galliegirlie

My family of 4 will be in Stockholm on Sunday June 22 from 8am - 4pm on the NCL star (docked in Stadsgarden). I am planning for us to do the day on our own, but would like better directions for transportation. I'm contemplating the HoHo boats, but am open to other transportation options as well. I'm sure these questions have been asked many times before, but I'll appreciate your responses.

- I have read about Red Sightseeing HoHo company, and Royal Sightseeing HoHo company. Are there any other HoHo boat companies that stop at Stadsgarden?

- Do all HoHo companies have the early boat trip directly over to Vasa, or just a certain one? And what time does the early trip depart at from the cruise terminal?

- I am trying to get us over to Vasa museum right when it opens, 10am, so if the boat trip gets to the island earlier are there nice things to walk and see nearby the museum? I'm aware that no other stores or venues will be open at this time.

- If not using the HoHo boat system, what is the next best way to get from Vasa over to Gamla Stan?

- If not using the HoHo boat system, what is the next best way to get from Gamla Stan back over to our ship at Stadsgarden?

- I wrote as a question in another thread that I am contemplating being able to go to the Ice Bar on our own, but the only reservation time it gives us is 2:15pm (I'm guessing after the cruise ship tour visits). If we don't get out of the Ice bar until 2:45pm is there any chance of being able to make it back to the cruise ship terminal by 3:30pm (and by what mode of transportation), or should this be avoided because it's too far and too close to departure time?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

I've been thinking about how to do the same thing. Are you on NCL as well?

We will be in Stockholm on 6/22 via NCL Star from 8am - 4pm. I tried getting reservations for the Ice bar online, but the first slot they have open is at 2:15pm. I'm assuming this is after the ship tours have came and gone. If we spend 30 mins in the icebar that is now 2:45pm and all aboard will be at 3:30pm. So I think that is cutting it too close getting back to the ship, and I'm not even sure what the best way back to the ship would even be. Other alternative I was thinking about was to take the early ferry across to the Vasa Museum and do that right when it opens and then get back to the ship for the 12:30pm ice bar/old town tour. However the Vasa Museum doesn't open until 10am, so that too might be pushing it to see everything in the museum and then rush to take the ferry back to the ship.

Does anyone have any information as to when they plan to roll out the new menus to the smaller ships?

The last 4 cruises I've been on (going back to November 2011) have all had the same menus. So I was really hoping to give these new ones a go for our NCL Star Baltic cruise in the middle of June.

I agree that Tim Kaminski is a great act, very socialable, gets people involved, etc. We saw him June 2013 on the Dawn Bermuda run and were literally crying from laughing so hard. So when we were on the Dawn again in January 2014 on the Western Caribbean run I was looking forward to seeing him again and some of his new material. However I was disapointed to find out that he was performing the SAME EXACT routine for all of his shows 8 months later. I understand why the big singing/dancing shows don't change for years at a time, but it just seemed very odd to me that a comedian show stayed exactly the same as well, even spaning between two different cruise regions. How boring that must be for a creative comedian to be held to the same routine for probably close to a year.

What about some traditional danish food like "Stegt flæsk med persillesovs" (roast/Crispy pork with parsley sauce).

 

It is served with potatoes.

 

http://detlilleapotek.dk/uk/home/

 

 

http://www.koebenhavnercafeen.dk/aftenmenu/ (but only Monday and Tuesday)

 

 

http://www.restaurantvita.dk/index-1.html (only Wednesday and Thursday)

 

 

http://www.nytorv.dk/e-aften.html

 

 

http://www.axelborgbodega.dk/aftenmenu.htm (all you can eat 128 kroner :D )

Thanks for the suggestions.

This thread is a wealth of knowledge. Thanks Danish Viking!

Our family of 4 (all adults) will be staying in Copenhagen 3 days post cruise towards the end of June. We are staying at Hotel Bethel right in the middle of Nyhavn. I've been worried about lunch/dinner options for our some what picky and budget minded tastes. My father does not like "fancy" food, and is not inclined to taste items that are out of his comfort level. Besides shrimp, he is not really a fish person either. His tastes tend to stick with basic meat & potatoes, sandwiches, pastas, pizza, simple standard dishes, etc. I'm hoping that you could give me a few good food options that may meet his tastes.

