Baltic Sea Vacation

03/28/04 - 04/11/04

Vantage/SAS/Grand Princess

Clay & Pat Stahl

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

Finland

Russia

Estonia

Poland

Germany

Wednesday 06/23, Levittown To Newark To Copenhagen

We had a limo (car) to take us to the Newark Airport. Most of the time they are really early, but probably because they are based in Levittown, it appeared only 5 minutes before 2 o'clock, the scheduled departure time. Whew.

The ride on I195 and the NJ Turnpike in the middle of the day was a breeze and the trip only took about an hour, just enough turnpike time to drink the celebratory bottle of Chandon Blanc de Noirs. The driver was local and a little bit talkative, having stepchildren that went to Pennsbury High School about the same time as our children. None of ours ever heard of any of his, but it is a big school. He found the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) terminal lane and let us off. There was a porter right there for the bags, the line was short, and seemed not very busy. We were plenty early and breezed through check-in and with Clay setting off the usual alarms and getting wanded. There was plenty of time, so we found our gate and milked a couple of drinks at the nearby bar, while listening to "If any person gives you anything to take on your flight including, do not accept it and notify airport security" every couple of minutes!

The plane was full and we were in two of the middle four seats. There was a boy sitting next to Pat who was going to Poland with his grandmother- they will be taking a connecting flight from Copenhagen to Gdansk, the Polish city that we will visit on the cruise! The grandmother lives in Poland and he lives in Brooklyn, but he never heard of the Dodgers! There were back-of-the seat video displays and a system that had games, movies, music, a route map and two cameras- one pointed in front of the plane and one pointing directly down. Of course the cameras were only useful during landings and take offs. You tend be a back-seat driver- whoa, that runway is a little more to the left!

Headphones and drinks were free (I know, we already paid for them!), not always the case even on international flights anymore and we both had a white and a red wine. The dinner was very ordinary- lasagna, extremely so so. They didn't offer another drink with dinner, so we requested another wine and a Danish beer. We tried out the computerized display and both watched a movie- "Twisted", but as most airplane movies, it was very forgettable! Anyway, we passed a great deal of time trying to figure out the display. There is some similarity with others we've seen on other airlines, but it is still different enough to make it a chore! But passing the time is the objective here and it certainly did that.

There was the usual rest period, it was soon light and we got a crappy breakfast just before landing (they do the best they can under the conditions). We had taken off at Newark in great weather and the ride was very smooth and on-time, but we landed in a light rain. We had to go to another terminal to get the plane to Oslo, and naturally that is on the other side of the sizeable Copenhagen Airport. Not only that, but you have to pass through a shopping area which was quite extensive, maybe a notch below London's Heathrow though. It almost seemed like the souvenir shop routine that you have to pass through after visiting a tourist attraction anywhere, not that we had time to even look!

We only had about 35 minutes, so we hustled there to find people waiting and the sign announcing our flight, but there were no airline personnel. The plane was smaller and they didn't need much time to get everyone on. We were on a window here and it was still raining. Pat picked up a funny coin dropped by the man in the seat next to her and she asked him what is was. It was a Japanese yen, and he was an SAS Captain! He asked us where we came from, and when we said Newark, he replied that was his flight. We both said "good job!" He is Norwegian, lives near Oslo and is heading home. This leg took only an hour and we got another breakfast. However, they announced that there would be no coffee, as the coffee machine is broken. That's OK, just so everything else on the plane works!

Again it was another on-time uneventful flight. The flight attendants were very nice and we have only good thoughts about SAS. Scandinavia is only Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and does not include Finland! In fact, the three were one country with Denmark in control. Norway got its independence (peacefully) in 1905. The three Scandinavian countries along with Finland and Iceland are the Nordic countries!

There was a man with a Vantage sign waiting for us- it is always a nice feeling to see a representative of the tour company. We have seen someone to help us between flights on other trips, but that didn't happen, nor was it necessary here. He took us to the luggage carousel and we got our bags, the first one after a short time, and we were just beginning to wonder about the second when it finally showed. We went through passport control and customs easily and met our driver. We tried to get some Norwegian money at an ATM machine, but neither of our MAC cards would work! The lady in the Currency Exchange said that they had been having trouble with some cards, and suggested that we try them in Oslo which has ATMs all over, as does any other place in the world that we have been. She also mentioned that we get a better deal there than with her changing the money for us- we knew that of course, but it was very nice of her to mention it.

