Princess Cruises, Day 4 - Helsingborg, Sweden

This morning, the Grand Princess arrived into Helsingborg, Sweden. Located on the southern tip of Sweden, at the narrowest point of the Oresund Strait (which separates Denmark and Sweden), this small coastal city is one of Sweden's oldest, dating back to 1085.

After loading up at the breakfast buffet, we disembarked the ship via tenders to Helsingborg. We quickly realized that the town was easily walkable, so armed with easy to read maps provided by the tourism office, we started on our way.

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll through Helsingborg Port, where the girls enjoyed running around and chewing all the Yuki's bubblegum (sorry, Donna!) We saw such sights as the Radhuset (townhall), the Strogonet Square, Helsingborg Castle and Karnan Tower. Karnan Tower is the only remaining part of the Danish fortress which once controlled the entranceway to the Baltic Sea.

Radhuset (Townhall)

The kids in front of Radhuset

Karnan Tower

There at Helsingborg Castle, the weather warmed up (it was a bit chilly in the morning) and we had a picnic lunch in the warm sunshine while enjoying the beautiful view overlooking Helsingborg.

Soon, it was time to head back towards the ship, but not before stopping at Peter Beier Chokolade shop which stated in Wikitravel as one of the recommended "to buy" items here. True to the high prices in Scandinavia, a very small box of chocolates was about 210 Swedish Krona ($30USD), which I believe is even more expensive than the Belgium chocolates! Although they were quite good, I don't think Pierre Marcolini has anything to worry about...

We also stopped by Sankta Maria kyrka (church) along the way.

That evening after dinner, DS & PS had a great time at the Kid's Disco with their Pelican Club friends. Ray and I snuck-in to check out the party and found PS dancing right in the middle of the dance floor! She was even filmed in the ship's video which played on the ship's TV the following day. Check out the video clip!

A Scandinavian sunset (taken after dinner that evening)...

Then Ray and I snuck out and had a nightcap at the pool-side bar...

...until we got caught by the girls as they were walking back to Pelican's Club!

Norway, here we come!

Joyeux-Anniversaire, Ray!!

It was Ray's birthday today! So, how do we top last year's birthday celebration in Paris?!

...a home-cooked dinner of chicken curry, of course! Unfortunately, our evening out was cancelled since our little PS came down with a fever today. Which means, we will have to celebrate a proper birthday for Ray at a later date.

We did however, pick up a birthday cake from Passion Chocolat. If you recall from our previous post of this chocolate shop, I had heard that their chocolate fondant cake is absolutely devine. Of course, with today's luck, the shop got my order wrong and mistakenly made the wrong cake! Disappointing, but the chocolate fondant will have to wait for yet another day...



Happy Birthday, Ray/Daddy! We love you!!

Princess Cruises Day 3 - Copenhagen

Statue of Absalon, a Danish archbishop

When we awoke on Day 3, we were greeted by clear blue skies and beautiful sunny weather. A perfect day to explore Copenhagen, Denmark.

After meeting the Yuki's at the buffet and enjoying a leisurely breakfast, we herded all the kids towards the outer decks to enjoy some sunshine and to take a few pictures. As you will see, none of these kids are shy in front of the camera...





We proceeded to disembark the ship and found that we were right in front of a stop for the Hop On/Hop Off bus tours! As you know, we love these tours - its perfect when you have little ones and want to see as much of the city as possible. Plus, the kids were free! What a deal!



The bus took us on a course through some of the famous sights around Copenhagen. We decided to "hop" off the bus to see the Copenhagen Ice Bar. Unfortunately it was not yet open, so we would have to wait until next time to see this bar, made completely from ice. Even the glasses were of ice!




clowning around at the Ice Bar lounge

We strolled through the city streets checking out the sights. Jo's usual M.O. is to sample some of the bake shops to get something sweet. She found a pastry shop and bought some weinerbrod (the Danish version of a danish!) which from what I understand, was quite good...

A wide selection of Weinerbrod (13.50 Danish Krones = 2.75USD)



We started to make our way towards Nyhaven, which is one of the most picturesque, yet tourist-filled parts of the city. It was a good place to take a break, enjoy the view and take more "blog shots"... As we strolled alongside the canal, we passed Nyhaven 20, which is the former home of famous Danish Author and Poet, Hans Christian Anderson.

Nyhaven 20, the red canal-side apartment...






The kids were getting a bit tired, which meant it was time to find the bus and "hop" back on! We had to wait a few minutes for the next bus, but it soon arrived and we were off again to see more of Copenhagen.

Tivoli is a beautiful park in the central city. We drove past the entrance and could see inside the gates a lovely park and some interesting looking amusement rides. However, it did look a bit crowded, which was not surprising due to the beautiful weather...



Our last stop on the bus tour was to see The Little Mermaid (built in honor of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale) statue in Copenhagen Harbor. For some reason, this is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Denmark, yet it baffles me as to the reason why...


Jo and DS.... Jo & PS later slipped-in trying to take the same shot!