I'm going to be honest, I have not read through this entire thread. I just wanted to see if there is any speculation of what ports might be substituted for a 2-day SP stop IF the cruise lines decide to cancel? We will be on the NCL Star in the middle of June.

Is this the excursion to Maya Eden Eco-Park? I've been trying to find more information online and there isn't much out there.

 

We have a private tour booked with Bodden and are trying to decide what to see and where to go. I would like to do some hiking and was thinking of going to Carambola Gardens for that, as well as to see flora and fauna. Can you tell me what flora and fauna you saw on your tour? Were the orchids blooming? Did you see any monkeys, snakes, or parrots? Did you go in the butterfly shelter?

 

Sorry to ask so many questions, but this will likely be our only trip to Roatan, so we want to make the most of it.

Thanks for your help!

We stopped in Roatan back in January on our Dawn cruise. We booked a private tour with Bodden, and our group of 4 went to Carambola Gardens. $10 entry fee. It was off and on rainy the day we were there, but it was still a nice place to visit for 1.5 hrs or so. There are well identified trails that weave through the gardens, with signs that identify the different types of flora and fauna. There are several covered pagodas throughout the gardens in case you want to sit down and reflect on the beauty. We also did the 20 min hike up the "mountain" to the look out point. There had been several storms before our visit, so that trail was covered in many layers of palm branches and leaves. I'm not sure how often they clear out the trail, but I could see how this would make the trail too challenging for some. The view from the top looks down on Anthony's Key and a private island. We had a good time, and we only saw 4 other people in the gardens besides our group.

We will be on the NCL star in Helsinki on Saturday 6/21/14. I guess this is a public holiday called Midsummer. Can anyone share what sights/places will be closed on this holiday? Will there be limitations on public transportation/ferries?

I was on the Dawn last month, attended the meet and greet, and several other parties where we got to meet/chat with the officers. I found the Hotel Director to be exceptional. Towards the end of the cruise I decided to fill out a comment card at the front desk with some items that were on my mind, nothing really bad or anything that affected our cruise in a negative manner, just a list of some items that I noticed both positive and some that could be improved upon. I got a little wordy and had to use both sides of the comment card. I dropped it into the box and went on my way back up to my room to drop off a sweater. No sooner had I stepped into my room that the phone rang, and the caller ID said HOTEL DIRECTOR. I couldn't believe it that he immediatly read the comment card and wanted to call and discuss right away. Wow.

A friend of mine ranked the Baths as highly as you. I didn't realize this was an option from Tortolla. Thanks for the info!

really easy on your own, just keep track of time and don't miss the scheduled ferries. When we went there were two major ferry companies traveling over to Virgin Gorda, and they really compete for your business (seriously, the two sales guys almost came to blows to get our CC group to book with them). There are many tour companies that offers charters over as well, but I've heard that most make you swim to the beach from the boat. The best experience is being able to walk from the "top" of the hill down and then through the rock maze before coming to the gorgeous beach.

Hopefully I'm not putting the cart before the horse, but our Hotel Director on our 1/5/14 NCL Dawn sailing told us (during our CC meet & Greet) that we could expect to see new main dinning room menus coming "soon". He said that its all hands on deck with Getaway coming out, but after that Corporate was going to work on the roll out of the new menus fleetwide. Which probably actually means spring-late spring, but hey still good news!

I'm just hoping that they will be in place for our June Baltic Capitals cruise. :D

If anyone else has any news/rumors to report about new menus, please feel free to do so.

I've been to Tortola once before on a non-NCL ship. Our excursion to the Baths on Virgin Gorda (Ferry on our own) ranks within my top 3 favorite outings we have ever done. I would go back there in a heart beat.

We were on the Dawn on 1/5/14. We were also on the Dawn back in June 2013. The shows were exactly the same both times, just a different singer/dance troupe and a different bunch of second city folks. It suprised me that even the comedy routines from Tim Kaminski & Second City were exactly the same. To be honest, the singers & dancers from our June cruise were 100% better than the current cast. However, we did learn that the current cast was basically brand new (they were even doing group get to know you events off the ship).

