Have you sailed from Copenhagen?

[MNfamilycruiser]

If so, how early were you able to drop off luggage?

 

Yes I know there is a board for northern Europe - but my question has gone unanswered there for 6 days so far, both as it's own post and within the Copenhagen thread. I was hoping I might have better luck here. :)

 

We are at the newer Oceankaj terminal, check-in is from 11:30 - 3:30. I was hoping to drop off the luggage at 10:30 or so, then return around 3:00 to actually check-in. We depart at 5pm. Checking in that late make me a little nervous - but it does give the 3:30 time on our cruise documents.

[Aboat1]

I personally would not drop my luggage and leave the terminal. But if you want to I will tell you that the cruise terminal is in a rather industrial area of the city. As a side note, Copenhagen is an expensive city. If you are planning a taxi trip be prepared for sticker shock.

 

Granted we were there 2 years ago. If you just want to see Copenhagen I highly suggest that you consider taking a later flight home and doing the transfer/tour after your cruise that drops you at the airport offered by the ship. It was a great tour and we had no worries hauling our luggage around with us.

 

Either way enjoy your cruise and Copenhagen!

[Desert Cruizers]

We will be on the August 26, 2017, Serenade TA from Copenhagen, we plan to arrive at the Terminal around 10:30 or 11:00. I have found, visiting Roll Calls to be very helpful in getting information. We also will be arriving 3 days early to be able to enjoy our visit to Copenhagen.

[MNfamilycruiser]

I personally would not drop my luggage and leave the terminal. But if you want to I will tell you that the cruise terminal is in a rather industrial area of the city. As a side note, Copenhagen is an expensive city. If you are planning a taxi trip be prepared for sticker shock.

 

Granted we were there 2 years ago. If you just want to see Copenhagen I highly suggest that you consider taking a later flight home and doing the transfer/tour after your cruise that drops you at the airport offered by the ship. It was a great tour and we had no worries hauling our luggage around with us.

 

Either way enjoy your cruise and Copenhagen!

May I ask why you would not drop off the luggage?

I am talking about dropping it off with the same people you would if you were checking in. You drop it off and you don't see it again until it arrives outside your stateroom.

[lakelorain]

Although the terminal is in an industrial district, the only building near it(across the road) is UNICEF. The public bus stops there so it is a good place to find transportation to wherever you want to go. The train is a longer walk from the terminal.

I would not hesitate to leave my luggage there. We boarded twice at around 10:30 - 11:00 am.

[Uelandir]

I assume that the security is pretty much like in the air business, luggage not belonging to anyone checked inn will not get accepted. As soon as we dropped our luggage (in Barcelona) we were sent to a RCCL rep which officially checked is in.

 

Just call RCCL tomorrow for a correct answer :)

 

PS: Which ship is it?

Edited July 24, 2016 by Uelandir

[MNfamilycruiser]

I assume that the security is pretty much like in the air business, luggage not belonging to anyone checked inn will not get accepted. As soon as we dropped our luggage (in Barcelona) we were sent to a RCCL rep which officially checked is in.

 

Just call RCCL tomorrow for a correct answer :)

 

PS: Which ship is it?

Serenade

 

I don't think RCCL would have the answer, my understanding is that the people working at the ports are NOT RC employees, they are employed by the port. I think that part of the system is only minimally under RC control.

 

Unless it is different from other ports, it doesn't really work like an airport where you check-in at the same time or before giving your luggage.

You give your luggage to the port workers outside of the terminal, they load them into huge crates or on carts. I don't know if they check off which staterooms they have taken luggage for - I guess I haven't paid that much attention, but it doesn't seem like it.

 

Then you make your way into the terminal for the rest of the process. It is done by different people sometimes it can take a long time to get through the process. I would guess they would worry about it if you didn't show up before the ship left port.

Edited July 24, 2016 by MNfamilycruiser

[MNfamilycruiser]

We will be on the August 26, 2017, Serenade TA from Copenhagen, we plan to arrive at the Terminal around 10:30 or 11:00. I have found, visiting Roll Calls to be very helpful in getting information. We also will be arriving 3 days early to be able to enjoy our visit to Copenhagen.

 

Thanks, I will go to roll calls of people who just got back and see if anyone has specific information. But your timing is exactly what I was thinking many people would do, so likely they are ready to take the luggage 1hr- 30 minutes before check-in is supposed to start.

