ARG2244

Thank you so much for posting. We are enjoying reading and really nice photos! We sail in a few days on July 1st!

Okay - here are the remainder of the dailies, plus the disembarkation guide with colour tags and the menu for Wine Lovers - The Musical. I've had to split Day 1 and Day 9 into two files to allow for the extra inserts for those days.

 

All the available shore excursions are in the 1b file, if you're interested in those.

 

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Thank you Huntingdon1701...these have all been very helpful for planning!!

Thank you very much for posting these dailies and the tips/reviews!

I left my iPad in our cabin drawer on the NCL Sky in Miami. We live in South Florida and I realized this before we even left the port...however we were not allowed to get back on the ship to retrieve it once we disembarked. We had to file a report and did get the iPad sent to us after a few weeks. I really didn't think I'd ever see it again!

Thanks for all the menu links!. I'm going to call NCL and see if I can apply any of my free onboard dining credit at Ocean Blue (I think there is just an upcharge if you use your credit). I'd love to try it.

Day 8

(Stockholm) Nynashamn

Forecast: 50F/10C

Arrival: 8am

All Aboard: 4.30pm

 

Our last port stop. I had found out a week and a half ago from Alla that we were going to Nynashamn rather than Stockholm. I 'found out' from NCL while I was on the cruise. Since I specifically booked this cruise because it went direct to Stockholm, I was a bit miffed. Having seen the port facilities at Stockholm though, I will be surprised if the Getaway ever goes there, despite what the itinerary may have been advertised as.

 

That said, it didn't ruin our cruise and it must be admitted that the pier at Nynashamn afforded the best picture of the Getaway of any port. [ATTACH]407578[/ATTACH]

 

Nynashamn itself is not unpleasant either.

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The itinerary for the day. [ATTACH]407579[/ATTACH]

 

It took about 45 minutes to drive from Nynashamn to Stockholm, and traffic was very light. There were some nice countryside views on the way. Stockholm was a much more interesting place than Helsinki. It's very hilly, which results in a lot of interesting alleys and side streets - the entrance to the houses isn't always on the floor that you'd expect.

 

Being up high, there were some good opportunities for pictures, and then we walked over to and through the city hall, which allowed you to look back and see how high some parts of Stockholm are.

 

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After that, we went to the reason I booked the tour - the Vasa museum. If you're not aware, the Vasa is a Swedish warship that sank in 1628 and was perfectly preserved in the mud until they raised it, dried it out, and turned it into a museum. Bit like the Mary Rose, if you've heard of her/ Anyway, I knew she was well preserved but I was totally unprepared for how well preserved - it was amazing. Unfortunately, also nigh on impossible to photograph. These are my least bad attempts (the first one is a model, not the ship!). [ATTACH]407585[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407586[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407587[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407588[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407589[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]407590[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407591[/ATTACH]

 

It was a fascinating museum and deserved much longer than the hour we had allocated to it. It was very very busy and most people didn't make it all the way around the exhibits, and struggled to read the displays, so do leave plenty of time if you can. Also, make sure you go down to the lowest level (below the keel) where they have information about the maintenance of the ship, as well as some of the skeletons that were recovered from the wreck.

 

In addition, everyone queues incessantly for the toilets in the main exhibition hall, but if you go back out towards the entrance, there are some by the shop with no queue at all.

 

They managed with some difficulty to prise me away after our hour and we went off for another walk through the main part of the town (the hillier section), which would culminate in free time. Again, this was very very busy as there were two other cruise ships in town. If you're doing Stockholm on your own, then allow plenty of time to get around and walk wherever possible - it will be quicker!

 

The walk took in one of Stockholm's most famous sculptures (apparently) which is a small boy, with a light that shines on him, representing moonlight. My photo of the 'moon' got unintentionally photobombed by the guide's 'tour pet'.[ATTACH]407592[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407593[/ATTACH]

 

We ended up in the Nobel square and broke for lunch. We went left (as you face the Nobel Museum) and then right along the side of the centre to find this restaurant in the cellar of a small cake shop. It turned out to do very good, and very fast, food - mostly typical salmon-based dishes. I'd recommend them rather than staying in the square because all the restaurants there were very busy and people who went mostly didn't get their food in the time available (last photo).

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We all then dashed back to meet the all aboard time. There was a veritable convoy of tourist buses all dashing back. Pretty much everyone, including the ship's tours, arrived dead on 4.30. I really think that if they continue to use Nynashamn then they'll need to extend the time in port to allow for the travel to Stockholm. I think everyone made it though, and we didn't seem to leave until a bit later than we would for a 4.30 all aboard.

 

I took advantage of the time, and the fact that most people headed straight to O'Sheehan's for food, to go on the vertical drop water slides. I'd been planning this for ages, so it was really my last opportunity. Although the weather had been good, the Getaway pool deck was still generally freezing and breezy, so no-one had been using the slide (or the pool, just the Jacuzzi). So I checked with the huddled staff if they were open, and they then went up and opened them for me.

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For those who haven't had the delightful terror of the experience, you stand vampire style (arms crossed on your shoulders) in this tube that they lock you into, with cold water running over your head and down your back. Then the trapdoor you're standing on opens and you drop what feels like ten feet into pitch blackness. You turn upside down and loop the loop and then shoot out with the water running over your head. You have a few moments of thinking you are drowning, and then realise that you just need to sit up. Takes about twenty seconds. I did it twice and then went for a stiff drink.

 

Technically this picture of the Mojito flight occurred the day before, but I forgot to mention it. From the sugarcane bar, and a very enjoyable experience. [ATTACH]407600[/ATTACH][ATTACH]407601[/ATTACH]

 

That evening I ventured into Ocean Blue for dinner, given that it wasn't on the other ships I'd been on. The food was good, and it has good views across the waterfront. There's a slightly weird, and for me uncomfortable, practice of the senior waiter coming over once you've been served and announcing what you're about to eat. Since I ordered it, I was already familiar with that. Felt like they were trying to make the dinner seem special and just ended up being transparently pretentious. No fault of the staff of course, they have to do it.

 

They do have lobster on the menu, for all those addicts on the board.

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The Abba tribute show was followed by the GLOW party. I avoided both and went to bed.

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Thanks for your great review! I know Ocean Blue is priced a la carte rather than one fixed price like all the other premium restaurants. How were the prices at Ocean Blue? Do you remember how much the lobster was? Just curious! :)

Moderno is certainly included.

 

 

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Ok thanks LrgPizza. I will call NCL reservations to change as we have eaten at Cagney's, La Cucina and Teppanyaki on another NCL ship.. so would like to try something new!

Hmm I booked the Cirque show for 8:45pm but didn't realize it came with dinner. I probably would of been better off booking it for 5:30. We'll just have to have a light snack around 5pm so we can last to dinner at the 8:45 show!

I had the same problem with Moderno when trying to book it free with my dining package credit. I didn't call but am assuming Moderno is not included in the free dining package credit if you have that. I was able to book the other restaurants free with my credits (Cagney's, Teppanyaki and La Cucina) without any problem. Let us know if you find out this is the case that Moderno is not included in the dining package credit!

Thanks for the tips!

Hi Sauer-Kraut,

How is the dome at the Reichtag? I am visiting Berlin pre-cruise in June. The tickets to the dome were sold out online already but I did get a reservation for lunch at the restaurant atop the Reichtag ...so I hope that allows us to get into the dome as well when we finish eating.

Also, what are the best places for shopping?...the wife will want to do some of that!