- Welcome aboard show with NCL cast and Tim Kaminski

- Band on the Run

- Second city scripted show

- Second city unscripted Family & Adult show

- Pure Variety

- Aerialist Duo (sorry forget the name)

- Tim Kaminski main show

- Tim Kaminski afternoon show

- Bollywood

We just got back from the Dawn and we had our first inside cabin (we have always had balconies or higher before), and I made it a point to get a sideways cabin. I was pleasantly suprised by the room, and we were more than happy with our choice for the week. I do believe the sideways cabin lends to more open moving around space compared to a standard inside.

The sideways inside provides a clear area at the base of the bed against the corridor wall (where the entrance door is), that helps out when multiple people are trying to get dressed and ready at the same time. The other side also has more of a clear area at the base of bed before the square table compared to a standard (where the edge of the table is literally touching the base of bed). With the standard inside the areas at the base of both beds are taken up by the vanity and the square table, so there is not much walking around space at all. In the sideways cabin the vanity is behind the TV, and is in plane with the wall, verses the standard which is a corner vanity. I also liked that the closet and bathroom were technically around the corner from the entrance door, so in case your room steward walks in (this happens) you can technically be shielded from view when changing, where in a standard you are wide open with no where to hide. It can get a bit congested when someone is at the vanity, and in the bathroom, or trying to get to the closet, but I think you have the same issue with this in the standard as well.

I have pictures of all of this, but I have yet to learn how to upload pictures. We would go with a sideways inside again if we are on an itinerary that we have done before, or if we know the weather is not keen on outdoor living. However, if there are new sights to see we will still stick with the larger balconies, mini suites or suites, depending on what I can find the best deal on.

we were in belize on 1/8/14, and all cave tubbing excursions (private and ship based) were cancelled due to high waters and strong currents. There have been alot of rain storms lately, so the river levels are very high.

1st Latitudes party is typically 1pm of the first sea day, and is for all levels of members. I typically see Rum punch, wine, and champagne offered. You can request beer as well, and I've seen people order other mixed drinks from the bar if they like nothing else. Those rum punches are yummy! There will be waiters that come around a few times with a plate of snacks (I have never cared for them). When you walk in there will be a line of officers and senior staff that you can say hi to, but no longer are they allowed to shake hands. There will be a band playing in the background until all people are seated and have drinks/snacks. The hotel manager or cruise director will give a quick speech, and then it is turned over to the Cruise Consultant. There will be a raffle for several different gifts and prizes.

2nd latitudes party is typically on another sea day in the afternoon, and is for silver, gold platinum members. It is called a wine and cheese party, but I've seen them serve rum punch and beer before as well. They have a table with cheese, crackers and fresh fruit that you can serve yourself. The officers and senior staff are lined up when you walk in as well, but they also stay throughout the party and walk around and talk with all the guests. There will be a band playing throughout and they invite people to get up and dance. The cruise consultant will make a quick speech, but there are no raffles.

we have also been invited before to the OS/Haven guest & other VIP party. Wine, champagne, rum punch etc and upscale snacks served. There is a band playing, and it is more of a talk and mingle party with no formal speeches by anyone.

I always take full advantage of the free rum punch, and I fill up for the afternoon :D

might not be exactly what you are looking for, but I took an NCL tour called "Raiders of the Lost Mayan Cave", or something silly like that a few years ago. It was an all day excursion and included exploring a large cave system (I think 2 miles in length). We were suited up with helmets, head lamps and harnesses. We hiked through the forest to get to the cave entrance. Once there we crawled/climbed around the caves for awhile, then at one point you rappel from the top of one area down to a lower level, then there is a zip line that takes you through the mouth of another cave opening, then a couple suspension rope bridges over areas of the cave until you reach the end of the system. It was great fun!

Typically I don't book excursions through the cruise ships, but this seemed like something unique so I tried it out. Was pretty pricey, and was a decent drive distance away from port, but a great experience. I don't know if you are able to book this tour outside of the cruise lines.

Just got back from the West Carib and added 3 more mayan ruin sites to our list.

Past trips included Lamanai thru NCL and Chacchoben with Native Choice.

