WouterC

Danish Viking, I would be grateful if you could answer some questions.

We are starting our cruise on Saturday 15 August. Our ship is the Serenade of the Seas which is docked at Oceankaj and leaves at 17PM.

We are flying from Amsterdam into Copenhagen one day before. I expect us to arrive at our hotel around 12PM. We booked the hotel First Hotel Mayfair.

My questions:

1. I read our hotel is in or near the red light district. Is it safe to walk there in the evening?

2 . would it be best to take the train or the subway to the central station? What's the difference?

3. Is it a far walk from the station to the hotel, or is it better to take a taxi?

4. My wife loves amusement parks, especially roller-coasters. So we are planning to visit Tivoli for sure. When would be the best time to go there, and how long does a visit take?

5. With two half days in Copenhagen, what do you certainly recommend on seeing or doing?

6. I was wondering if you could recommend some good seafood restaurants

7. What's the best way to go from the hotel to the cruise terminal. I'm guessing taxi, since it's on a Saturday? How much would that cost? Or is there a bus connection. We'd like to avoid walking for a long time with our luggage in hand.

8. I believe there is some sort of gay pride festival when we are there. How noticeable is that, for example with traffic.

Sorry for the big number of questions. It's just that I like to be prepared.

We went a month ago.

The entertainment was really great, especially in the evening there were always fun things to do. Seemed a little less in the afternoon, but that could be explained by the fact we visited something at each port.

Blue Man Group was great, and we got hooked on 'Howl At The Moon'. Graffiti Classics was funny and good, Legends also good. Soul Satisfaction decent and different. We didn't see Cirque.

Hi megacruiser, we're going on the epic very soon and have started to pack. We're not sure if we should bring our gala clothes though. Did you notice many people that dressed up their best on the Dress Up Or Not night?

Linda, no sit down lunch for us. We will pick up a snack on the go. We are not as interested in the Hermitage art as we are in the history of it and the Winter Palace. We have been to the great art museums in many other places.

 

Greg, thank you for your comments. My gut feeling was to visit Catherine's Palace. Wish we were going to be in St. Petersburg for two days, but we have to work with what time we will have.

 

I have contacted TJ Travel and they will arrange a day for us but want to know what we are interest in seeing.

 

Barb

I guess you could keep the visit to the hermitage relatively short then. The building is said to be magnificent though. Something to consider as well: it might be nice to be outside for a part of the day, and not be inside buildings most of the day. Anyhow, you know best what you like. Have fun planning your trip.[emoji3]

Linda,

 

Love your blog! So informative. I followed it from the beginning and couldn't wait for your next posting.

 

I will be on a Baltic cruise next year on the Serenade. We only have one day in St. Petersburg (7:00A-7:30P). I am booking a private tour for myself, my husband and another couple. Because of the limited time, I am struggling with what to see. If you had a choice of Peterhof (gardens only) or Catherine's Palace, which would you choose and why. One of us is Jewish and we want to see the Grand Choral Synagogue (with tour of the inside). Thank you for any insight you can give me.

 

Barb

Hi Barb,

I've already did some research of independent tours, and I have seen at least three companies that have itineraries where you visit Peterhof + Catherine's Palace + Hermitage as the biggest attractions.

So it seems to me that it should be possible to visit both Peterhof, Catherine's Palace and the Synagogue on the same day.

My advice: send a mail to all of the tour companies you are interested in. Tell them which sights you want to see and ask if they can propose an itinerary to you.

I've e-mailed three companies doing just that and I got excellent replies from all of them. Make sure to mention the ship you are on and the date you will be in St. Petersburg.

Are you also going on the August 15 cruise? Just wanted to let you know that there's already a roll call for that, not very active yet but it's still very early days.

Finally, thank you NorbertsNiece for your fantastic review and photographs.

By clicking on the small photo icons that are shown in your post I was able to copy the links and view your photos. They look pretty amazing, great snaps!

Over which city were you flying?

I believe Slam has now left the Breakaway as well.

 

Slam was also on the Epic when it was in the Med. He was never just there for US sailings.

Ah, okay. I figured they changed the entertainment when crossing the Atlantic, guess I figured wrong.

I'm doing the transatlantic... :)

 

Beatles in a jazz-club, the horror...

Maybe they can rename the venue to Sergant Peppers's Lonely Jazz Club Band ... :rolleyes:

Great, false advertising... NCL, don't call this thing the 'Fat Cats Jazz and Blues-club' if there is all but jazz and blues to be heard there. :mad::mad:

 

This better be fixed in October, or this will be my first (and let's hope the last) complaint.

I think it's because the entertainment is different in the Carribean and the Mediterranean. From what I've read on the web, I believe that in the Caribbean they actually do have jazz/blues artists performing in Fat Cats.

This is actually on NCL's FAQ page. They say $5 per person per game, sounds right:

http://answers.ncl.com/answers/4066/category/EPIC/norwegian-epic-questions-answers/questions.htm?expandquestion=1891428

I read you swipe your card and the expense is added to your on board account. Perhaps someone can confirm.

What does it cost for bowling?

 

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Also, how did you know that Cirque would be free the first night under UDP?

