Semi-live 48 day adventure: Prima, Getaway, Dawn, and beyond

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, Travelicious said:

... we always feel so cramped in a balcony cabin.  It's all what you are accustomed to.

Of course, the trade-off is living in the middle of nowhere next to chicken houses.

Before Covid's global spread, we put our 2 family house on the market to sell, as we knew ... with early retirement, not going to be happy doing lawn work or shoveling snow with a long 60' driveway and the front sidewalk, etc. and worried about who to hand the keys to take care or babysit the place while we go away ... 1 or 2 weeks isn't too bad ... couldn't imagine being away for a month or more, or even 3 to 4 weeks at a time.   We've since brought with proceeds from home sales a smaller 2 bedroom townhouse garden co-op apartment on the ground floor, with private security patrol - maintenance & ground-keeping taken care of and live care-free.  Upstairs neighbor, retiree too, keep an eye out for things while we are away.   950 sq. ft. is neither small or large, just right and once in a while, trusted hourly-based maid come to do a deep cleaning while we go lunch or out on appointments.  

 

Less is more and we spend as we see fit, no mortgages and no car loan (paid "cash" in full, 5 years ago - under 33,000 miles) spreading our "wings" again.  If and when we see a good and interesting itinerary, whether it is a cruise, land vacation or otherwise - book it, pack and just go, and we are nearly always "connected" virtually - extended families know how & where to get a hold of us for whatever reasons.  

 

Welcome to the retirees circle, 48 days is a nice kick-off and you are both going to love it, good health is happiness and maintaining is hard work at times, then sit back, relax and enjoy - happy with a tall cup of ice coffee in hand.  

[Travelicious]

The Getaway cruise begins May 13.  Even if we don’t get our embarkation day lunch on the Prima, we should be able to on the Getaway, as it is set to sail at 4:00.  

 

We’ll enjoy a bit less OBC on this cruise, but still a nice amount at $650.  This consists of $100 shareholder benefit, $150 from NCL, $200 from TA, and $200 from Amex.  Again, the only refundable credit will be from TA, so DSC has been prepaid.  Because we will have only 1 sea day and not a lot of down time, I’m not sure that we will get the unlimited internet.  Will decide when the time comes.  

 

I used a different TA for this cruise.  This one had been my TA for around 10 years, and was always pretty good until the last couple of years.  Response times became slower, and she forgot to provide my promised OBC on one cruise.  When I mentioned it, she said she would make it up on the next one, but didn’t.  Anyway, that all happened after I had already booked the 3 original Getaway cruises onboard, and then transferred the bookings to her.  So after she began faltering I was regretting it for these cruises.  When we rebooked for the Prima and Dawn, we did so through a different TA recommended by a CC friend.  The new one provides more generous OBC, as will be seen on the Dawn cruise.

 

We will have 6 specialty dinners: 3 FAS, 2 Latitudes and Le Bistro courtesy of Amex.  We have prebooked Cagney’s twice, Le Bistro, La Cucina, and Ocean Blue twice.  

 

Our first port is Le Havre.  We have a private group D-Day tour with Overlord.  We filled 7 of the 8 seats at a cost of $137.42 pp.  I think that is pretty good, considering what I have seen others posting for similar tours.  As previously mentioned, I’m eating the last $137.42 as people wanting to join are more than one, and we had one solo that joined early on.  I am really looking forward to this tour.  

 

The next port is Zeebrugge.  We will take the train to Ghent.  I pre-booked tickets through Omio.  While it costs a bit more, I was able to secure the times we wanted, so I feel more comfortable.  It still was pretty cheap.  

 

I have mapped out where we will walk and visit:  Gent City Center, St Nicholas Cathedral, St. Michael’s Bridge, Gravensteen castle, ‘t Dreupelkot (Genever bar), and St Bavo’s Cathedral.  I’m most looking forward to ‘t Dreupelkot, which was recommended by a person on our roll call before he had to cancel.

