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

Sun 24-Jul Stockholm, Sweden - Embark

Mon 25-Jul Stockholm, Sweden - Leave 4:00 pm

Tue 26-Jul Helsinki, Finland - 10:00am - 6:00pm

Wed 27-Jul St. Petersburg, Russia - 7:00am

Thu 28-Jul St. Petersburg, Russia

Fri 29-Jul St. Petersburg, Russia - 6:00pm

Sat 30-Jul Tallinn, Estonia - 7:00am - 4:00pm

Sun 31-Jul Riga, Latvia - 10:00am - 6:00pm

Mon 1-Aug Klaipeda, Lithuania - 10:00am - 8:00pm

Tue 2-Aug At Sea

Wed 3-Aug Berlin (Rostock), Germany - 7:00am - 9:30pm

Thu 4-Aug Fredericia, Denmark - 8:00am - 6:00pm

Fri 5-Aug Copenhagen, Denmark - 9:00am

Sat 6-Aug Copenhagen, Denmark - Disembark

I booked this cruise in March of 2015 – for my husband, myself, and our (now) 7 year old daughter. The itinerary – including 3 days in St. Petersburg – was too hard to resist. We booked a D1 Balcony room.

At the end of March I started our CC Roll Call. It quickly became a very active thread and we shared so much good information and our excitement for the cruise. A week or so before our cruise our group had all finalized our excursions (all private), set up an informal Meet N Greet for sail away, and had a big, color-coded spreadsheet with everyone's excursions and meeting places/times for the excursions.

A few weeks prior to our cruise my husband had some visa issues with his Schengan visa. It actually came down to us being in Stockholm 2 ½ hours more than we’d be in Copenhagen. We were supposed to apply for the visa through Sweden, not Denmark and now we were out of time to reapply. We had to make a quick decision whether we should cancel and ONLY lose 50% of our cruise fare (and our airfare) or spend another $2,000 to change our airline tickets and book an additional night in Copenhagen. We chose the latter. I’m not usually a gambler but I really didn’t think his visa would be denied. We were really down to the wire by the time we found out he got his visa. Now we could breathe…and pack! We managed to fit 16 days’ worth of clothes in 2 medium and 1 small suitcases with an extra empty duffle bag for our purchases.

Our SAS flight from Newark to Sweden was scheduled to leave Friday afternoon at 5:20. We checked-in and got through security easily with enough time to have a light dinner before we boarded. (Airport food is never good but airplane food is worse.) Soon it was time to board and before we knew it, we were on our way. We watched a bit of TV/movies and soon it was about 7:15 a.m. and we were landing in Stockholm. We made it through immigration, picked up our suitcases, hit the ATM for some Kroner and went to get a taxi. With all of our suitcases, we had decided against taking the Arlanda Express train to the city center. According to the website for our hotel a taxi would hardly be more than the train. That was probably true...except my body clock – and brain – were functioning at NJ time - 2 a.m. (long past my bedtime!). I didn’t remember about not having to take the first taxi in line and checking prices so we paid a bit more than we should have. In the end we arrived quickly and without any hassles to the Sheraton Stockholm. To note: when you come out of immigration there is a very large tourist info center. They have a bunch of maps and brochures along with some very helpful ladies. It is right near the counter where you can purchase the Arlanda Express tickets.

Since I knew we’d be arriving around 9-10 a.m. I booked the hotel for the prior night as well as that night. I knew we’d want breakfast and a few hours’ sleep. (When traveling with a child we almost always pay for convenience. It’s just more...pleasant.) I booked the hotel through hotels.com and requested they contact the hotel to make sure they didn’t give away our room as a no-show. I also had it in writing. We arrived before 9 a.m. and were able to check in. The Sheraton is very nice (good location, breakfast/wifi included) and we had a great room. We washed up a bit and went for breakfast. It was really, really good - lots of local food - breads, cheeses, jams. I LOVE European breakfasts! Back upstairs we closed the room darkening curtains, turned on an alarm and slept for 3 hours!

