Entering Stockholm

Yesterday they announced that we'd be transiting the Stockholm fjord for 5 hours. So when we woke up by 8:00 am we looked out and this is what we saw!

Beautiful!

We will be passing this way again this evening as we leave Stockholm so I can get more pictures then. And I know my new camera takes nice pictures!

On board the ship

We had a nice dinner (prime rib and pina colada soup!) last evening
and Princess treated us to a special dessert in honor of our
anniversary. We purchased a bottle of wine and had a very enjoyable
meal, even if the waiters who sang "Happy Anniversary" were a bit out
of tune. Then we bundled up and went to see Mamma Mia! It was great seeing it again and having two blankets sure helped fight off the chill. After popcorn, the waiters came around with pizza, then again with warm cookies and milk!
The sun came up by 4 am this morning so I got up and closed the shades. Amazingly, we ended up sleeping in to 9 am so we had to rush to get ready for the 10:00 talk on Stockholm. Guess we need to set an alarm clock on board the ship. The soft rolling of the ship just lulls you to sleep.
We have a full schedule today. After the talk about Stockholm this morning, we have one on St Petersberg this afternoon and various other events like playing "The Amazing Race Game"; Unfortunately we got eliminated in the first round because we weren't one of the first 10 teams to find the martini bar.
I did finally get a camera today - a Nikon S550. It has 5X zoom and used SD cards. It has an internal rechargeable battery and got pretty good reviews on the sites I checked out. From all my reviews I liked the Nikon P80, but they were sold out of that model on the ship. Once I get back to the States I'll have to have my Canon evaluated and decide if I want to get it repaired or what I do. But for now, I have a camera!
It's always nice to have a day at sea early in the cruise to get into the routine of the ship. After this it's 6 straight days of port visits. Tonight is the first Formal Night and I think we're going to head to the Horizon Cafe instead of the dining room. We checked out the menu and it wasn't too exciting. But now it's time for either Afternoon Tea or the ice cream bar. Tough decisions... 8-)

Arriving at the Emerald

After a morning of exploring Copenhagen (and striking out with camera shops) we checked out of The Square and caught a taxi to the ship. We left the hotel just after noon and were checked in and in our cabin by 12:35! Very smooth checkin. And our luggage arrived by 1:00.

Our cabin is nice and has a very large balcony - large enough for 4 chairs, two of which can lay back. It is near the middle of the ship, just 3 cabins from the elevator.

But the best news is that tonight's Movies Under the Stars is ..... MAMMA MIA! So right after the ship sails at 8:00, we'll be claiming our chairs for the movie.

So now it's time to tour the ship and visit the Cafe Caribe for lunch.

Back from lunch and the ship walk about. The layout is identical to the Ruby Princess; I have yet to find something in a different location. So it will be very easy for us to find our way around. The dinner menu has pina colada soup and prime rib plus we have a card to give to the headwaiter for a special anniversary gift so we'll be squeezing that in between the muster call (emergency drill) and Mamma Mia showing.

Copenhagen

Mary and I have had a great time wandering around Copenhagen. The street system is very crazy and the addresses make no sense, but we haven't been lost yet. Most corners have no street signs and those you do find are often on the sides of buildings. The city is criss-crossed by canals and the scenery is amazing.

Our hotel is in an excellent location, right near The Stroeget, the main shopping street. Just walking around these ancient buildings and across cobblestone streets that have been there for centuries is fascinating.

So now we head for the Emerald Princess to begin the next leg of our trip. I have declared my camera "DOA". I found some tricks to revive it at an online site, but they only partially worked. The problem is the iris that covers the shutter is stuck so no light gets into the camera when the shutter clicks. I was able to get it briefly unstuck last evening, but it failed again next time turned it on. Cameras over here are very expensive, about twice what I'd pay in the States so I may pick up a one time digital camera and will end up sharing Mary's camera with her so I may be taking a few less pictures on this trip.

I have started a Picassa photo page to post a few pictures each day.

Time to pack up and head to the ship.

Arrived In Copenhagen

Now that was a looong day! The "air leg" of our journey went very well. All planes arrived early and we had no travel issues, which is always a very good thing. The SAS flight was very nice. The seats were a bit cramped (understandable for economy class) and it was hard to sleep due to the time of day, but the food was great - a nice hot meal at the start and a breakfast before we landed. Customs was a non-issue (they looked at my passport and stamped Mary's), our baggage was there when we got to the conveyer belt, and we caught a cab to our hotel right away. The cab driver understood some English which helped.

As expected the hotel was full when we arrived at 8:00 am (local time) and check in is at 2:00 p.m. so we put luggage into storage and walked around the town. We decided to take a canal

tour which was very nice, but by the end of it, we both were feeling the effects of being up for 26 hours. We did some souvenir shopping, grabbed a small lunch and decided to head back to the hotel to wait for our room. Thankfully, one was available so we were able to check in and immediately crashed for a 3 hour nap.

So now we are waking up, getting unpacked and settling in.

Unfortunately, my camera decided to "die" today. I discovered this as we were about to leave the house when I tried to take a picture of our luggage. It turns on and displays settings and prior pictures just fine, but when you go to take a picture, all you see is "black". After considerable testing and some online internet research over the phone with Katie while waiting at the airport, I've concluded the the "image capture" chip has failed. Thankfully Mary's camera works so we shared it today. So I'll be doing some camera shopping while on the trip. Hopefully I can find a good deal here in Copenhagen!

All Packed and Ready

The suitcases are all packed and closed (and well under 50 lb each!) so now we need to have lunch and wait for any to pick us up.

Getting excited to be on our way!

The Baltic Sea Calls

In less than 2 weeks, Mary and I will be in Northern Europe, cruising the Baltic Sea, visiting all of the Scandinavian nations - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway along with Russia, Estonia, and Poland.

I plan to post most days - and hopefully upload a picture or two. So stay tuned. More to come!