[cubfancolleen]

So, port adventures…
We are fairly seasoned travelers, and we know that we like to set our own pace. For organized tours, sometimes that means we’d like to skip over things and sometimes that means we’d love to spend a lot more time than allowed. We decided that for many of the ports, we’d do our own thing. But even with that, we were anxious for DCL to list the port adventures. Seemed like it was taking FOREVER! (or maybe that’s only because I have never been accused of being patient?!)

First stop (after a full day at sea) will be Oslo. We have friends who’ve been and raved about the sculpture gardens, featuring the work of famous Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland. DCL is offering a half day tour that includes time at Vigeland Park, as well as a stop at the Olympic ski jump that is supposed to offer an amazing view down into Oslo. So, we did sign on for that one. The plan is to do that in the morning and then spend the afternoon wandering Oslo, with our Rick Steves’ guide in hand. (As a side note, I’ve found his book on Scandinavia to be one of the most helpful guides out there. We also have a DK guide to London, St. Pete, and a “Top 10” for Copenhagen – also by DK.) I assume we’ll end up back in Norway at some point – probably when the kids are out of the house – for a longer stay. This will just be to whet our appetite. The nice thing about the Baltic ports, is that it seems that you are able to walk to many of the sights from the cruise dock – no need to drive into town. We are also using some of the details from the port adventures listing to come up with our own walking tours.

Next up, Copenhagen. Here, too, we’re opting to go solo. DCL had a detailed description of a walking tour that started and ended at the pier, so we are essentially planning to follow that, with Tivoli Gardens as an added feature. It was tempting to do one of the DCL trips to Tivoli, since it gave you EMH basically! But we decided there was a lot more in Copenhagen that we want to see. But we also cannot pass up a chance to see the park that inspired Walt Disney all those years ago. We will do an admission ticket to the park, and then let each of the kids pick a ride for us to try. From the pictures, it looks as though Tivoli would be an amazing sight after dark! There are all kinds of fairy lights and lanterns all through the park. But of course in late June, there won’t be any sign of darkness before we have to be back on board. A reason to visit again in the fall, perhaps!?

Warnemunde, Germany is the third stop on the cruise. This is billed as the gateway to Berlin. The problem is, it’s still 3 hours to Berlin from Warnemunde. DD is one of those “are we there yet” kind of travelers when we are in a car, sometimes asking the question within minutes of leaving the driveway!! So after some debating, we decided that the theme of this trip is relaxing, and as much as we can avoid putting ourselves under any stress, we will do so. So, no trip to Berlin for us. We are doing the DCL trip to Rostock, and then plan on wandering around Warnemunde, and maybe even spending some time on the beach there. The information we’ve found on it sounds like it might be fairly picturesque. And if not, we can always enjoy the quiet of the ship with so many off seeing Berlin!

After a full day at sea, we are then on to St. Petersburg for two days!