LIVE from the Regal- 5.21.18! The Tale of 3 Princesses, the Baltic, and Suite Destiny

Ok, so I am seeing my “old timers” on here. That is code for the most traveled. Where is my Keith from Colorado? Colo Cruiser

Hi Pescado Amarillo. Haven’t seen you since Tahiti. Nice to see u!

Really nice to see names I recognize.

May 21, 2018

6:00 am

Good morning from Sunny Copenhagen!

Guess how much I slept last night... go ahead... guess...

Yep. You got it. Not at all. And not for any great or sordid reasons, either. Just could not sleep.

So, I will pick up where I left off...

Once I landed, I checked into the Andersen Boutique Hotel. My room was ready and I was so grateful. It is a charming little property with only 69 rooms. It is close to all the action— maybe a little too close. I appears that it is one block south of the “Red Light District”, which in Copenhagen is not terribly scary or dangerous. I highly recommend the hotel as it includes breakfast, you can rent a bike (more on that later), has a wine hour in the evening, the rooms are super quiet (albeit very small- but what the heck, this is Europe- all rooms are really small), and has unlimited super yummy coffee in the lobby and the room- BIG BONUS- especially when you are not sleeping well.

Once I got up to the room, I crashed. I did not sleep well on the plane, as I never sleep well on a plane. I set my alarm for 90 minutes and fell asleep promptly. I woke refreshed and ready to go. I showered and dressed (always best to do that in that particular order... Just saying) and hit the ground running...

I had places to go and people to see!

Blind date- Part 2!

I met P2 in front of the Radhusset (City Hall) and she and I set off on a Rick Steve’s self-guided tour of Copenhagen. Paige was doing the leading and I was following along like the jet-lagged happy idiot I am.

I am all about having a plan. I have colour-coded spreadsheets and charts and tables. However, I am just flexible enough to be easily distracted by shiny things! So as we were wending our way through the Stroget (Walkable shopping district), we spied Hop On/ Hop Off canal boats! Yay! HoHo boat! HoHo boat! We quickly purchased tickets (at 85 DKK- don’t ask me to do the math- its early/ I haven’t slept- google it.) and jumped on board! It was a lovely tour that saved P2’s knees and my blistered feet. We were able to cover lots of ground in a relatively short amount of time and hit a lot of the high points, including a nude beach. Which I don’t get. Not the nude beach part, that is totally cool with me. But it is not warm here... I am in a big wooly turtleneck. And there are necked people. Swimming. In water (which is sort of a requirement for swimming). One word: Shrinkage. That is all I have to say about that.

As an aside, P2 takes tons of pictures, and those of you who know me, know that I do not. Please, go to her Fun Girl Across America and Beyond Facebook page. I think I am words- with a few pictures... and she is pictures with a few words. Perfect combo. Also, I am completely thrilled to see her posting on this thread- as she is charged with the arduous responsibility of keeping me honest!

After dinner we walked over to Tivoli Gardens. It is the 175th Anniversery of the Park. I went there several times as a child, and it is still just as lovely and charming as it was when I was little. We ate dinner at the Grofton. I made the reservation a couple of months ago- and when you reserve a table, it is yours for the night. So our reservation was from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm. I am pretty certain that waitstaff in Denmark make a living wage, so there is no rush to turn over tables. P2 thinks that as well. Dinner here is a very lengthy affair, so if you are planning to eat in a finer dining restaurant in Copenhagen, plan for hours.

P2 and I both had the potato soup. I had extra bacon in mine. Because you all know how I feel about bacon— but just in case you have forgotten the three tenets by which I live my life, here they are:

1. Bacon is delicious.

2. Cheese makes everything special.

3. Monkeys are terrifying. They will chew your face off.

(Ooooo... jet lag has rendered me the segue queen. Ruh roh!)

Back to dinner, I had a salad for my main that was superb. P2 had a fish dish and boiled potatoes. I was so impressed watching her eat her fish dish- it was challenging to debone the fish and she managed it like a champ. Of course, it took zero talent to eat my salad... Just stab and chew. Stab and chew.

After dinner, we rode the Ferris wheel, which travelled pretty fast. There was no line, so the guy let us stay on as long as we liked. We had discussed getting some dessert, but both of us were pretty tired, so we parted ways and returned to our respective hotels.

I was so certain that I would be in a deep slumber the minute my head hit the pillow. But.... Nope. No sleep for me. I dozed once.

