Follow me as I blog about my 2024 trip to Scotland, England, and beyond! This is part 10, so if you need to get caught up, why not start at the beginning?
July 3rd
It was now my fourth day aboard the Caribbean Princess, and today we were docking in Copenhagen, Denmark. I had been there back in 2022, and I wanted to do a few "repeats." The ship wasn't going to be in port for very long, so I decided not to get much more adventurous than that.
I woke up around 8:45am, got ready, and headed out. From the port you can take Bus 25, which acts as a shuttle when ships are in port. The bus took us to the Orientaj Metro Station. I boarded the first train. The doors closed and the train began to move... and then stopped. It broke down after traveling 2 feet! So then we had to wait to be "rescued" from behind these sliding doors. Five minutes later, we were liberated and able to board a train on the opposite tracks.
I took that train to the Østerport station, and from there began a walk through some parts of town I hadn't seen on my last trip. I passed through a park and also Kongens Have, which has some beautiful gardens....
I stumbled upon a gift shop with Moomin in the window display, and went in to buy some items.
Next I went to the LEGO Store Copenhagen, where I got more stamps in my LEGO passport...
The Rådhuspladsen (a big city square) was hopping...
I arrived at Tivoli...
And there was the Tivoli LEGO Store, right where I'd left it...
I got more passport stamps...
Next up I went to the Tivoli Food Court for lunch. The last time I was in town, I had gotten some really delightful meals here. Today I got a Greek Salad, and it was great.
As I ate, I was watched by birds.
I was happy that I didn't even need to use my phone to find the nearest Metro station -- I remembered the way! I went through the train station (bought a drink) and proceeded out the back, where I found the Metro, took it back to Orientkaj, and took bus 25 back to the ship around 1:30pm.
And then... I took another nap.
After I woke up I went out on the promenade deck. The ship had already set sail, and there was lots to see on both sides of the ship -- Denmark on one side, Sweden on the other.
A pilot boat made a visit...
I had my second and final Main Dining Room dinner this evening: Iced peach bellini soup, eggplant cannelloni parmigiano, and a pear/ice cream thing for dessert.
After dinner, I went to an event called "Musical Bingo." It was free, and we each got a card with four bingo boards on it. In each square of each game were the names of songs. They then played clips from the songs, and if you recognized one -- and it was on your card -- you marked it off. If you didn't know a song that they played, it was okay, because -- after a short delay -- they would put the song name up on a screen.
The prizes for each round were nothing to write home about -- a bottle opener, a mesh bag, etc. Still, fun times were had.
Later, I watched round 2 of the Voice Of The Ocean auditions. About 3x as many people auditioned tonight, including a few repeats from the night before. I cast my vote, and one of my favorites ended up being a finalist. There were 6 finalists in all. The final performance wouldn't happen until Day 11 of the cruise, though!
July 4th
We'd already celebrated Canada Day, and now it was America's turn! (Seems a bit ironic to be celebrating America's independence on a ship leaving from England, but I don't make these decisions.)
The decor was... very earnest.
Today we'd be docking in Warnemünde, Germany. This port city is a train ride away from the (apparently) slightly more interesting Rostock, Germany, and also a 3-hour train ride from Berlin. The ship would be in port until 10pm in order to allow people to visit Berlin, if they wished to. (3 hours in, 6 hours there, 3 hours back.)
I woke up around 9 and had an in-room breakfast. A little while later, I played in a cornhole tournament in the piazza...
After that I wandered up to the buffet and saw they were still serving breakfast, so I got some pancakes.
In the early afternoon, after the weather cleared up, I got off the ship and headed into Warnemünde...
Right near the port were these massive sand sculptures...
I walked to Kurpark, which had a couple of small, retro-looking playgrounds, plus some other novelties.
I could see a beach (or at least the ocean) off in the distance, so I headed in that direction.
There were thousands of these chair stands/shelters up and down the beach. I believe you could rent them. Only the gulls were using them today.
I spent about 30-40 minutes at this beach. As I was leaving, a whole bunch of teenagers descended upon it. I think they'd just gotten out of school.
I headed into the town center to look for chocolate....
But I wasn't there long. The allure of the side streets took me off course...
Eventually I made it back to the busier waterfront area...
Saw another person in a bear costume...
I finally found some chocolate! I got the two small ones at a gift shop. The other I got at a grocery store. The Jokolade was really good! The Giotto Momenti was just okay. I ate one of the truffles and it was also good. The other I left for my stateroom host.
I didn't take a picture of it, but there was a girl, about 8 years old, on one of the piers eating french fries, and a gull kept swooping down at her, trying to grab the fries. Her mom or someone would wave the bird away, but it kept coming back. I looked around and saw other people eating fries with no issue. Then I looked back at the girl and saw that while she was holding the container of fries in one hand, in her other arm she was holding a life-sized gull stuffie.
Talk about creating your own problems!
I returned to the ship in the late afternoon. The ship felt so empty -- it was wonderful. I knew the people who'd gone to Berlin wouldn't be back until 8 or 9pm. I had dinner in the buffet, then later went to an event called TV Tunes Trivia. It turned out to be only songs from the 70s and 80s. I got 11 out of 20 correct.
I spent a lot of time out on deck, too.
Here are some more examples of the ship's July 4th decor...
I had read somewhere that at this port, a ton of people will often return from Berlin around the same time.
I found out this was true...
^People waiting to re-board the ship
Around 9:30pm, I went out on deck and began taking photos of the skyline. We were set to sail away shortly.
We did not set sail on time. An announcement came over the PA saying that there was a teenage passenger who had left the ship and had not reboarded. Apparently he had been missing (as in, his grandmother, who he'd been traveling with, had not seen or heard from him) all day. He had somehow managed to get off the ship unaccompanied (even though this isn't supposed to be allowed.) The German police were now involved.
Eventually, the grandma disembarked, luggage and all, accompanied by a couple of (what I assumed were) Princess employees. I felt so bad for her.
Two days later, we learned the kid had been found and was okay. He'd gone off with an internet acquaintance.
What a ride.
We finally set sail around 11pm.
I now leave you with...
NEAT GERMAN DOORS! Enjoy.
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