The 2010 Baltic Thread--Cruise Tips and Planning

[birkner]

DH just arrived home from his United flight boarded at London Heathrow and bound for Chicago O'Hare. He confirms United does now allow one personal item (such as a purse) along with an approved carry on item. This is great news as I can now relax and know my purse won't have to fit into my bag, lol.

But keep in mind, this is airline specific information. As reported earlier in this thread Virgin was still recently prohibited this and limiting to one single carry on for flights out of London.

Thanks for confirming the carry on status for all of us flying United.

 

[Deb T.]

DH just arrived home from his United flight boarded at London Heathrow and bound for Chicago O'Hare. He confirms United does now allow one personal item (such as a purse) along with an approved carry on item. This is great news as I can now relax and know my purse won't have to fit into my bag, lol.

But keep in mind, this is airline specific information. As reported earlier in this thread Virgin was still recently prohibited this and limiting to one single carry on for flights out of London.

Thank you!

 

[3princessMommy]

Does anyone have recommendations for a private tour company in Oslo?

There is a group of folks on our cruise that would really like to go to the Hadeland glass factory, but the DCL tour was sold out by platnium members - it wasn't even available for booking 90 days out! So we thought we'd try and do it on our own. But the one company that we had found earlier, no longer seems to offer that choice (or we can't find it anymore), so.... Advice???

We'll have a group of 10-15 people.

 

[WVMD]

Does anyone have recommendations for a private tour company in Oslo?

There is a group of folks on our cruise that would really like to go to the Hadeland glass factory, but the DCL tour was sold out by platnium members - it wasn't even available for booking 90 days out! So we thought we'd try and do it on our own. But the one company that we had found earlier, no longer seems to offer that choice (or we can't find it anymore), so.... Advice???

We'll have a group of 10-15 people.

Here's one....

http://www.denrus.ru/balticports/osloo2.html

Virgil

 

[scrapycruiser]

Here is a link to the docking schedule for OSLO.

Must be an error as it shows the July 18 ( our cruise ) coming from Stokholm instead of Dover. Am I reading this right ???

http://www.oslohavn.no/english/home/cruise-list/

 

[MrsScooby]

Here is a link to the docking schedule for OSLO.

Must be an error as it shows the July 18 ( our cruise ) coming from Stokholm instead of Dover. Am I reading this right ???

http://www.oslohavn.no/english/home/cruise-list/

Looks like a mistake on their part

 

[MrsScooby]

Still trying to decide on whether or not to get the Stockholm card

I don't think we'll save much (if any) money with it-but since you have to pay for the buses ahead of time (either buying a ticket or getting a card) it seems like it would just be easier to not have to wait in line to buy tickets

Anyone else doing it yourself in Stockholm and going that route?

We're planning Vasa, Skansen, Gamla Stan then back to the ship.

 

[wickesy]

Looks like a mistake on their part

Looks like they've made the same mistake for all the cruises except our one (the June 12th one).

 

[MrsScooby]

Looks like they've made the same mistake for all the cruises except our one (the June 12th one).

Saw that. Lucky you

Hopefully they'll figure it out soon enough and correct it

 

[wintergreen]

Still trying to decide on whether or not to get the Stockholm card

I don't think we'll save much (if any) money with it-but since you have to pay for the buses ahead of time (either buying a ticket or getting a card) it seems like it would just be easier to not have to wait in line to buy tickets

Anyone else doing it yourself in Stockholm and going that route?

We're planning Vasa, Skansen, Gamla Stan then back to the ship.

We are going to do the HOHO bus in Stockholm. One of the reasons is that it picks up at the cruise berth. We plan to do the same things you are.

 

[Fivepin]

We are going to do the HOHO bus in Stockholm. One of the reasons is that it picks up at the cruise berth. We plan to do the same things you are.

We are doing the HOHO as well. We also picked it because it picks up at the cruise berth, plus it has stops for the Ice Bar and the Hard Rock. We plan on going to Vasa and Gamla Stan, don't know if we have time to really enjoy Skansen(I would really love to) but our Ice Bar reservation is at lunch time. So, it splits up our time.

 

[cindy18]

Still trying to decide on whether or not to get the Stockholm card

I don't think we'll save much (if any) money with it-but since you have to pay for the buses ahead of time (either buying a ticket or getting a card) it seems like it would just be easier to not have to wait in line to buy tickets

Anyone else doing it yourself in Stockholm and going that route?

We're planning Vasa, Skansen, Gamla Stan then back to the ship.

We are doing Stockholm on our own and decided to skip the Stockholm Card. I priced out everything we wanted to do and then DH said that we would never get to all of it. Like you, we're starting with Vasa and Skansen and then heading to Gamla Stan and then back to the ship. But we think if the weather is decent that it will be awhile before we get to Gamla Stan meaning that there won't be time for a lot of stops there and probably we will just explore. When we thought about it that way, it made no economic sense to buy the card. Agree that having the card eases the stress of getting tickets for the bus, but otherwise we really thought we'd spend less money without it.

