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Scandinavian Ports of Call


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My family and I will be traveling on the Jewel of the Sea in July 2005 and were interested if anyone has any information of tours in Oslo Norway, Copenhagen Denmark, Stockholm Sweden, Helsinki Finland, and/or Muuga Estonia. Any suggestions, information, or things to do/not to do would be appreciated. We would like to avoid the ships tours b/c I am traveling with my three college age children and costs tend to be higher through them.

MHill
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My husband and I will be on the Jewel early in July. I E-mailed Bendix@city sightseeing.no and they sent me a reply that one of their bus stops is in front of the cruise terminal. They will be less money than the ship's tour.
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With respect to your interest in Scandinavian ports. Under the Message Boards title "Ports of Call" click on Baltic Ports and look for the 5/12 article on How to Spend 8 hours in Copenhagen. There is a lot of information there.
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I agree with Devon. Go to the 'Baltic Ports' section of the 'Ports of Call' message board there is all sorts of info on there.

I have also posted a review from my last year's cruise to the Baltic's. We only did ships tours in Russia. Only because we wanted to see Moscow and couldn't get a 1 day booking with Red October. I would suggest doing a tour with Red October rather than the ship. Otherwise in Russia get your own visas and do it on your own.

Here is a link to my review.

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=069097554&m=1193006467"]Baltic review[/url]

CHANDRIS/MV Victoria S.Caribbean Dec 1984
EPIROTIKI/The Oceanos S.Caribbean Dec 1986
NCL/ The Dreamward W.Caribbean Dec 1997
PRINCESS/Regal Princess Panama Canal Jan 1999
NCL/Norwegian Crown Bermuda Oct 1999
PRINCESS/Pacific Princess Bermuda Sep 2000
RENAISSANCE/R IV Tahiti&FR Polynesia Mar 2001
NCL/Norwegian Dream South America Feb 2002
PRINCESS/Pacific Princess Bermuda Sep 2002
PRINCESS/Sun Princess Mex Riviera Dec 2002
RCCL/Radiance Of The Seas S.Caribbean Mar 2003
CELEBRITY/Constellation Northern Europe Jun 2003
PRINCESS/Dawn Princess S.Caribbean Dec 2003
PRINCESS/Royal Princess SA/Africa/Med Apr 2004
PRINCESS/Sapphire Princess ASIA Mar 2005
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In case any of you are on the July 2, 2005 Jewel sailing, this is the roll call thread:

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=927093444&a=tpc&m=414107971&f=1683059817"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&s=927093444&a=tpc&m=414107971&f=1683059817[/url]

Jerry

Jewel of the Seas 7/05
Brilliance 1/05
Constellation 9/04
Radiance 1/04
Constellation 9/03
Golden Princess 1/03
Radiance 4/02
Explorer of the Seas 12/01
Voyager of the Seas 2/01
Monarch of the Seas 8/00
Splendour of the Seas 12/99
NCL Sea 8/96
A bunch others
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A few notes (we also did this with our kids--so we did a combo of shore excursions and do-it-yourself to keep costs down)...

Tallinn--Very easy to do yourself...Get a copy of Rick Steve's Scandinavia book and follow the self-guided walking tour...it's virtually identical to the shore excursion city tours but you can do it at your own pace--and for free...

Helsinki--get a shuttle into town and walk along the Esplinade...there is a kiosk on the Esplinade that sells city bus tours (a couple of years ago when we did it, it was around 20 euros apiece--far less than what the ship was charging...The bus has headphones with different languages so you "dial into" English...the bus takes you to all the sites--the cathedrals, the Rock Church, the Sibelius Monument...and al;lows you time off the bus at various stops...

Copenhagen--Visit the Rosenborg Palace and pay a small entrance fee...Stroll along the Stroget (the main shopping street)...pick up one of those canal boats on your own, they run continuously and give you a good overview...

Oslo--we did a shore excursion...there are things you can do on your own--for example, we wandered the old fort next to where the ship docked by ourselves...and you can get a cab to the Vigelund sculpture park and the ski jump on your own...but the tours weren't all that expensive and logistics are tough on your own...

Stockholm--We did a tour that took us to the Vasa Museum and then left us in tow to wander the old town on our own...Just make sure you get to the Vasa--it is amazing...

Hope that helps...

Summit, July 3, 2004: Alaska: 13 night cruisetour
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We have been to Oslo twice and both times have not been on any guided tour.

If you have children, I am sure they would enjoy the 3 museums we went to last year especially the Fram. The Fram and the Con Tiki are opposite each other and then you can catch a bus or walk for about 15 minutes to the Viking museum.

The ship ties up quite close to the city and it was only a five minute walk to catch the ferry across to two of the museums. The Fram is fantastic, and a highlight was that you can go on board and walk all over this fantastic ship which went to the Arctic and I think Antartica as well.

Olso is an easy city to get around. After our visit at the 3 museums we then caught two buses to Vigeland Sculpture Park. From there we caught the tram back to the port.

On our first visit we went to the Resistance Museum which is right near where the ship docks. It is fascinating but depending on the ages of your children, they may get bored. We also caught the underground to the Munch Museum which was the highlight of that trip.

We also did our own thing in Stockholm in 1999. We went to the old town, and then to the town hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is given each year. We went up the top of the bell tower there and had a wonderful view of Stockholm. Afterwards we caught a ferry to the Vasa Museum which was anotheri interesting museum as the Vasa was only brought up from the ocean floor a few years ago and was built around the 13th Century.

Helskinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Olso are all easy cities to do on your own as the ship (ours anyhow) docked right in the city and it was easy walking.

Have fun, the citizens of these four cities are very friendly.

Jennie.

The next cruise is always the best!

3RD OCTOBER, 2004 PRINSENDAM
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=228b22&cdt=2004;10;03;17;0;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Aussie Gal:
...the Vasa was only brought up from the ocean floor a few years ago and was built around the 13th Century. ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, it was built (and sunk) in 1628...and was retrieved from the ocean floor in the 1960s...

Still, the point holds--don't miss it...

Summit, July 3, 2004: Alaska: 13 night cruisetour
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Bruin Steve,

When I said a few years ago I meant around the 60's-70's. Forty years is not that long ago!

I am sorry I got the wrong century, but the point was that it was a very old ship and well worth seeing.

The next cruise is always the best!

3RD OCTOBER, 2004 PRINSENDAM
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=228b22&cdt=2004;10;03;17;0;00&timezone=GMT+0100[/img]
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