Stockholm vs. Nynanshamn

We are booked on the May 11 Breakaway cruise to the Baltics. Our last port is listed as Stockholm, but when I go to the Stockholm's Port website, it shows the Breakaway docking in Nynanshamn, which is about an hour away. I've spoken to NCL twice about this. The first time, the agent said the ship docks in Nynanshamn, but that it is basically the same as Stockholm. This is not true. The difference in ports greatly affects the excursions offered. For example, ships that dock in Nynanshamn have to shuttle passengers into Stockholm. The round trip takes close to 3 hours. How can you be on a tour that lasts 3 hours when the entire time is taken up with transpiration.

The second time I called, the agent said the ship docks in Stockholm. He knows this because he can see it on the website. (?)

I emailed the Ports of Stockholm and I received an email from the director of operations and he states the ship docks in Nynanshamn, not Stockholm. Yet NCL insists otherwise.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these ports and does anyone know how I could clear this up, other than find out the day we arrive which port we will actually be at? I've seen some reports that ships as big as Breakaway find it difficult to navigate through archipelago and that is why Nynanshamn is often used.

Firstly, don’t waste any more time calling NCL. The phone staff genuinely don’t know, and tend to just make it up. They probably have very little idea of the difference between the two.

There was quite a lot of discussion about this last year with the Getaway. I wasn’t following very closely, but I believe that it sometimes went to one and sometimes to the other. There were instances where people were informed of changes a few days before their cruise.

I don’t you have much option but to be prepared for either.

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Firstly, don’t waste any more time calling NCL. The phone staff genuinely don’t know, and tend to just make it up. They probably have very little idea of the difference between the two.

 

There was quite a lot of discussion about this last year with the Getaway. I wasn’t following very closely, but I believe that it sometimes went to one and sometimes to the other. There were instances where people were informed of changes a few days before their cruise.

 

I don’t you have much option but to be prepared for either.

 

 

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Thanks, Yes, I agree about calling NCL. There are some websites that give information about what ships are in what port, but they all get their info from the cruise lines, so there isn't much help there either. Thanks for your input. I'll just plan on arriving "somewhere in Sweden" on that day.! haha

NCL are insisting that the ship ports in Stockholm because their head office treats Nynashamn & Stockholm as being the same thing.

You are clearly aware that they're certainly not the same !!

Cruise lines & sometimes airlines (I'm thinking Ryanair) do have a habit of porting many miles from where they advertise, but at least most cruise lines do quote "Stockholm (Nynashamn)", same as many do for "London (Southampton)" or "Bangkok (Laem Chabang)".

It's not just the transfer time & cost between Nynashamn and Stockholm, it's missing the glorious sail-in thro' the archipelago of islands to Stockholm. And yes, the narrow channel thru that archipelago is the reason why mega-ships aren't able / permitted to sail into Stockholm.

I do wonder whether NCL have broken any false-advertising legislation, though assuming your conversations with NCL were after last-payment date I guess any incorrect or misleading info given in those conversation would be irrelevant.

Does Nynashamn appear in any of NCL's promotional literature?

On their UK website your Breakaway cruise, and the same cruise on other dates in the early summer, mention only "Stockholm" whereas for Breakaway's almost-identical late summer cruises it mentions "Stockholm (Nynashamn)"

Some ships are not permitted thro the archipelago, period. It's not just size, it's things like manoeuvrability too.

Other - even comparatively much smaller - cruise ships can be scheduled for Stockholm but switched to Nynashamn last-minute due to adverse weather & seas. That's life.

A great shame for you, but at least a warning for others.

JB :)

Thanks, JB. Yes, it is after final payment. And yes, the folks at the shore excursion desk have no clue about the relative distance between the ports. Nowhere in the description of this cruise is there any mention of Nynanshamn. I only discovered it when I tried to find more information about the port and surrounding areas.

Like you mentioned, cruise lines are famous for linking a more known city with a lesser known port in order to attract customers. Most of the time they put one of them in parenthesis. I live in Florida near Port Canaveral and it always amuses me that they often list Orlando as the destination.

