtown.

After a 45 minute ride, navigating blocked roads of course and massive traffic, we made it to the Nobel museum. We were required to leave our purses in lockers and we waited for about 10 minutes for the free tour to start. This was for sure one of the highlights I was waiting to see.

It really wasn’t a problem waiting for the tour to start because of course people had to pee.

The guide started off showing us a new exhibit about Carl von Ossietzky. Ossietzky won the prize in 1935 for speaking out against the **** regime. While interesting, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Once finished there she started talking about another group of Nobel Peace Prize winners that once again I’d never heard of.

Then the guide began to talk about Edward Snowden and how he’s been nominated several times and how he will eventually win because he’s considered a hero.

This is where I said “Peace out”

Actually, my kids were falling asleep on the bench and if I wasn’t going to get to learn about Alfred Nobel or see some exhibits about more well-known winners that myself and my kids could relate to…and the guide was going to continue to spew her personal beliefs and thoughts I was outta there.

Got the rest of my group together and we headed out to the bus…in the now pouring raining.

After waiting ten minutes for the bus to come, in the pouring rain…I hailed the first cab we saw and headed back to the ship. It was 2:00, the kids were starving and we were all soaking wet.

Wish we would have realized where we were and the weather had been better. Found out the museum was only a 10 minute walk from the ship. Could have saved the 8 Euros!!!

Thanks so much Oslo…beautiful city…wish we could have truly enjoyed you!

Once back onboard we dried off, changed and headed to different venues for lunch. Old folks hit up the buffet and the girls and I went to our favorite Alfredos.

It was nap time for me after lunch. Seeing all of those penises is downright exhausting!

For dinner that evening I headed to the buffet with my oldest around 7:30. When we got to the Horizon Court you could see beautiful Oslo laid out in front of us. Sun was shining and the city looked beautiful. My daughter turned to me and said:

“Why could we see THAT today?”

Good question kiddo…

After dinner that evening I attended several different trivia games and made my daily deposit in the casino.

Random thoughts on Oslo, Norway....

It feels great to wear a different pair of jeans for a change...the ones I wore for three days straight may be permanently retired...

Your kids will start the day laughing at your rain poncho...and end the day wishing they had one because they are soaking wet and at least your shirt is dry...

The Hop on Hop off (HoHo) buses are excruciatingly slow...and the Norwegians will be happy to tell you it's all John Kerry's fault because he's in town today...

After taking an hour to get to your first destination and fleeing the bus like you're running for your freedom you will stand in the rain for ten minutes waiting for people to go to the bathroom before you can actually see anything...and then all you'll hear is the bathroom cost $1 to use...

While visiting the sculpture park you will see people pointing and then hear....over and over again..."that's a penis!!!!"

You'll realize all of the sculptures of the women show them short and round...the only thing that goes through your mind is "why couldn't I have lost my luggage in Norway...they would have had clothes that fit...."

While exiting the park you'll be amazed at how many times you've heard or said the word penis....

There's a pasture of cows in downtown Oslo...seriously, there is....

My last two cents is I wouldn't waste my money or time on the HoHo in Oslo. Book a real tour and you'll be able to see everything! Oslo has a lot to offer and the traffic, weather and slow HoHo schedule didn't give us the time to truly enjoy the city.

Next up….At day at sea and Berlin

Very entertaining review so far & looking forward to the rest :D

Thanks so much! The rest is coming shortly!

Loving your review! Looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Thanks for such a great review,can't wait for more!!

Thank you both! Just about to post about our day in Oslo!

Thanks for the review.

Enjoying your review.

 

Keith

Thank you both! And thanks for following along!

This is great, thank you!

Thanks so much!

I am so happy that they found your luggage in time!

You have no idea how happy I was!!! Just in the nick of time for sure!

Very enjoyable so far, thanks!

Thank you for following along!

Great storytelling so far. Love it.

 

Time for a public service announcement....

When packing for a trip that involves handing your luggage over where it could get lost/delayed, always split you clothes up so that some of each person's clothing is in each bag. Even if it is just one day's worth. That way, if a bag gets lost, everyone loses a little something, but everyone has a little something in the remaining bags. Just as one should never put all one's eggs in one basket, one should never put all one's clothes in one suitcase. And place a business card or some other ID info inside the bag. Tags on the outside can get torn off. And take a picture of your luggage and store it on your phone so that the "can you describe your bag" question can be answered in any language with a quick point to the picture. That is all.

