Live from the Second Baltic

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Greetings from the internet cafe, where the service is surprisingly good for this time of the evening. We're about an hour away from pulling out of St. Petersburg, and we just finished a great Master Chef dinner in Animator's Palate, after a very full day in port. It feels good to be back on the ship, but I feel like we only scratched the service of St. Petersburg, so it's hard to be leaving as well.

We had breakfast at Topsiders this morning and walked off the ship easily at around 9:30. Customs was a lot easier today, and we met our guide and went straight to St. Isaac's Cathedral, which was unbelievably impressive. It's almost as big as St. Peter's in Vatican City and St. Paul's in London, and it's got A LOT of gold. We went from there to The Cathedral of the Spilled Blood (turns out there really was someone's blood spilled there -- Alexander II, one of the truly great Tsars), and that church looked and felt much more Russian than St. Isaac's. The crowds were not too bad at either church, but then we went to The Hermitage, and that was packed. That museum gets 30,000 visitors a day, every day. There were a ridiculous number of tours there. It's a strange museum. On the one hand, it has one of the most incredible art collections of any museum in the world. On the other hand, the art seems thrown up on the walls without a lot of thought, it's relatively dark, there were rooms where the windows were wide open, which can't be good for the pictures, and because the museum is housed in what used to be the Tsar's main palace, the rooms themselves are often of more interest than the art on the walls. We were there from about 11:45-1:15, and saw only the art that our guide said was an absolute must see.

After The Hermitage, we went to a cafe not far away for lunch. We each had a different kind of "pancake" (not American style -- blinis or crepes) and they were very good. We treated our guide. Once again, the cafe did not take credit cards, and the guide paid in rubles and added it to what we owed her at the end. After lunch, we drove to Catherine the Great's Summer Palace in Pushkin. This was my favorite stop of the 2-day tour and also where the princess ball had taken place the night before. The summer palace is really beautiful without being too big. The amount of gold in the rooms is ridiculous and the amber room is a thing apart. I found out that it costs $40,000 to rent the ballroom for an event (and that doesn't include transportation, entertainment or food), so for anyone wondering why Disney charged so much per person to go to the ball, now you know why. The grounds around the palace are lovely in a fairly straightforward way, and it was a really nice way to spend several hours on a pretty summer afternoon.

On the way back to St. Petersburg, it started to absolutely pour. Not only was this the first rain of the trip, but it was a violent summer storm, and it kind of came out of nowhere. Our guide told us that there has been a tremendous amount of rain in St. Petersburg this summer so that the ground is pretty saturated, and we actually saw a surprisingly amount of flooding in the streets when we got back to town. We made a quick stop at the big synaogue that was built with the Tsar's permission (very beautiful in an unostentatious way) and then battled ferocious traffic back to the ship.

On photos -- our guide mentioned that our ticket vouchers included the ability to take pictures. There were a few rooms in the summer palace and a few rooms in The Hermitage where no pictures were permitted, and there were more rooms where you could take pictures without flash. We took an awful lot of pictures, so in general, I think that will be ok.

I think the dollar is strong in Russia right now. Our guide paid for 2 lunches (for 5 people), a souvenir t-shirt (my aunt asked for one with Russian writing on it), one set of snacks at Peterhof and the 500 ruble tip at dinner last night, and altogether we owed her $94 for that. I think that's pretty good. We could only charge the dinner, so keep that in mind when you're thinking about what you're going to be doing in St. Petersburg.

We were left with confusing impressions of the city. The revolution and WW II had disasterous impact on a lot of the grand buildings of Tsarist times, although a fair amount of restoration has been and continues to be done. We sensed a lot of conflict about the shift away from communism. Putin appears to be popular but there are concerns about how long he will be in power. The city cares an inordinate amount about its past and I think is confused about its future. Although Masha was careful to point out that St. Petersburg is not like the rest of Russia and is more European in its orientation, to us it felt very much like what we expected Russia to feel like and not very European. I will be interested in others' impressions as they travel.