[Desert Cruizers]

Linda, also if you want, visit the Vision Roll Call for August 22nd I think it is. they leave 3/4 days before we do and there are many seasoned Copenhagen travelers on both Roll Calls.

 

Gay

[Aboat1]

May I ask why you would not drop off the luggage?

I am talking about dropping it off with the same people you would if you were checking in. You drop it off and you don't see it again until it arrives outside your stateroom.

 

For us, dropping and leaving after having spent multiple hours and dollars getting to the ship to just drop and leave my luggage seems counter productive. For me fighting the crowds wanting to board the ship for a second time is not something I would want to do. I don't want to take the chance of missing the ship due unforseen problems in a foreign country. That is us.Once I am there it is time for me to start enjoying the ship.

 

If you are staying at a Hotel the night before, why not leave your luggage there and go to the ship later?

[reney313]

We sailed on the Serenade out of Copenhagen last August. We arrived around 11:00am and dropped off our luggage and checked in. I don't think it would be a problem to drop it off at 10:30 and come back later. I might suggest going ahead and checking in, but not get on the ship though. That way when you return, you're already checked in and can just walk on the ship.

 

As others have noted, it is a bit of a logistic nightmare to take public transportation from the city to the port (series of trains and busses) and a taxi is not cheap. We did take a taxi, but the cost would have prohibited me from taking a taxi there and then back to the city, and then back to the ship again.

 

If you are staying in a hotel the night before, it might work best to leave your bags at the front desk and then picking them up on your way to the port.

 

On another note, maybe it's my paranoia, but I would never plan to arrive at 3:00 with a 3:30 check in cut-off. It's a personal choice and I imagine people do it, but I get nervous with all of the "what ifs" that can happen getting to the port. It might be worthy to reconsider your plans that morning and see if you can work out a 2:00 or so check-in instead. Just my opinion.

 

Whatever you choose, enjoy. We loved Copenhagen and the Serenade.

[MNfamilycruiser]

For us, dropping and leaving after having spent multiple hours and dollars getting to the ship to just drop and leave my luggage seems counter productive. For me fighting the crowds wanting to board the ship for a second time is not something I would want to do. I don't want to take the chance of missing the ship due unforseen problems in a foreign country. That is us.Once I am there it is time for me to start enjoying the ship.

 

If you are staying at a Hotel the night before, why not leave your luggage there and go to the ship later?

 

Yes, I might be able to do that, thank you for the suggestion. We will check with the hotel and see if they can hold it for us. I can also check to see if it will take more time to go back and forth from the ship to Rosenborg Castle or back and forth to the hotel.

 

We have the added issue that we will have a young friend from Amsterdam with us in Copenhagen, but he will not be cruising with us. I was trying to extend the time we can spend with him as much as possible rather than getting to the ship early. And since we have been on the Serenade before, and the Radiance - I would rather spend the extra time seeing more in Copenhagen.

[MNfamilycruiser]

We sailed on the Serenade out of Copenhagen last August. We arrived around 11:00am and dropped off our luggage and checked in. I don't think it would be a problem to drop it off at 10:30 and come back later. I might suggest going ahead and checking in, but not get on the ship though. That way when you return, you're already checked in and can just walk on the ship.

 

As others have noted, it is a bit of a logistic nightmare to take public transportation from the city to the port (series of trains and busses) and a taxi is not cheap. We did take a taxi, but the cost would have prohibited me from taking a taxi there and then back to the city, and then back to the ship again.

 

If you are staying in a hotel the night before, it might work best to leave your bags at the front desk and then picking them up on your way to the port.

 

On another note, maybe it's my paranoia, but I would never plan to arrive at 3:00 with a 3:30 check in cut-off. It's a personal choice and I imagine people do it, but I get nervous with all of the "what ifs" that can happen getting to the port. It might be worthy to reconsider your plans that morning and see if you can work out a 2:00 or so check-in instead. Just my opinion.

 

Whatever you choose, enjoy. We loved Copenhagen and the Serenade.

 

Thank you for the suggestion of the hotel.

Yes we are taking a taxi from the hotel to the port, we have 6 people plus luggage. I have already arranged for a mini-bus taxi for us.

 

The location I was planning on visiting that morning was Rosenborg Castle it is a pretty easy bus ride. The 25 bus from the port stops at a location within a few minutes walk of the castle. The 27 bus also goes from that stop to the port.

 

Yes, the timing makes me nervous as well - if we can either leave from the hotel earlier, or drop of the luggage earlier I would try to get back for check-in a little early.

