Best Options Nynasham-Stockholm

[Burpin04]

- we were on Sun this year.

-we chose the diy train option.

- when some of the first group of '$59 stockholm on your own' people were walking in the door of the Vasa museum, our train was just pulling away from the Nynashamn station.

- diy train saved us some dosh but cost us maybe 90 minutes in Stockholm.

- we were on first 'independent' tender. I had sat at casino desk from 7am thinking there'd be a really long queue but everyone got on the first two 'independent' tenders.

- if you choose to go via taxi or with Denrus you will also be 'kept back' while ship's tours are tendered ashore.

- this will be despite Sun possibly having three tender platforms deployed and (I think) six tenders running

- if we had our time over again we would choose the $59 stockholm on your own'

- expect to be held back in St P as well if you book an independent tour. - In St P though, the hour lost on the first day will make no difference as independent tours aren't tied to the miriad toilet stops, stragglers in shops, someone lost at one stop or another

 

yes we were hugely p****d off with NCL over their treatment of independent travellers (and I wrote to the captain and told him so - got a standard "sorry you feel this way, we treat all our guests equally" load of crap response) but at the same time we loved our first NCL cruise. we loved the ship, the crew, freestyle, the food, our fellow cc travellers and of course the ports

 

like I've always said, is there really such a thing as a bad cruise? I know where I'd be if given the choice between work and the smallest cabin:D on any ship, going anywhere

 

pete

 

Hi Pete, From one Brisbanite to another, what would you suggest would be the best thing to do when trying to get off the Sun in St Petersburg? Have arranged an independant tour through SPB and they suggest just going with the ships tours. Would anyone be any the wiser that you were not part of a ships tour here? Also in Nynashamn a suggestion where to go to be one of the earlies off the ship? Thanks for your help. Karen PS I was thinking of purchasing the $60 Stockholm card, especially if it includes transport via train from the ship. It includes entries to museums, all over public transport including ferries, trams, bicycles & ho ho bus. So i think this might be a good option. Your thoughts?

[newfarmers]

Hi Pete, From one Brisbanite to another, what would you suggest would be the best thing to do when trying to get off the Sun in St Petersburg? Have arranged an independant tour through SPB and they suggest just going with the ships tours. Would anyone be any the wiser that you were not part of a ships tour here? Also in Nynashamn a suggestion where to go to be one of the earlies off the ship? Thanks for your help. Karen PS I was thinking of purchasing the $60 Stockholm card, especially if it includes transport via train from the ship. It includes entries to museums, all over public transport including ferries, trams, bicycles & ho ho bus. So i think this might be a good option. Your thoughts?

 

hehe, couldn't resist. enjoying the sunshine? oh, of course, there is no sunshine, only rain:(

 

St P. My first thought is to broach the subject at the meet and greet (if you're roll call is organising one). I wish I'd had the courage to do so:rolleyes:

 

If that's not a goer then I would be heading down whichever stairwell they nominate as early as you can. We joined the line at 7.45 and it was already up to deck 5 from 3. If you manage to be at the bottom of the stairs and there's a closed door I reckon you should just knock on it constantly until someone opens it!

 

Your other suggestion might also be worth considering - congregate outside the showroom or dazzles or wherever the ship's tours are leaving from and just join the line at the end. Like you say, how would they know you weren't on a ship's tour?

 

As I think cruisermom42 said in another post, even if you get off in St P an hour later than the ship's tours, you'll make the time up due to your smaller group, smaller vehicle etc. To me, giving up and just accepting NCL's pathetic policy abrogates them from their responsibility of treating all of their passengers equally.

 

Maybe the leisurely brekkie and meeting at 9.30 on the first day is a good suggestion if this suits you all. You'd just need to discuss with both SPb and the others on your tour on how to get the most out of your day. A late start though may preclude you from some of the evening activities. Something else to consider.

 

Nynashamn. No idea how you get around this if you're not in a suite. Again, maybe try and join a ship's group but we were given a tender ticket (not sure about ship's tours) and I'm sure we must have handed it over to board.

[Burpin04]

Hi Pete,

 

Thank you for all the information it is very helpful. We're in Stockholm for 11 hours so i thought doing the train should be OK. Im pretty sure i will be all museumed out by the time we get there. Will want to go on the ericsson globe and possibly a boat cruise and then just tour around the city i think. Probably by then we will be buggared. Thanks again for your reply. Karen :)

[Doughboy139]

We are a group of eight coming to Stockholm (Nynasham) on June 29 on the Norwegian Sun. We are considering a private DenRus tour, the NCL Stockholm on your own bus r/t for $59, and taxi from/to Nynasham.

 

Is the taxi a feasible option for getting from/to Nynasham to/from Stockholm? Do these three major taxi companies have taxis awaiting the ships docking in Nynasham? What will the approximate taxi fare be for the trip from Nynasham?

 

The DenRus tours seem overly expensive and they are merely four hours long,and we are in port eleven hours. Even given the time to/from Nynasham that leaves a lot of time. I understand that Stockholm is relatively easy for a self-guided tour, but want to consider all options.