The only city pass we're buying is for Oslo.

 

[goingsouth]

We are doing Stockholm on our own as well. It's our last port and I want it to be relaxing. I think we are skipping the Vasa. We want to wander through Gamla Stan and maybe take some sort of boat ride.

joanne

 

[Crissup]

Not sure about the London cabs, but DH usually just hits an ATM at the airport to pickup some pounds.

There is an ATM in the baggage claim are as soon as you round the corner. It will be the first one you see as you arrive in London Heathrow. The exchange rate is high. There are other ATM's as you exit the airport.

Also, London Heathrow (http://twitter.com/HeathrowAirport) tweeted this last week...

We've created a new web gadget to make it even easier to get your commission-free currency. Give it a try at: http://ow.ly/1PAgC

I haven't used this service, but might be worth looking into.

Trying to figure out the process for the Oyster photo card for my kids.

Not sure about rules for kids. I ended up picking one up for myself last week at the Hangar Lane station in Ealing. I had to put a minimum of 10GBP on it, plus a 3GBP deposit for the card.

DH just arrived home from his United flight boarded at London Heathrow and bound for Chicago O'Hare. He confirms United does now allow one personal item (such as a purse) along with an approved carry on item.

I didn't have much time to inquire. As I ran past the gate agent, I asked what the allowance was. He just told me I was OK. I then explained that I needed to know what it was for a bunch of passengers that would be travelling in a months time.

The one thing to be careful of at Heathrow, is they often don't list your gate until less than an hour before the flight. So, it doesn't really allow for you to get there early and then sit at the gate. You have to hang around the main terminal area and wait for your gate to be posted. I've almost missed my flight a couple of times because I'm in the store when it posts the gate and then I have to run. This last flight, I arrived at the gate completely out of breath and sweating like a pig. There were many passengers that ran past me at full speed as I was running for my gate. It was a very long run to my gate. So, keep your eyes on that screen when waiting for your gate to be posted. If your gate is quite a distance, you may not have a lot of time like here in the states.

I have to head back out again next week.

 

[birkner]

We are doing Stockholm on our own as well. It's our last port and I want it to be relaxing. I think we are skipping the Vasa. We want to wander through Gamla Stan and maybe take some sort of boat ride.

joanne

My DH and I think seeing the Vasa was one of the highlights of our trip to Stockholm. The Vasa is the only preserved seventeenth-century ship in the world, and a unique art treasure. More than 95 percent of the ship is original, and it is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures.

http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/

Just my thoughts....

 

[Deb T.]

I didn't have much time to inquire. As I ran past the gate agent, I asked what the allowance was. He just told me I was OK. I then explained that I needed to know what it was for a bunch of passengers that would be travelling in a months time.

Thanks so much for checking. I really, really, REALLY appreciate it!

The one thing to be careful of at Heathrow, is they often don't list your gate until less than an hour before the flight. So, it doesn't really allow for you to get there early and then sit at the gate. You have to hang around the main terminal area and wait for your gate to be posted. I've almost missed my flight a couple of times because I'm in the store when it posts the gate and then I have to run. This last flight, I arrived at the gate completely out of breath and sweating like a pig. There were many passengers that ran past me at full speed as I was running for my gate. It was a very long run to my gate. So, keep your eyes on that screen when waiting for your gate to be posted. If your gate is quite a distance, you may not have a lot of time like here in the states.

Wow - good to know! Thank you for letting us know about this!

 

[dflyer]

Here is the list someone on the June 12th cruise was given for ours:

I wonder if Soceror's Apprentice will be on the July 6 cruise?

 

[denise]

I wonder if Soceror's Apprentice will be on the July 6 cruise?

come on over to our cruise page..July 6...haven't seen you post before....we will not bite....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36818868&posted=1#post36818868

 

[Rogillio]

We are doing Stockholm on our own as well. It's our last port and I want it to be relaxing. I think we are skipping the Vasa. We want to wander through Gamla Stan and maybe take some sort of boat ride.

joanne

But....but....but this is the last port and you will have 2 back-to-back sea days to relax and recover!

Sorry, just had to be me. I tend to drive the family to see/do as much as we can. It is doubtful we will ever make it back to Stockholm so Vasa is a must see. We are doing the HOHO bus and since our port time has been cut short (we're leaving at like 1 pm now) we figure we'll do the Vasa and then ride the bus around the loops. If we have enought time we'll get off in the old town (is that Gamla Stan?) and wander around.

~Mike

 

[Rogillio]

My DH and I think seeing the Vasa was one of the highlights of our trip to Stockholm. The Vasa is the only preserved seventeenth-century ship in the world, and a unique art treasure. More than 95 percent of the ship is original, and it is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures.

http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/

Just my thoughts....

I agree. We watched Samantha Brown tour the Vasa musuem. This huge ship set sail and sank on her maiden voyage...right after a big celebration send off. Evidently the design was flawed...

~Mike