After a great nap, we hit the Espresso House in the lobby of the hotel for some snacks and coffee. We sat outside in the sunshine eating/drinking for a bit and then walked to nearby Sergels Torg – the starting point of our free city walking tour (http://freetourstockholm.com/). Sergels Torg is the most central public square in Stockholm. It’s great for people-watching and there are many restaurants and stores of all kinds around/on the pedestrian street. By the time our group left there were close to 100 people! That was a bit surprising!

Our first stop was the across from the Opera House. The tour guide was good but we got a bit of history overload. Definitely TMI. We crossed a bridge into Gamla Stan (Old Town) to the Royal Palace. The Palace is the official residence of the King and with over 600 rooms it is one of the largest palaces in Europe. Our large group stood in the sun listening to the guide’s stories about the royal family and the surrounding buildings. It was very HOT and there were so many people that it was hard to hear.

We moved on to Jarnpojke, also known as Iron Boy. At 5.9 inches high the sculpture of the “little boy who looks at the moon” is the smallest public monument in Stockholm. Apparently if you pat his head you will have good luck. It is supposed to be a “secret” tourist attraction but it wouldn’t have been terrible if we had missed it. :)

We walked to Stortoget (the Big Square) – the oldest square and historical center - in Stockholm. The most notable things to see in the square are the former Stock Exchange Building which houses the Nobel Museum, the well, and the historical, colorful buildings dating back hundreds of years. Each has its own story which you can read about or hear about on a tour. There are many outdoor cafes surrounding the square. Branching out of the square are several alleys/streets with interesting names. A few are (translated) Shoemaker's Street, Box on the ear Street, and Garden Street. It's kind of easy to figure out who lived on the street or what they street may have looked like by the names.

We continued on to Prästgatan (Priest's Street), named so because...this is where the priests used to live. It was one of the first streets in Stockholm and is narrow, colorful and picturesque. In the wall at the corner of Prästgatan/Kåkbrinken is a Viking rune stone from around 1000-1100. Very cool. Continuing down Prästgatan we went down the 36 stairs of Mårten Trotzigs Gränd. The width tapers down to 35 inches, making it the narrowest street in Stockholm. We ended the tour in the square at the end of Västerlånggatan. Overall the tour finished better than it started (for me). We had been on the go for over 2 1/2 hours. I have to say here that I was very surprised to see people pulling out a dollar or two to tip the guide. Please remember that these guides are surviving on tips! I think his time was worth more than <50 cents a hour! *steps down from soapbox*

By now we were pretty hungry. We walked back up Västerlånggatan (which was packed with souvenir shops, restaurants, etc.) looking for someplace to eat. I really wanted something local. We saw a sign for Resturant CC, made a turn down Västerlånggatan, and took an outside seat. My husband ordered the salmon, my daughter ordered the sea bass, and I ordered the Swedish meatballs (with mashed potatoes and ligonberries). My family enjoyed the fish and the meatballs were absolutely delicious. My daughter tasted them and loved them as well. The meat was tender and the menu had only described the meat as "game". Of course I had to ask AFTER I finished. So I had to tell my daughter that she just ate Rudolph. ;) I've eaten worse. I just hope Santa makes it to our house this year.

After dinner we walked across a bridge thinking we were going towards our hotel. We walked and walked and walked. We were walking along the waterfront and well, our hotel was on the waterfront. After over an hour we admitted we were lost. Worse, we had only seen a handful of taxis in all that time. Finally we flagged down a taxi and made it back to the hotel. What a long day!

We were looking forward to boarding the Serenade of the Seas the next day!

Trying to upload some photos and it's not going well....seems to only upload as a thumbnail. Any help would be appreciated. :)

Testing photos...

This looks like fun! I have a friend who sailed with you, too. I think I'd prefer this over a river cruise, have you done both?

This looks like fun! I have a friend who sailed with you, too. I think I'd prefer this over a river cruise, have you done both?

This was an amazing trip - probably my favorite cruise. I have not done a river cruise but I would like to.

This was an amazing trip - probably my favorite cruise. I have not done a river cruise but I would like to.

