Wow! Ultimate Scandinavia/Russia on the Serenade Review 7/24-8/6/16

[Donna_In_India]

We took a taxi back to the ship (same distance was a few dollars cheaper from outside the cruise terminal than from the cruise terminal).

 

View of the terminal from our balcony

 

 

 

We had dinner in the Windjammer (love the fresh stir fry and chocolate crepes). After dinner my daughter went swimming in the Solarium pool. Since it was too cold to use the outside pool the Solarium pool was open to kids. It wasn't until a few days later that we realized it was only open for 2 hours twice a day to kids. There was never anyone in there and no one said anything to us. (There were very, very few kids on this cruise.) Around the pools were the only places that I saw a bit of Serenade's age. There were rust spots that until I looked closer thought were part of the design. In any case, for anyone who is concerned, she is NOT in bad shape.

 

 

 

 

 

Next up - last day in Stockholm and Sail Away!

[jonj]

Great review. If you took photos of the menus can you post? Looking forward to more

 

 

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[jimbri]

Enjoying your review and photos!

[BNBR]

Small world! I have a very close friend (like my big sister) who lives in Larvik! Have visited her there a couple of times. Her husband was actually the captain on a ferry. Would love to do the nutshell. Have been to Bergen (loved) and as far north as Spitsbergen (loved, loved!).

 

How the heck did you end up on Spitsbergen?

 

Never actually seen Larvik, as we just get off the ferry and drive straight through. Though now we have been flying into Oslo and just meeting our family in Hemsedal to skip the ferry.

[bobmacliberty]

Outside terminal employees were coordinating the taxi lines. There was a sign posted with the prices to several tourist spots. (A note about taxis - they take credit cards and there are two companies I can recommend you use when you are out on your own - Taxi Stockholm 150000 and Sverigetaxi Stockholm. Legitimate metered taxis will have yellow number plates.) We hopped a taxi to the Vasa Museum. I have been to Stockholm several times and never made it to the museum.

 

Since it is rated one of the top museums in the world, we decided to check it out. The Vasa for anyone who doesn't know is the only almost fully intact 17th century war ship that has ever been salvaged. (She sank on her maiden voyage.) The museum was very close to our ship and we were inside exploring in no time. One thing that I liked about this museum (and any really good museum) is the separate activities to keep kids interested and involved such as the Vasa Piglet movie. :)

 

We spent a lot more time (several hours) in the museum than I would have expected. It is very interesting and there are so many little details to find. One thing I recommend is visiting the restaurant even if it's just to take a cup of coffee/drink and sit outside watching the flowers, birds, and the boats docking. The museum has free wifi, audio guides, free tours, and a museum shop.

 

The Vasa Museum is one of my favorite museums! The history part of the museum was great, but the engineer in me was fascinated by the part that discussed the salvage process. The ship is just spectacular and in amazing condition. Definitely a not to be missed stop in Stockholm!

[Donna_In_India]

Great review. If you took photos of the menus can you post? Looking forward to more

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks! Sorry no photos of the menus.

[Donna_In_India]

Enjoying your review and photos!

 

Thanks!

[cruisingbajan]

Great review and photos:), we sail her next April.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Donna_In_India]

How the heck did you end up on Spitsbergen?

 

Never actually seen Larvik, as we just get off the ferry and drive straight through. Though now we have been flying into Oslo and just meeting our family in Hemsedal to skip the ferry.

 

Intentionally, of course! Isn't that the only way you'd end up on Spitsbergen? :) Itching to do the North Cape!

[Donna_In_India]

Great review and photos:), we sail her next April.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Thanks!

[Donna_In_India]

The Vasa Museum is one of my favorite museums! The history part of the museum was great, but the engineer in me was fascinated by the part that discussed the salvage process. The ship is just spectacular and in amazing condition. Definitely a not to be missed stop in Stockholm!

 

The best part of any vacation (for me) is being unexpectedly (happily) surprised by something. There were so many of those "somethings" on this cruise, including the Vasa Museum.

[Donna_In_India]

After breakfast in the Windjammer we took a taxi to near the Vasa Museum, where the Under the Bridges of Stockholm boat trip was leaving from (http://www.stromma.se/stockholm/sightseeing/batsightseeing/under-stockholms-broar/). This was my husband's choice for the day. Even though the reviews were a bit mixed it did sound promising and I wanted to see the city from the water. The tour promised passing under 15 bridges and through the locks that connect the Baltic Sea and Lake Malaren. During the course of our trip we passed by the Wasa Museum, a few islands, beautiful saffron - and terracotta-toned architecture, and ended at Gamla Stan (Old Town).

 

Going out for the first hour was very interesting but we didn't make a loop - we returned the way we came. That and the fact that we got stuck at the lock for 45 minutes (there was a lot of boat traffic in front of us!) made what was supposed to be a 2 hour 15 minute boat ride closer to 3 hours. I could see how the reviews said it was a bit boring. :-) Going through the locks though was pretty cool. The locks themselves allow passage between the two bodies of water (of different levels). In simple terms what happens is you enter a lane under the bridge. There is a closed gate in front of you and the gate closes behind you. The water level either rises or drops depending on the water level ahead of you. (I hope that makes sense? :-))

 

I will admit that it was interesting to see so much life on and around the water. The Swedes (as well as the other Scandinavians we saw on our cruise) LOVE the outdoors, whether it's kaying, cycling, swimming, or just sunning on some rocks because there was no sand/beach. I guess that the winters are so long that as soon as the sun is out, so is everyone else!