More on money, since someone asked. I think I made this point before, but we have been surprised by how little money we have needed in port. We have no Estonian money because apparently you can't get it outside the country. Disney is running a shuttle bus from the port to the center of town tomorrow, and we are hoping to be on the first shuttle bus at 10 am (clocks go back an hour tonight, so that should be doable). We are planning to stroll around town and may or may not go into any museums. We're hoping that the lunch restaurants take credit cards. So we'll see. We expect to spend more money in Stockholm, but we also expect to be able to charge more.

In any event, it was a very interesting, very full 2 days in St. Petersburg. And now it feels great to be back on the ship!

Thank You; for the continued, informative reports.

 

[buck4568]

We have an SPB tour booked for the July 18th cruise. Let me know what you think of them.

SPB was fantastic! We had Helena as our guide, 17 of us total, which was a good size group as we could all gather around her when in the various museums. The driver was great, Igor was his name. He provided a bottle of water at the beginning of each day. The traffic is heavy and he knew the short cuts to avoid some of it. Weather was good as it did not rain until we were leaving Petershof.

Docking in Tallinn as I say good bye!

 

[cindy18]

We have indeed docked in Tallinn, and from what it looked like as we were coming in, we are either the 3rd or 4th boat in town today. We've come in right alongside Jewel of the Sea. She was with us in St. Petersburg too. The forecast is for scattered clouds with highs in the upper 60s. Works for me.

A few things I forgot to post last night: the main event yesterday evening was Toy Story 3 in 3D in the Walt Disney Theatre. There were 3 showings, the last at 11 pm. It will be showing in Buena Vista throughout the rest of the trip, along with Prince of Persia, Alice in Wonderland, The Princess and the Frog and Old Dogs.

Also, the dinner we missed Wednesday night (our first night in St. Pete) was Dinner with the Czars. We asked for the menu last night just so we could see it. It looked pretty good. Some Russian classics (chicken kiev, borscht, salmon blinis).

The band just started playing. There's a castle on the other side of us! Will report later.

 

[DL1957]

We have indeed docked in Tallinn, and from what it looked like as we were coming in, we are either the 3rd or 4th boat in town today. We've come in right alongside Jewel of the Sea. She was with us in St. Petersburg too. The forecast is for scattered clouds with highs in the upper 60s. Works for me.

A few things I forgot to post last night: the main event yesterday evening was Toy Story 3 in 3D in the Walt Disney Theatre. There were 3 showings, the last at 11 pm. It will be showing in Buena Vista throughout the rest of the trip, along with Prince of Persia, Alice in Wonderland, The Princess and the Frog and Old Dogs.

Also, the dinner we missed Wednesday night (our first night in St. Pete) was Dinner with the Czars. We asked for the menu last night just so we could see it. It looked pretty good. Some Russian classics (chicken kiev, borscht, salmon blinis).

The band just started playing. There's a castle on the other side of us! Will report later.

The chicken kiev was great! DH had the borscht and said it was good!

 

[cindy18]

With apologies for those going on the 3rd Baltic, this post is all about Tallinn, which has to go down as the surprise hit of the cruise. What an wonderful day we had in the Old Town!

This is another port we did on our own. We got clearance to get off the ship at about 9:45, and we were on the first shuttle bus into town, which left the port at 10 am. For what it's worth, the shuttle bus drops you off outside one main street into the old town, but we wanted to follow the Rick Steves walking tour, which starts at the other side of the old town, so we wound up retracing some of the bus route to orient ourselves. We walked back to the ship at the end of the day, and I understand why the shuttle buses make sense. The port is very large and a little hard to navigate (we could not see the ship for awhile after walking into the port), so taking the shuttle bus out in the morning is probably an easier way to start the day than walking. But it's definitely not a long walk, maybe 15-20 minutes to the entrance to the old town.