[Desert Cruizers]

Reney, we are staying at the Bethel next year and will plan on getting a Taxi to the Terminal and checking in. After 3 days I think we will see as much as we can. Our flight will arrive the morning of the 23 at 10:30 so have all the rest of the day plus the 24th & 25th. Did you find walking was fairly easy to most places or did you use the HOHO bus

[geekybiker]

FWIW I've gone to ships before to drop bags before and they want to usher you into checking in. Last time we just checked again and turned around and walked out without boarding. Oceankaj looks like it'll be a PITA to get in and out of, but if you check in you should have another hour before you need to get on the ship at least.

 

Personally I'll probably just check my baggage at our hotel and head over to check in on the late side. Hate waiting in lines.

[molly2kit]

We were at Oceankaj in May/June this year. Took the bus from Hotel Bethel and were dropped a few steps from checkin. We got right on the ship but I think it would have been simple to get back on the bus and go sightseeing. The checkin was the quickest and smoothest ever. Staff was polite and efficient and the people taking your bags were very businesslike.

[irial77]

I would also leave my luggage at the hotel: the Copenhagen port is (in my opinion) a significantly further distance from the city centre than many other ports and the taxi there is really expensive. Lots of traffic, too. Getting there and back will easily take almost an hour.

 

 

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[reney313]

Reney, we are staying at the Bethel next year and will plan on getting a Taxi to the Terminal and checking in. After 3 days I think we will see as much as we can. Our flight will arrive the morning of the 23 at 10:30 so have all the rest of the day plus the 24th & 25th. Did you find walking was fairly easy to most places or did you use the HOHO bus

 

I had thought we would use the HOHO bus. Fortunately, I didn't buy tickets in advance. We never used it. We stayed at the Scandic Palace which right in the middle of everything. We took a train from the airport to the Central Station and walked a few blocks to our hotel. Tivoli was directly across the street which we visited on Friday evening and enjoyed the park as well as the free Friday night concert. We walked down the pedestrian street (I can't remember the name) which started at our hotel. We walked it all the way to Nyhavn and could have easily walked on to the waterfront where the Little Mermaid was, but we didn't end up doing so.

 

If you like to ride bikes, I would also look into renting a bike. They are everywhere with bike lanes. I can't remember where Bethel was located, I know I looked at it when I was researching...but I think most of the sites downtown are within walking distance. Maybe a short taxi ride if you get stuck somewhere or a bus ride.

[Dr.A]

Does anyone know whether you can buy tickets by credit card on the local buses? Or do you need cash?

 

Additionally, does anyone know, approximately, how much taxi from Kastrup Copenhagen Airport to the port costs? I've checked a couple of different online priccheck sites and I get prices varying from around 350DKK to around 1,000DKK...

[4774Papa]

I personally would not drop my luggage and leave the terminal. But if you want to I will tell you that the cruise terminal is in a rather industrial area of the city. As a side note, Copenhagen is an expensive city. If you are planning a taxi trip be prepared for sticker shock.

 

Granted we were there 2 years ago. If you just want to see Copenhagen I highly suggest that you consider taking a later flight home and doing the transfer/tour after your cruise that drops you at the airport offered by the ship. It was a great tour and we had no worries hauling our luggage around with us.

 

Either way enjoy your cruise and Copenhagen!

 

Excellent response. The terminal is out of the way and taxis are expensive in Copenhagen. There is a bus, but even after researching the bus, we discovered that it doesn't always stop where we needed.

[Clarea]

Does anyone know whether you can buy tickets by credit card on the local buses? Or do you need cash?

 

Additionally, does anyone know, approximately, how much taxi from Kastrup Copenhagen Airport to the port costs? I've checked a couple of different online priccheck sites and I get prices varying from around 350DKK to around 1,000DKK...

You may also want to ask on the port of call forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

[MNfamilycruiser]

Does anyone know whether you can buy tickets by credit card on the local buses? Or do you need cash?

 

Additionally, does anyone know, approximately, how much taxi from Kastrup Copenhagen Airport to the port costs? I've checked a couple of different online priccheck sites and I get prices varying from around 350DKK to around 1,000DKK...

 

You buy the bus tickets at the station before you get on the bus - so then you may use a credit card.

Check out this thread - I know Danish Viking has answered the question about cost several times- so just read back a bit and I am sure you will get the answer.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2327188