This wonderful cruise is sadly coming to an end, we are making our Kiel Canal transit today, at sea tomorrow and we then arrive into Dover on Thursday morning. I really am sad to be thinking about getting off. I feel like I have been on Braemar for a lot longer than two weeks and I am incredibly comfortable onboard – maybe I need to find a place to hide! 😉

We were in Copenhagen, Denmark, yesterday and although the weather was pretty rubbish for quite some time, I did enjoy my time ashore. I went on a Copenhagen and Tivoli excursion and loved every minute of it. We left the ship (which had the best berthing location of all the ships that were in port I might add) and made our way towards the Little Mermaid statue. I am glad I can say I have seen her, but she was a lot smaller than I expected. Someone had also written something across her chest so that took away from the viewing – I wish people would just leave things alone and not feel the need to destroy or deface everything around them! From the Little Mermaid we made our way into the city and had a stop at the Palace, where we watched the changing of the guard. We drove right through the main city and I enjoyed it, but I was desperate to get to Tivoli!

Tivoli was awesome! It was like a magical world within a world. That is the only way that I can describe it. It is right in the heart of the city and offers visitors beautiful gardens and a small theme park. In fact, Tivoli is actually home to one of the world’s oldest rollercoasters! The weather was awful for quite some time but eventually it did dry up, which I was grateful for, but I never got the chance to go on any of the rides – I suppose I have an excuse to go back now. Tivoli is a magical place for young and old, there are many rides, some lovely gardens and several restaurants, bars and small gift shops. You really could spend a substantial amount of time here especially if the weather was nice. It almost has a make believe feel to it, imagine Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the kind of other world things that he offers, Tivoli is like that, it’s like a real life version of something you would only ever imagine to be real. I have to admit that I did think Tivoli would be bigger and that there would be a few more garden areas, but I was more than impressed by what was on offer and we had the pleasure of getting up close to a tiny baby Peacock. If you have visited Copenhagen before or want to do something a little different then Tivoli is definitely my recommendation. I took the trip as an organised excursion, but if you would prefer more time there then it is easy enough to do on your own.

This cruise really has been amazing. I wish I had experienced a Baltic voyage long ago because I am now hooked on the region and have already decided what I will do in several ports when I return. I really do have it all planned out! If I go back to St Petersburg I will go for Catherine’s Palace and probably the Hermitage. In Tallinn, I will explore the one small area of the Old Town that I missed  and probably try some local food in one of the many restaurants, I would also pick a voyage with another long call here so I could spend the evening ashore. Stockholm, I would go on the city Ghost Walk, which I really wanted to do when we were there but sadly I didn’t have the opportunity and in Denmark I would do a city walking tour, taking in on foot everything I viewed this time from the coach. I would also make time for another Tivoli visit, obviously! 😉

We are currently making our Kiel Canal transit and I am enjoying the scenery on the open deck. The weather is not great, but thankfully it has just stopped raining. It is such a great experience and we have several hours of it left. It’s mostly fields and trees that one can see, but occasionally we pass a windmill or ferry station – you never really know what lies ahead. On our evening transit we passed one or two motor home parks and they let off fireworks as we passed, that was a nice welcome!

I did leave the deck for a little while and sampled the German Lunch in the Palms Café, which was very nice! I think I have overdosed though on Bratwurst! They were like giant succulent hot dogs and I couldn’t get enough! Two Bratwurst and then Schnitzel was probably not a good idea. I am so full I could burst! 😉

A lady commented on my blog before I left to say she was also on the same cruise and I have just met her, finally! 🙂 It’s so nice to connect with people onboard that you have had some interaction with pre-cruise. Cruising really is a close community of thousands of people and I love it!

I have so much more to tell you and things to share with you about this lovely ship, Braemar, but this piece shall cometh soon along with interior images………watch this space!

Author: Danielle