As I said, we followed Rick Steves' walking tour. The old town is incredibly charming and lovely and you really feel like you've gone back in time. We did almost the entire tour in about 2 hours, maybe slightly longer. We stopped into a few old churches and also stopped for coffee and a snack along the route. There is a currency exchange booth right after you leave the ship and several ATMs along the walking route, one towards the beginning and a few towards the end. Most of the shops and restaurants take credit cards, actually, although the place we chose to have lunch only takes Visa, and we have MasterCard and Amex with us, so DH had to find an ATM while we ordered. Prices were pretty good, much better than Oslo, but not as good as in St. Petersburg. We discovered at lunch that there is a 20% tax added onto the food bill, and the prices were given in euros and kroon. There are lots of food options, including many restaurants on and around the main square. I can't remember the name of the restaurant where we ate, but if you go to the Wheel Well one street off the square and turn right, it's along that street, and there is a frying pan with an egg in it on top of the door. It's in Rick Steves' book and it was very good and a bit off the main drag, which was nice. With 3 appetizers, 4 large main courses (this was easily the biggest lunch we've had) and water, plus the 20% tax, the bill was 70 euros, which was a little pricey (we thought) but not terrible.

We found a delicious chocolate shop (also mentioned in Steves' book) and had dessert there, and we had a very good time along the sweater wall, which necessitated another visit to the ATM but netted the DDs some very fun hats. Because you can't take currency in or out of the country (or, rather, I suppose we could have taken the kroon out of the country, but we wouldn't have been able to convert it back to dollars), we tried not to get too much money at any given time.

Once you leave the old town, you get a sense of how different the rest of the city is. There is still a large Russian population, and you sense that there is a real disconnect between them and the native Estonians. We didn't have time to do more than explore the old town, but the walk back to the ship takes you a bit into the rest of the city, and it's modern and sort of a bit crass with some incongruous skyscrapers. DH and I are actually thinking to return at some point and see Latvia and Lithuania too, along with Helsinki, because we suspect those capitals also have beautifully preserved (or restored) old towns, and we wouldn't mind returning here as well.

What else can I tell you: we needed to take our passports with us when we got off the ship (although no one checked them). The weather was spectacular, much nicer than what was forecast. Brilliantly blue skies, no humidity, on a guess temperatures in the low to mid 70s. There were MANY cruise ships in port today, and I was worried that the old town would feel very cramped and crowded. I think getting off the ship early and walking around before lunch saved us a lot of the sense of being overwhelmed and packed in, so on the 4th cruise, if there are a lot of ships in port the day you arrive, try to get off early. We heard that there were 10,000 cruise ship visitors today and only 1,000 yesterday, so it obviously can be dramatically different from day to day. We only really noticed the crowds towards the end of the walking tour, after lunch.

The all aboard time is 5 pm, and tonight is pirate night. DH has been growing a goatee for the evening, and he has a full costume. The rest of us brought pirate style blouses with us and may swing by Treasure Ketch to accessorize. We're in Parrot Cay tonight, which worked out nicely. I can't remember the name of the entertainer in the Walt Disney Theatre tonight, but I'll post it later (he's doing a comedy and juggling routine), and of course there's the pirate party plus The Curse of the Black Pearl showing on the tv above the Mickey Pool. Should be a super evening!

 

[Toocoolmom]

Did most places in Estonia take Euros?

 

[Caropooh]

Thanks for the great report on Tallinn! I'm interested that you said we can't take kroon in or out of Estonia. We were able to get currency for all ports at Bank of America.

 

[cindy18]

We've just pulled up to what looks like a very commercial port in Stockholm. It's a little before 7 am local time. DH was up before 5 to watch us come in through the archipelagos and said it was spectacular, so I'm looking forward to the sail out later on.

Quickly on currency in Tallinn -- many things were priced in both euros and kroon, but since we had used up all our euros in Berlin, we didn't focus too much on what currency was accepted. I suspect in most shops and restaurants, euros would work. My sense was that the ladies at the sweater wall wanted kroon. I'm interested that BofA had Estonian currency. Neither Citibank nor American Express did, and it was the only currency not available for exchange on the ship. We used the ATMs and got precisely the amount we needed to have none left over.

Great pirate night last night. Odd to have a pirate party in daylight, but the sun was still up while the dancing was going on. Made it easy not to miss the fireworks, actually. The dinner menu was better than I remembered, too. In general, it seems like the menus have more options, including a main course salad option which is a nice change. The Walt Disnery Theatre entertainment was a guy named Ron Pearson. He did some very intense weird juggling and otherwise chatted with the audience. He was pretty funny.