And I will cut here... and come back a little later and tell you about:

THE. BEST. TOUR. EVER!

Anyone have some chamomile tea and an Ambien???

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

Ummmmm....whew. after reading all this I now have sympathy jet lag.

This is my first time ever following a cruise blog. (I'm glad I saved myself for you, you're my favourite) I'm going to need a vacation from your vacation.

May 21, 2018

Copenhagen- Part 2

Embarkation Day!!!!

Hi Friends-

So guess what happened????

I got a little sleep! It may have just been enough to do a bit of damage, but I slept hard for about 2 and half hours! Yay!

Back to where I left off...

Some of you may remember, I am a runner—- well that might be a stretch. I am a jogger. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, as well... I am a slogger. I run slow and ugly. But, I keep trying and I might get a few points for that. I was doing really great when I first booked the cruise, so I booked a private tour with Running Copenhagen. The premise of the tour is that a guide and I would run approximately 8 km through the streets of Copenhagen at sunrise to see the sights. (No, no one is chasing us... this is purely recreational...). However, I have been nursing a calf injury (what’s up with that????), so I thought I was going to have to cancel. I contacted the company owner, Lena Anderssen- who thought out of the box and changed the tour to a biking tour! Yay! Biking does not aggravate my calf.

Lena picked me up at my hotel, which as you might remember is the Andersen. Ironically, my maiden name (and soon to be my surname) is also Anderson. There’s a whole lot of Anderson and all of its spelling iterations going on here! Sensing a theme yet????

Back to the tour, Lena picked me up at my hotel before sunrise at 4:20 am. Yep, not a typo... 4:20 AM! The streets were pretty abandoned- so the ride was quiet and peaceful. It is amazing how beautiful this city is. It is not my first time here, but it was so different to see it from this perspective. Lena was both knowledgeable and personable. I love the historical background, but I am mostly interested in the cultural and sociological perspective. Lena was willing to engage on that level, so the ride was even more interesting. Tour tip: if you go to see the Little Mermaid before 5 am, there are no crowds and you can take a picture of her with the sun rising behind her!

We also rode right up to the palace. I mean RIGHT UP to the palace. I was less than 100 ft from the front door of the Queen of Denmark’s front door. I think of how much security we live with in the US and I probably could have taken a photo with the one guard at her door. Lena explained that this was common in Denmark. The Royals can walk the streets relatively undisturbed. I hope it can always be that way here. This only added to the charm.

At the conclusion of the ride, Lena returned me back to my hotel and I grabbed some coffee to wait for breakfast to commence. I have to say, my tour with Lena this morning was one of the absolute best tours I have ever experienced. She is so lovely and human and fun. If you are a runner, I cannot recommend this company enough. If you are not a runner but planning a trip to Copenhagen- get to training!

Breakfast at the hotel was fine. I am not really hungry- it is probably the jet lag- but my appetite has been less than robust. I ate a croissant and had coffee and returned to the room and promptly fell into a coma. Yay! Sleep!

When I woke, I pulled it all together and took a cab to the cruise port. Cabs are NOT cheap in Copenhagen. I did not try Uber- I am not even sure that Uber runs here. I have heard from a reliable source that car tax is 180% to discourage ownership and driving.

So, that brings me to the present. I am enjoying lunch of antipasto, soup, and salad in the main dining room. I am going to go up to the cabin in a bit- and when I do, I have a whole NEW story to tell you!

Stay tuned!

Anyone need a little fresh pepper?

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

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What a fantastic tour! Love the picture. Bon voyage!

P1, our June cruise (to celebrate health!) is British Isles on the Royal. I went back and read your blog of your BI cruise. Very informative and touching, a wonderful memory you will always carry with you.

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Ummmmm....whew. after reading all this I now have sympathy jet lag.

 

This is my first time ever following a cruise blog. (I'm glad I saved myself for you, you're my favourite) I'm going to need a vacation from your vacation.

I am glad I was your “first”. Thank you for holding down the fort in my absence. You are my favourite.

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What a fantastic tour! Love the picture. Bon voyage!

 

P1, our June cruise (to celebrate health!) is British Isles on the Royal. I went back and read your blog of your BI cruise. Very informative and touching, a wonderful memory you will always carry with you.

 

 

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Thank you for your kind words. I am so glad you are getting your celebratory cruise!!! (5 years this past January for me- whew!). Congratulations!

Now- exhale!

