Pre-Cruise Brochures: Princess has useful pre-cruise information in its brochures regarding what to expect on board, how one can be reached while cruising, etc. It also has a separate beautiful brochure detailing its shore excursion options for the Baltics. Even if you do not take their excursions, this brochure will provide you ideas for your own independent shore excursions, and it makes a great resource for photos and captions if you "scrapbook" your travels. Both these brochures should arrive with your pre-cruise documents.
I also like to tear out and pack the sales brochure deck plans for the ship, since these are more detailed than the pocket guides you will find in your cabin. These deck plans are great for selecting your cabin and for the first day or two onboard when finding one’s way to the library or dining room or internet salon can be a challenge.
My only major complaint about Princess Cruise’s pre-cruise information is that it includes absolutely nothing about the initial location of the ship. They assume one will purchase their airport to ship transfers (which cost a great deal more than public transportation). Some cruise lines are wise enough to include the name of the dock and directions how to reach it. Princess should print the name and location of its embarkation docks so that independent travelers can find them by taxi or other public transport.
Pre-Embarkation: The Star Princess docks at Copenhagen’s Orientkaj (Orient Quay) which is north of Copenhagen’s center. It is in the Frihavn complex, but that complex is several miles long. We met several passengers whose taxis took them to the Langeliniekaj, which is a popular cruise terminal (near the Little Mermaid statue), but which is two miles from the Orientkaj. One person we met on the cruise said that she and her mother were dropped by their taxi at the wrong quay, and they had to walk the two miles along the waterfront with their suitcases since they could not find another taxi.
Getting From Copenhagen Airport To The Ship Cheaply And Quickly By Train: This could not be easier, and it costs less than $5 per person (taxis are about $40-50 I believe, but the taxis do take credit cards). On arrival, get some Danish Kroner (in May 2005 about 5.8 DKK to the dollar) at any ATM in the arrival area, and walk to the train ticket window in terminal 3 (just follow the signs – it is well-marked). Ask for tickets to the NORDHAVN (not Noorport) Station. This station is about 6 blocks (an easy 10-15 min walk) from the ship – you can even see the ship from the train platform when you arrive. It is best to take the airport train (which leaves every 15 minutes) a few stations past central Copenhagen station to the Oosterport Station, and then switch platforms to for the local train to Nordhavn Station (which is only one stop farther). There are escalators/elevators in all train stations, so baggage is no problem. Traveling by train from the airport to the ship was so fast and easy that the Princess transfer passengers who were on our flight actually arrived at the ship by Princess bus shortly after us.
At the end of the cruise, take the same train connection back to the airport. You can ride from Nordhavn Station to Oosterport Station, buy your ticket there, and switch to the airport train (ticket machines are on the platform at Nordhavn Station, but we preferred dealing with the agent at Oosterport Station).
This is very important at the end of your cruise because taxis are inadequate on the dock and the taxi line had hundreds of people when we got off the ship. We sailed right by the taxi line, and went from our cabin to the airport check-in line in just under one hour.
Star Princess Embarkation: Once we were at the ship, embarkation went smoothly. We were given numbers based on arrival time, and were allowed to sit and wait until called rather than standing in a long line. It pays to complete all cruise documents in advance, since one qualifies for express check-in that way. This can be done by internet, mail, or fax, and is explained in your cruise documents.
We arrived at the airport at 1pm, were in our cabin by 3pm, and then went back into central Copenhagen for a canal cruise and sightseeing before returning to the ship at 7pm. This meant that we missed the boat drill, but the purser allowed us to join the late arrivers’ boat drill the next morning. I would not want to cruise without going through a boat drill on each ship.
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