Getting to the Vasa Museum
 

We will be on the Jewel of the Seas which docks in Stockholm. Do we need to join one of the RCCL tours to get to the Vasa, or are taxis easily hired to get there?
Also, are tours needed for Helsinki and Oslo?
Thanks!

You can see the Vasa museum from the dock practically and yes you can take a cab there. Its a very short ride. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to take a ships tour here or in any Baltic port with the possible exception of St. Petersberg. A short walk from the Vasa is a H20 taxi that can take you to Gamla Stan or the old town. Its sort of behind the museum and the folks at there can tell you how to get to it. In Oslo there is a hop on-hop off bus right at the pier which will take you to the main attractions. As for Helsinki IIRC we cabbed it to Stockmans, then to that famous church with the huge copper dome. We also went to the town square for the market but it was raining that day so we cut things short. As for St. Petes you can take a ships tour if you like but there are a number of reliable Russian tour companies that can do the job better including Alla, denrus and Red October, just to name a few. They will also take care of any Visa issues as well. No worries. have fun as this is a great cruise. Larry :-)

Thanks, Larry, for exactly the response we needed. We won't make any more reservations (we have the reservations for St.Petersburg). Now, my question is what did you do about all of the different currency required? Did you need krone immediately in order to take a taxi?

Sandy

We found ATMs readily available near the dock on our Scandinavian/Baltic cruise.

In Helsinki, our ship offred a shuttle into town; we either walked or took the tram to get around. We liked the market by the water, Senate Square, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the City of Helsinki Museum, the Lutheran Cathedral, and the Church in the Rock.

In Oslo, we took public transportation to the Vigeland Sculpture Museum, then a cab to the peninsula where the Viking Ship Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, Fram Museum, and Maritime Museum are located, and a ferry back to the ship.

( Good Morning jacketwatch)

I took the Baltic Cruise 2 months after jacketwatch!

I did a trip report and I will give you the link but first ,let me add as jacketwatch has stated , take a taxi to the Vasa... go here first because it gets crowded, as this is a "must see place" on the tourist list.

then
do the City Hall tour ( about 1 hour) and costs $10.00 US
The City Hall is very nice but most important this is where the Nobel Prize ceremonies are held.

You can then spend the rest of the time in Gamla Stan (Gamla Stan means Old Town).

Lots to see here just walking around.... don't forget the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace is at 12:15 PM and most of your time in Gamla Stan will be around the Palace anyway.

Helsinki:

Take a taxi and,
1. Go to Sebelius Park and see the monument to this famous Finland Composer.
take a few pictures here....tell the taxi driver to wait for you

2. On your way back tell the taxi driver to take you the Rock Church( with the huge copper dome as jacketwatch has mentioned)...this is a "must see place")

Go inside the church and then when you come outside ,climb that hill by the church for nice views.

Parking is at a premium here so again,tell the taxi driver to wait for you, this will be better than trying to get another taxi back to the Market Square...which is the main focal point.

St.Petersburg...you are already taken care of here.

Oslo:

1. Take a taxi (if there are none available...because downtown is walking distance from the cruise ship), then have one of the locals on the dock call one for you...like I did and in under 5 minutes the taxi came.

2. Go straight to Vigeland Park ( don't leave Oslo without seeing this place)...it is FREE.

It will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour to walk around this place... tell the taxi driver to return in one hour , and pick you up at the same main entrance gate he dropped you off at.

(I did this and the taxi fellow was right there at the gate one hour later).

2. Now tell the taxi driver to take you to the Ship Museums.
Make sure you go inside the Fram ( and go right on the Fram ship) ...and Kon-Tiki Museum( right next door), the cost is 3-4 eruos.

3. Again have the taxi driver wait for you and now you are on your way to down town Oslo...BUT on your way to town,tell the taxi driver to stop beside the Stave Church...you have to see this 600 year old wooden church and take a picture.

4. Finally, just ask the taxi fellow to drop you off at the City Hall Square...this is your focal point for all your walking around and sight seeing.

Oh ,yes ,you can see your cruise ship from here...it is only about 4 block away.

Leave the visit of the Akerhus Castle until the last ,when you are on your way back to the cruise ship....as the Castle is right across the street from the cruise ship.

About money:

I used US$ and euros and no matter what the cruise ship director said about ,for sure you have to exchange money to local currency , I never converted to local currency during the whole Baltic cruise.

But to be fair you might need Rubles in St.Petersburg depending on what you are buying ,and where you are buying it.