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I am following your trip! It's wonderful and we hope to get a few tips from you as we are on this same trip in August! Thank you!

I am so enjoying your review. Your bike ride sounds like it was amazing!!

Thank you so much for your doing this blog! I am excitingly reading this and waiting for your installments. We will be doing the Baltic Cruise with the TA to NYC in August, 2019. Already I have ear marked the Andersen to stay at. It looks great.

Pooh

I'm looking forward to following your journey! Karen (from the Regal 8/28/18 Roll Call)

P1 is sleeping off her jet lag and I am completely freaking out on the fact that I have never cruised on a Royal Class ship. This is a whole new world. WOW! Bigger Production show, bigger buffets, more music venues, more cow bell.

This is fantastic!

P2 aka the 14th most traveled passenger on the ship. Yay!

Waiting for the big reveal about the suite🙏

Should be a great story!

Tracie-Lynn. Good for you! Takes a strong woman to go through what you have, move on and take the time to include all of us along your journey via Regal Princess.

Thank you and wish you all the best. Life is too short so please be good to yourself and allow you some “me time”if needed.

Hey Cuz! Glad to see you are back in the saddle again....

Hope you have a great trip. Let me know if you need me to "reach out" as needed!

A salute to P1 and P2!

P1 so happy your "change" was positive!!!!!

P2 thanks for posting on CC and FB!

You 2 are two of my FAVORITE cruise posters!

(Yellow Fish Jeanne is in the top three!)

Have a great time! My seat belt is fastened and my seat is in the upright position! I am ready to follow along!

:):):D:)

Awesome, quite the journey in many ways, good for you, a positive new beginning. The Regal is a great ship for that journey! I did the Baltic cruise on the Regal in May 2016, it was wonderful, and I will repeat it some day, it was that good!

I'll be following along, enjoy!

May 21, 2018

6:00 am

Good morning from Sunny Copenhagen!

Guess how much I slept last night... go ahead... guess...

 

Yep. You got it. Not at all. And not for any great or sordid reasons, either. Just could not sleep.

 

So, I will pick up where I left off...

Once I landed, I checked into the Andersen Boutique Hotel. My room was ready and I was so grateful. It is a charming little property with only 69 rooms. It is close to all the action— maybe a little too close. I appears that it is one block south of the “Red Light District”, which in Copenhagen is not terribly scary or dangerous. I highly recommend the hotel as it includes breakfast, you can rent a bike (more on that later), has a wine hour in the evening, the rooms are super quiet (albeit very small- but what the heck, this is Europe- all rooms are really small), and has unlimited super yummy coffee in the lobby and the room- BIG BONUS- especially when you are not sleeping well.

 

Once I got up to the room, I crashed. I did not sleep well on the plane, as I never sleep well on a plane. I set my alarm for 90 minutes and fell asleep promptly. I woke refreshed and ready to go. I showered and dressed (always best to do that in that particular order... Just saying) and hit the ground running...

 

I had places to go and people to see!

 

Blind date- Part 2!

 

I met P2 in front of the Radhusset (City Hall) and she and I set off on a Rick Steve’s self-guided tour of Copenhagen. Paige was doing the leading and I was following along like the jet-lagged happy idiot I am.

 

I am all about having a plan. I have colour-coded spreadsheets and charts and tables. However, I am just flexible enough to be easily distracted by shiny things! So as we were wending our way through the Stroget (Walkable shopping district), we spied Hop On/ Hop Off canal boats! Yay! HoHo boat! HoHo boat! We quickly purchased tickets (at 85 DKK- don’t ask me to do the math- its early/ I haven’t slept- google it.) and jumped on board! It was a lovely tour that saved P2’s knees and my blistered feet. We were able to cover lots of ground in a relatively short amount of time and hit a lot of the high points, including a nude beach. Which I don’t get. Not the nude beach part, that is totally cool with me. But it is not warm here... I am in a big wooly turtleneck. And there are necked people. Swimming. In water (which is sort of a requirement for swimming). One word: Shrinkage. That is all I have to say about that.

 

As an aside, P2 takes tons of pictures, and those of you who know me, know that I do not. Please, go to her Fun Girl Across America and Beyond Facebook page. I think I am words- with a few pictures... and she is pictures with a few words. Perfect combo. Also, I am completely thrilled to see her posting on this thread- as she is charged with the arduous responsibility of keeping me honest!