I always think of a river cruise as "not really about the ship, but the ports" - then I see all the ports and plenty of time in each port on your itinerary.... I would think it's better to go on a larger cruise ship so you get the ship AND the ports :)

Did you spend any time in Copenhagen? Canal tour from Nyhavn is fun :)

Nice Donna! Looking forward to the rest. Too bad Courtney would never do a cruise like this because I would love to.

Not to mention my new obsession is to finally book a Radiance class ship since I loved the Grandeur so much.

In regards to posting photos - are you using tapatalk or the cruise critic app? Or are you doing it on a regular computer?

I always think of a river cruise as "not really about the ship, but the ports" - then I see all the ports and plenty of time in each port on your itinerary.... I would think it's better to go on a larger cruise ship so you get the ship AND the ports :)

 

Did you spend any time in Copenhagen? Canal tour from Nyhavn is fun :)

We did stay an extra 1+ day in Copenhagen and did the canal tour from Nyhavn (also in Stockholm). This cruise was insane - 1 port day! We were on the go non-stop. It really was about the ports.

Nice Donna! Looking forward to the rest. Too bad Courtney would never do a cruise like this because I would love to.

 

Not to mention my new obsession is to finally book a Radiance class ship since I loved the Grandeur so much.

 

In regards to posting photos - are you using tapatalk or the cruise critic app? Or are you doing it on a regular computer?

Hi Tim! It was the best!! No, Courtney would never survive. :D

Trying to upload from my laptop. It says the photos can't be JPEG and have to be a certain size so I resized and converted to PNG.

We did stay an extra 1+ day in Copenhagen and did the canal tour from Nyhavn (also in Stockholm). This cruise was insane - 1 port day! We were on the go non-stop. It really was about the ports.

Very cool. Glad you had an amazing time. Denmark is basically our second home, so I'm thinking about a summer cruise next year or the following year out of Copenhagen. Can't wait to see the photos.

Very cool. Glad you had an amazing time. Denmark is basically our second home, so I'm thinking about a summer cruise next year or the following year out of Copenhagen. Can't wait to see the photos.

My grandfather was born in Copenhagen so I have always felt a bit of a connection with the city. Would love to go back and spend time seeing if there are any relatives around.

I'm thinking of doing the north Norway cruise from Copenhagen in 2018 if the offer it. It was the sailing after ours this year. Heard they had some rough seas and rain though.

My grandfather was born in Copenhagen so I have always felt a bit of a connection with the city. Would love to go back and spend time seeing if there are any relatives around.

 

I'm thinking of doing the north Norway cruise from Copenhagen in 2018 if the offer it. It was the sailing after ours this year. Heard they had some rough seas and rain though.

I've done the ferry out of Hirtshals to Larvik a couple of times and it can be hit or miss with the seas. This is winter though. We ski in Norway every year.

They have some Norway fjords cruises that look cool out of Copenhagen. We are also considering a "Norway in a nutshell" train trip instead of a cruise.

It's so darn cheap to get to Denmark and Norway nowadays, you should definitely go and explore your family history a bit more. It's kind of a best kept winter secret, it's actually much cheaper to fly to Norway and ski than Colorado :)

Trying to upload from my laptop. It says the photos can't be JPEG and have to be a certain size so I resized and converted to PNG.

If you're doing it that way it might be best to upload your photos to a site like photobucket first and then paste the links in this thread. That's how I used to do it.

On my last few cruises I just used the camera on my iPhone and uploaded them here using tapatalk or the cruise critic app.

Royal Palace, Stockholm

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Jarnpojke, Iron Boy, Stockholm

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Stortoget - Left Corner is the Well, Building is the old Stock Exchange Building which is now the Nobel Museum, Stockholm

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Great Architecture in Stortoget

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If you're doing it that way it might be best to upload your photos to a site like photobucket first and then paste the links in this thread. That's how I used to do it.

 

On my last few cruises I just used the camera on my iPhone and uploaded them here using tapatalk or the cruise critic app.