The baggage guy and our driver waited patiently (outwardly, at least) for all of this, and we were finally on our way to the hotel. This airport is only about three years old and is 30 miles south of Oslo. We are the only passengers in the stretch limo and we entered a super highway. The rain had increased and the driver went very fast, scaring both of us! It was about 30 miles and he tailgated and passed everybody in the rain. Our hotel is only a couple of blocks from the expressway, and we must have made it there in record time!

Thursday 06/24 - Saturday 06/26 Oslo, Norway

Sunday 06/27, Oslo/Flight/Copenhagen

Our plane back to Copenhagen wasn't until 12:20, and it was Sunday, so we didn't have to rush. The airport was very crowded but Wenche got a counter for just our 11 people, and we were checked through pretty quickly. Pat didn't want to bring her Ebel watch on the trip and her cheap substitute had a tight band that was hurting her wrist, so she purchased a new band at an optical store. We bought a bottle of wine to use up our Norwegian Kroner coins, but the currency exchange accepted coins from the girl in front of us, and we received coins in Danish Krones for our Norwegian Kroners. Norway (Kroner), Denmark (Krone), Sweden (Krona), and Estonia (Kroon) all pronounce their currency in English as Crown! We were both in an aisle seat and Pat switched with Ben to give him more room. It is only an hour flight on SAS, so there was nothing to eat, but again we had some wine, although there was just enough time to drink it before they collected the trash! Customs and Passport Control were a breeze- it seems to be easy to move between the Scandinavian countries even though none of them are members of the European Union (yet)- it's almost as if they have liberal unwritten rules for people (even us foreigners) traveling between them!

There was a Vantage lady at the carrousel in the Copenhagen Airport with a porter for the luggage, and we walked with them to the Hilton that was connected to the airport. She took us to a desk in the lobby where Linda, our Vantage guide for the cruise, and another lady were waiting for us and they handed out the room keys, forms to fill out, and information sheets. We went up to our room and unpacked a few things- we stayed there only one night. We went down to the bar for a drink before the orientation. The bartender was gone forever with our 100 Krone (about $16) note, but he finally returned with our (small) change.

At the appointed time, Linda ushered us into a cubicle next to the bar for the orientation which most in the group attended. We now have the other Vantage people that flew directly to Copenhagen the previous night and didn't go on the 3-day Oslo pre cruise extension, there are 24 in all on the Vantage tour. There were glasses of orange juice available, and Linda introduced herself and the cruise, the usual stuff.

We took a Taxi with Ben and Sandy into downtown Copenhagen to A Hereford Beefstouw, one of a couple of restaurants that had been recommended to them. It is right next door to the Tivoli Gardens that we will visit on our last shore excursion. Needless to say, they specialized in beef and we all had a 140g (gram) fillet, about 6oz we guess. The waiter doesn't take your order as such, but the diners fill out a card with the numbers on the menu, including appetizers, salads, and deserts, and even the kind of béarnaise sauce for your fillet! However, the drinks are ordered from the waiter, and we did get a couple of carafes of wine. Despite the unusual ordering procedure, it was a very nice restaurant and our table had a view of the inside of Tivoli Gardens through the glass back. The front of the restaurant is a brewpub and Clay stopped in for a small beer while he held up the others, thinking that they were still waiting for the restrooms! Sorry about that!

The Denmark football (soccer) team was playing the Czech Republic later, and there were many (mostly young) people with Denmark soccer jerseys all over the streets. The four of us went into a bar across the street for an after dinner drink and there were a lot of people in there waiting for the game to start. We thought it was the World Cup, and wondered if the United States was still in it. We were politely informed that it was the European Cup! Duh! Anyway, we wished them good luck and said that we hope they win. Beer can be bought in a tall cylindrical glass container with a tap on the bottom that holds 5 liters, and a few were ordered by groups while we were there.

Sandy bought a Denmark soccer scarf and we walked around amid the excitement. There was a large outdoor screen in the extremely crowded town square as the game had just started. We walked around a little more and caught a taxi back to the hotel, where we watched the rest of the game on our room TV with the Czech Republic scoring three late goals and winning the game in a 3-nil rout! We felt sorry for all those Denmark fans, but one team has to lose!