After the visit to the mermaid, it was time for some ice cream to keep the kids motivated for the short walk back to the Grand Princess.



Once onboard, we put our girls down for a nap and we took a break ourselves before dinner. The ship remained docked in Denmark until about 3:30AM, when it departed for Sweden.

Copenhagen was a nice stop and although we didn't see everything, we did get a feel for the city and what it had to offer. Sweden and Norway are yet to come!

Welcome Aboard The Grand Princess!

The time had finally arrived for our much-anticipated Scandinavian cruise! After a leisurely breakfast, we headed down to the Mayflower Cruise Terminal in Southampton to meet up with our "home" for the next 7 nights: Princess Cruises' Grand Princess.

Once on board, we met up with the Yuki family from Orange County. James, Donna, TY and JY flew in a couple of days earlier and all of the kids had their first reunion since last Christmas in LA...

The moms waste no time getting into "cruise" mode...

We were assigned a table at Botticelli Dining Room, where we were seated for dinner promptly at 6:15 each evening. They probably assigned us the table in the corner when they saw our four "rascals", but all of the kids were pretty well behaved and soon became the favorites of the wait staff onboard.

Ironically, our first stop on the itinerary was Bruges, Belgium! While the Yuki's disembarked and explored the area, we decided this would be a perfect opportunity to check out the activities on board. The kids spent their time in the Pelican's Club, the children's activity center onboard the ship while Jo and I relaxed and enjoyed some of the other shipboard amenities...

That evening after dinner, the kids attended a pirate party where they got "eye-patches", made pirate hats, participated in a treasure hunt and were even visited by real pirates!

After departing from Belgium, the following day was spent "at sea". However, TY was not feeling well and ended up under the weather for the first few days of the cruise. The rest of the kids spent most of the day in the Pelican's Club where they played games, did arts-and-crafts, and even had an ice-cream party! Truly a kid's paradise at sea.

That evening was the first of two formal nights on board. It was a nice treat to get everyone dressed up, have some pictures taken and enjoy a gourmet dinner...

After dinner, we had just enough time for a few more pictures before we went to see the magic show in the ship's theater.

The Magic Show with Richard Griffin was good, but the part where he swallowed the razor blades made me very queasy...

Next stop: Copenhagen, Denmark...

A Pre-Cruise Holiday

The HMS Warrior, in 1860 The Pride of Queen Victoria's Fleet, Portsmouth

Sometime last year, we made plans to take a Princess Cruise with our good friends from back home, the Yuki's. Well, amazingly, what seemed like a trip in the far off future was suddenly here!

Since the cruise would be departing out of Southampton (on the southern coast of England), we took the opportunity to leave a few days earlier to explore that part of the UK before we met our friends on board the cruise ship.

Jo booked us a reservation on the Calais to Dover ferry again, much like our trip to the UK back in May, 2008. It really is a simple and relaxing way to "cross the channel" to England. And its always a nice sight to be welcomed by the "White Cliffs" of Dover once you arrive...

Once in the UK, we headed west to the Marriott Meon Valley Hotel and Country Club in Southampton, where we spent two evenings. It's a very nice resort (probably even better if we played golf!)

Our first order of business was to check in, get situated and go find someplace to eat! We usually ask the hotel staff for their recommendations and were told to head over to The Cricketers Inn for a proper English dinner. And it most certainly was...

Everyone's happy after a fine English meal!


We retired early to our hotel and put the girls down for the evening. The following morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and headed out for some sightseeing.

Winchester Cathedral, one of the largest and famous cathedrals in England is nearby and has its origins in the 7th century.

It is the burial site for English novelist Jane Austen and for also a couple of notables named "Washington", who are ancestors of a guy named George...

The cathedral also has a children's education center and hosts many educational events througout the year. DS and PS partipated in a "create a bug" competition and submitted their entries for judging...

Afterwards, we walked through town and over to Winchester Castle and the Great Hall.

The Great Hall

There, hanging on the wall is the Winchester Round Table, commissioned by King Henry VIII to celebrate the various knights of Arthur's court. Its 18 feet in diameter and weighs about 2,400 pounds (about the same as a small car!)

This shot gives you an idea how big this hanging table top is.

The Great Hall had children's activities, such as a scanvenger hunt where clues are given and you had to find the answers hidden in various parts of the castle. It was a great way to get the kids involved and interested in the castle...

PS showing off her completed quiz sheet!

That evening, we headed into nearby Portsmouth to check out the waterfront area known as Gunwharf Quays and to find a place for dinner.

The Spinnaker Tower is an observation deck that provides a birdseye view of the surrounding area.

The evening was clear and breezy, but a bit cold. However, that didn't deter us from finding a nice outdoor restaurant to enjoy the waterfront and live music.

After dinner, we happened upon this Fish and Chips stand. What better way to cap off a nice dinner than with MORE food??

We were glad we stopped, because it was probably the most delicious fish and chips we have ever eaten! Crispy and piping hot, with just the right amount of seasoning! Jolly good!

These last two days have been a perfect start for a week of lots more food and sightseeing on our Princess Cruise...