This trip we were planning to do Xunantunich with Adventure Bob's, Dzibanche with Native Choice, and Tulum with NCL.

Weather was not really our friend this trip, so we had to cancel Xunantunich (due to the river being too high) and instead our guide recommended Cahel Pech right next to the city of San Ignacio. It's a smaller site with only moderatly sized temples, but the site was maintained well, and you could climb and explore everything. What made the site unique was that it had all of these intact enclosed rooms with vaulted ceilings that you could walk through. There were 4 in our group, and we only saw 4 others around the site the whole time we were there. There is a small museum on the site as well. There were archeology students there actively cleaning and unearthing a new area of the site. The drive was long, but the roads were decently maintained. It was a good excursion, but I am still looking forward to going to Xunantunich next time.

Our guide Louigi mentioned to us about the boat flipping over for the Lamanai excursion, but the way he said it I just assumed it was an independent tour operator not a ship sponsored excursion. That is crazy! Whether it was a true statement or not, he said that one of his associates was nearby when it happened and help rescue people and get them into a new boat for safety.

Dzibanche and Tulum were both great sites as well. At Dzibanche there was only a small handful of people there the whole time as well. Tulum crowded as always.

We sailed in a Deluxe Owner's Suite on the Dawn earlier this summer. About a month before sailing I started coordinating with the concierge service to make the bottle selections we wanted. I was emailed the alcohol list posted above, but I was also given a wine list with many other selections. I picked two wines off the wine list, and asked if I could substitute Malibu Rum for my 3rd bottle. After some checking, they responded back that this would be acceptable with no upcharge.

When we got aboard the ship we had some difficulties. The butler insisted that the Malibu would be an upcharge, and he said that the other 2 wines chosen were not available. He brought us a different wine list to choose from, so we picked 2 others. Lucikly I had my email printouts where the online concierge said the Malibu would be no upcharge, so he finally relented and brought us the bottles late afternoon of Day 2 :eek: My mother and sister said that both wines were lousy, and they actually preferred the house wines offered in the MDR. I drank my Malibu in peace, and for once I didn't have to bring on bottles of 7-up to mix-in. I think we all enjoyed the unlimited water and soda perk of the Owner's suite more so than the free alcohol.

I asked my PCC and she didnt know anything other than what was posted on cruise critic! :eek:

I got the same response. He advised me not to arrive before 1pm, but was that was due to heavy traffic at the port. I tried to best recap the Cozumel passenger charter issue, and he said that NCL does not do such charters. I told him that obviously is not true based on the reports given, and he said that Cruise Critic probably knows more than him then.

 

If you read the reviews on TripAdvisor carefully, you'll see that the reviews for the other ports (if considering a multi-city tour package) are not always as glowing as the St Petersburg reviews. We used SPB Tours for Warnemunde (we went to Schwerin, as we had been to Berlin before). SPB did a good job on the Schwerin tour. We did all the other ports on our own. They are all certainly do-able independently. For Berlin, you will definitely want to go with a tour agency.

 

Are you by chance staying in a suite on the Star? If so, I would recommend you take advantage of the early debarkation option for suite passengers in St Petersburg. The first day there will be long lines and delays getting through Russian immigration. Even if you aren't in a suite, line up early in the area by the deck to disembark.

 

Will be glad to answer any other questions you have about the Star or the cruise.

Thanks for the reply. We actually are staying in a suite. I was debating against it given that we will be so busy with port excursions, but the early debarkation options was what sold me to stick with the suite.

How many people were on your Schwerin tour? Was it just the advertised tour on their website? This tour sounds very appealing to me as well, as an alternate to the Berlin driving tour.

It's good to know your feedback about the private tour options in SPB. I was wanting to see the Peterhof palace as well, but maybe I will re-think that now if the only option is to go with a private tour, and if the extra costs weren't really worth it.

Since I started this thread, I thought I'd tell everyone about our Baltic Tours. We used Alla (St. Petersburg, Stockholm), SPB (Berlin including Sachenhausen), and TJ (Helsinki) for different tours on our Baltic Cruise.