Wish you would have posted this on like say the 10th of June :)

Thanks all for your nice comments….just a tip…if you’re flying don’t ever pack the way I did. We had a strict 18lb limit on our carry on suitcases. Up until the last minute I was moving stuff around so much that I ended up with my carryon containing the following: all of my makeup (my mom raised me to believe that you’d die a quick death if you reached your destination and your makeup did not), 4 blouses, 5 pair of underwear, two bras, jewelry and all of the electronic chargers one needs these days. Hindsight is always 20/20….when shopping I came across the largest Sephora store I’ve ever seen in my life. Had I put my makeup in my large suitcase, I could have replaced every freaking bit of makeup I owned in less than 10 minutes. Next time I’ll make sure I have at least 4 days’ worth of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, a waterproof jacket and the makeup will go in the big suitcase!!! Luckily, my carryon did contain ALL of the paperwork (cruise docs, tour tickets, etc…). When I arrived in Copenhagen I was afraid I’d moved that to my big case and would have to spend a small fortune and at least an hour re-printing everything….big sigh of relief!!!

On with the review…..

I did forget to mention that we did have breakfast each morning in the hotel. The cost was around $10 each and was a “European” continental breakfast. Mostly breads, jams, meats, coffee and juice. No eggs, no waffles, nothing to make the typical teen happy in the morning. Oh well, there was always the 7-11 down the street that had beautiful pastries….no seriously, there was…they were delicious!

Day three of our adventure dawned with a very cool, rainy Copenhagen. After breakfast I called the airline and sure enough, not a clue as to where my bag was. All I wanted to do was cry. The man from the airline told me that I was more than welcome to come to the airport and look through their luggage room and see if I could find it. I was all over that. I had to take my youngest with me as she’s only 17 and no one else could check her in on the ship. We had the front desk call a cab and after a 30 minute ride and $60 we were back at the scene or the crime…I mean the airport.

We were told to go to the ticketing window where there was a short wait. Once I got to the window I told the gentleman why I was there. First words out of his mouth “Do you have an appointment?”

Are you freaking kidding me?

“No, I don’t have an appointment, I was told I could come down and look through the lost luggage room for my bag…”

Man behind window: “You can’t do that without an appointment.”

Me: “Seriously? Are you kidding me?”

Man behind window: “We are very busy here. You can’t just come when you want.”

At that point I started to lose it. I explained to the man that I was boarding a ship in a couple of hours, my bag had been missing for almost 48 hours, they’d told me on the phone I could come whenever I wanted and that I needed desperately to FIND MY BAG!!!!

Man behind window: “Go stand there” pointing to the corner

Like small children my daughter and I shuffled over to the corner. I just knew he was going to tell me to put my nose up against the wall and that I was in a timeout. That’s when the tears began to fall, and my beautiful baby girl looked at me with her big eyes and said “SUCK IT UP MOM.”

I obviously wasn’t winning any sympathy from anyone on this trip…

After 45 minutes in the corner a man came out and asked if I was “Collette.” He said she had an appointment to look through the lost luggage room. Now, I don’t normally condone lying but in this instance I certainly wasn’t above it….If I had to be “Collette” to get into that room I was game….then it dawned on my they’d probably ask for ID if I actually FOUND my bag…so I told the truth, told him I was there to look through the luggage and since “Collette” wasn’t polite enough to show up on time could I pretty please with a cherry on top take her appointment? Bingo, the man likes cherries and we were IN!!!!

Within minutes we were behind the scenes of baggage claim in a small room brimming with lost luggage. We looked through each and every single rack….no bag….I was heartbroken….and my daughter was there with all of the support she could muster telling me…”Get over it mom, the bag is gone and you’re probably never going to see it again…” Not one ounce of support in that tiny sized two (yes….SHE could find clothing in Copenhagen) body. This kid obviously skipped the line for “sensitivity chips” when they were being handed out…

I asked how in the world they had NO idea where the case was. After all, luggage tags all contain bar codes. Don’t they use those to track the luggage???? Guess what, SAS DOESN’T DO THAT!!!! That bar code is only for the people loading the luggage on the planes so that they know they belong on a particular plane. SAS is making United and American look better at each and every turn. At this point they are making SPIRIT AIRLINES look good….I don’t understand inefficiency…here you have a perfectly reasonable way to track all luggage and you chose NOT TO DO IT??? Seriously?

