We flew into Copenhagen (over the cloud of ash, which added 1.5 hours to our flight from Newark). We spent a very cold, rainy, windy day touring Frederiksborg Castle and Copenhagen before embarking. The fabulous news was that we had been upgraded to a balcony stateroom. This made a huge difference every day of our cruise and we would never consider cruising again without a balcony.

Day 2 was spent at sea learning which stairway and which elevator went where. We never did completely learn this.

Day 3 saw the Star Princess trying to get close to Stockholm in DENSE fog. We knew the ship didn't dock near downtown Stockholm but waiting to board a tender, perhaps a 20 minute boat ride, then walking to the train station for a one hour ride (with a train change), before we finally arrived in Stockholm's train station was not easy nor quick. Then we had trouble finding Bus #47 to take us to the Vasa Museum, where we then waited in line 45 minutes. The Museum was great but that is the only place we got to see as our time had run out. Moral: take a Princess excursion to maximize your time and what you see. Read more