Baltic, Iceland, Norway and the U.K.on a cruise

[scubacruiserx2]

The English tours of the city hall were scheduled for every half hour and they accepted Euros . Our tour began in the cavernous Blue Hall .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blue Hall (Swedish: Blå hallen) is the main hall of the Stockholm City Hall best known as the banquet hall for the annual Nobel Banquet, and also used for state visits, student balls, jubilees and other large events .

 

from wikipedia

 

Before we went upstairs I noticed this small plaque on a wall of Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite .

 

[scubacruiserx2]

8 million bricks were used in the construction of the city hall .Our first stop on the second floor was the Council Chamber

 

 

 

 

The ceiling and back wall

 

 

 

 

Ceiling detail

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Prince's Gallery

 

 

While on the other side , a number of windows facing the lake and the city .

 

 

 

 

 

 

The skyline distortion through this window reminds me of a Dali painting

 

 

 

 

And the end of the fresco means the beginning of the Golden Hall

 



 

 

Pay no attention to the room behind the curtain !

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The Prince's Gallery

 

 

While on the other side , a number of windows facing the lake and the city .

 

 

 

 

 

 

The skyline distortion through this window reminds me of a Dali painting

 

 

 

 

And the end of the fresco means the beginning of the Golden Hall

 



 

 

Pay no attention to the room behind the curtain !

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The golden Hall

 

 

 

18 Million mosaic tiles and pieces of glass

 

 

 

 

 

The focal point of the room is the Queen of Lake Malaren , which occupies the end wall .

 

 

 

This hall is our number one reason for coning to the Stockholm City Hall .

 

 

[MicCanberra]

It is truely amazingly beautiful in its own way..

[scubacruiserx2]

Of our 3 trips to Stockholm this was the most frustrating . On our previous visits, 2 NCL ships were within walking distance at Stadsgarden at the green G  inter circle on the map .

 

 

 

On this trip a large AIDA ship was there . Meanwhile , HAL  Princess and Celebrity were in the cheap seats , both this trip and our last trip at  Frihamenen Red 16 upper right . This is a 2.8 mile walk from the city . Princess and Celebrity both offered direct shuttles but not HAL  ( although we were told by the concierge that they " were working on it " ,  a few nights before -  but it never happened ) .

 

 

On the return trip we saw few if any taxis and they were full . When we asked the City Sightseeing representative near the opera house he told us that we were at the the beginning of the loop and if we walked further it would only be 8 stops - if there was room on the bus .

 

 

As we walked passed the Princess shuttle we asked if we could buy a ticket and they said no .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

When we got back we took some photos of the ships

 

 

 

We stopped at the Neptune Lounge for some snacks and another couple shared how their HAL booked HOHO  tour was more expensive and their frustration with their wasted hours on the tour .

On our previous cruise to Stockholm, Celebrity apologized to the shuttle users and credited the charge back to their account . We had hoped that HAL would be better at this port .

 

Preparing for the sail out

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Very busy on the sail out

 

 

 

 

 

This is more our speed

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

It is amazing how close the ships would get near some islands

 

 

 

We had a Swedish SAR flyover

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of people were Medevaced from our last cruise in the Baltic . Note the crewman's point of attachment

 

 

The medivac came after midnight and was just outside of our cabin 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

It happens all too frequently, insurance is a must.

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

It happens all too frequently, insurance is a must.

 

Yeah we learned that in 2015 when DW busted her knee just before our flight to London . Well worth the expense as it it saved us $$ . 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We love this house

 

 

Ship's shadow

 

 

 

 

 

Bird's islands

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Fredriksborg Castle

 

 

 

Hidden hardware

 

 

[Desdichado62]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We love this house

 

 

Ship's shadow

 

 

 

 

 

Bird's islands

 

 

 

 

 

 

The island and the lighthouse is called Ryssmasterna.

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, Desdichado62 said:

 

The island and the lighthouse is called Ryssmasterna.

 

Thank you .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

Fredriksborg Castle

 

 

 

Hidden hardware

 

 

 

 

Another sunset

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Looks like a hot air balloon.

[Biris]

Great review. Following. Thank for taking the time to review. 

[Jnsplace1]

This thread makes me so excited for my trip next year.   Loving all the glimpses of things off shore to look at.  This page reminds me a bit of inside passage through Alaska/Canada.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Jnsplace1

[scubacruiserx2]

24 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Looks like a hot air balloon.

 

It sure does and we got a little sunburn from that balloon .😎

[scubacruiserx2]

10 minutes ago, Biris said:

Great review. Following. Thank for taking the time to review. 

 

Well thank you . We enjoy looking back to pass the time while our next one in 18 days .

[scubacruiserx2]

11 minutes ago, Jnsplace1 said:

This thread makes me so excited for my trip next year.   Loving all the glimpses of things off shore to look at.  This page reminds me a bit of inside passage through Alaska/Canada.

 

It sure does . We had a nice dinner on the balcony there with beautiful weather and views .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't review the crown jewel of the Baltic - Saint Petersburg because we reviewed on our thread about Saint Petersburg . This years visit can be found here beginning with post # 341

[scubacruiserx2]

It was nice to have a day at sea with the emphasis on eating and sleeping before our big day in Berlin . Breakfast at the Pinnacle was nice and would be missed on the next morning . For lunch we had room service and planned a nap afterwards until the fog rolled in and foghorn cleared it's throat . It got thicker than the Dutch Pea soup served on board .

 

 

 

 

The windows did a good job of noise abatement and we dozed a little until tea time which was excellent

 

 

It was a Gala Night but we preferred  a quite dinner in Cafe 7151

 

 

 

The Where and When for Berlin

 

 

 

It was interesting to note that HAL was celebrating World's Ocean Day when we were in Germany