Monday 06/28, Copenhagen/Princess

Breakfast in the hotel was included and we had the usual, but of course here you have to have a Danish pastry! We took a walk back to the airport and tried to find the big shopping area that we passed through on our way to Oslo four days earlier. The terminal was extremely crowded and we couldn't find it- you probably have to be a ticketed passenger, although we thought that it would be open to the public somehow.

There is a city tour before boarding the Princess and we got on the bus. Denmark is one peninsula and 407 islands with a population of 5.4 million and 1.6 million in Copenhagen- a pretty big city. We were told that it is pronounced Co·pen·hay'·gen, not Co·pen·hog'·gen. The latter is the Germans pronunciation- wow, Danny Kaye never knew that! The bus headed out and we could see the bridge that goes from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden. We thought that it would have been neat to take a bus through Sweden over that bridge to get to Copenhagen from Oslo instead of flying, but Wenche said that it would have taken 10 hours. So what, we could have avoided all that airport crap! It would probably have been more expensive than flying, so that settles that! There were a lot of power generating windmills in the bay making an impressive sight. Denmark is a leading producer of power-generating windmills and we saw them all over the trip.

It is a few miles to downtown Copenhagen, and we passed "Allotment Gardens", with small houses and unkempt grounds looking a lot like a gypsy camp. We're not sure exactly what that was -- perhaps public housing for immigrants, but in a self-contained community. We saw typical city buildings, monuments, and statues before the bus stopped for a visit to the Church of Our Lady. Denmark is typically Scandinavian with very high wages and high taxes providing all schooling, health care, and social security- somewhat socialistic! The guide pointed out the Hotel d'Angleterre as being "one of the world's best!" There are a number of distinctive kiosk-looking buildings that were Denmark's first telephone booths. They have been converted into small cafes with outside seating. It was not clear how you got your party on one of the others unless they were right there at the correct time.

We were dropped off at a downtown square and given a meeting place for an hour and a half of free time. The square is in an area of pedestrian streets with all kinds of modern shops and restaurants with a lot of foot traffic. There is a mix of tourists and locals, similar to ones on any tour. Shopping is one of the featured parts of all of the tours in all of the countries that we visited on this trip also. Some people squeezed a canal tour in as we were near a bridge with the parked boats, we did that when we returned here after the cruise. We walked and found a belly bag display on a pole outside one of the stores. The clasp on Pat's had broken, so she unhooked one and took it inside to pay. The clerk took one from a pile inside the store for her while another clerk replaced the display one! The new one wasn't so hot either, with one of the zippers malfunctioning a few days later- it probably wasn't made in America!

We got some more Danish Krones (Crowns) as we will be back here for a couple of days after the cruise and walked around some more. There were plenty of places to eat, and we had sat down outside at a restaurant right on the square, but they were very busy, and we walked a little way away from the shopping streets and had lunch at a little more upscale restaurant before heading back to the meeting place. Only a salad for Pat, but plaise for Clay, a local fish. Back at the meeting place, there was a considerable wait for the others to arrive. The bus drove around some more and went by the huge Maersk shipping headquarters and their huge expansion project next door.

A photo stop was made at the Little Mermaid, one of the world's most famous sculptures and a symbol of Denmark. It was completed in 1913, and has been vandalized a number of times, but is probably one of the most visited statues in the world. It was moderately crowded with quite a few vendors, but it probably gets much worse at other times. We got back there later on the last shore excursion, and saw it from the water during our canal tour on the last day before flying home.

