This was our 6th or 7th Princess cruise, and we're up to 75 days or so, consquently they gave us a bottle of champagne when we arrived at our cabin (well, a coupon for one waiting for us in the dining room). Vacations to Go, our travel agent, had a bouqet sent too, so we left the dock on the first day feeling quite special.

But, lets not get ahead of the story. First we have to get to Copenhagen.

Princess's first air booking for us from San Francisco to Copenhagen required about 26 hours in transit. We declined and they booked us a SF-London, London-Copenhagen schedule of about 14 hours, and we elected to arrive a day early hoping to work off some jet lag, and see the town. No problems. In the afternoon of our second day we took a cab to the docks and got on board the Emerald in under 30 minutes. It is probably best not to arrive with the Princess transfer crowd if you want quicker embarkation. Read more