 

TJ was very willing to personalize our tour in Helsinki. We did a highlights of Helsinki Tour and included a visit to a Finnish home. It was a wonderful, personalized tour which I highly recommend.

 

Alla & SPB were good, but we thought our guide to Sachenhausen & Berlin from SPB was excellent. She knew how to manage our small group and made our day with her a day to remember. Our Alla guide in St. Petersburg was sweet, but not as experienced as the excellent Alla guide we had in Stockholm. So, the enjoyment of your excursion so much depends on the guide and there are differences between them. I'll be happy to answer any other questions, if you want to email me. :):)

Sounds like you had a great time. I’m booked on the NCL Star for a Baltic cruise June 2014, so I’m starting to research all the different excursion options. I’m interested in knowing what the deciding factors were for you choosing to go with so many different companies verses sticking with one. Did you arrange customized tours, or did you go with the advertised group tours? What were your itineraries? How many people were in your groups? I’m especially interested in hearing about your Berlin tour including Sachenhausen, as I was already starting to research doing this as well for our cruise. I appreciate any information you are willing to share.

Sorry for all the questions J

Just got back from the Dawn, and our group of 4 ate at Cagney's one night. Here is my recap:

On my past cruises, we almost always choose to eat at Cagney's at least once per cruise. I have a pretty routine palette, so I would always order the same thing: shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, petite filet, sides of gratin potatoes & asparagus, and the brownie for dessert. This will be the basis of my comparison.

From the new menu I ordered the rib confit, baked potato soup, 8oz filet (with carmalized onions & garlic butter), sides of gratin potatoes & broccoli & green beans, and the brownie for dessert.

Others in my party ordered additional items including: Mexican Cesar salad, split pea soup, broiled mushroom chicken, sides of baked potato, mac&cheese, oreo cheesecake, ice cream sandwich, & apple crisp.

Our opinions:

Appetizers - the rib confit was very flavorful. It was served with pita pockets, but i didn't use them. I had eaten shrimp cocktail at lunch for Cagney's so i didn't order it again, but I've gotten in the habit of always having to ask for extra cocktail sauce since they have gone pretty skimpy.

Soups & salads - Baked potato soup was good, and was pretty on par with the old clam chowder. Split pea was brothy and didn't taste like pea soup at all. The only thing "mexican" about the ceasar salad was the fried tortilla bowl that it was served in. Ditch the tortilla bowl and just pour onto your plate.

Entrees - The filets were very good. We ordered 3 of them (medium rare, medium, & medium well), and all were cooked just right. I love the added topping options now. The carmelized onions were amazing and added the needed amount of seasoning. The garlic butter comes in a slab placed over the steak, so you have to rub it around for it to melt. The peppercorn and port dipping sauces were also both delicious. All of our steaks disappeared from our plates. My sister had the chicken (not a red meat eater), but she was not impressed with it, dry and tastless.

Sides - The gratin potatoes are basically the same as before. Instead of asparagus they have broccoli and greenbeans now. Both are not seasoned at all, so we took our garlic butter slab from the steak and stirred it into the vegatables and it helped out a lot. The mac & cheese has more of a cream sauce to it in lieu of a cheesy sauce, and didn't have alot of flavor. And there's not really a lot to judge about a baked potato.

Dessert - There are more options to chose from now, but unfortunately none really registered for us, and we tried 4 different choices. Instead of the moist, rich fudge like espresso brownie of the past, it has been replaced with a dry nut filled brownie (pecans, peanuts, walnuts). The oreo cheesecake was prepared nicely, but didn't taste much like oreo or cheesecake. The apple crisp was just a basic apple crisp. The mac nut ice cream sandwich may have been the best out of the bunch.

Will I go back to the New Cagney's ..... probably. There are other items on the menu that I am still interested in and would like to give it a try. Of the choices that i tried, I can't really say which Cagney's experience was better, old or new. Besides the dessert, which is hand's down old brownie as the victor.

Check out the photos in these two threads ~ they contain what you are looking for:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1621557&highlight=sj+suite+photos

 

and

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1583522&highlight=sj+suite+photos

 

Hope that helps. ;)

Thanks! I actually found that one thread last night. It was exactly what i was looking for. :)