Sailing out of Copenhagen

June 12 - Embarkation Day

We got up late as I did not see any point in trying to do anything this morning since it was still rainy and cold. We waited to go to breakfast until about 9:30. I had a nice breakfast

My breakfast

B had OJ and a roll.

Granddaughter's breakfast

We checked out of the hotel, and they called us a taxi. We were on our way by 11:30.

Cab to the ship

The taxi driver asked us which pier and I looked at the boarding passes I had printed out and was able to tell him which it was. We were right opposite the Eurodam. They took our two bags

Granddaughter's bag

and we went in and were given a Number One Priority ticket, so when they called us to board, we were in the first group. They didn't have any wheelchairs visible.

When we went to the counter the person checking us in (Patricia) had a great deal of trouble - first the passport wouldn't scan because the machine was on the table backwards. She just had a horrible time with everything. This had consequences later on in the trip. And she didn't ask me for B's permission slip either. Finally she got us checked in and we went on board about 12:45. We were behind a guy on crutches and I was sure he was going to get hurt on the gangway as the first step shifted under my foot when I went on and I am steadier on my feet than he was. We had to run across from the awning to the gangway in the rain.

Waiting for the guy on crutches to clear gangway

We went up to the Lido, and B got some fruit and sushi to eat, and I got some bread and some fruit and then some bread pudding. Holland American is famous for bread pudding, and I get it whenever I can. We were in the room by 2.

My cane on the arm of the couch

The beds were a queen instead of two singles, so I called for them to fix that.

Queen bed reflected

B was excited to have a lighted make-up mirror.

The make-up mirror

I registered B at the kids club on the ship, but she really wasn't too interested in that. Seems to be mostly 9 yo boys in her age group (7-12). Her 13th birthday is next month and she would be much happier in the 13-17 group, but they refused to let her into that group. I also got her a coke card for 20 cokes like I did with her cousin last year. I went to play Team Trivia at 2 pm. While we did that B explored the ship some more and took more pictures.

Pool

Ship model

Wet promenade deck

I was with a single man and a married couple. Our team won out of two teams. I knew which animal had the highest blood pressure (giraffe), and one of the guys who was a pharmacist knew which pain reliever became an OTC drug in 1974 (? - don't remember the date for sure, but do remember the answer was ibuprofen). We missed the continent that is cut in half by the Tropic of Capricorn (Australia - we said Africa, but that is cut in two parts by the Equator). We got key chains

I bought myself a 250 minute internet plan for $100.00 and bought B a 100 minute plan for $50. It isn't free here like it was in the hotel Please note [these are from emails to B's parents] - we have to pay for computer time on the ship. It is at least 40 cents a minute, and uploading pictures is difficult because the connection is tenuous - and SLOW.

One of the things I like to do when traveling is to find and photograph lighthouses. So when we left the harbor on the ship,

Harbor

I went out on the promenade deck to take photos of whatever aids to navigation I could see.There are three possible lighthouses to be seen:

Stubben (Frihavn Nordmole) This is an active lighthouse; A round tower with lantern and gallery at an altitude of 23 fet, painted green. The light flashes green. It is located at the end of a short breakwater on the north side of the northern entrance to København.

Kronløbsbassin also an active lighthouse with a continuous green light on a round cast iron tower (painted green) with a lantern at 20 feet.Frihavn Sydmole - Located at the end of the long breakwater extending from the north side of the island of Trekroner, this is an active lighthouse which has a red flash. It is a round tower with a lantern height of 23 feet, and the gallery is painted red.

Trekroner - Fort Light This is an active lighthouse that is on the waterfront in the port. The lighthouse dates from 1926 (although the original station was established in 1836). The light is a round tower with lantern and gallery of 66 ft tall with white, red, or green light depending on direction, and is painted white

Trekroner - red side

The lighthouse is on a 19th century fort is on a manmade island located in the Copenhagen harbour which was originally built to defend Copenhagen.

Fort from the ship

During the summer the DFDS Canal Tours Hop On-Hop Off waterbuses have a route to Trekroner Sea Fort

Trekroner from the bus

and the Forts ferries from Langelinie Quay take only 7 minutes to get to the Fort. If we had gone, we would have had a view overlooking the city and the Sea of Oresund and apparently there is a café in newly renovated rooms. I had hoped to visit the fort on the waterbus, but the weather was so cold and rainy that we only looked at it from the bus. Then later, we saw the lighthouse from the cruise ship

Trekroner from the ship

Going past the island

I am always interested in ATONs (Aids To Navigation) and a friend said they envisioned me going around with my camera and photographing lighthouses everywhere. And that's not far from the truth, although I do photograph things other than lighthouses. In any case, when we sailed out of Copenhagen, I saw what appeared to be red arrows, so I took photos of them.

My little red arrows (really lights with a "hat"

Then when I looked them up I saw that the name of these things was Middelgrundsfort Vest.

