Stymied in Stockholm

[scubacruiserx2]

We were in Stockholm yesterday 6/06/2019, on the HAL Zuiderdam.

Heads-up, there was NO HAL Shuttle. You had the option of HOHO with Red Bus Sightseeing as an excursion or Stromma HOHO, taxi approximately $50US or walking 2.8 miles.

Nothing was noted on the "When and Where" about a shuttle so some scrambled in the morning.

We arrived at 7:00am - before MD or Pinnacle were open at 7:30am. Boarded the Stromma HOHO, because we had booked online before cruise.

We waited from 8:00 to 8:25 on the bus before leaving to the Vasa Museum. At that point we were told we had to all get off and pick-up another bus or boat (already in progress). Right., NOT. The buses and boats don't start until 10:00am - 5:00pm. We waited over an hour for the boat and it was 40 minutes late with few seats. In fact not all of us could board the boat and some had to wait until next boat (20 minutes +. Actually there were seats available, because some people were only 2 instead of 3 to a seat). We were full and could only let the people know at next stop there was no room. We got off - 2 people and 4 were waiting 1 in a wheel chair, they too were told no room.

When we boarded the second time, there were only 5 seats and 7 of us waiting. We got off the next stop and walked to the Opera House, where busses could be picked-up back to the ship. 2 stops available. 1st is the #1 stop and would take 15 stops before the ship. 2nd was a little further and was stop #8. It would only be 7 stops before retuning to the ship.

We spent most of our time waiting for a HOHO Bus or Boat.

Princess did have a large bus waiting for their people at the Opera House and was direct to the ship.

Not sure why HAL did not have one. We have had a Ship Shuttle on Celebrity last visit to Stockholm. First cruise NCL, was docked downtown area.

Very disappointed in HAL on this one. We expected more.

Have to say, very unhappy with Stromma HOHO and also spoke with people who were on the the Red Bus HOHO, not good either.

Forewarned is forearmed. 

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by scubacruiserx2
misspelled

[ski ww]

That does not sounds like you had a very good day here. Makes for bad memories.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry that you had such a bad day on Stockholm.  The few times we were there on small ships, we docked in the downtown area.

 

What ship were you on?

[scubacruiserx2]

It was a beautiful, clear and a sunny day. Stockholm itself is very walkable and nice. 

Mainly a warning about shuttle info and HOHO's. 

It does come in at #3 for our 3 Stockholm visits. More frustration with HOHO timing that sort of soured a beautiful day.

Edited June 7, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

1 minute ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Sorry that you had such a bad day on Stockholm.  The few times we were there on small ships, we docked in the downtown area.

 

What ship were you on?

HAL Zuiderdam at Frihamnen Cruise Port.

Looking forward to Berlin tomorrow and Norway and Iceland on cruise part 2, June 10.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Zuiderdam is a larger ship than what we were on -- Maasdam, NCL Crown ( NCL only had her for a year), etc.

 

Maybe that makes the difference where the ship docks.  HAL is not known for always suppling free shuttles.

[Walfam]

There has never been a HAL shuttle into a city on the few cruises we've been on, but usually the city is walkable from the ship.  On the not-walkable ports, we always had shore excursions booked.

 

I hate that you lost most of the day waiting.  Stockholm is a beautiful, wonderful city, easy to navigate by T-bana, walking, taxi, etc.  Seems like there would be taxis around the port?  It is good that you shared your experience so other travelers will know to plan ahead.

[AncientWanderer]

It's not just HAL.  We were in Stockholm about five years ago on a Princess cruise.  Our day went very much the same as yours, ScubacruiserX2.  We relied on the HOHO and ended up seeing virtually nothing of Stockholm.  Just the same -- changed buses, full buses, no buses.  Completely wasted day.

 

I was very disappointed, as there is so much to see there.  I plan to go back one day -- and do a full ship's excursion next time.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Zuiderdam is a larger ship than what we were on -- Maasdam, NCL Crown ( NCL only had her for a year), etc.

 

Maybe that makes the difference where the ship docks.  HAL is not known for always suppling free shuttles.

 

The AIDA Prima was docked near the Viking cruises  downtown where we stopped to take some photos of the skyline . It is 985' with 3300 passengers and the Zuiderdam is 936' with 1964 passengers .

 

They did have a shuttle in Helsinki  for 10 Euros each so we had no reason to think that they would not make one available in Stockholm . We asked the concierge on the night before Helsinki and we were told that they had them in Helsinki and that they were still working on them for Stockholm .

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Walfam said:

There has never been a HAL shuttle into a city on the few cruises we've been on, but usually the city is walkable from the ship.  On the not-walkable ports, we always had shore excursions booked.

 

I hate that you lost most of the day waiting.  Stockholm is a beautiful, wonderful city, easy to navigate by T-bana, walking, taxi, etc.  Seems like there would be taxis around the port?  It is good that you shared your experience so other travelers will know to plan ahead.

 

Stockholm had been a DIY port in our previous trips so we didn't book a shore excursion . Rick Steves in his book mentioned the the taxis are unregulated and can charge what ever they want some times triple the normal $50 for a 3 mile ride one way ride . We thought that the HOHO bus and boat pass would be enough with an anticipated shuttle as a backup . We were wrong and disappointed . We heard a number of complaints from our fellow cruisers and thought that someone should inform future visitors . We  have 12 possible tour day left with 9 of them booked with private guides and Bergan and Kiel as a walkoff tour .