Thanks Tim. I was cruising along using photobucket and then got this message: You have included 8 images in your message. You are limited to using 6 images so please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.

Images include use of smilies, the BB code tag and HTML <img> tags. The use of these is all subject to them being enabled by the administrator.

What does that mean?

Thanks Tim. I was cruising along using photobucket and then got this message: You have included 8 images in your message. You are limited to using 6 images so please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.

 

Images include use of smilies, the BB code tag and HTML <img> tags. The use of these is all subject to them being enabled by the administrator.

 

What does that mean?

Cruise Critic limits you to 6 photos per post.

Found the issue Bob. Thanks.

Viking Rune Stone, Stockholm

Walking down Prästgatan Street, Stockholm

Mårten Trotzigs Gränd - the narrowest street in Stockholm

Swedish Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes, Ligonberries at Restaurant CC, Stockholm

End of day 1. Getting lost in Stockholm....not a bad view!

The photos look great Donna!

The only problem is I'm now craving Swedish meatballs.

I've done the ferry out of Hirtshals to Larvik a couple of times and it can be hit or miss with the seas. This is winter though. We ski in Norway every year.

 

They have some Norway fjords cruises that look cool out of Copenhagen. We are also considering a "Norway in a nutshell" train trip instead of a cruise.

 

It's so darn cheap to get to Denmark and Norway nowadays, you should definitely go and explore your family history a bit more. It's kind of a best kept winter secret, it's actually much cheaper to fly to Norway and ski than Colorado :)

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!).

The plan for the next day was to wake up, have breakfast, and do the free walking tour of the Old City which was to start at 10 a.m. and then head to the ship about 12:30. Because the days are so long in that part of the world, room-darkening shades/curtains are a necessity. But they work best WITH an alarm. You can probably see where this is going. The next day I woke up without an alarm. I checked the time and it was after 11 a.m.! I couldn't believe we had slept through breakfast and the tour! I roused my husband and daughter out of dreamland. It took us a while to get moving and packed.

We decided to head straight to the ship and have lunch at the Windjammer. Reception called a taxi for us and 20 mintues later we arrived at the terminal/pier at 12:30. We dropped off our big bags and went to check-in. There was hardly anyone there and by 12:50 we were in the elevator up to our room to see if we could drop off our carry ons.

Our room was ready and we met our room attendant. According to her business card(?!) she was Viktoriia from Ukraine. Over the course of the next two weeks she would do an excellent job and never fail to happily chat with us when she saw us. I have to say here that this was the nicest crew we have had on ANY cruise - all around.

We had a great balcony room - 1062 - not far from the elevators/stairs up to the Windjammer (location was excellent). My daughter loved peeking down 6 floors over the atrium to see who was dancing or playing music. We had about a minute walk up the Windjammer/pool and the elevators took us straight down to disembark at each port. Our room had plenty of storage, shelves, and hangars. Both large suitcases slid under the bed. My daughter's bed was the couch, which was literally aobut 6-8 inches off the floor. I don't think it would be comfortable for anyone over 10!

One thing I absolutely love about the Serenade is the connection to the sea - the glass elevators, the outside chairs on the lower decks. It was what I so missed on the Oasis. We dropped our carry ons and headed to the Windjammer. I was shocked to see that it was almost empty. I have never seen an empty Windjammer/buffet on embarkation day.

And I was pleasantly surprised that the food was so much better than on the Oasis in August! Two little issues with the Windjammer - it was the only place that had ice cream machines - and ice cream was only available when the Windjammer was open. :eek: It probably would have been worse if we had more than 1 sea day so my daughter survived. The other issue is the Windjammer opens for dinner at 6:30 p.m. That makes it almost impossible to make a 7:00 show or movie without severe indigestion!

After lunch we left the ship. Inside the terminal there is free wifi, rest rooms, a tourist information desk (you can purhcase HOHO bus tickets there), a shop where you can buy souvenirs, postcards & stamps, water/drinks/snacks, and a postbox. There is NO ATM but there is a huge Swedish Dala Horse!

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.