 

After dinner we walked over to Tivoli Gardens. It is the 175th Anniversery of the Park. I went there several times as a child, and it is still just as lovely and charming as it was when I was little. We ate dinner at the Grofton. I made the reservation a couple of months ago- and when you reserve a table, it is yours for the night. So our reservation was from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm. I am pretty certain that waitstaff in Denmark make a living wage, so there is no rush to turn over tables. P2 thinks that as well. Dinner here is a very lengthy affair, so if you are planning to eat in a finer dining restaurant in Copenhagen, plan for hours.

 

P2 and I both had the potato soup. I had extra bacon in mine. Because you all know how I feel about bacon— but just in case you have forgotten the three tenets by which I live my life, here they are:

1. Bacon is delicious.

2. Cheese makes everything special.

3. Monkeys are terrifying. They will chew your face off.

(Ooooo... jet lag has rendered me the segue queen. Ruh roh!)

Back to dinner, I had a salad for my main that was superb. P2 had a fish dish and boiled potatoes. I was so impressed watching her eat her fish dish- it was challenging to debone the fish and she managed it like a champ. Of course, it took zero talent to eat my salad... Just stab and chew. Stab and chew.

 

After dinner, we rode the Ferris wheel, which travelled pretty fast. There was no line, so the guy let us stay on as long as we liked. We had discussed getting some dessert, but both of us were pretty tired, so we parted ways and returned to our respective hotels.

 

I was so certain that I would be in a deep slumber the minute my head hit the pillow. But.... Nope. No sleep for me. I dozed once.

 

And I will cut here... and come back a little later and tell you about:

THE. BEST. TOUR. EVER!

 

Anyone have some chamomile tea and an Ambien???

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

Did somebody mention bacon.....:D:D:D

Bob

May 22, 2018

Breakfast in the best place in the World!

Good morning, dear friends!

Firstly, thank you for your really kind comments. I truly appreciate your feedback. Also, a massive thank you to P2 for all of her input. It is so great to have someone to ping pong opinions with. This has been a real treat for me.

Trying to catch up over breakfast in Sabatini’s...

So... here is my “words” version of the big reveal (see the Fungirl FB page for video...).

Paige and I are living the SUITE life!

The story behind this exciting turn of events:

About 7 weeks ago, I got a wild hair to travel again. When I logged onto the Princess webpage, this Baltic cruise popped up. Cheap. Super cheap- like cheaper than Caribbean-cruises- on- sale cheap. So I booked the least expensive inside gty. I am embarrassed to admit how much I did not pay for the cruise. It appeared as though this cruise was sailing relatively empty- so this felt like a flash sale (and was certainly priced that way).

I was chatting with Paige, who had invited me to join her on her Japan adventure. (Sadly, I had to decline. But this was the impetus for my booking the Baltic cruise.) So I asked if she wanted to come along... and she said “”yes”.

This is a new friendship so we decide to book two separate cabins. She got all fancy and booked a balcony gty. She received cabin assignment pretty quickly. She was upgraded several levels within her category. I received cabin assignment a couple of weeks later- I moved from an IF to an IB- sideways interior. I was over the moon!!! No pesky 3rd/ 4th berths. No connecting room. Cabins above and below. And no pesky “white spaces”. It was perfect! Perfect! Paige and I had our bookings linked for the purposes of dining.

All of a sudden, this cruise that had a ton of availability was sold out. Not “we are assigning the cabins for the next 6 hours” sold out- but truly SOLD OUT! So strange. And then the emails move-over offers started. First to me:

• Move to a July sailing and receive the cruise fare in refundable OBC.
  

That would be a no.

Then to me again:

• Move to any 11 day cruise anywhere in the world, get a balcony and cruise fare in refundable OBC.
  

At the same time, P2 received this offer (Paige, correct me if I did not get it right):

• Move to a 12 day cruise anywhere in the world, in a mini suite with fully refundable OBC for her cruise fare.
  

Both of those move-over offers were politely refused. We were packed. We had flights. We had reservations. We had plans. And we were excited.

I honestly thought that was the end of it, but desperation ensued.

On the Wednesday before the cruise, our TA called us with this offer:

• I give up my sideways interior
  
• P2 gives up her balcony
  
• We share a Penthouse Suite (Aft S2- previously an Owner’s Suite)
  
• We each get a pretty good chunk of change in refundable OBC
  
• AND we stay on our originally booked cruise (no changing hotels, flights, transfers, etc...)
  

