Oslo/Copenhagen

[CaptainDMW]

We are taking a Baltic capitals cruise leaving from Copenhagen in September. I am thinking of flying to Oslo a couple of days beforehand, taking the overnight ferry to Copenhagen and going directly to the cruise ship. On the return, I'm thinking of spending a couple of nights in Copenhagen. Any advice on 1) getting to and from airports in Oslo and Copenhagen, 2) good places to stay at a moderate price, 3) best ways of seeing the sites and 4) any other advice.

THANK YOU!!

[Danish viking]

There is another thread with transportation to and from Oslo Gardermoen but regarding Copenhagen i need to know were you will stay before going to the airport or if you are coming directly from the cruise ship and also pier location and a date.

 

Regarding the hotel i would go to tripadviser (reviews) or hotels.com (prices) and seach for your hotels there.

[kaisatsu]

Here's the thread with OSL airport information:

http://forums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1548279

 

The ferry pier is located right downtown, on the east side of the peninsula with the Akershus fortress (south of the new opera house).

[TLCOhio]

We are taking a Baltic capitals cruise leaving from Copenhagen in September. I am thinking of flying to Oslo a couple of days beforehand, taking the overnight ferry to Copenhagen and going directly to the cruise ship. On the return, I'm thinking of spending a couple of nights in Copenhagen. Any advice on 1) getting to and from airports in Oslo and Copenhagen, 2) good places to stay at a moderate price, 3) best ways of seeing the sites and 4) any other advice. THANK YOU!!

 

Danish viking: Regarding the hotel i would go to tripadviser (reviews) or hotels.com (prices) and seach for your hotels there.

 

Agree strongly with Danish viking that checking these two web sources to test hotel options would be good for when you are planning to be in these two' date=' different cities. [b']Costs will vary much there. [/b] Like many other travel system, their computers raise prices as they book up . . . OR . . . cost will go down as they sense a need to fill up their hotels. Location is very important in Copenhagen. A better location can make things easier as you walk around and enjoy this super wonderful Danish city.

 

An overnight ferry might work and seems great to save a night's hotel cost. BUT, I would caution, that not everyone sleeps well on overnight boats or trains. I would also check out the option of connecting to Copenhagen by air. You would hate to have a ferry delay that would cause you to miss your cruise departure.

 

Below are some visuals on a few options to consider for both of these great cities. In many ways, Copenhagen has the advantage as having been a "Royal City" much, much longer. Oslo has some very nice, contemporary art options, etc. Copenhagen is a wonderful mix of canals, great architectural variety, street art/design, water, plus Tivoli at night! WOW!!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 59.302 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Vigeland Park has a wide variety of outdoor sculptures in a super, wonderful setting that is a highlight for Oslo. Its admission is free and the views and art are "priceless".:

 

 

 

At the National Museum in Oslo, there is Munch art, including one of his two famed Scream painting that are in this Norway capital.:

 

 

 

Norway’s Royal Palace and a main Oslo shopping area:

 

 

 

Copenhagen's City Hall and its large Square are in the heart of the main downtown, near Tivoli and the central train station. Completed in 1905, it was designed in the "National Romantic" style with inspiration from the Siena City Hall. Dominated by its richly-ornamented front wth the gilded statue of Absalon just above the balcony, its tall, slim clock tower is 345.6 feet or 105.6 meters tall. It is one of the tallest buildings in Denmark.:

 

 

 

Copenhagen’s Nyhavn or “New” Harbor is actually old and charming with lots of outdoor dining options and nearby shopping:

 

 

 

Tivoli has a wide variety of entertainment happening each day and evening. Here we enjoyed this super energized “BIG BAND” performance, including the Duke’s famed “Night Train” sounds.:

 

[Whippets]

Hello Captain, know we are on the same cruise in September. We are staying at Clarion Collection Hotel Neptun in the downtown area. It is reasonable in price and also includes breakfast and a light dinner as well as coffee, tea and dessert in the afternoon with free Wifi. We are leaving home on Wednesday, arriving on Thursday and boarding the ship on Friday. There are various sites to book this hotel, some much less than others!

[CaptainDMW]

I'd love the details of which site you used etc. I'm thinking (after reading the earlier post about taking the ferry) of flying to Copenhagen and maybe taking the ferry to Oslo on the return. I suspect we'd arrive Wednesday. You can reach me at captaindmw@aol.com

[CaptainDMW]

Thanks to all for the advice.

 

I'm now thinking of taking the ferry to Oslo the day we disembark from the cruise (instead of pre-cruise). We'll have a few hours to kill. Is there a safe place to leave our luggage at the ferry terminal?