Middelgrundsfort

The Middelgrundsfort is a fortress built on a shoal off the harbor of København. After many years of disuse, the fortress now houses a restaurant and conference center. Located about 3.5 km (2 mi) northeast of the harbor; accessible by passenger ferry. If it had not been so cold and rainy, I would have liked to take that ferry out there.These objects were built in 1975. There is an osculating white, red, or green light depending on direction in a round lantern, painted red.

Red Markers

Green Markers

These are the views of the harbor from a cruise ship as it sails out at dusk.

Views of The Port from a Cruise Ship

You can see some little aids to navigation, the cranes on the docks, and the fort at the entrance to the harbor. In the US, the ATONs (aids to navigation) are red on the left as you leave the harbor (or Red Right Returning) Under the IALA A standard used in Europe, Africa and most of Asia, the colors are reversed.

We walked around the ship so B could take pictures

Ceiling in one of the ship lounges

Rug in the elevator

Granddaughter's selfie in the window

and then we had the lifeboat drill

Lifeboat drill

and the ship left the port at 1630. I got some pictures of the harbor entrance lights and another lighthouse.

At the rail

B spotted the pilot getting off and waved at him,

Pilot boat leaving the ship

but didn't take his picture. Then we went down for dinner.

Flower arrangement

We were seated with an old lady (she told me she was 84) from NYC, a couple from Canada, and a couple from Michigan. I had the

Crostini sampler

(three small pieces of toast with one each topping of mushrooms, goat cheese and tomato). Then we both had the chicken and corn soup which was quite spicy, and I had the asparagus risotto which was good but not much asparagus.

Risotta

After the appetizers, B spotted a lighthouse and took a picture,

Lighthouse from our table

but I got up and went over to the window and tried to take a picture where the raindrops on the window weren't and was fairly successful.

For dessert we both had the strawberry sundae.

During dinner, something set off the 84 year old lady, and she started to rant and rave about Obama - how he was really not born in the US and other stuff like that. B was like "Whoa !!!!

I tried to plug in the power strip (an old metal one) and blew the fuse for that power plug. The same thing had happened the hotel and the fuse for the whole room blew while B was in the shower. The bathroom of course had no windows, so she was in the dark. So I figured after this second time, the power strip had a short and I threw it out. Fortunately I had a plug for the European outlet and could plug the computer into that.

Tomorrow is a sea day

June 13- Saturday at Sea

DSCN0584

We went to breakfast in the dining room and both had Eggs Benedict.

We had lunch in the Lido - B had sushi again and afterwards ice cream.

Ice cream in the Lido

They ALWAYS have offered to help me with my tray there. Afterwards we went to look at the embarkation picture - B didn't like the one of us together although I thought it was pretty good. We went and guessed which one was the real Faberge egg (and guessed right)

Fake fabrege egg

Real Faberge egg

and I asked about Trivia because it wasn't on the schedule. I bought B a necklace which has a plastic card holder for her room key, a HAL sweatshirt so she would be warmer and a $10 watch, but the watch now has a broken strap at both ends and so is useless. I tried to find a tour of Tallin for the next day which did not involve a lot of walking, but DID do the old town - without success. B in the meantime found some things she wanted to buy for herself and as gifts which I had to sign for.

Taking a photo of a passing ship

B went around the ship taking photos

Reflected in the elevator mrrors

Ship's wake

B's selfie on deck

I went to Trivia at 3:30 which apparently is the usual time. This time I was with three different people. We came in second because none of us knew the name of Harry Potter's school.

We went and got our passports back and they put the passes for St. Pete in the wrong passports. I didn't think anything of this at the time.

Tonight was Formal night. Every night apparently is Formal or Smart Casual. The first night is usually Casual but the plan of the day said Smart Casual. The sign in the dining room said Casual, but a lot of good that does as you are usually already dressed when you get up there. We got dressed and went to dinner. This time I had two appetizers

Fruit Compote

Shrimp Cocktail

and no soup or salad. The lobster was Lobster Thermador, which was mostly mushrooms.

I think they left the gills on my lobster, It was good but hard to eat because it was in a half lobster shell. B had sliced fruit plate for dessert,

and I had Rustic Pear Galette which turned out to be a pear cheese pie.

Rustic Pear Galette

I went back to the room and, since the laundry room was empty, I packed up my laundry to do. Of the three washers, only one works.

Laundry room

I told B to get me her dirty clothes so I could wash them, and she said that she had, but in reality she put NOTHING in the basket to be washed. Then I found that the room stewards had come back to the room to make it up while I was doing the wash, and B had not let them in because she thinks they look funny. So our room didn't get done. I was quite annoyed and told her that in the future if I'm not there and she is nervous to be with them, she should leave the room so they can clean it.

After B was in bed, I took the computer up to the library and spent an hour loading pictures to MySpace and Facebook. We also filled out our Russian boarding passes.

Our first port - Tallinn is tomorrow