We boarded the Grand Princess mid afternoon and met Imelda, our cabin steward. She is from the Philippines, but doesn't have too many shoes! A traditional permanent dining room assignment can be elected for either of two seatings, or you can choose "alternative dining." Alternative dining lets you eat when and where you want and there are a number of restaurants to choose from including a 24 hour buffet that changes to accommodate the meal types. We used the buffet for most of the breakfasts and a couple of lunches when we were in a hurry or the regular restaurants weren't open. When we initially signed up on-line for the trip, we requested the 2nd seating, but changed to the 1st shortly after. We saw again on-line well before we left that we were assigned the 2nd seating, and called Princess, but there was nothing they could do until we boarded the ship. Linda, the Vantage representative said that they have a little more pull in matters like that and said she could try to make the change for us as the cruise is fully (2600 passengers) booked. We didn't expect to have the change made the first night, so we went to the Horizon buffet restaurant, open 24 hours with the menu changing three times a day to coincide with the three meal times. We were one of only a few who ordered a bottle of wine in this restaurant. There is the usual daily news pamphlet, in this case, the "Princess Patter", and we got a "Bar Hop" card that gets you a "souvenir gift" when you have a drink at each of the 15 bars on the ship. There were two wine tastings advertised, and we signed up for both of those at this time also. Later that evening, we found a notice in our cabin that our dining room assignment was changed to the first seating. We used that first seating, except when we got back late, and when we went to the fancy Italian restaurant, 8 out of 11 times in all.

We had a drink and got another notch on our Bar Hop card while waiting for the show. Actually we got three notches because two of the bars are warm weather bars and were not open on this cruise. The first night's show was ordinary with one number done by the singers and dancers, but most of it consisted of a welcome and the introduction of the entertainment staff. A solo singer did about 5 songs with what seemed to us forced patter between them. He said to look for his appearances in other shows on the ship. We did- looked that is!

When we signed up for the trip on line, there were multiple decks that we could choose, and we opted for the top one, the highest passenger deck on the ship. We felt that we would be able to see land better, with the disadvantage being that we may encounter more ship motion. Motion definitely was not a factor, especially in a ship this size, but we're not so sure that we saw that much more, and it seemed that we had to do a little more walking, climbing, and elevator riding, although the location did have its advantages, and the ship is so big that no cabin is near everything! One advantage is that we are near the top, and we went up the one deck for the sailing about 9:00PM, still very light out. We had a nice view of Copenhagen, the windmill farm, and the bridge-tunnel-artificial island connecting Denmark and Sweden. The temperature was very nice on the entire trip considering that we are so far north, but we did see some rain. Tonight however, it is a little cold and windy, a predictor of the only time where the sea was a little rough.

Tuesday 06/29, On The Baltic Sea

This was the only day at sea as there was a shore excursion on every other, many of them a full day, but it was still very busy. We almost missed the 9:30 Vantage welcome meeting, the latest that we have slept in a long time- Clay rushed up and Pat joined the meeting in progress. Linda suggested that many of the tourist areas that we will visit will take dollars, so there is usually no need to exchange money, and if we wanted, to not get more than $10 or so. She also said that if a cafe won't take dollars, go to the cafe next door. In practice, we did have a little trouble and you never want to spend valuable time doing that, although many places would take euros, but you would get the local currency in change, and credit cards would work anywhere! Linda said that we should wash our hands often, very good advice on any vacation or even at home! She also said that most germs are passed via the handrails on the ship. Sure, you can either take a chance on getting sick or fall down the stairs! She also talked about seasickness and said that we should drink a lot, but of course not alcohol. She also said that "eating a lot" will also help! She passed out a page of information about each of the next few ports, and will get others as we go, and she went over each one, although that was kind on unnecessary as we can read!

We then had a light breakfast because it was so late, and a lunch soon after with Ben, Sandy, and Sandy's daughter Stephanie who joined them on the cruise. The TV remote didn't work, and we told our stateroom attendant. She clicked it, it still didn't work, so said she would take care of it. A guy came in soon after, clicked the remote, it still didn't work, so it was unanimous! Shortly after that, the guy came back with another one! Copenhagen is on the eastern side of Denmark on the Baltic, and we assumed that we would just head out east, but we made a counterclockwise loop, almost a full circle and went between some of the 407 Denmark islands before getting to the open Baltic Sea. It was unusual to see ships crossing in front and behind perpendicular to us- ferries between Germany/Poland and Sweden/Finland.

Later that afternoon, we went to the wine tasting in the dining room, and we were at a table with Sandy. Her daughter Stephanie came late because she was taking a dancing class. There were also two other people that we didn't know at the table, Bill from England and Michelle from California now living in Paris! She was interesting! This is the mass wine tasting (there is a better one later in the cruise) with about 200 people and it was typical with a lot of talk about tasting wine and the wines themselves. Of course, the five pours were so small that by the time the speaker got to tasting the wine, everyone was done with that one! It lasted about an hour, was OK, and we ordered two bottles to have for future dinners at a discount with no automatic 15% gratuity.