 

On this stop in Amsterdam, we will just do our own thing, and maybe do a canal cruise.  Playing it by ear.  

 

In Oslo, we don’t have definitive plans, but will consider the HOHO bus.  My brother has recommended a visit to Vigeland Sculpture park, and the bus stops there.

 

Aarhus, Denmark is another day on our own.  My research indicates the cruise port is walking distance to town and all major attractions.  I do need to go to an ATM to withdraw some DKK so will have it on hand for bus in Copenhagen. 

 

Our current plan for Warnemunde is to explore close to port, and take a ferry to Rostock.  I’m just not into being on a train or bus for 6 hours to get to and from Berlin.
    
In Kiel, we’ll just walk around and see what is there.  Also will have to pack up, as disembarkation will be the following day in Copenhagen.

 

At the time I was getting organized and figuring out logistics, NCL did not have a tour with a drop off at the airport in Copenhagen, and I was unable to find any reasonably-priced private tours.  We wanted to do some exploring, but needed to figure out the luggage situation.  We opted to utilize the services of Copenhagen Luggage Service to collect our luggage from the cruise terminal and deliver it to the hotel at which we are staying near the airport.  We will then be free to explore Copenhagen on our own before making our way to the hotel via public transit.

[Travelicious]

The Dawn cruise begins on May 24.  But first, we must make our way from Copenhagen to Paris to Le Havre.  We will fly early morning, luckily a direct flight, on Air France.  The tickets were quite inexpensive when I booked.  We have booked a hotel very close to the train station.  The plan is to drop luggage at the hotel and set out on foot to explore.  We in Paris once before, perhaps not in the same area.  If the mood hits and the weather cooperates, we may do a Seine River cruise.  These only last about an hour.  We’ll not to the lunch/dinner ones.  The main goal is to find a restaurant with some good truffade like we had last time.  OMG - the greasy, cheesy, gooey goodness!

 

We will take the train to Le Havre on the morning of the 24th.  Sailaway is scheduled for 8:00, so I’m not sure we’ll be able to board on time for our traditional embarkation day lunch.  But I’m sure we will figure out a way not to starve!  Frankly, once I board a cruise ship and have my first meal, I find I'm never really hungry again.  But when it is time to eat and good food is available, what am I supposed to do?

 

On this cruise, we are back up to $750 OBC: $100=shareholder; $200=Amex; $450=TA.  This was the most expensive of the three cruises, which explains the much higher OBC provided by the TA.  As I believe that whopping $450 will be refundable, it will be used to pay DSC.  If not refundable, we'll do lots of upgraded drinks, I guess.  

 

Again, we have 6 specialty dinners: 3 FAS, 2 Latitudes, 1 Amex to Le Bistro.  We’ve prebooked Cagney’s twice, Los Lobos twice, Le Bistro, La Cucina.

 

The first port is, again, Zeebruge.  This time we are taking the train to Bruges.  Tickets booked via Omio.  

 

At Tilbury, we are using the NCL transfer “London on your own.  Amsterdam will again be on our own.  By this time, we should have a pretty good idea of what is there and what we want to do.  

 

We will be back in Copenhagen, and as of now do not have specific plans.  Maybe our previous visit will help us decide.  Same with Wardemunde, and again, no desire to go to Berlin.  

 

Karlskrona will be the first of 3 ports in Sweden, and we have no real plans here.  In Visby, I have received a tip on this thread to visit Pippy Longstocking’s house.  Who knew?  I loved Pippy Longstocking!  

 

Trying not to be overly redundant here, but we will do our own thing in Riga, Tallinn, and Helsinki.  Finally, we will disembark on June 5 in Stockholm.  

 

We have booked the Scandic Grand Central hotel, which includes breakfast - hopefully not stinky fish.  We plan to 
explore on our own for two days, then take the train to ARN to begin our 2 days of travel to return home.  