[scubacruiserx2]

2 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

It's not just HAL.  We were in Stockholm about five years ago on a Princess cruise.  Our day went very much the same as yours, ScubacruiserX2.  We relied on the HOHO and ended up seeing virtually nothing of Stockholm.  Just the same -- changed buses, full buses, no buses.  Completely wasted day.

 

I was very disappointed, as there is so much to see there.  I plan to go back one day -- and do a full ship's excursion next time.

 

 

 

Sorry to hear this . Did your Princess cruise offer a shuttle as an option ?

[AncientWanderer]

7 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Sorry to hear this . Did your Princess cruise offer a shuttle as an option ?

 

I don't recall.  Like you, we prepurchased the HOHO tickets, so relied on them, and that was an epic fail.  

 

Our cruise had a short port day, too -- 7 am to 2 pm.  We don't do a lot of ship excursions, but I have learned that if hours are short like that, sometimes the excursions are the best way to pack in the most during the brief stop.  Basically, we missed all the key attractions in Stockholm.

[sppunk]

This is the reason I never recommend HOHO busses. You very often wait longer than you see things and ruin days. 

 

Sorry you had had this issue. 

[mrmoviezombie]

We used the public transit. It's been a few years but my memory of it was it being quick and easy to get around. The only issue was getting turned around on a bus to subway switch that had us going away from town until we realized and switched over to the other direction.

[scubacruiserx2]

We did get to see a lot of what we wanted to see this trip . On our last trip in 2016

the NCL Star which is larger than the  Zuiderdam was near Gamla Stan .

 

 

The parade we missed yesterday we saw in 2016 .

 

 

And the boat was less crowded

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We shared this with the Zuiderdam's next Baltic cruise and this reply may be a partial solution to the city .

 

OMG!!!!  I hope this is NOT what we can expect from HAL!!?? In checking GOOGLE on line it appears the "T-Bahn" is only a short distance from the dock (12 min) where you can catch the #1 Bus (Essingetorget) to the Gärdet  Stop, to get the Metro  #13 Norsborg T-bana,  ...4 stops to Gamla Stan  ... Total time 32 minutes!  Is this NOT a possibility???  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Frihamnen,+Baggeby-Larsberg,+Sweden/Free+Walking+Tour+Stockholm,+Mälartorget+8,+111+27+Stockholm,+Sweden/@59.3354645,18.0580179,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f82c897e306cf:0xe92df97c10953b3a!2m2!1d18.1315257!2d59.3455627!1m5!1m1!1s0x465f77e3b29e9dcf:0xef7971177ae96c89!2m2!1d18.0684466!2d59.3233067!3e3

[Copper10-8]

11 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 

 

 

The parade we missed yesterday we saw in 2016 .

 

 

......................

 

That's the cavalry unit/mounted band of the Hoegvakten (Swedish Royal Guard), part of the changing of the guard ceremony at the Stockholm Palace. In addition, they protect the Swedish Royal family, not necessarily on horseback

[kochleffel]

Bus 76 and Bus 1 stop near the end of the Frihamnen cruise pier. It's a short trip on bus 76 to the Djurgårdsbron stop and a five-minute walk from there to the Vasa museum.

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

That's the cavalry unit/mounted band of the Hoegvakten (Swedish Royal Guard), part of the changing of the guard ceremony at the Stockholm Palace. In addition, they protect the Swedish Royal family, not necessarily on horseback

 

Thanks Copper ,just back from Berlin where our driver and guide were excellent .

[scubacruiserx2]

5 hours ago, kochleffel said:

Bus 76 and Bus 1 stop near the end of the Frihamnen cruise pier. It's a short trip on bus 76 to the Djurgårdsbron stop and a five-minute walk from there to the Vasa museum.

 

Thank you ,we hope that this helps others visiting Stockholm .

[Copper10-8]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Thanks Copper ,just back from Berlin where our driver and guide were excellent .

 

Berlin is a great city to visit! Classic European. Enjoy the remainder of your vac!

[scubacruiserx2]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Berlin is a great city to visit! Classic European. Enjoy the remainder of your vac!

 

Thank you . Copenhagen tomorrow and a change over to Norway , Iceland and Scotland .

 

The Reighstag

 



[Walfam]

On 6/7/2019 at 9:17 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

They did have a shuttle in Helsinki ...

I'm realizing, as I follow this topic, what amazing beginners/fools  luck we had in Helsinki in 2000.  Helsinki was the only port we had no excursions booked.   We walked off the Maasdam and downtown was right there, with a wonderful open air market on the dock.

[scubacruiserx2]

The Zuiderdam is currently being prevented from sailing away from Kiel , Germany . Protesters in boats have moved next to the ship blockading us from leaving .

[RedmondCruiser]

HAL has had a habit of going cheap on shuttles.  We had sailed into Puntarenas Costa Rica several times and really enjoyed the port.  Then they started going to Puerto Caldera where you can see Puntarenas in the distance.  Puerto Caldera is a hot dusty shipping port with nothing there.  You could see a princess ship docked at Puntarenas but HAL people said that if we wanted to go to Puntarenas we would have to take a cab.  The reason for not going to Puntarenas was it was easier to get busses for tours and Puerto Caldera is easier to dock at.   My point is, if they are going to go to a garbage port then at least offer a free shuttle,  or a reasonably cheap shuttle to go to a destination of interest.