Off I go again!

If you regularly follow my blog you will know I am just back from my own holiday with Carnival cruises and my blog this week was supposed to be on my experience of the cruise line compared to others that sail around Europe. However, I received some very good news this week when I was invited to experience a 3 night Baltic cruise on board Regent Cruises Voyager ship. I have had lots of customers book Regent and give me their feedback and it is this information that I regularly use to help inform new customers. Now they are giving me a chance to experience it for myself and i am just beyond excited.

I am writing this blog from my hotel in Copenhagen (let me get back to that experience in a minute). I have previously been to Copenhagen for a day when I was on holidays to Malmo in Sweden, but this was to be my first experience of the airport and the public transport system – how brave was I!

I flew from Dublin with Norwegian Air Shuttle and I was expecting a Ryanair experience but the flight was very enjoyable and we were here in no time. I got the train from the airport direct into Copenhagen Central station. They go every 15-20 mins and cost 36 Danish Kroner (about £4) for the 15 min journey.

As I am travelling by myself I wanted to stay somewhere close to the station with lots of cafes etc around it so I would be able to check in and go for a walk to take in my surroundings. The hotel was not cheap at £100 for the night and as it said it was 4 star I was quite looking forward to getting into it and relaxing. Well, the building next door to the hotel is undergoing major building works which I was not notified off. The whole street outside therefore looks like a tip. The hotel reception is tiny and very dated. The hotel prides itself in the fact it is over 100 years old and to be honest that was probably the last time it was decorated. All the public areas could be doing with a good lick of paint and new carpet as I saw three people trip on the loose carpet on the landings whilst I was checking in and those who know me will know I fall on a regular basis so I was going to have to be very careful.

I was hoping my room would make up for the lobby – boy was I mistaken. Below is a photo of my room for the night. I think it may have been servants quarters at one time as this would be the only explanation of providing a room so small I nearly have to out my suitcase in the hall.

Apart from that I have had an enjoyable afternoon exploring the city centre. Everything is very flat and accessible and I have never saw so many bikes in one place in my life. It seems everyone and their granny had a bike here so I felt very left out but not brave enough to hire one of the city bikes that are dotted around the city centre.

It is well documented that the cost of everything in Denmark, and Copenhagen in particular, are very expensive. With a burger starting at 100 kroner (£11) and a can of diet coke at 24 kroner (£2.66) you will find your money will not go very far here so book a B&B hotel if you can to save that cost at least.

All in all I have had a pleasant day walking around this young, vibrant city. It certainly does have some fantastic places to visit and things to see. However, you need to make sure you come armed with plenty of spending money to keep you going and when the sun shines and you are sitting have a glass of vino in one of the street side cafes there is no where else you would wish to be.

Tomorrow I board the Regent Voyager and will be off to visit Riga and Helsinki. WIFI permitting I will be doing a blog each day I am on the ship to share my experience on their cruise line with its fantastic reputation for superb food and also a quick bit about the ports I am visiting.

So stay tuned for my first impressions of my Regent Experience!