 

Hopefully, the pool temperature will be perfect by then, and we can begin resting up from what I’m sure will be a very busy and tiring trip.  This will be the last long trip for at least 2 years, but I’m sure there will be a few shorter ones in between.  

[Travelicious]

The next couple of days will be pretty busy as we wrap up preparation.  We fly out early Tuesday morning.  Then, if all goes according to plan, there will be food pics.

[AKR2011]

What an awesome journey you are taking! I am realy enjoying your posts so far and look forward to following along. Safe travels!

❤️⚓️ Ashley

[Hogladyrider]

@Travelicious...thanks for the "heads up" over on the Tribe thread....I'm all signed up to follow.

This is gonna be GREAT!

[AmyJA]

What @Hogladyrider said.....

[Norwegianprincess]

A tip for Karlskrona: They have a very interesting marine museum there, where you, amongst a lot of other other things, can go inside a submarine. 
As for Oslo: You can take the metro train high up to Frognerseteren, from where you’ll have a wonderful view of the city and the Oslofjord (if the weather is ok).
And don’t forget to watch as you sail through the very narrow part of the Oslofjord, by Drøbak, there is a fort on the port side when you sail in, Oscarsborg. That’s where they fired the canons toward the German war ship Blucher in 1940, and the huge ship sank in the middle of the fjord there. 

Edited April 21 by Norwegianprincess

[Muckyduckway]

We loved the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. It won't take too much of your time but is a unique experience.

https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

And you must have cinnamon buns for "fika"

https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/in-pursuit-of-perfection-stockholms-best-kanelbullar/

 

Excited to join you on your epic 'voyage(s)'

 

[Travelicious]

4 hours ago, Norwegianprincess said:

A tip for Karlskrona: They have a very interesting marine museum there, where you, amongst a lot of other other things, can go inside a submarine. 
As for Oslo: You can take the metro train high up to Frognerseteren, from where you’ll have a wonderful view of the city and the Oslofjord (if the weather is ok).
And don’t forget to watch as you sail through the very narrow part of the Oslofjord, by Drøbak, there is a fort on the port side when you sail in, Oscarsborg. That’s where they fired the canons toward the German war ship Blucher in 1940, and the huge ship sank in the middle of the fjord there. 

Thanks for the tips!  I'll add to my list of potentials.

[Travelicious]

3 hours ago, Muckyduckway said:

We loved the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. It won't take too much of your time but is a unique experience.

https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

And you must have cinnamon buns for "fika"

https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/in-pursuit-of-perfection-stockholms-best-kanelbullar/

 

Excited to join you on your epic 'voyage(s)'

 

Thanks!  Vasa was also recommended by another friend.  Will be on the lookout for "fika."  Yum!

[www3traveler]

Prayers for your safe journey.  This sounds like a wonderful adventure.  

[DeanDeeDee]

WOW!  I'm following along on your adventures. Best wishes for a fabulous trip of a lifetime.

[Fogfog]

Hope the packing is going well.

Was thinking of you all as I am piling things on our guest bed (we are on Prima) and wondering if you were already packed/flown and in NYC

Your trip sounds fantastic. Some great ports. We loved our Baltics sailing and its one I'd do over for certain. 

 

PS Re "snake away"?  and does it help?

We did have a pool at one time (another property) and  near wetlands.

We got a baby gator in it once. And my bigger worry was water moccassins. Had one once that was sunning itself between the pump and the wall of the garage!

 

[The Traveling Man]

On 4/15/2024 at 4:05 PM, Travelicious said:

We will disembark the Getaway in Copenhagen, where we will spend one night close to the airport, and will fly early the following morning to Paris.  We will spend one night in Paris close to the train station, and will take a train to LaHavre to catch the Dawn.
 

Like many other cities in Europe, Paris has several train stations.  Trains for most destinations depart from only one or two of those stations, but for other destinations "you can't get there from here."  I hope you checked that carefully when you booked your hotel.