Oh, wanted to mention that there was a dueling horns moment when we pulled out of Tallinn. We were docked right next to Jewel of the Sea, and there were several other boats on the other side of Jewel. We blew our horn first, then Jewel blew hers, then another ship blew hers, then we blew ours again and pulled out first. The first time we blew our horn, the people on the Jewel started laughing. No mistaking what ship we are!! No one had even a remotely interesting sounding horn except us. DD12 was on deck 10 playing dodgeball before we left port and said that the kids on the top decks of the Jewel were looking over at our ship with genuine envy. She may be embellishing a bit, but I do love it when we're next to another ship and it's clear how special the Magic really is.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We've just pulled up to what looks like a very commercial port in Stockholm. It's a little before 7 am local time. DH was up before 5 to watch us come in through the archipelagos and said it was spectacular, so I'm looking forward to the sail out later on.

Quickly on currency in Tallinn -- many things were priced in both euros and kroon, but since we had used up all our euros in Berlin, we didn't focus too much on what currency was accepted. I suspect in most shops and restaurants, euros would work. My sense was that the ladies at the sweater wall wanted kroon. I'm interested that BofA had Estonian currency. Neither Citibank nor American Express did, and it was the only currency not available for exchange on the ship. We used the ATMs and got precisely the amount we needed to have none left over.

Great pirate night last night. Odd to have a pirate party in daylight, but the sun was still up while the dancing was going on. Made it easy not to miss the fireworks, actually. The dinner menu was better than I remembered, too. In general, it seems like the menus have more options, including a main course salad option which is a nice change. The Walt Disnery Theatre entertainment was a guy named Ron Pearson. He did some very intense weird juggling and otherwise chatted with the audience. He was pretty funny.

Oh, wanted to mention that there was a dueling horns moment when we pulled out of Tallinn. We were docked right next to Jewel of the Sea, and there were several other boats on the other side of Jewel. We blew our horn first, then Jewel blew hers, then another ship blew hers, then we blew ours again and pulled out first. The first time we blew our horn, the people on the Jewel started laughing. No mistaking what ship we are!! No one had even a remotely interesting sounding horn except us. DD12 was on deck 10 playing dodgeball before we left port and said that the kids on the tops decks of Jewel were looking over at our ship with genuine envy. She may be embellishing a bit, but I do love it when we're next to another ship and it's clear how special the Magic really is.

Thank You; for the continused very informative reports.

 

[lisalisalisa]

I am really enjoying you report. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I am really enjoying you report. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time.

I agree and its a nice build up of anticipation before my one in two weeks.

 

[chrssher]

Thanks for all of your efforts; we are on the 18 July sailing and your info has been very helpful.

We live in Europe, will most likely bring Euro. I noticed you said it was accepted in Estonia - what about the other ports? Just curious; much easier for us than having to get new currency at every port.

again thanks and enjoy your cruise!!

 

[Melcatfish]

Loving your live report - I wanted to do this cruise but couldn't so I am living it through you!

Mel
x

 

[MrsScooby]

Oh, wanted to mention that there was a dueling horns moment when we pulled out of Tallinn. We were docked right next to Jewel of the Sea, and there were several other boats on the other side of Jewel. We blew our horn first, then Jewel blew hers, then another ship blew hers, then we blew ours again and pulled out first. The first time we blew our horn, the people on the Jewel started laughing. No mistaking what ship we are!! No one had even a remotely interesting sounding horn except us. DD12 was on deck 10 playing dodgeball before we left port and said that the kids on the tops decks of Jewel were looking over at our ship with genuine envy. She may be embellishing a bit, but I do love it when we're next to another ship and it's clear how special the Magic really is.

Oh I agree
Love how the Magic looks so graceful next to the big clunky ships

 

[MrsScooby]

Thanks for all of your efforts; we are on the 18 July sailing and your info has been very helpful.

We live in Europe, will most likely bring Euro. I noticed you said it was accepted in Estonia - what about the other ports? Just curious; much easier for us than having to get new currency at every port.

again thanks and enjoy your cruise!!

Hello chrssher
Welcome to the DIS boards
I'm also on the July 18th sailing.

Come join the rest of us on our DIS meet thread
for this sailing
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2453129

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Thanks for all of your efforts; we are on the 18 July sailing and your info has been very helpful.