I'm sorry. This is a frustrating mess, and the NCL had a lot of issues the first year they put large ships on this route. They kept switching the docking, and in addition to people being upset with the ship changing to Nynashamn, some people were upset because they were scheduled for Nynashamn, and the ship switched at the last minute to Stockholm, and they only paid for tours because they wanted help with the transfer and would have toured Stockholm independently if they had known they'd dock directly in the city.

I spent a lot of time researching this issue since I sailed with a 3.5 year old, and it was our son's first cruise to Europe. I was really concerned that if my 3.5 year old melted down, I could be stuck in Stockholm and need to drag a melting down child an hour to Nynashan. On the forums, someone explained that although you lose the sail in to Stockholm (which is incredible) the ship really needs to travel through the archipelago quite slowly so if you dock in Stockholm you have a relatively short day there. If you dock in Nynashamn, you have a longer day in port so you don't end up actually losing time in Stockholm. I cannot verify if this is always true, since due to the logistics of traveling with a child I didn't want to risk docking in Nynashamn, but I do know our time of return was much earlier on the NCL Star, which docked directly in Stockholm than the other cities. It appears to be relatively easy to take public trains to Stockholm, so you can reach Stockholm independently. I am sorry about your missing the sail in, and wish NCL had clearly marked this as Stockholm (Nynashamn) which was what Princess did, which was why I knew sailing the Regal/Royal wouldn't have worked for us 4 years ago. (those ships have subsequently been cleared to dock directly in the city, but gets diverted under any inclement weather conditions)

Well the Breakaway and Royal Princess and the Regal Princess have all been to Stockholm several times

so they are allowed to sail through the archipelago.

I usually don't use ship excursions, but I often look over what the ship offers to get ideas on what to do on our own. I see that another NCL ship, the Getaway, does show Nynanshamn, and their excursions are adjusted accordingly. I also see that they are in port much longer, so taking the trip into Stockholm would be possible.

When looking at the map, I'm thinking that if the ship goes to Nynanshamn, it goes on the outskirts of the islands, rather than through the middle of them, and you would miss a lot of scenery that way.

Having never been to this part of the world, I'm excited to see any of it. It won't make or break the trip for me regardless of which port we dock at. The only one I would really be upset about missing would be St. Petersburg.

Thank you to everyone who provided input!

The archipelago's southern end, Utö, is roughly just outside Nynäshamn but when you berth at Nynäshamn

you will hardly pass any islands at all.

I usually don't use ship excursions, but I often look over what the ship offers to get ideas on what to do on our own. I see that another NCL ship, the Getaway, does show Nynanshamn, and their excursions are adjusted accordingly. I also see that they are in port much longer, so taking the trip into Stockholm would be possible.

 

When looking at the map, I'm thinking that if the ship goes to Nynanshamn, it goes on the outskirts of the islands, rather than through the middle of them, and you would miss a lot of scenery that way.

 

Having never been to this part of the world, I'm excited to see any of it. It won't make or break the trip for me regardless of which port we dock at. The only one I would really be upset about missing would be St. Petersburg.

 

Thank you to everyone who provided input!

the sister ship Getaway did Baltics route in 2017

sometimes it got into Stockholm others went to Nynashamn sometimes with only a days notice

it seems to depend on weather conditions whether a large ship can make it through the Arcpeligo

we are on NCL Breakaway in July and supposed to be docking in Stockholm but am making plans for both possibilities

I am on the Breakaway in June. On the Port of Stockholm website it shows the Breakaway docking in SeaWalk which is Nynashamn. They also in their info show they can disembark 3000, walking down the seawalk to land in 30 minutes as if that is a plus. Yikes. But it is what it is. Which is 60 kilometers from Stockholm and also 1 hour+ train ride in.

I am on the Breakaway in June. On the Port of Stockholm website it shows the Breakaway docking in SeaWalk which is Nynashamn. They also in their info show they can disembark 3000, walking down the seawalk to land in 30 minutes as if that is a plus. Yikes. But it is what it is. Which is 60 kilometers from Stockholm and also 1 hour+ train ride in.