[The Traveling Man]

On 4/18/2024 at 3:34 PM, Travelicious said:

I'll be utilizing AT&T's $10 per day international data plan for those days, primarily for GPS functions.    Suggestions welcome!

 

 

 

 

I think AT&T also offers a month-long package for about $30.  You do get charged for individual calls, but they come at a discounted rate, so the overall cost may be better for you depending on your usage pattern.

[Travelicious]

53 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Hope the packing is going well.

Was thinking of you all as I am piling things on our guest bed (we are on Prima) and wondering if you were already packed/flown and in NYC

Your trip sounds fantastic. Some great ports. We loved our Baltics sailing and its one I'd do over for certain. 

 

PS Re "snake away"?  and does it help?

We did have a pool at one time (another property) and  near wetlands.

We got a baby gator in it once. And my bigger worry was water moccassins. Had one once that was sunning itself between the pump and the wall of the garage!

 

Mostly packed, but not flying out until Tuesday morning.  Finishing touches today, as well as some house cleaning.  Will finish up and go to stay at hotel near airport tomorrow afternoon.

 

Re Snake Away, who knows if it really works, but when I've put it out I haven't seen any for a while.  It is probably a bit too early for them anyway, but I have found a few small ones in the skimmers over the years.  Only one larger one actually in the pool proper, but I think it was a harmless water snake.  He wrapped around the pool brush when I put it in there, and I just took him outside the fenced area to go about his business.

 

When are you heading in?  See you soon!

[Travelicious]

45 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Like many other cities in Europe, Paris has several train stations.  Trains for most destinations depart from only one or two of those stations, but for other destinations "you can't get there from here."  I hope you checked that carefully when you booked your hotel.

Thanks for checking.  I did.  In fact, I figured out which station I needed before finding a hotel.  Tickets already booked.

[Travelicious]

34 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

I think AT&T also offers a month-long package for about $30.  You do get charged for individual calls, but they come at a discounted rate, so the overall cost may be better for you depending on your usage pattern.

Thanks!  I'll check in to it.  I doubt I'll be making calls anyway, unless an emergency arises.  I hate talking on the phone.

[Travelicious]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

I think AT&T also offers a month-long package for about $30.  You do get charged for individual calls, but they come at a discounted rate, so the overall cost may be better for you depending on your usage pattern.

I'm not finding that package.  I'm only seeing $10 per day, but will only be charged for 10 days per month, for a max of $100.  Of course, I think that is per billing cycle, and we'll be splitting cycles on this trip.

[Von & John]

43 minutes ago, Travelicious said:

I'm not finding that package.  I'm only seeing $10 per day, but will only be charged for 10 days per month, for a max of $100.  Of course, I think that is per billing cycle, and we'll be splitting cycles on this trip.

 

I've used the AT&T International Travel a # of times - I was charged only for the days I was in port & used the phone.

[TNVolnteerCruiser]

Here and ready to follow along on your adventure.  Have a great time!

[Travelicious]

It's been a busy couple of days getting everything ready.  House is now clean, pool is clean, just waiting for towels to dry, then we'll be ready to head to the airport hotel for the night, and our first meal of the trip.  

 

Good thing we have several people lined up to help out with the pool, as brother-in-law's blood pressure has gone sky-high, and he is currently in the hospital.  Hope they can get it figured out quickly and he can be on the mend.  

[Travelicious]

We checked in for Getaway cruise this morning, but the edocs are not yet available, so can't print luggage tags before leaving home.  Guess we'll see if we can print at the hotel in NY.  Will have to check in for the Dawn cruise while onboard the Prima.

 

We were shooting for 40 pounds or less each in checked luggage, but ended up at about 47 each, plus carry-ons.  Ugh.  One day I hope to master packing lightly, but the colder weather itinerary makes that difficult for this one.

[cruiseny4life]

Sending good vibes to your familyso your brother-in-law is able to recover quickly! A little extra stress for your travels, I suppose, but meds will hopefully get him on the mend.