 

I'd be interested in experiences with each of the three options above - NCL DIY Bus for $59, taxis to/from Nynasham,and the DenRus tours in Stockholm with pick up and drop off in Nynasham. We are comfortable with a DIY tour, but sometimes small tours with a local guide results in a better experience (as opposed to the large tour buses from the ship). For that reason we are considering both options.

 

I posted a couple of months ago for people doing this trip this past sept.:

 

The Stockholm on your own excursion thru the ship is very easy. The Bus lets you off in front of the opera house. from there you can get to the Vasa museum 2 ways, either by bus or by the HOHO boat. If you go by bus, you want to catch the #46 bus. To get there, you want to walk down the street about 50 yards and take your 1st left, walk down that street for another 50 -70 yards to the next corner and look to your left, you will see a bus stop with the #46 on the sign. When the bus lets you off, there will be a little bit of a walk, probably around 100 to 150 yards give or take a few.

 

If you want to go to the Vasa by the HOHO boat, walk down the street and take your 1st right. walk about 50-70 yards and you will see a boat ramp to your left that has the stop for the HOHO boat. It is directly across the street that leads up to the Royal palace which is a slight hill with cobble roads. I think the first stop on the HOHO boat from there is the VASA and it is only a short walk to the museum when you get off.

 

Now for a little tip on the cruise ship. If you sign up for the Stockholm on your own, your meeting time will be 7:30 in the theatre. When you get to the theatre, sit in the section that is to the left of the stage as that is the first group to leave the theatre and get thier number and then they go straight to the tender area to get off the ship. Once off the ship and onto your bus, off you go to Stockholm which is a 45 minute ride.

 

everything is in close proximity with what you want to do......I found stockholm the easiest of all the countries I visited...

 

I hope this helps everyone

[Doughboy139]

one other thing to remember when in port in Stockholm, since this is a tendered port, The people who are using the ships excursions get off the ship first which means those who are using outside tour companies will get off last which could be around 9 or 10:00.......at 9am, I was arriving in Stockholm by bus while other people were still getting off the ship....

[rdnpdx1]

one other thing to remember when in port in Stockholm, since this is a tendered port, The people who are using the ships excursions get off the ship first which means those who are using outside tour companies will get off last which could be around 9 or 10:00.......at 9am, I was arriving in Stockholm by bus while other people were still getting off the ship....

 

Thanks for the tips. We have booked suites and one of the perks is early tender or disembarcation, whether or not in a ship tour, so I am not too worried about doing it on my own. But it is a real consideration for those who must put up with NCL's favoritism for its own tours.

[Doughboy139]

Thanks for the tips. We have booked suites and one of the perks is early tender or disembarcation, whether or not in a ship tour, so I am not too worried about doing it on my own. But it is a real consideration for those who must put up with NCL's favoritism for its own tours.

 

Since this is a tendered port and there has to be some sort of order in getting people off the ship....I can understand letting those with the ships excursions off first. Therefore I wouldn't call it favoritism......If the ship was docked at the pier and they let those with the ships excursion off first, then I would call it Favoritism

[newfarmers]

If the ship was docked at the pier and they let those with the ships excursion off first, then I would call it Favoritism

 

as NCL blatantly did in St Petersburg :mad:

[Doughboy139]

as NCL blatantly did in St Petersburg :mad:

 

True, in St. Petersburg NCL did have those with Ship excursions off first, but that was the only port it happened in and it didn't happen on all their stops in St. Petersburg.....The problem with St Petersburg is that we all had to go thru Russian customs and to show our visas in order to enter the country and that was time consuming. also there were only 5 booths opened for us to go thru.....

I had a private tour with TJ travel, so when this happened to me, I went to the customer service desk to complain and they told me everyone was allowed to leave at the same time, so me and another guy then proceeded to go back downstairs and told the girl at the door that we were free to leave. When she disappeared and didn't come back after 5 minutes, myself and another person then opened the door and about 400 of us then made our way down the ramp and nobody stopped us....but we still had a long line to wait in to go thru Russian customs

you wouldn't be able to do this at a tendered port lile Nynasham

[Cornishpastyman1]

hey Tony

 

ships tours met in the showroom (I think, never took one) and they take them down the aft stairs and out. in St P they took them down the aft stairs and then so that they could use both gangways they then walked people along a crew corridor!!! People we knew on ships tours told us this!!!

 

It was in the daily news sheet that independents were to use the forward gangway, ship's tours aft. So everyone congregated in the forward stairwell and up into and past the atrium. there's a door at the bottom of the steps through to the gangway area and it was just closed.

 

I understand that on an earlier cruise someone just pushed the door open and they couldn't stop them once that happened.

 

queue was already up on deck five by the time we joined it so didn;t have a chance to try the door:rolleyes:

 

It was insulting to us independents for me go out on 6 and see people leaving from both gangways.

 

I went down to reception and asked why people were leaving from both gangways when there had been no announcement that the ship had been cleared and was told "the ship is not cleared and no-one is getting off the ship". I just told her not to be so rude to lie to me and walked away.

 

Maybe fifteen minutes later the line started to move and then just as we got down onto the level of the gangway (two or three decks?) they announced the ship had been cleared.

 

pathetic

 

Thanks Pete. Your last word is an apt summary. Hopefully the cruise companies read these forums and farces like this will decrease.