We were ultimately delayed five hours getting through the Kiel Canal yesterday because of congestion and technical difficulties at the lock.  Because the Prinsendam is wider than most ships going through the canal (very few cruise ships take this route), we were also forced to proceed at a slower speed.  Thus we will arrive about four hours late at Rønne on the Danish island of Bornholm, but we will also leave later as well.  The Captain says this will not affect the time of our arrival in Gdynia/Gdansk, Poland, tomorrow morning, as we will make up the time as we sail overnight.  But for now it is back to

Monday, 25 August 2014
Morning:  Scenic Cruising on Elbe River  
Afternoon and Overnight:  Hamburg, Germany
We enter the Elbe River estuary about 8 am, while we are enjoying breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill.  The Pinnacle is a small specialty steak and seafood restaurant at lunch and dinner (with a small surcharge per passenger), but Neptune Suite guests are welcome here for breakfast as well.  There is a complete menu and very friendly and elegant service—rather than the push and shove in the Lido Buffet or the sharing of a large table in the La Fontaine dining room.  We have a small table by a large window and watch the quiet and bucolic countryside pass by as we enjoy our eggs Benedict and excellent coffee.

It takes about four hours to sail upriver to Hamburg, and while the scenery starts out as farm and pasture land, it soon becomes dotted with small towns and industry as we get nearer to the city, the second largest in Germany (after the unified Berlin).  As we pass through suburbs we can see in the distance a forest of cranes and machinery associated with the Port of Hamburg.  We pass more and more ships laden with cargo and ferries crossing the river with cars and passengers.  We even pass right close to the end of the runway at the Hamburg airport and watch as an American Airlines jet prepares for takeoff.

As we pass the suburb of Altona, we see the cruise port for larger ships, but we are heading even further upstream to a new cruise port where medium and small ships can dock—with an Underground station right across the street, and the newly-built HafenCity area, with its contemporary and post-modern architecture on display, only a few blocks away.  Since we are arriving two hours early (at noon instead of 2pm), we have a light lunch on board before heading off to explore Hamburg on our own.  I have been here many times before (throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s) and know the city quite well.  It is a first-time visit for Will, so I put on my tour guide hat and run him through the paces. 

We take the Undergraound (a recently opened new line) just one stop for Jungfernstieg, an elegant boulevard that is the heart of central Hamburg. There are lovely views of the Inner and Outer Lakes that bring fresh-water sailing and sports into the center of the city, as well as the 19th-century Rathaus (Town Hall), with its magnificent tower and pseudo-Renaissance architecture.  There are two churches nearby that are even older, St Petri and St Jakobi, both worth visiting.  Both churches are built in the dark red brick that epitomizes Hamburg, especially in the restored warehouse district, which is only a short walk away.  The buildings are massive  exemples of the brutal expressionist style of late nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture.  The ChileHaus, built to resemble the prow of a merchant ship, is its finest example. The buildings in this part of Hamburg are not very tall, but their uniform heft and massive brickwork give a sense of the solidity and stolidity of the city's history and heritage.

New Underground Line

Jungfernsteig

Rathaus (City Hall)

ChileHaus

We hop back on the Underground, this trip having to change trains to reach our destination, and head back to the ship.  As in most German cities, the transportation system is wholly unified (subways, suburban railways, buses, trams), inexpensive and easy to use.  You purchase a ticket from a machine (with instructions in German and English), and the rest is on the honor system.  There are no turnstiles or machines to put your ticket in, and nobody checks to see that you have paid your way.

Back on the Prinsendam we attend a special champagne reception—in the Captain’s private quarters, no less—for Neptune Suite guests.  We have a chance to mingle with other guests as well as members of the crew and drink champagne and nibble on fresh shrimp and other goodies as we stand on the Captain’s extra large veranda.  We head straight to dinner, without stopping for martinis in the Ocean Bar.  Tonight Will has a fruit cup appetizer, sautéed fresh rainbow trout, and a chocolate brownie sundae; I have crostini with tomato, basil, and prosciutto; Caesar salad; sliced flank steak over polenta cake with roasted shallot vinaigrette and raspberry sorbet.  Tomorrow is a full-day excursion to Berlin so we forego the entertainment on offer and dedicate the night to sleep.