We live in Europe, will most likely bring Euro. I noticed you said it was accepted in Estonia - what about the other ports? Just curious; much easier for us than having to get new currency at every port.

again thanks and enjoy your cruise!!

Hi

If you are in the cruise port area, or city centre the majoriy of places will accept the Euro, but you may get change in local currency. This is the consistent response I am getting.

 

[grlzmom]

We are also currently onboard the Magic and loving the Baltic itinerary!

Beautiful weather, calm seas, fantastic itinerary. Twenty plus cruises on the Magic and for us this personally has been the calmest seas and the most interesting itinerary.

Aside from St. Petersburg we have done the ports on our own and not much preplanning on our part as we booked fairly last minute.

Oslo was very easy doing walking tour on our own and very easy to navigate. We found this port to be the most expensive but spent all day sightseeing and had very little time to shop anyway.

Denmark, we loved Tivoli (as did the kids). We did not do the DCL Tour. We just got off the ship and walked there, took the city/park route to Tivoli, and walked back along the waterfront. Enabled us to see alot and the walk was not bad. Tivoli was inexpensive and not at all crowded. Kids managed to ride everything they wanted over and over without a wait for anything.

St. Petersburg weather was great, very warm the first day. By the time the rain came midpoint the second day, our tours were done. Of all we saw, we loved the St. Peterhoff Fountains, and Church of the Spilled Blood the most.

We had planned on Berlin however were exhausted so decided to stay in Warmunde and it was such a nice little port town. People were friendly, many places to relax, have a meal or drink and just watch. You can literally step off the ship and find souvenirs, playground stuff for the kids, and inexpensive local food. Very picturesque.

Estonia, this port was just beautiful, walked to Old Town and spent a wonderful day doing walking tour, shopping for sweaters and hats. We found this port to be fairly inexpensive. There is free wifi hotspot just as you exit the cruise pier so very convenient if you have your laptop or other web enabled device.

DCL had currency exchange onboard for all ports except for Estonia which wasn't a big deal because everywhere we went they took US Dollars and Euros but of course, always check the rate they are using for conversion.

Dover terminal for us was easy and much better organized than we found Barcelona to be. Plenty of staff on hand, clear direction on where to go and what to do next. You can buy food or snack in the terminal if you want and there is a separate waiting area for concierge/platinum cruisers. Not very big but was still pretty empty when we boarded just before noon.

Food has been good and 2 new menus for us, Czars menu first St. Petersburg night and tonight we get the other one (forgot the name, maybe something Scandanavian?). While most of it doesn't appeal to the kids, we are happy they are at least tasting some new stuff.

We have also made the most use of balconies on this cruise compared to any other. With plenty of daylight and such interesting sights along the way (Capt. Henry is very good about making announcements and pointing things out along the route). Beautiful fjords which we sat and watched from early morning til port arrival, suspension bridges, castles. Wonderful.

Current concierge for suite guests are Connie and Linda.

I hope that DCL returns to the Baltic in the future. I'm jealous that our vacation is coming to a close and for those of you who will be coming on board for the Baltic soon, hope you love it!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

We are also currently onboard the Magic and loving the Baltic itinerary!

Beautiful weather, calm seas, fantastic itinerary. Twenty plus cruises on the Magic and for us this personally has been the calmest seas and the most interesting itinerary.

Aside from St. Petersburg we have done the ports on our own and not much preplanning on our part as we booked fairly last minute.

Oslo was very easy doing walking tour on our own and very easy to navigate. We found this port to be the most expensive but spent all day sightseeing and had very little time to shop anyway.

Denmark, we loved Tivoli (as did the kids). We did not do the DCL Tour. We just got off the ship and walked there, took the city/park route to Tivoli, and walked back along the waterfront. Enabled us to see alot and the walk was not bad. Tivoli was inexpensive and not at all crowded. Kids managed to ride everything they wanted over and over without a wait for anything.

St. Petersburg weather was great, very warm the first day. By the time the rain came midpoint the second day, our tours were done. Of all we saw, we loved the St. Peterhoff Fountains, and Church of the Spilled Blood the most.

