Karlskrona, Sweden

[Tas353]

Has anyone done the optional excursion- Traditional Village of Kristianopel - on the Scenic Scandinavia cruise?

[CDR2001]

Yes, and we didn’t find it that great. Karlskrona was a substitute port for our Homelands cruise. It was a lot of bus time then a stop at a waterfront to walk around, (primarily a restroom stop in my opinion.) We then went to Kristanopel which was just a beach area with a cafe and a nice church. I do not recommend doing this tour, even though our guide tried to make it interesting. The highlight was at the end when we walked around a quaint neighborhood with red houses. I recommend doing the Viking included town walk,( which we enjoyed) and then go to the Maritime museum on your own. Our friends really liked the museum which we missed. Enjoy your cruise. 

Edited April 13, 2023 by CDR2001

[Tas353]

Thank you…..it isn’t cheap. We will stick to the included excursion of Karlskrona. Kristanopel is $119.  Thank you

[Redtravel]

Karlskrona isn’t much.  Prefer staying onboard.

[Torquato]

On our May 29 homelands cruise the captain decided that we were not going to go to Karlskrona and we spent an extra day in Gdanks. Did not hear anyone complaining about the change…

[Azulann]

On 4/13/2023 at 1:44 PM, Tas353 said:

Thank you…..it isn’t cheap. We will stick to the included excursion of Karlskrona. Kristanopel is $119.  Thank you

We did the  Kristanopel optional excursion. Problem was when we tendered , it was only a 7 % chance of rain. Well, it ended up raining throughout the morning. So our guide amended the tour  because most of us did not bring  any umbrellas or rain gear. 
We had perfectly clear weather the other 9 days of our cruise.

The main square has some intersting shops and was having a market fair when we were there but it was erring. So only saw the inside of the German Church on the square.

These guys were on the pier when we arrived by tender boat.

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Azulann

[Pete B]

17 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Karlskrona isn’t much.  Prefer staying onboard.

Yeah it wasn`t that great was it. The very heavy rain didn`t help either 😂 It was my least favourite port on the Scenic Scandinavia.

[janetcbl]

If Viking needed a different port near this area, Visby would be a much better choice, IMO.

[Tas353]

Thank you for your responses! We arrived home from our cruise on Sunday night the 2nd. We thoroughly enjoyed it. All our flights both ways were on time and most arrived early. The ship was great. We were able to access our staterooms early. We didn’t do the silver spirits this time. My husband noted that the menu of premium scotch whiskeys was significantly better to our British isle explorer and Alaska cruise last year and he would have enjoyed the silver spirits on this trip.  The bartender told him they had just upgraded them. I found the included wines to be much better also. I usually drink a Cabernet and most were a red blend that I found very smooth and good.

 

We enjoyed Copenhagen on foot. Had a good guide. The evening canal cruise was great 

I didn’t do Aarhus on foot but my husband did and enjoyed it.

 

Berlin was a highlight.    Very easy walk to the train. Room service delivered a gluten free sandwich etc for me to take along at 6 am. Everyone got a donut on the train. We had an excellent guide in Berlin. We also did the check point Charlie add on and she walked us around and was very informative. During our free time we visited the Berlin Wall and museum of terrors ( something to that effect). Train home served beer and wine. They gave me a gluten free option which I can’t remember for the life of me what it was…..but I do remember it was good! Staff greeted us lined up on both sides of the walkway to the ship with music, dancing and clapping. It was so nice. Dinner that night was delicious German food in world cafe. 

I did included panoramic Bornholm. Our tour guide was a high school student that was excellent.   Very enjoyable. My husband did the bike tour. He said it was beautiful but the tour guide was significantly lacking. We walked back in the afternoon and enjoyed walking around the town including the old area. 
 

We did do Karlskrona on foot. We had an enjoyable guide. The naval base was interesting. 
 

Stuttholf concentration camp and Gdańsk. Our guide was Elizabeth and she was excellent. We did the camp first. It was sobering. Drove to gdansk  and ate  lunch in a little restaurant along the river. It was very well done. We were the only ones there. The meal was pierogis. She asked about allergies on the bus and called in before we arrived. I was given a salad and assumed it was my meal ( people always give me salads) so was waiting to eat it until the rest of the group was served. To my surprise the waiter said that was just my side salad and I was given a delicious fish meal with potatoes.  Everyone else got a large piece of cake and I was given mixed fruit for dessert. Beer and wine was included. This was very well done and everyone enjoyed it. The walking tour of Gdańsk was the last part of the excursion. It’s a very pretty city. 

Visby on foot was our included excursion. There was a political event going on so the island was very crowded. We had a large group and our tour guide walked fairly fast. Some had difficulty keeping up. There was a steep set of steps to walk up to view the city. We lost some people from our group on the way down going back to the ship. This was rated as moderate but I think should have been listed as demanding. If anyone had walking issues it was difficult. The island was beautiful. 
There were flowers everywhere……beautiful roses. It also included a walk through a botanical garden that was stunning. 
 
My husband did Aland islands by bike. He said it was great. Better than the previous bike tour. The guide was excellent. I did the bus tour. Our guide was good. Interesting history. 

Last but not least Stockholm. Guide was excellent on our panoramic Stockholm. This included coffee and cinnamon roll at delightful cafe. Again, it was well done. We were the only ones there and the service was excellent. Nothing for me here but I enjoyed the coffee. Had no idea Stockholm was a series of islands. The archipelago as we sailed in was beautiful. 

We were fortunate to have beautiful weather every day. It rained once while we were sailing. 
 

Azulann- I read all your posts on your trip as I wa preparing for ours. Thank you!

[May B]

3 hours ago, janetcbl said:

If Viking needed a different port near this area, Visby would be a much better choice, IMO.

We went to both, Visby and Karlskrona. 

[May B]

21 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Karlskrona isn’t much.  Prefer staying onboard.

We thoroughly enjoyed Karlskrona. Spent an hour on our own, then joined our walking tour. Booking the later one meant we lucked out with the weather.