You can also find the information in the Terms and Conditions: http://www.ncl.com/udp/faq , see the heading "What is included in the Ultimate Dining Package".

Thanks again for the update.

What puzzled me is that there seem to be overlapping times for Graffiti Classics and Perfect Couple Game show... do you know what's up with that?

And how was your dinner in Le Bistro?

WouterC:

Your "cheat sheets" are fantastic! :D I've downloaded them to my own Google Drive 'Cruise 2014' folder and will print them up to give out to the family before we go. One question - I might have missed it on your sheet, but I thought I read on CC somewhere that the internet cafe isn't a bad place to crash if you want quiet. Do you recall seeing this anywhere too? One of my sisters has NO interest in being outside unless there's shade, and she mentioned wanting a quiet spot. I suggested the cafe -- but explained that getting on an actual computer would be crazy expensive! :eek::eek:

Thanks! Always happy to be able to help. Keep in mind that there may be some mistakes, since I've never actually been on the ship myself. Yet, three weeks to go!

For example the spa pass prices are wrong, as you may have read. I'd appreciate it if you let me know if the sheets were useful and accurate for you and your family on your trip.

Oh yeah, quiet spot: perhaps the library?

I hope nothing bad happened!

Megacruiser, question: can you just walk into the different entertainment venues (Fat Cats, Headliners, ...), when performances are happening or do you always have to get reservations at the box office to be able to enter?

Thank you, these are wonderful pictures!

My pleasure and thanks for posting. Yes, it's $199 for the week. Do remember when doing the sums that most people don't use it on the first day. I considered the week but was happy with the one day. Of course my cruise was busier than normal, since I was taking photos much of the time. Do bear in mind also that this is a port-intensive cruise and tiring if you do all the major sightseeing.

 

The UDP I would regard as better value. The UBP is becoming very marginal for me, after the recent price hike.

 

Regards

megacruiser

Someone made a spreadsheet listing all of the drinks:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2042900

We did an estimate, and my wife and I could not break even even if we would drink twice as much as we normally do.

As for the UDP, we probably aren't going to take it. It's our first cruise with NCL, so we really want to try out all of the complimentary dining venues. After that, there are not many days left then to take advantage of the UDP. We did book La Cucina on the last sea day.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the UDP!

Do bear in mind also that this is a port-intensive cruise and tiring if you do all the major sightseeing.

Sure, but not as port intensive as our 7 day East Mediterranean cruise we did last year on MSC Divina... we were exhausted, especially since MSC wanted us out of the room by 7AM.

In fact, we expect Palma de Mallorca and Cannes to be rather 'slow' days - nothing planned there either. We're happy these ports are at the end of the cruise, give us the chance to catch our breath and relax.

Thank you very much for your post about the Mandara Spa!

Do you perhaps also know how much a weekly pass would cost now?

Following & waiting to here about peaceful nice seating outside on deck reviews.. I was debating posh passes but unsure if mum would join me as she nit a sun queen & prefers shade.

Hi Megacruiser,

I'm making a couple of 'cheat sheets' (I got most of the tips from CruiseCritic threads), perhaps they can be useful for you?

Two tips I collected for good 'lounger' locations:

• "There's an awesome out-of-the-way place for shaded lounging... under the sports deck starboard aft."
  
• "The public sun decks on 1 8 are virtually empty, even when the pool is full ( seating for about 100 people)."
  

Cheat Sheets (PDF's):

• Cabin and ship: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz28zgmezEyFeEZZa0VlTDJLVHM/edit?usp=sharing
  
• Food: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz28zgmezEyFZDEzanFtaEk2Y2c/edit?usp=sharing
  
• Entertainment: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz28zgmezEyFeEh2VHdBNzhtbHc/edit?usp=sharing
  

Just checked, guess I also have to change the description for Cirque to "No photography", instead of "no flash photography"...

Following! We're going on the exact same cruise July 20. I loved the first part and can't wait to read the rest!

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Also: town of Ceri, Necropolis of Cerveteri by themself, or perhaps combined with Lake Bracciano + Castle Odeschalchi.

Our cruise has only one day in Saint Petersburg, so that'll make the day more crammed to be sure. And more important to select a good tour.

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Did anyone here do RCI's excursion Hermitage and Peterhof? How much time do you have at Hermitage, and can you wander around or do you have to stay with the guide?

While looking through the excursions for Saint Petersburg, I also noticed an option 'full day by car', priced per car and not per person. Is that like a private excursion with guide? A bit strange, since usually excursions are priced per person.

Can anyone comment on the Epic's entertainment on Mediterranean cruise? I read it changes, for example the music band is Cruise Machine on the Med, and I read there's no Second City?

Hi JamesFic

 

Thanks, are the trains into rome very frequent to and from wouldnt want to miss the ship departure how much time would you give to get back to the ship? = would you know the approx cost.

 

Thanks

Juls1964:)

Trains are pretty frequent, I believe 2 to 3 trains per hour, depending on the time of day. I would get back at LEAST 2 hours beforehand. Reason being that, if there is a delay or strike, you could still get a taxi. And taxis take about 1.5 hours, depending on the traffic.

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