We had planned on Berlin however were exhausted so decided to stay in Warmunde and it was such a nice little port town. People were friendly, many places to relax, have a meal or drink and just watch. You can literally step off the ship and find souvenirs, playground stuff for the kids, and inexpensive local food. Very picturesque.

Estonia, this port was just beautiful, walked to Old Town and spent a wonderful day doing walking tour, shopping for sweaters and hats. We found this port to be fairly inexpensive. There is free wifi hotspot just as you exit the cruise pier so very convenient if you have your laptop or other web enabled device.

DCL had currency exchange onboard for all ports except for Estonia which wasn't a big deal because everywhere we went they took US Dollars and Euros but of course, always check the rate they are using for conversion.

Dover terminal for us was easy and much better organized than we found Barcelona to be. Plenty of staff on hand, clear direction on where to go and what to do next. You can buy food or snack in the terminal if you want and there is a separate waiting area for concierge/platinum cruisers. Not very big but was still pretty empty when we boarded just before noon.

Food has been good and 2 new menus for us, Czars menu first St. Petersburg night and tonight we get the other one (forgot the name, maybe something Scandanavian?). While most of it doesn't appeal to the kids, we are happy they are at least tasting some new stuff.

We have also made the most use of balconies on this cruise compared to any other. With plenty of daylight and such interesting sights along the way (Capt. Henry is very good about making announcements and pointing things out along the route). Beautiful fjords which we sat and watched from early morning til port arrival, suspension bridges, castles. Wonderful.

Current concierge for suite guests are Connie and Linda.

I hope that DCL returns to the Baltic in the future. I'm jealous that our vacation is coming to a close and for those of you who will be coming on board for the Baltic soon, hope you love it!

Great, which concierge does what side of deck 8?

 

[cindy18]

Greetings from the end of our final day in port. We were 6 for 6 on weather in port. Today was another brilliantly sunny day and highs felt into the 80s. The all ashore time was 7:30, and our plan had been to leave the ship by 8 and take a taxi to the Vasa to get there before it got too crowded. But we found out last night that there would be free shuttle buses running from the terminal to the start of the old town, and we got on one of those instead. That worked out well, as we arrived in the old town at around 8:30 and were able to do all of Rick Steves' old town walking tour in about an hour. It's beautiful, of course, and first thing in the morning it's peaceful and quiet and very charming.

At the end of the island, we stopped for a coffee and then took the ferry across to Djurgarden. The ferries run every 15 minutes. Adults are 40 kr and kids are 25 kr and they take credit cards. It was a quick ride across the harbor, and the ferry stops at an amusement park called, amusingly, Tivoli, so there were lots of locals on the ferry heading to the amusement park with their kids for the day. We walked about 5 minutes to the main entrance to Skansen, an open air museum that is very well done and very lovely. We didn't have time to do all of it (it's quite big), but we checked out a lot of the trade shops and an old farmhouse and appreciated some very nice views. From Skansen, it was about a 10 minute walk to the Vasa Museum. That museum is as good as everyone says. We did have to wait on line to get in (we got there at a little past noon) but once inside it did not feel as crowded as we thought it would, probably because it's actually quite large. That cost 110 kr for adults, and kids are free. Credit cards are fine there (forgot to say, Skansen was 120 kr for adults and 50 kr for kids and we used a credit card there too). There are several levels to the Vasa and you learn a lot about life at the time of the shipwreck as well as everything you could possibly imagine about being on board. It was great.

After we were done touring the Vasa, we decided to eat lunch in the cafeteria in the museum because it was convenient and there was lovely outdoor seating on the water. That was easy and fine and of course we paid with a credit card. We decided to walk across the bridge and along the harbor to the main part of town, stopped quickly to admire the grand synagogue and then made our way back to the head of the old town to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship.

I should pause here to mention the first less than ideal thing that has happened this whole cruise. The line for the shuttle back to the ship is incredibly long and they appear to have seriously underestimated the number of people who planned to take one of the late shuttle buses back to the ship. The all aboard time is 3:45, and it simply isn't going to happen. We got here at 2:45 and since then 3 shuttle buses have come and I'm guessing we need a few more buses before we can get on. It's surprising but I suspect it won't happen again. There is a Disney representative here, and she's made clear that there will be enough buses and everything will be fine, so no one is worried, but it's an odd thing.