They took a full report of what was inside the bag in case they found it with no tags. I had to pretty much list the entire contents of the case being specific about clothing brands, perfume brands, etc…When the woman walked us out she told me she really felt that the bag would arrive that day and that it normally took 48 hours for a bag to be found.

Dejected, we left the baggage room and headed out….not before spending $25 on a Grande No Fat Mocha Chip Frappuccino and breakfast sandwich for my lovingly supportive daughter. Doesn’t matter where in the world you are, there’s always a Starbucks. We hailed a cab and $75 later were at the port and ready to board Regal Princess.

My family had left the hotel in the cab I’d arranged at 10:30. They arrived at the port a few minutes after 11 and after checking their bags pretty much walked right on the ship. They were sitting in the dining room having lunch as we made our way to the port.

We finally arrived around a bit before 1:00. While there was a huge line of people dropping off their luggage (obviously we SKIPPED that line). Only time in my life I’d wished I could wait in line. We walked right up to check in and were on the ship immediately.

When we entered the elevator once we boarded the ship I’d pressed “6” so that we could go straight to Alfredo’s. They were announcing that cabins were not quite ready and once more people had gotten on the elevator an employee, who’d been holding open the door, inserted a card, which erased the “6” that was lite up, and told everyone to head to deck 16 to the buffet. Not so fast….I quickly pressed 6 again and we were well on our way. I don’t know why they won’t tell anyone that they have other venues open for food. As a personal preference, I HATE eating in the buffet on embarkation day. It’s just a mass of humanity and I’m not one for crowds!!!

We headed to Alfredo’s for pizza (my favorite place to go to eat when first boarding the ship. People don’t realize that it’s open and don’t realize that it’s free.) We both ordered the “Regal Princess” pizza, my personal favorite at Alfredo’s! Just as we were finishing our lunch, the rest of the family arrived and everyone was ready to explore the ship.

After lunch I headed down to Guest Services on Deck 5 to let Princess know that SAS had lost my luggage. They lady there was so sweet, very understanding and sympathetic. Of course the teenager wasn’t there to witness any of it…She let me know that I’d have unlimited express laundry service free of charge. Somehow that gave me a much more warm/fuzzy feeling than the lady at SAS that offered me toothpaste…just saying….

I headed up to the cabin where my aunt was already unpacking. Bless her heart, she was pulling all of these clothes out of her suitcase that she thought I could wear. Now, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I’m not in my 70’s nor do I care to dress like I am! She really was being so sweet but watching all of the clothes come out of that suitcase just made me want to cry even more!!!

I stopped at the teens cabin and they too were unpacking…it was just too much, I couldn’t take seeing all of those CLOTHES that everyone else had to wear! So I walked a few cabins down to my parents and, you guessed it, they too had suitcases and clothing….I just wasn’t going to win….

I wandered the ship for a while spending time in front of the shops picking out everything I planned on buying and CHARGING BACK TO SAS. Let me tell you, I was eyeing sweatshirts, t-shirts, jackets, and perfume…they were going to have to pay BIG TIME….

Around 4:00 I stopped in Churchill’s. While sitting there licking my wounds and trying to figure out whether or not I could enter the dining room wearing jeans and flip flops my phone rang….

At that moment in time the heavens opened and the angels sang…it was the nice lady from the SAS luggage room. My bag had just arrived from Chicago, she’d given it to the Princess port agent and he was bringing it to the ship. If I could have gone through the phone and kissed that woman I would have!!! My hard planned vacation could finally BEGIN!!!! Just in the nick of time…an hour later and the Princess airport agent would have been long gone and it would have been days before my bag found me.

Giddy with happiness I skipped all of the way back to my cabin…okay, not really, but that’s what it felt like in my head. It was time to head down to the WheelHouse Bar from muster.

