The Queen and The Prince Consort sail by barge from Toldboden (The Custom House) to the Royal Yacht at Buoy 1 in Copenhagen Harbour with a salute from the Sixtus Battery at 12.00. After HM The Queen greets the new conscripted sailors on the deck, the Dannebrog casts off and sails towards Helsingør, where there will be a salute from Kronborg Castle at 14.30. Afterwards, the Royal Yacht calls at Helsingør Harbour, where The Queen and The Prince Consort disembark at 15.00.

When The Queen and The Prince Consort officially go aboard, it marks the start of a new season of visits to various localities, where especially the annual cruises make up a significant part of The Queen and The Prince Consort’s activities during the summer. The tradition of the Dannebrog cruises goes back 80 years to Christian X, who was the first king to make annual cruises in Danish waters a fixed part of his programme. Then as now, The Regent has placed emphasis on using the ship as a starting point for contact with all parts of the kingdom. As a kind of sailing residence, the Dannebrog is a well-suited base for visits to virtually all regions of the country, since no place is far from the sea.