Have a nice trip...Hi jacketwatch)

http://www.fodors.com/community/crui...acketwatch.cfm

Here is the Trip Report if you want to glean over it

Whew! I was waiting for you Percy. :D Thanks! Sandy do read his TR. Its about all you need to know. One more to be aware of but I'm sure the ships personnel will tell you too is that you change time zones on several occasions on this cruise so just be aware of this. You will be on a cruise with great ports and I'm sure you will really like it. Any other questions please ask. Larry :-)

Well, jacketwatch,I learned from you after you did your Baltic Cruise.. so I have to thank you for making my trip easier, as you answered my many question before I left. :)

Thank you sir. :-)

Thanks Percy and jacketwatch for the wonderful information. We are looking forward to the cruise even more than before due to your information!

You're welcome. BTW in Stockholm look into the ice bar. Better yet go in for a drink. :S-

The Vasa Museum is such a waste of time. A reconstructed sunk ship built by the Dutch that never saw one battle says nothing to me about Swedish history. Time would be MUCH better spend at the Sweden National History Museum some blocks away from the Vasa. Viking relics, medieval history, textiles, artifacts from the Iron Age, just a FANTASTIC museum, so much better and informative than the Vasa. BTW, please don't use as argument that the Vasa is the most popular museum in Sweden; it actually goes to prove MY point....

Actually the Swedes built it. :S-

We loved the Vasa Museum, and spent several hours there.

Whats amazing is the engineering feat it took to raise here. Thats all on display there. Also the renovation is ongoing. When we were there in 2007 we were told the original paint schemes were being researched so at some future time it will look closer to how it looked when it sank.

The Vasa was designed and built by a Dutch shipbuilder and his Dutch crew (Dutch-born Henrik Hybertsson)....unless our guide at the Vasa Museum made it up. As far as the method of lifting the salvage, the method have been used since the late 1700's for the same purposes, nothing new there. What was outstanding was the state of preservation which allowed them to use the technique. I am an engineer married to an engineer. Vasa Museum was boring.

And so are you.

The Dutch were the best ship builder at the time and that is why King Gustavus II Adolphus commissioned the Dutch to build the ship.

This was to be the Mother of all War Ships...it took 3 years to build.

If King Gustavus was not so adamant about about adding another deck to the ship with more cannons...the ship might never have sank.

Hybertsson told the King at the time that the ship would be top heavy if he insisted on another deck..

but in true Royal /Political fashion, the King knew more than his renowned ship builder.!!

I am sure that most people know (that will go to Vasa Museum) ,that this state-of-the-art military machine,sank in the Stockholm harbour after sailing less than a nautical mile.

A special building was built to house this ship after its restoration (still a bit ongoing).

When they found the ship again in 1956, it took another 5 years before they raised the ship.

It was no easy task deciding on how to raise the ship.

1. They first wanted to freeze the water about the ship and the cut the ship out and let it rise up like a large ice cube.!!!

Hmmm. I wonder what bright engineer thought of that idea.

2. Next they thought they could fill the ship up with Ping Pong balls ( really !!!) and let it "float to the top"..

another "bright" engineering idea...and remember this was in the late 1950's!!!

3. Finally they dug a barge on each side....slid cables underneath and lifted the massive ship out of the water.

Heck , how much Calculus and Physics did you need in the 1950's to think of this idea. :)

( jacketwatch and I could have thought of that done that.!!)

This was the biggest and most massive war ship ever built at the time.

The 3 large Masts that project through the roof..is to indicate how large the ship was.

If you know a little history about the Vasa,it is a fantastic education adventure and to see a truly one of a kind war ship from 1628.

However if you want to see:

1. Treasures of the Earth's Interior
2. Marvels of the Human Body
3. The Polar Regions
4. A Planetarium / Imax
5. Dinosaurs in the 1.45 Billion Years section ...

then go to the Natural History Museum

Well Percy I do hope that the length of this reply indicates the extent to which your recovery is progressing. I hope so. Great info again as usual. Whatever your profession if something fascinates you, well then it floats your boat. :D.

Very Classy jacketwatch, very classy.....now go get busy.

Hi jacketwatch

I really cannot get the connection between being and Engineer and liking or disliking the Vasa Museum .!!! :)

The fingers of the right hand continues to be numb... it took me a while to type the above, but hopefully ,as the days pass by it will continue to improve.

woke up this morning and tried to make a fist to the right hand... could not do it without the help of the left hand to curve the fingers in the right hand !!

Oh well....hopefully tomorrow is 1 % better !