Could someone please tell me when Princess is going to stop making you bring the life jackets to muster? Why can’t it be part of the Platinum/Elite Loyalty level that when you’ve cruise XX amount you no longer have to bring the stupid life jacket. I’m forever dragging the stupid belt all over the place and I’m sure at some point I’m going to trip either myself or someone else!

I have to say that this was the first sailing I’ve ever been on when I saw people taking pictures like CRAZY during MUSTER….just insane….the Princess employees were forever asking people to put away their phones and LISTEN to the instructions so that we could PUT ON THE STUPID LIFE JACKETS AND GET ON WITH VACATION!!!! My suitcase was going to be arriving any minute and I wanted to be there to welcome it with open arms!!!!

As soon as muster was finished I once again gleefully skipped back to my room (okay, not really, it’s a total mass of humanity trying to get out of muster, through the hallway and up the stairs, but you get the idea I’m still riding high). Before I even reached the room I had a text from my youngest saying her sister was sick and to come BACK to the WheelHouse ASAP.

I ran through the hall, down the stairs, and pushed people who were waiting for the elevators out of my way in order to get back to the Wheel House. I was literally a salmon swimming upstream trying to make it back to the bar. I found my oldest looking like she could pass out at any moment, drooping in the chair. I went to the bar and asked for some ice when I was told “I’m sorry, we are closed.”

Seriously?

Uggg…I explained my daughter was ill and right away they had someone get some ice. I sent the youngest down to the Princess Live bar from some orange juice. I was pretty sure my oldest just had some low blood sugar and I was right. Once we gave her the juice and cooled her down with some ice she was good to go.

I once again headed back to my cabin (maybe not so full of glee this time and forget the skipping) but when I got there boy oh boy was I happy!!! Right there in the hallway, right outside my door stood the love of my life…I mean my suitcase….

I’ve never been so excited to unpack in my entire life!!! I immediately pulled off those $120 Danish jeans that didn’t make me look like a size 2 but should have for that price and pulled on my favorite jeans, got into my closed toed shoes and a warm shirt and was ready to head up to Outriggers for cocktails with our Cruise Critic group!

Sure enough when I got there nobody knew who I was because I wasn’t wearing the same clothes! Not really but they did tease me about it! Turns out that one of our fellow travelers, a solo sailor from Australia named Trevor, lost his passport his very first day in Copenhagen. Lucky for Trevor he was able to get an emergency passport at the Australian Embassy in Copenhagen and once again all was right with the world. As a note, the passport wouldn’t be all that Trevor was going to lose over the next 11 days…

We ended up heading down to deck 5 in the piazza for sail away because the open deck was just too cold. After a few drinks, exchanging contact info on the Princess App and a lot of lively chatter we all went our separate ways for the evening. I was headed back to the cabin to joyfully finish my unpacking!

Before I knew it it was 6:00 and time for Platinum/Elite cocktail hour held in Club Six on deck six forward. A few others from our cruise critic group were present and we enjoyed some drinks and snacks. The first night the cocktail hour is held from 6:00-8:00 and the remaining evening it’s from 5:00 until 7:00. There is no cocktail party the night of the Platinum/Elite Captain’s Circle Party (Helsinki night).

It was 8:00 and time to head to the dining room. We had late seating (8:00) in the Allegro dining room. Svetlana was our waitress and Dragon our assistant waiter. I should have made notes, or taken pictures…but neither happened. I have no clue what we ate but I remember we enjoyed dinner and Svetlana and Dragon were excellent!

Once dinner was done it was time to make what would become our daily donation to the casino. The slots were not kind, I was still getting over jet lag, and my belly was full. Best part was I’d have no more nightmares about cruising naked….seriously….that happened….It was time to call it a night and head to bed.

Coming up….our day in Oslo!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your tale... you are living my nightmare so far! As a seriously fluffy female I live in fear of my luggage being lost and seriously NOT being able to find anything to replace the lost clothing. Sounds like that will be the case in Copenhagen next year for sure! :)

If you're a size 2 and 6 feet tall you'd have NO problem finding clothing in Copenhagen!!! Seriously, a total nightmare. I've learned from my mistake and it won't be repeated! Next time I'll have four days of clothing packed in my carry-on. The other stuff is easy to find!