Hi. Does your itinerary also show Nynanshamn, or does it show Stockholm?

According to a poster Steff in the regular NCL forum, ALL Baltic Breakaway cruises are stopping in SEAWALK (Nynashamn) NOT Stadsgarden (Stockholm). I am so undecided now of what to do. Take the train, a NCL tour or a tour with Alla, whom I'm doing St. Petersburg with. Also, the Nynasham visitor website says that on cruise days, Stromma also sends four HOHO buses to take people to Stockholm. With 4000 people on board, I wouldn't rely on that for transportation.

I emailed Guest Relations about this because my biggest issue with this is that the excursions they show on My NCL that are available for booking are clearly for if you dock in Stockholm. The excursions for Nynashamn are different. Of course, they were clueless, saying you dock in Stockholm and here's the number if you want to book an excursion. They completely missed the point that the Port of Stockholm website shows us docking in Nynashamn and they are not giving us the correct excursion options.

How can you plan for both possibilities? If we dock in Nynashamn, I want a ship excursion (the City Highlights & Leisure Time that is offered only from Nynashamn, not from Stockholm). If we dock in Stockholm, we'll do it on our own.

The cruise has been marked as Stockholm, Sweden (as opposed to Stockholm (Nynashamn), Sweden) from day 1 and it still shows it this way. I would have had no problem docking in Nynashamn if they had just advertised it that way to start and if they were offering us the appropriate excursions.

How can you plan for both possibilities? If we dock in Nynashamn, I want a ship excursion (the City Highlights & Leisure Time that is offered only from Nynashamn, not from Stockholm). If we dock in Stockholm, we'll do it on our own.

I completely agree with the intentions behind your plan - it is quite easy to tour Stockholm independently if you dock directly in the city.

Do you know what the cancellation period is for the excursion you want? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but honestly any ship can be diverted at the last minute to Nyashamn. It's just that the larger ships (Regal/Royal Princess and NCL Getaway/Breakaway) are more likely to be diverted since they have very little extra clearance and a wind or current issue can cause a diversion. If you are still within cancellation without penalty period you might want to book an excursion and see if they figure out what they want to do ahead of time. But if you have no tour planned and are expecting to dock in the city center, please research the train ahead of time just so you have a backup plan in case you are diverted at the last minute, since it does happens sometimes.

And yes - it should have been listed correctly. When I took my Baltic cruise 4 years ago, it was the first year the Royal Princess sailed the Baltics, and that year the ship wasn't cleared to dock directly in Stockholm (both the Regal and Royal were cleared in subsequent seasons). The Princess cruises were correctly listed as Stockholm (Nynsanham) and I chose the NCL star because I was bringing my 3.5 year old and couldn't take the risk of docking so far away from Stockholm with a preschooler. Other people feel really strongly about this issue since they don't want to miss the sail in to Stockholm, so the cruise lines really need to list this honestly.

we were on the Regal Princess last year and we docked at Nynashamn (as advised on out itinerary).

we had a full day in port.

if we had docked at Stockholm (and had the sail through the archipelago), we would have had a half day in port as the sail through the islands takes some time.

we walked to the railway station (about 25 minutes) and took the train in to Stockholm (just over an hour).

we did our own sightseeing. we did not feel rushed in our day there.

if doing this, please check the train departure time from Stockholm to Nynashamn.

I completely agree with the intentions behind your plan - it is quite easy to tour Stockholm independently if you dock directly in the city.

 

Do you know what the cancellation period is for the excursion you want? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but honestly any ship can be diverted at the last minute to Nyashamn. It's just that the larger ships (Regal/Royal Princess and NCL Getaway/Breakaway) are more likely to be diverted since they have very little extra clearance and a wind or current issue can cause a diversion. If you are still within cancellation without penalty period you might want to book an excursion and see if they figure out what they want to do ahead of time. But if you have no tour planned and are expecting to dock in the city center, please research the train ahead of time just so you have a backup plan in case you are diverted at the last minute, since it does happens sometimes.

