Regal Princess 2018 14-Day Transatlantic Cruise Review
Day 15 Copenhagen, Denmark
Scheduled Arrival: 5:00am
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Day 15 Copenhagen, Denmark
Scheduled Arrival: 5:00am
Click Any Photo To Make It Larger!
Copenhagen: A Viking village that was founded in the 10th century, it grew to be a prosperous town and the capital of Denmark in the 15th century. Today it is the most populous city of Denmark and often called “the city of spires” because of all the church steeples and castle towers that fill its skyline. The monarchy of Denmark, the oldest in the world, was responsible for all those beautiful castles.
Denmark consists of a number of islands and the peninsula of Jutland. Copenhagen is at the easternmost point of Denmark. It is located partly on the island of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager and is separated from Sweden by the Strait of Oresund. The 10 mile Oresund Bridge connects the two countries and is the longest road and rail bridge/tunnel in Europe.
Denmark consists of a number of islands and the peninsula of Jutland. Copenhagen is at the easternmost point of Denmark. It is located partly on the island of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager and is separated from Sweden by the Strait of Oresund. The 10 mile Oresund Bridge connects the two countries and is the longest road and rail bridge/tunnel in Europe.
Sunrise on last day of cruise
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Tour coaches for excursions lined up close to ship
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1st stop on tour was famous Little Mermaid honoring Hans Christian Andersen
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Arrival: Since everyone had to vacate their staterooms by 8:00am, breakfast started very early – 5:00am in the Horizon Bistro, 6:00am in the Horizon Court and 6:30 in the Allegro Dining Room. There were quite a few of the cruisers who were staying on for another 5 days to disembark in Germany and many more that were going for another 10 days to St. Petersburg, Russia and back to Copenhagen before flying home. No matter if you were leaving the ship to fly home that day or going on for more days, you had to leave the ship. Everyone had their assigned place to be while waiting to disembark.
Excursions: There were so many treasures of Copenhagen that you would not want to miss, such as the different castles, the palaces, the Tivoli Gardens, Nyhavn, and, of course, the Little Mermaid statue. Many of the excursions included at least some of these in their tours. There were two types of excursions – those for in-transit guests and those for disembarking guests. The ones for in-transit guests were much longer and included many more sights around Copenhagen and the countryside. The ones for disembarking guests were more limited half-day tours but gave a taste of the beauty of Copenhagen. Since we were flying home later that afternoon, we had a narrated tour of the city which included stops at the Amalienborg Palace, the Gelion Fountain, the Little Mermaid statue and an unscheduled stop at Nyhaven. The rest of the tour was through the oldest part of Copenhagen and its beautiful structures. If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed an extra day in Copenhagen. I loved seeing all that was included on our excursion, but would have loved to have more time seeing the things we missed.
Disembarkation: It was an extremely easy disembarkation. No need to pick up your luggage in the terminal because whether you were going straight to the airport or on an excursion before your flight, all luggages were taken to a holding area at the airport. After our excursion, the coach we were on took us to this tented area where we picked up our luggage which was arranged by the tag color and number that was put on our luggage before being picked up the evening before. All we had to do was locate it. So convenient, especially since our terminal was just across the street from this area.
Excursions: There were so many treasures of Copenhagen that you would not want to miss, such as the different castles, the palaces, the Tivoli Gardens, Nyhavn, and, of course, the Little Mermaid statue. Many of the excursions included at least some of these in their tours. There were two types of excursions – those for in-transit guests and those for disembarking guests. The ones for in-transit guests were much longer and included many more sights around Copenhagen and the countryside. The ones for disembarking guests were more limited half-day tours but gave a taste of the beauty of Copenhagen. Since we were flying home later that afternoon, we had a narrated tour of the city which included stops at the Amalienborg Palace, the Gelion Fountain, the Little Mermaid statue and an unscheduled stop at Nyhaven. The rest of the tour was through the oldest part of Copenhagen and its beautiful structures. If I had it to do over again, I would have stayed an extra day in Copenhagen. I loved seeing all that was included on our excursion, but would have loved to have more time seeing the things we missed.
Disembarkation: It was an extremely easy disembarkation. No need to pick up your luggage in the terminal because whether you were going straight to the airport or on an excursion before your flight, all luggages were taken to a holding area at the airport. After our excursion, the coach we were on took us to this tented area where we picked up our luggage which was arranged by the tag color and number that was put on our luggage before being picked up the evening before. All we had to do was locate it. So convenient, especially since our terminal was just across the street from this area.
Nyboder is a historic housing district of former Naval barracks built in 1631 by Christian IV
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Harbor area
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Opera house across the harbor
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Weather: Packing for this cruise was a little challenging since it was warm in Ft. Lauderdale when we started and stayed warm for several days before it started getting cooler. The best plan was to layer when we reached the colder ports although it was never bitter cold anywhere, maybe a little windy in places but not uncomfortable. Of course, we were so fortunate to have sunshine even though rain had been predicted in some ports.
Approaching Amalienborg Palace and church
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Church & statue seen between two of the palaces
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Amalienborg Palace - winter residence of Royal family
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Four equal sized Rococo style palaces in cobbled stone square
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Palace guard station outside each door of four palaces
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Beginning of changing of guard ceremony
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Queen's ship in harbor
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St. Alban's Anglican Church, Churchillparken
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Gefion Fountain - fountain on harbor front - group of animal figures being driven by the Norse goddess, Gefjon, Largest monument in Copenhagen
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Interesting building
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Interesting building
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Interesting building
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Magasin du Nord - Oldest (established in 1890) and largest historic department store in Scandinavia
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Nyhavn Copenhagen - Old harbor from 1670 lined with brightly colored 17th & 18th century townhouses, bars, restaurants and cafes. Also many historic wooden ships. A crowded tourist spot.
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Bikes everywhere
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Rosenborg Palace - located in Royal Gardens
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Many brightly colored houses to brighten up the gray, winter days
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Another brightly colored house
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Danes do love their colored houses and every house has a bike in front of it
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All different colors of houses
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Train station
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Many canals throughout the city
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Another canal
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And another
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Christiansborg Palace - Home to Parliament but also where queen meets dignitaries
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Old Stock Exchange - Steeple with twisted dragon tail
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Beautiful trees all around the city
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Open faced sandwich - Danish favorite
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Variety of open faced sandwiches
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Recommendation: This was our second transatlantic cruise. Like the first, the Atlantic was very calm making for a relaxing experience on the sea days. The ports on each cruise were exciting places that I never really thought I might visit, but so glad I did. With a longer cruise, you have many more opportunities to meet some very nice people from all over the world whether it is at meals, in the theater waiting for the shows to start, at tea time, on excursions or just around the ship. I loved this cruise and hope to experience another transatlantic sometime in the future.