Loving your review so far, can't wait to read more. I always fear losing my luggage and try to book direct whenever possible, but I guess that doesn't always leave out the margin of error. We will on the Regal in November. Maybe I will consider my own advise for once and pack some stuff in my husbands suitcase and vice versa just in case.

Thank you for taking the time to share.

I lived my own biggest nightmare! I NEVER thought it was even POSSIBLE to lose luggage on a direct flight....SAS proved me wrong!!! Thanks so much for following along!

Really fantastic review so far. Thanks. I'm crossing my fingers for a happy ending with the luggage.

 

Jim

Thanks so much Jim! More to come!

Looking forward to the rest of your review, I sailed on the Regal mid May. Spent three days in Copenhagen and loved it, wish I had gone in even a day or two earlier. I stayed at the Princess hotel the Scandic Copenhagen and was very happy. I survived on the breakfast buffet and cheap Burger King hamburgers for a couple of days to avoid the high prices . LOL

Isn't Copenhagen just charming? I just love that city! Really feel like I was totally ripped off by not getting to see everything I wanted to! We should have been looking for cheap Burger King!!! Would have been a lot easier. European food with teenagers isn't fun :(

This is downright entertaining. I was glued to your review. I truly can't wait for more and of course more laughter. My husband and I will be traveling to Copenhagen in September for a TA with my Father who is 91, his fiancee who is 78 (who moves instead of packs) and a friend of ours who is somewhere in his 80's. I expect to have similar experiences and be the ones who are the pack horses for the group. Love your humor and your ability to not "loose your cool". Can't wait for more.

Awwww..thanks so much...you made my day! Good luck with your voyage. Personally I felt like I was herding cats for 14 days :cool:

Here’s my review of our Baltic sailing on the Regal from June 14 thru 25th. Please know that what I write is from my perspective. I understand some have a different perspective and that’s great. This is what I thought of our journey. I’ll be writing this in different sections as we did a lot and saw a lot during our journey!

Traveling is a group of 6; myself, 50, widowed, my two teenage daughters (17 & 19) my parents (77 & 75) and my aunt (71). We left from Chicago on SAS (Direct flight ORD-CPH) on Saturday July 11th so we’d have a day in Copenhagen pre-cruise to explore. We were booked in obstructed balconies on deck 8, cabins 610, 612 & 624. We booked this cruise in September of last year and received pre-paid gratuities and some OBC.

Our flight from ORD to CPH was uneventful (the best kind) we arrived at O’Hare super early (in the weeks prior to our trip TSA had become a nightmare at O’Hare and we had no idea what we’d be up against. When checking in at SAS we learned that we could upgrade to “SAS Plus” for $117 per person. SAS Plus gave us larger seats, free inflight wifi and use of the lounge while waiting. I made the executive decision to upgrade all of us and once we were all checked in we made our way to the lounge. Which, btw…made me the best “daughter, niece, mother ever…”

The lounge was used by other airlines (not just SAS) so was a bit crowded. This was made up for by the food and free drinks. As we were there for 3 hours it was rather nice!

As I said, flight over was a breeze and when we arrived, although a bit tired, we were ready to see Copenhagen. One by one our luggage arrived….1….2…3…4…5……where’s 6? Where’s MY BAG???? We stood at the carousel and watched the luggage go round and round and my bag never arrived. How the heck can they lose a piece of luggage when all 6 were checked in at the same time and it was a DIRECT FLIGHT?????

I waited in line 40 minutes to let them know it was lost. The woman at the SAS counter was super generous and offered me some toothpaste for my inconvenience. Seriously? I’m getting ready for an 11 day cruise and all you can offer me is toothpaste???? She gave me my paperwork and told me she didn’t think the bag ever left Chicago and that hopefully it would be on the flight later that day.

Our original intention was to take the metro from the airport to the hotel but after I saw the amount of luggage we had I knew that there was no way in heck we were going to be able to lug everything from the metro station to the hotel, even though it was a 7 minute walk. My aunt couldn’t handle moving the two bags she had from my living room to the entryway, let alone a few city blocks.

We went to the taxi area right outside of baggage claim and were able to score a minivan that held all 6 people and all 12 pieces of luggage. We had one of the best taxi drivers I’ve ever had in my life….super nice guy, spoke flawless English and pointed out the sights on the way to our hotel. It was $60 for the taxi ride from the airport to our hotel. The metro would have been $5 each and for the convenience I’d take the taxi again. He also pointed out that in Copenhagen no tipping is expected…you pay what you owe and aren’t expected to leave anything above and beyond.

