The ship docked at Warnemunde Port at 7.30am on the 29th May 2014. The excursion will start at 8.30 am. We boarded the bus with a grumpy look driver. He speaks quite good English but when asked, he does not understand. Hahahha. Funny but it is true. Actually he was a very nice person and was enjoying our laughter eventhough he could not understand the jokes. His name is Dethlef!
The journey to Berlin City from the port took exactly 3 hours. Every one hour, the bus stopped for the driver to rest and for us to go to toilet or have a cup of coffee.
When we arrived at the Olympic Stadium of Berlin, we were greeted by two gentlemen. Our guides, Boris and Shaun. The group was separated into two and were loaded onto two different buses. we were taken around the city and we finally met again at the mosque for Zohor/Asar prayers. It was a beautiful feeling to be able to visit the mosque and to be able to pray with the local Muslims. Alhamdulillah. We made Wakaf for the mosque from the collections we made earlier.
The City Sightseeing of (West) Berlin was inclusive of Charlottenburg Palace, Ku'Damm. Tiergarten. Victory Column, and Holocaust Memorial. Then we stopped for lunch at a Halal Restaurant and my God, the portion was so big that we shared our food an even took back home the leftovers! The taste was marvelous! Burrrrppppppp!!!!
Then we continued our Sightseeing of (East) Berlin which to me is the backword side of Germany compared to the modern high rising and new buildings in the west. some of the places we visited or passed through was the site of Hitler's bunker, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Humbolt University, the Museum Island, the TV Tover and the Red Town Hall and the New Synagogue.
We had to say goodbye to Berlin and to both Boris and Shaun who had done a very good job from the begining to the end. Then we proceeded back to Warnemunde board the ship which departed at 10pm. I could see that almost everyone of us were so tired and exausted but once on board the ship, after a quick shower and dinner, most of us went out again to the Stardust to watch the show for the night while the others chose to retire early in bed.
Suddenly it is all over! The hard work cracking my head thinking, imagining and planning for many months gave a very successful result. Alhamdulillah! Everything went right. What more important is all went well!
We started our journey from KLIA . Hjh WanRemlah's Pulut Kuning and Rendang was a good start. Unfortunately, some already walked to the Gate without taking theirs! So I had double dose!! Thank you kakak. It was a long flight to Amsterdam....12 hours. My buttocks went soar so I had to walk up and down the aisle to loosen the tightened muscle. Upon arrival, we went out through gate 20D and our next flight to Copenhagen was at another gate which was about 25 minutes walk! Still, I am so surprised that our fellow Malaysian commented that KLIA2 is such a big complex and you had to walk quite a distance to your gate. My advise is, please visit Schippol International Airport in Amsterdam and you can really feel the difference! The distance can really exausted you easily especially for the elders!
We were divided into two groups to fly to Copenhagen. All 46 of us were not able to fly at one go. I was the first 18 and the next group arrived almost two hours later. We gathered at one place and waited for the next group. While doing that, I took out my Nasi Himpit and Sambal and everybody had a taste of our local food. I spared some for later. The food was not much but enough. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Nora and Adnor for the food!
We were then drove by bus to the port in the process of checking in. All went well. We got ourselves to our rooms and majority on 10th floor. Some on floor 4, 5, 11 and 12. This time around I had a room with a balcony and I love it very much!!! My next mission was to meet the Restaurant Manager or the person in charge of the food. Why? I already wrote to Norwegian Cruise Line regarding the kind of food that we Muslim can and cannot take. I even attached the list of names of our group of 46 and I was told to see the people on board and to sit and discussed. I was so disappointed with them. Many came to see but none listen! But I just don-t want to ruin my vacation because of the unsettled case. So what we did was to choose whatever we could eat. Of cause there were a lot of choice but Norwegian Spirit treated us differently last year.... they cooked our food separately with Seafood Fried Rice, Seafood Fried Noodles, eggs , Steam Fish and so on. And it surprised me that we did not even need to write to NCL regarding the food matter before we took the Grand Mediterranean Cruise in 2013 but still the crew entertained our needs. Norwegian Star have a lot to learn from Norwegian Spirit! What is so difficult in preparing rice or noodles with sea food? I just don't understand!
Overall, our first day went well and we even took part in the Emergency Fire Drill on board which we missed doing so last year on our first experience of cruising. Out of 46 person, only 9 had cruise experience. While the others walked around to get familiar with the ship , we just enjoyed the view of the sun setting....... so beautiful!
27th May, the long waiting day is TODAY! Almost everyday I kept on reminding others and sharing what's on my mind and reminding them of their preparations. I wouldn't want to sound too bossy but sometimes I just have to. It is for the good sake for the whole group. I prepared several envelopes for each family to put the amount of money for the excursions, Russian Folklore show, tippings for the drivers and guides and not to forget tokens for all the mosques we are visiting. Everybody agreed to the amount .... well nobody protested actually. Hahahhahha.... On each envelopes I pasted a lable with the name of the head of the family, the amount to be paid and the purpose of paying.... when dealing with money, I am very strict about it. Every cent counts..... so far so good. Being a mother, a sister and a very good cook, Hajjah Wan Remlah prepared Pulut Kuning and Rendang for all 46 clowns. How can we all not love her? She thinks about everybody and prepared the food with lots of love. It seem that everybody is so excited. Some have done packing but some have different things on their mind and the result is they will start unpacking and repacking again and again until the time to depart. As for me, what is important is the travel documents like my International Passport, Visa, Tickets and of cause the currencies! The rest is less important because you can beg, borrow, buy or worst of all steal! hahhahha well I have to finish my packings now or maybe repacking later.....hahhaha. I wish all of us a pleasant flight, smooth sailing, have a wonderful vacation with the other clowns....... Bon Voyage Balticans! Some photos telling you about The Balticans preparation for the cruise.......Enjoyyyyy