So it should be clear that credit cards were widely accepted here. I don't know how easy it would be to pay in euros in any of the ports besides Tallinn. I would think it would be a no go in St. Petersburg, and we didn't even consider it in any other port (besides Berlin, of course). We wound up needing very little local currency and only used ATMs in Tallinn.

A bit more about Stockholm. It's very beautiful, very grand and elegant and seems to be in excellent shape. Everything is clean and there is a lot in English. This is yet another port stop we'd love to return to and explore more fully. I would have loved even an hour more to check out more of the main part of town. It's definitely more expensive than some other ports but not more expensive than Oslo, for sure. Most things were more walkable than I realized. The city is certainly crowded today (a Princess ship and a NCL ship are docked in the other cruise terminal, plus there is a Crystal ship in port with us)

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Greetings from the end of our final day in port. We were 6 for 6 on weather In port. Today was another brilliantly sunny day and highs felt into the 80s. The all ashore time was 7:30, and our plan had been to leave the ship by 8 and take a taxi to the Vasa to get there before it got too crowded. But we found out last night that there would be free shuttle buses running from the terminal to the start of the old town, and we got on one of those instead. That worked out well, as we arrived in the old town at around 8:30 and were able to do all of Rick Steves' old town walking tour in about an hour. It's beautiful, of course, and first thing in the morning it's peaceful and quiet and very charming.

At the end of the island, we stopped for a coffee and then took the ferry across to djurgarden. The ferries run every 15 minutes. Adults are 40 kr and kids are 25 kr and they take credit cards. It was a quick ride across the harbor, and the ferry stops at an amusement park called, amusingly, Tivoli, so there were lots of locals on the ferry heading to the amusement park with their kids for the day. We walked about 5 minutes to the main entrance to Skansen, an open air museum that is very well done and very lovely. We didn't have time to do all of it (it's quite big), but we checked out a lot of the trade shops and an old farmhouse and appreciated some very nice views. From Skansen, it was about a 10 minute walk to the Vasa Museum. That museum is as good as everyone says. We did have to wait on line to get in (we got there at a little past noon) but once inside it did not feel as crowded as we thought it would, probably because it's actually quite large. That cost 110 kr for adults, and kids are free. Credit cards are fine there (forgot to say, Skansen was 120 kr for adults and 50 kr for kids and we used a credit card there too). There are several levels to the Vasa and you learn a lot about life at the time of the shipwreck as well as everything you could possibly imagine about being on board. It was great.

AftÉr we were done touring the Vasa, we decided to eat lunch in the cafeteria in the museum because it was convenient and there was lovely outdoor seating on the water. That was easy and fine and of course we paid with a credit card. We decided to walk across the bridge and along the harbor to the main part of town, stopped quickly to admire the grand synagogue and then made our way back to the head of the old town to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship.

I should pause here to mention the first less than ideal thing that has happened this whole cruise. The line for the shuttle back to the ship is incredibly long and they appear to have seriously underestimated the number of people who planned to take one of the late shuttle buses back to the ship. The all aboard time is 3:45, and it simply isn't going to happen. We got here at 2:45 and since then 3 shuttle buses have come and I'm guessing we need a few more buses before we can get on. It's surprising but I suspect it won't happen again. There is a Disney representative here, and she's made clear that there will be enough buses and everything will be fine, so no one is worried, but it's an odd thing.

So it should be clear that credit cards were widely accepted here. I don't know how easy it would be to pay in euros in any of tyhe ports besides Tallinn. I would think it would be a no go in St. Petersburg, and we didn't even consider it in any other port (besides Berlin, of course). We wound up needing very little local currency and only used ATMs in Tallinn.

A bit more about Stockholm. It's very beautiful, very grand and elegant and seems to be in excellent shape. Everything is clean and there is a lot in English. This is yet another port stop we'd love to return to and explore more fully. I would have loved even an hour more to check out more of the main part of town. It's definitely more expensive than some other ports but not more expensive than Oslo, for sure. Most things were more walkable than I realized. The city is certainly crowded today (a Princess ship and a NCL ship are docked in the other cruise terminal, plus there is a Crystal ship in port with us)

Thanks again; enjoy the sea days.