We stayed at the WakeUp Copenhagen Borgergade hotel. Centrally located, within walking distance of both Nyhavn and Stroget. The hotel room was smaller than our cabin on the ship. Very modern décor and well laid out. Once you bring in a couple of suitcases there isn’t a lot of room to move around, but it was clean and efficient. For the amount of time we’d be there, it wasn’t a deal breaker and I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. We’d booked the hotel through Orbitz and paid for it upfront so we didn’t have to pay the 3% the hotels charges for using a credit card. For myself and my girls I booked connecting rooms (2 beds, 2 baths) and paid $390 for the two nights. Pretty cheap for Copenhagen.

Check in was quick and easy and we were ready to drop our bags in the room, change and head over to Tivoli Gardens. We were finally in Copenhagen and were ready to start our vacation. Or at least I could say all six of us made it and 5 of us were really excited to get going…I was trying not to let the thought of an 11 day cruise with nothing to wear ruin my mood!

We had the front desk call a taxi and it was there in less than 5 minutes. It was $12 for the ride from the hotel to Tivoli. We’d arranged in advance to meet another couple from our cruise at the entrance and they were there a few minutes after we arrived.

We’d all pre-purchased our tickets online and were able to show the passes and walk right in. We all loved Tivoli. Old and young alike we each had a great time. I’d gotten my girls the ride passes and they had a great time trying all of the rides. The adults enjoyed just walking around and seeing all that Tivoli had to offer.

We opted to get “fast food” for dinner as the sit down restaurants inside Tivoli are expensive. In fact everything in Copenhagen is expensive. There’s a 25% tax on everything….food, hotel, clothing, tours….everything. I got a Danish hot-dog that was served in a baguette and was probably the best I’ve ever had!

The adults chose to go back to the hotel around 8 and I stayed with the girls so they could finish up the rides. We made it back to the hotel by 9:30 and were all exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep!

Monday morning I woke early and promptly called the airline. No news on my bag….they still had no idea where it was. I realized then and there I needed to go buy some new clothes or I’d be sailing the Baltic in flip flops. As the weather wasn’t looking promising I knew the flip flops wouldn’t cut it. The airline was feeling generous and said they’d reimburse me $200. For sure I’d be able to get a new pair of sneakers and some jeans…or so I thought….

While the rest of the group headed off for a tour of Rosenborg Castle, I headed to Stroget to shop. It was only a five minute walk from my hotel and I thought I’d be done within the hour and be able to re-join the group to see all that Copenhagen had to offer! Little did I know that wasn’t to be…

In a nut shell, all Danish women are 6 feet tall and wear a size two. I’m five feet nothing and I haven’t seen a size two since I can’t remember. I went to store after store being told “Oh, we don’t have anything THAT large…” Humiliating at best and all I wanted to do was cry! I finally spoke with two sales girls at one store that gave me directions to a store that “should” have a pair of jeans in my size.

Thankfully I was able to find a pair of tennis shoes and sneakers that both fit. Not that I particularly cared for either, but they’d keep me warm and dry. Total bill was $237. Just freaking insane….welcome to Copenhagen….

After returning to the hotel to change I walked to Nyhavn to meet my family for an afternoon of touring. They finally got off the Hop on Hop off bus at 12:30. Everyone was starving and we decided to stay in Nyhavn to eat. After walking up and down, back and forth we finally sat down (outside) and had lunch. It was nothing to write home about and it cost $150. When my dad went to pay the bill the waitress asked if he wanted to leave a tip…at that point he looked at me and said “what do I do?” No offence, but I wasn’t going to be the one to say in front of the waitress “You don’t have to tip in Copenhagen!”

My Dad ended up tipping 10% then yelling at me for the rest of the day that I should have said something about tipping not being required….yep, this is going to be a long trip…

After lunch we went to pick up a canal tour when my mother realized that my Dad had left her tote bag on the HoHo bus. Don’t ask me how it was my Dad’s fault for losing my Mom’s tote bag but it was. While they proceeded to yell at each other I walked over to the HoHo kiosk and gave them my phone number and asked them to look for the bag. I really felt that my mom would be able to find another umbrella in Copenhagen and it would take her 3 hours like it did me to find a pair of jeans.