Vantage had a welcoming in one of the lounges to have the 24 on the trip get to know each other. There were nice hors d'ouvres and servers to take your drink order. With the early seating now, we left early to attend the Captain's welcome. It wasn't held in the theater as they were on the few other cruises we've been on, but in a central area where there are open staircases between three decks. It was a little hectic, but we think we heard the Captain one or twice. Anyway, we met Scots Andrew and Eva, and had some champagne.

When we arrived at our table in the dining room, there were two other couples and a third arrived soon after. We weren't originally assigned to the table, but the other three couples, and a single, were. They kept the single seat open for a few nights, but he/she never showed. We got along famously with the others, Richard and Martha, Mickey and Ed, and Jimmy and Helen from Ontario.

We didn't go to too many shows as we were pretty busy with our shore excursions, but that night's was pretty good with about 20 singers and dancers performing show tunes from Phantom, Oklahoma, Evita, and others. An unusual feature was the on-stage costume changes and sliding from one number to the next without a gap.

We went to a bar for a drink and they were doing a trivia contest. We got a sheet and played unofficially. With bartender Clyde helping us, we still would have finished well out of the money, even though we suspect Clyde went through the questions on a previous cruise or three!

Wednesday, 06/30 Stockholm, Sweden

Thursday, 07/01 Helsinki, Finland

Friday, 07/02- Saturday, 07/03 St. Petersburg, Russia

Sunday, 07/04 Tallinn, Estonia

Monday, 07/05 Gdansk, Poland

Tuesday, 07/06 Berlin, Germany

Wednesday, 07/07 - Friday, 07/09 Copenhagen, Denmark

PORTS NAUTICAL MILES KNOTS H R S Copenhagen to Nynashamn 592 18.5   Nynashamn to Helsinki 247 20.2 +1 Helsinki to St. Petersburg 180 21.3 +1 St. Petersburg to Tallinn 197 17.1 -1 Tallinn to Gydnia 408 21.3 -1 Gydina to Warnemunde 300 20.2   Warnemunde to Helsingor 203 21.7   Helsingor to Copenhagen 23 18.4   TOTAL 2150

Saturday, 07/10 Copenhagen to Newark to Levittown

We are struck by the similarity between some of the languages. Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish all use a 29-character alphabet, our 26 plus three more special characters, although the three extra characters are not all the same. German has four extra letters including the ß which is lower case only and is used like our double s. The other extra letters in each are all vowels and of course have sounds different from our alphabet's similar letters. Estonian and Polish also have our 26 plus many more extras and Russian- forget it! Our Danish guide said that it can be difficult when using some computer programs.

We are not leaving until 9:30, so we had breakfast and took a short walk to pass the time. The ride to the airport was uneventful and virtually traffic-free as it is a Saturday morning. We arrived at the airport about 10 o'clock and had to wait in a long line for over an hour, and they had all the counters open! We finally got checked in OK and proceeded to the boarding gate. It is a "silent" airport in that they don't make announcements for departing flights, you have to check the monitors. When we did, ours said that it was boarding although we still had plenty of time. We hustled there, got in line and of course they weren't boarding, so we waited about a half an hour and took off only a few minutes late.

When you fly between the U. S. and Europe, it seems like you leave land at the Jersey shore and don't see land until you are in Europe and visa versa. But the on-board progress map shows, at least on this trip, we are not far from land the entire time. We go over or very near Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, and Northern Canada, maybe that is because we are leaving from a Northern European City. The dinner was pretty good for a change, and we again got compliments from the flight attendants for having our own glasses for the wine. We both watched the movie Hildago on the back seat displays, but neither of us were that impressed!

We landed about a half hour early, breezed through passport control and customs, and the same limo driver that we had on the way up was waiting for us. He said that he called the airport, heard that we were arriving early, and showed up early, but still had to wait. We're not sure what happened there, but the limo was parked close, and we were on our way in no time. Again being Saturday, even on the New Jersey Turnpike, the traffic was light. The driver heard of a problem down the road on his radio and he got off at New Brunswick and took Route 1, and that was probably the right move. Route 1 was no problem at all and we got home in good time. Whew, that was a busy trip!