 

By the time the boat trip was over the sky was dark and it looked like rain was coming. And....although I brought them with us, our ponchos and umbrella were back on the ship. BIG TIP here....if you are doing this cruise - bring an umbrella and decent ponchos!! While we had some unusually hot days and sunshine we had days where it rained hard (Riga) and several days where we were glad to have those ponchos! We made our way down Kungsgatan - a street with several high end stores - looking for someplace to eat. We stopped at Sandy's Kaffe & Mat (Coffee & Food). The menu looked interesting (wraps, salads, baguettes, etc. and of course, coffee). We picked seats outside just in time for it to start pouring. We went inside, ate lunch, and waited for the rain to subside. We had an all aboard for 3:00 p.m. so we headed back to the ship.

 

 

 

The Vasa Museum

 

 

Edited August 16, 2016 by Donna_In_India

[Donna_In_India]

Looking back in the lock

 

 

Looking ahead in the lock - tan colored gate closed

 

 

Looking back in the lock - gates closing - small boats preparing for water level to rise

 

[Donna_In_India]

Bathhouse/Bathroom on the water

 

 

 

Out of all the cities on the cruise, I think Swedish architecture was my favorite

 

Stockholm City Hall

 

 

 

 

Sunbathing on the rocks

 

[Donna_In_India]

Going under a bridge

 

 

 

 

Youth hostel af Chapman (I stayed there many years ago)

 

 

Upscale shopping street - Kungsgatan

 

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review

[A&L_Ont]

Donna, what great photos and writing style. You daughter looked so wonderfully relaxed floating in the pool. Our DS on the other hand would have been jumping in from the side repeatedly.

 

I can't wait to read the rest of your review.

Edited August 16, 2016 by A&L_Ont

[Yorkvillain]

Bathhouse/Bathroom on the water

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh that bathhouse is BAD.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Donna_In_India]

Enjoying your review

 

Thanks!

[Donna_In_India]

Donna, what great photos and writing style. You daughter looked so wonderfully relaxed floating in the pool. Our DS on the other hand would have been jumping in from the side repeatedly.

 

I can't wait to read the rest of your review.

 

Thanks! I had to bribe her with a lot of pool time since she did so much walking during the day!

[Donna_In_India]

Oh that bathhouse is BAD.

 

:) Lots of windows with no covering??

[Donna_In_India]

Thanks for the review.

 

Thanks for your comment. :)

[Donna_In_India]

We were back on board by 3:00 p.m. At 3:30 we made our way to our muster station (Chops) for the muster drill. Most people don't seem to pay much attention to any of the safety instructions. I checked out the people around wondering how they'd be in an emergency. In my mind a bit of Titanic played out because although we won't be coming in contact with any icebergs, I'm thinking that Baltic Sea is probably pretty darn cold.

 

A bit after the drill we heard the familiar ship's horn signaling we were on our way! We had an informal Meet and Greet (not CC's) scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in the Viking Crown Lounge all the way up on Deck 13. We skipped the Sail Away party and headed up to the lounge hoping to beat some of the crowd and get a nice seat, which we did. With great windows we had a nice view. Soon the room was filled with fellow Cruise Critic members and it was a lot of fun to meet the people I'd been chatting with for 16 months! (My husband was a little surprised that people knew him and all about his visa problems. :)) I'm not sure how many people showed up but it was a big crowd. We stayed for a while then left to watch what is considered a spectacular sail away through the archipelago...and it was! It was perfect that the clouds and rain disappeared and the sun came out!

 

Just outside of Stockholm we entered the archipelago. The number of islands in the archipelago is said to be around 24,000 to 30,000 (although some sources' numbers are much higher). Whether or not it's Europe largest archipelago is up for debate but it seems that each island has its own character. There are wooded islands, beaches, uninhabited islets as well as islands with new communities and ancient villages. Part of the archipelago has even been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status. By this time we were all the way aft outside the Windjammer watching the colorful houses and ferries loaded with people and cars going by. It was definitely one of my top 3 sail aways (NY is #1 and San Juan is #2). (It was at this time that we had our first of two medical evacuations during our cruise. I never heard what happened to either passenger but how terrible to be evacuated only a couple of hours out!)

 

One thing I'd suggest is to be sure you sail FROM not TO Stockholm (unless you are not arriving very early in the morning). The lighting is better in the late afternoon...and you don't have to get up at 5 a.m. :)

 

The rest of the night was spent eating dinner (Windjammer again), swimming, and watching the sunset. My daughter was very happy to see our first towel animal waiting for us when we got back to our room.

 

Since I've been mentioning the Windjammer a lot I'm going to add my Windjammer tips here:

Don't eat off your plate while you're waiting on line. Wait until you get to your table!

Don't touch food!

Don't take food and then put it back.

Don't cough or sneeze on the food.

Don't take so much food that most of it goes to waste. You can always GO BACK for seconds and thirds.

If the sign says DON'T fill your water bottle, then DON'T!

 

Probably the worst thing we saw (actually my daughter saw it!) was a woman drop the tongs on the floor and then put them back up in the bread. Yum yum.

 

Up next...Helsinki.

Edited August 16, 2016 by Donna_In_India

[Donna_In_India]

Stockholm Archipelago

 

 

Stockholm Archipelago

 

 

Stockholm Archipelago - I could live in one of these

 

 

Taxi boat - Stockholm Archipelago