We enjoyed the canal tour and got great views of Amlienborg Palace, the Theater, beautiful bridges, cathedrals and of course the Little Mermaid. When you see her from a canal tour all you see is the back of her. She really is out in the middle of nowhere. I'm glad we saw her by canal and didn't take the bus out there...there isn't anything else around!

Right before getting off of the canal tour the HoHo company called me to say they'd found the bag. They gave me directions on where to pick it up and we'd head there are soon as the canal tour was over.

After we picked up the bag we hopped on the bus to head over the Christiania. Christiania is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of about 850 residents. This was the one place my 19 year old insisted that we see in Copenhagen. The big draw….they legally sell pot on the street there. There are signs throughout warning you not to take pictures and we didn’t. Our cabbie on day one had told us that you might inadvertently take a photo of a drug deal going down and someone might just beat the living daylights out of you. But being the adventurous types, we thought a stroll through the area would be fun.

Sure enough, there are booths lining the main drag selling marijuana. The scent throughout is quite distinctive I might add…no surprises there. We just walked the main drag and out we went to head to meet a group of Cruise Critic folks for dinner.

Several months ago I’d seen the TV show “Rev Runs Around the World” and they’d been in Copenhagen. Okay, stop laughing, I never said I had great taste in TV. When I saw they’d be in Copenhagen I had to record it for trip planning purposes. I swear it was the only episode I watched!

Anyway, in the show they ate at “Copenhagen Street Food.” It’s an old paper warehouse that now contains street food vendors. I’d arranged a group of 20 of us to meet there for dinner. It was the PERFECT place to meet. Open seating, all different types of food, and everyone could get whatever they wanted and pay for themselves.

Everyone is the group made it on time and we had a fantastic evening. We sat outside on the waterfront and everyone had different food for dinner. The duck fat fries were a big huge hit as were the crepes. Best of all we had a great time getting to know everyone. Many of us would be touring together over the next 11 days. We all agreed to meet the next day at sail away at Outriggers for a sail away cocktail. I made sure to tell everyone they’d be sure to recognize me the next day because I’d still be wearing the same clothes!

We walked a bit and my group took a cab back to the hotel to call it a night. I’d spend 3 minutes packing my carry-on and the rest of the night praying that the luggage Gods would smile upon me and I’d wake up with my bag waiting for me.

End of day two thoughts on Copenhagen...

Even though you've told your kids for four months that there's no way in heck you are paying for them to have international phone plans, the minute you find out that you will be separated from them for two hours (and even though they'll be with your parents) the first thing you do is order and international package for them.

When your mother loses the tote bag you told her not to bring it's automatically your dad's fault. I called the hop on hop off company immediately, they found the bag and I saved a marriage.

When your mother loses said bag she will complain in front of you (the person who has no clothes, shoes, jewelry, shampoo, conditioner, purse or various other items because they were packed in the lost suitcase)...like really...complain...in front of said potentially living life naked for the next 11 days person....

Lunch for six will cost you $150 and it won't be anything to write home about.

There are are no Danish women who are short, fat or wear a size 9 tennis shoe. 99% of all stores only sell pants smaller than a size 10 and no shoes larger than a size 8. And when you do find them, they will cost you a freaking fortune.

When you go to see the Little Mermaid statue on a canal boat ride you only see her backside....and she's very little...she'd have NO problem finding clothes and shoes...yet she spends her life naked.

And after 36 hours the airline will still tell you they have NO FREAKING IDEA where your luggage is.

But in all honesty I do love Copenhagen. I would truly love to come back to the city and spend more time. Enchanting seems to be the word that best fits. The Danish people are truly some of the kindest I've ever met!

Coming up next….continued luggage drama and we finally board Regal Princess!

The first time we sailed to Alaska was in a mini-suite. The entire cruise it was 55 degrees and raining. We didn't once use the balcony.

The weather in Alaska is totally unpredictable. Last year (our third cruise) we finally hit the jackpot and the weather was perfect the entire time.

My point is go to go see Alaska. My personal opinion is the trip is amazing...don't miss it!!!