 

And yes - it should have been listed correctly. When I took my Baltic cruise 4 years ago, it was the first year the Royal Princess sailed the Baltics, and that year the ship wasn't cleared to dock directly in Stockholm (both the Regal and Royal were cleared in subsequent seasons). The Princess cruises were correctly listed as Stockholm (Nynsanham) and I chose the NCL star because I was bringing my 3.5 year old and couldn't take the risk of docking so far away from Stockholm with a preschooler. Other people feel really strongly about this issue since they don't want to miss the sail in to Stockholm, so the cruise lines really need to list this honestly.

The problem is that the Nynashamn excursions are not an option when you look at the excursions for your reservation - you cannot book them; I only know there are different ones available by looking at the main website.

My cruise says Stockholm with Nynashamn in parenthesis. We are taking very expensive tours to Berlin and in St Petersburg so were going to try on our own for other ports, guess we will book something for here as I've no patience trying to figure out the public transportation in a city I'm not familiar with. I always worry something will happen and I'll miss the dam ship lol

If you are goof at doing things yourself, just forget any of the ship's excursions and go into Stockholm on your own via the train. That way, wherever you finally end up docking, you will be able to see Stockholm at your own pace.

I don't know if the ship's excursions do the Vasa, but it is a place you do not want to be rushed thru. When we toured, we thought, OK drop in take a few pixs and be on our way. WRONG. We ended up spending about 2 hours there as it was just fascinating.

That is why I still suggest to take the train and do things on your own, at your own pace.

Cheers

Len

The problem is that the Nynashamn excursions are not an option when you look at the excursions for your reservation - you cannot book them; I only know there are different ones available by looking at the main website.

Thanks - I had no idea. I've only been on two ship tours in my whole life, so I don't know how they organize their tours. Does anyone know what the cancellation window is for Alla, Spb, Best Guides or any of the other reputable St. Petersburg tour companies that have branched out to Stockholm? You'd also need to check that they provide transportation or guide you on the train from Nynsahanm to Stockholm.

Just got the following email from NCL:

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

Norwegian Cruise Line has important information for you regarding Norwegian Breakaway's 9-Day Scandinavia, Russia & Baltics sailings from Copenhagen on June 16, 2018. All guests booked on this sailing need to be aware of this change and travel professionals are asked to forward this information to their clients.

Due to a berthing conflict, the itinerary for Norwegian Breakaway's 9-Day Scandinavia, Russia & Baltics sailings from Copenhagen departing on this date has changed. Norwegian Breakaway will dock in Nynashamn, Sweden from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm.

This is for the June 16th sailing, but I saw on the Norwegian board that other people have gotten a similar email for pretty much all sailings through August. At least they gave us 2 extra hours to account for the 1 hour each way bus ride. But it sucks that it no longer shows us cruising the archipelago after our day in Stockholm.

Now to see if they will let us book any of the excursions that they usually offer for Nynashamn.

They are lying. NBW will be in Stockholm on the 23rd of June and Stadsgården S167 is available that day, the day before and the day after.

The same goes for the July 11th visit. the July 20th visit, August 7th visit. S167 is available on all those dates (and I would assume on

some of the others as well). IMO it's marketing trick to advertise for it to be Stockholm proper and then once the guests have

booked they announce that there is scheduling conflict or something like that. On some of NBW's visits both F638 and S167 are

taken by other ships though, You can check for yourself. http://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

I didn't get the message yet for 06/07 sailing, but checked the website you mentioned and sure it is Seawalk/Nynasham! Sucks!:evilsmile::evilsmile:

Interesting...just went to My NCL, clicked on Explore and Plan, and then chose Stockholm (under the Filter By section). It shows NO excursions. I can click on every other port and excursions show up.

I wonder if that means they are loading up the excursions that are usually available from Nynashamn.

Interesting...just went to My NCL, clicked on Explore and Plan, and then chose Stockholm (under the Filter By section). It shows NO excursions. I can click on every other port and excursions show up.

 

I wonder if that means they are loading up the excursions that are usually available from Nynashamn.

probably changing praising, I noticed that as well. Used to be 77 in total and now 65!