[TLCOhio]

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm now thinking of taking the ferry to Oslo the day we disembark from the cruise (instead of pre-cruise). We'll have a few hours to kill. Is there a safe place to leave our luggage at the ferry terminal?

 

Very smart and good adjustment!! That lessens any chances of delay or problems getting from Oslo for your cruise. Don't want to miss that, plus be rested and ready for your cruise. Assume you'll get into Copenhagen early enough to allow enough time to see that great city. Keep the researching and planning. Let us know your added questions.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 59.489 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 56,924 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[kaisatsu]

Out of curiosity and future reference, have the Scandinavian ferries been known to have delays? I hadn't heard this. I actually keep time on summer weekends by the 2pm Kiel ferry departure, since you can hear the ship's horn from much of the western half of the city. With such a quick turnaround (just a few hours to offload and reload cars and passengers) I wouldn't have even considered the possibility of much delay.

 

(The only time I've ever heard of the ferry being late was in extremely bad winter weather - in which case flying wouldn't help much since Gardermoen has winter delays all the time with the freezing fog problem.)

 

Would love to hear the details on this for next time I plan a weekend ferry trip!

[MacThespian]

We are taking a Baltic capitals cruise leaving from Copenhagen in September. I am thinking of flying to Oslo a couple of days beforehand, taking the overnight ferry to Copenhagen and going directly to the cruise ship. On the return, I'm thinking of spending a couple of nights in Copenhagen. Any advice on 1) getting to and from airports in Oslo and Copenhagen, 2) good places to stay at a moderate price, 3) best ways of seeing the sites and 4) any other advice.

THANK YOU!!

 

Both cities are very pedestrian-friendly, and have excellent public transportation. While I enjoy visiting both (I've been to each both on a cruise and on land trips), I find that Copenhagen is a little more cosmopolitan, and that in general I'd rather spend time in Oslo. Some sites that I found to be special in Oslo: the Bygdoy peninsula (with the folk museum, Fram museum, and Viking ship museum all within easy walking distance of each other), Akershus Fortress (with the Norwegian Resistance Museum), Frogner Park (with the Vigeland sculptures), and the Holmenkollen ski jump (though if you're pressed for time you could skip the latter).

[TLCOhio]

Both cities are very pedestrian-friendly, and have excellent public transportation. While I enjoy visiting both (I've been to each both on a cruise and on land trips), I find that Copenhagen is a little more cosmopolitan, and that in general I'd rather spend time in Oslo. Some sites that I found to be special in Oslo: the Bygdoy peninsula (with the folk museum, Fram museum, and Viking ship museum all within easy walking distance of each other), Akershus Fortress (with the Norwegian Resistance Museum), Frogner Park (with the Vigeland sculptures), and the Holmenkollen ski jump (though if you're pressed for time you could skip the latter).

 

Here are a few more visuals for some of what you wisely mentioned about Oslo. Great city. The Norwegian Resistance Museum was very "personal" for how they told the story on that part of their history during WWII. Personally we liked Copenhagen more with its architecture, longer Royal history, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 59.670 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 57,071 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

This picture shows the main, historic fortress next to where many cruise ships dock in Oslo. The fortress construction started around the late 1290’s. The very interesting Norwegian Resistance museum can be visited there. Norwegian Royalty have been buried in the Royal Mausoleum in the castle. A portion of this fortress was replicated at the Norway pavilion at Disney’s Epcot Center.:

 

 

 

Vigeland Park has a wide variety of outdoor sculptures in a super, wonderful setting that is a highlight for Oslo. Its admission is free and the views and art are "priceless".:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oslo’s City Hall exterior and interior. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded here annually in early December.:

 

 

 

[OA515]

There is only one option if you want to go by ferry directly from Oslo to Copenhagen. That would be DFDS Seaways. Nice ferries, one of the two sailing out of Oslo actually used to sail as a cruise ship for former NCL owner Star Cruises. It will be like a cruise, only you´ll have to pay extra for everything.

 

Here is a link from the shipping line (the American version) covering everything from prices to cabins, entertainment, food, etc. Enjoy!

 

http://www.dfdsseaways.us/copenhagen_oslo/transportation/ferry_to_denmark/

[OA515]

....and don´t listen to people talking about the ferries being known for delays and cancellations. The overnight ferries from DFDS have seven full hours for turn around time in each port, and their schedules means the ships are not even close to cruising at full speed. So unless any of the engines break down, you should not have to worry. This is summer time, the weather is farely good, and these are big ships.