Ummmm. That was a no-brainer for me. Suite. About half my fare back in refundable OBC. Suite. Space. Suite. Same cruise. Suite. Perks. Suite. Club Class dining. Suite. Extra mini bar. Suite!

I was ALL IN!

We quickly got ahold of Paige- and she agreed- but I think she wished she had negotiated a little more with Princess on the deal. I will have her weigh in on this. Me? I was completely thrilled. I had been in this suite-type on the Royal, and I knew how doable it would be for the two of us. I was so grateful that Paige agreed.

Did I mention that I WAS ALL IN!!!!

For those who have not seen the aft suites on the Royal-class builds, the living room and the bedroom are separated by a hallway that creates sort of an “elbow”. Paige and I cannot really hear each other from room to room so we can come and go at will without a lot of apologies and creeping around. It is really nice. Plus there is the wrap around balcony.

I boarded first. When I first entered the suite, the beds were joined. Ummmmmm... No. I mean I love P2, but I don’t LOVE her that way. Separate beds please! Hahahahaha

I passed of my list of desires to our cabin steward, JoJo. He set about fulfilling the list of stuff (e.g. extra hangers, extra glasses, extra comforter, more towels....). My luggage arrived quickly and I set about unpacking. I wanted to get as much done before Paige boarded, so she would have space to unpack. There is a gracious amount of storage in the suite, so no fighting over drawers, etc...

P2 and I have discovered we are pretty travel compatible. I like dark bread. She likes light bread. I like hanging space. She likes shelves. I am a righty. She is a lefty. (I have all of the “right side” towels, drawers, closet. She has the left sides). She and I both call the bar area the kitchen. It is really very uncanny. Plus, we are both Princesses. What could be better than this?!?!

By the time P2 came aboard, I was all set. She and I continued to nest in the suite until it was time for muster. I have not sailed in 16 months- and so much has changed. If you already know this, forgive my redundancy- but I was shocked at the changes in muster. First, you do not have to bring your life vest. Yay! No trailing straps. No newbies blowing the whistle... Also, they have partially narrated some of the muster instructions to the tune of the Love Boat theme. Delightfully cheesy. Also, it was short. Really, really short. Less than 15 minutes.

After muster, Paige and I went to the Crown for dinner. This was included as one of our suite perks. As always, it was delicious. I had a salad, the onion soup, and a half of a filet. Perfect. Sadly, the lack of sleep over the past three days had finally caught up with me and I was having trouble maintaining the conversation. As soon as dinner was over, I headed to bed. Paige went to the production show.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out. Cold. I never heard Paige come and go. I did wake up around 1:30 am and I chatted with Paige til she fell asleep. Then I called PJ back in he States to chat with him a bit. The free unlimited internet is running fast for the most part. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I fell back asleep at around 3:30 am and did not wake again until 7:30. Finally- sleep!

And now I am all caught up with you fine folks. I will report back later on my day in Oslo, Norway.

Thank you for listening to all these words!

Tracie-Lynn :) :)

PS- WE HAVE MAIL! We received an invitation to the Most Traveled Passenger Luncheon!!! We were unsure of who made the cut- but I strongly suspected it was Paige. I only have 133 days. Paige checked with the Captain’s Circle Hostess and we were correct. I did not make the cut- but I get to be her “plus one”- so I am super happy about that! Paige has 195 days and the cut was 173 days. She is number 14 on board! Yay, Paige!!!! Travel with P2 and you will go places!!

Welcome back,Tracie-Lynn :-). I also “liked”Paige on FB. I’ll be following your journey in words and pictures lol.

Nancy

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I am following your trip! It's wonderful and we hope to get a few tips from you as we are on this same trip in August! Thank you!

I'm also going to follow your trip, since I found out this morning that you do blogs of your cruises. Good to get a few tips early. We sail in August as well and look forward to your insights. Thank you

I can't believe how low the # of days is for most traveled. but, mostly I am just commenting so I get notified when this is continued.....

When you find out how many days number one has, please post it here. I'm so surprised that the cut is that low.

Very nice "moveup" offer! Princess sure has been messing up a lot on inventory this year. Enjoy the suite life!

Tracie-Lynn,

Thank you so much for bring us along on your trip!

If you see Edmond, Ricky and Martin in Sabatini's, would you PLEASE PLEASE tell then that Gail, Chuck and Nicole said Hi? We miss then so much - they were the best.

Thanks so much - enjoy every minute of your trip!!!!!

Gail