On to Stockholm

Our Scandinavian/Russia cruise departed from Stockholm.  We flew to Chicago, then had to traverse to the international terminal for our SAS flight departing for Stockholm.  I splurged on "Premium Economy" seats, which meant wider seats, bigger armrests, more legroom, and refreshments that were a bit fancier, but it also meant we were farther from the lavatories.  Our flight left late evening, and I was expecting we'd have some sort of snack before bedtime, and I was expecting breakfast. But, we started off with a snack, then a full dinner, then more snacks, and then breakfast.  For Europeans, breakfast means cold meat and cheese, what we Americans would call lunch meat.

Once we landed in Stockholm and made it through Passport Control and Customs, we got on the train from the airport to the city center.  My brother met us as we got off the train, and led us to our hotel.

Next morning, on to the ship.  Royal Caribbean has implemented a new boarding procedure - arrival times based on deck number.  Last cruise, everyone arrived at the same time and there was a long long line.  This time, boarding was quite easy and fast.

The ship stayed overnight in Stockholm, and we had a  "Panoramic Stockholm" shore excursion the next day.  But, we ended up on the wrong tour bus.  We signed up for tour #S19, but were given tickets to #SJ9."  Even when I protested, I was assured we were on the right bus - but - well, not so much.  Fortunately, we did get a panoramic tour of the city of Stockholm, and we also got an unexpected "Sky View" trip.

View from Sky View

View of mechanism that moves Sky View gondolas

Outside of Sky View showing tracks for gondolas

View from Panoramic Stockholm tour bus

Here's an amphibious bus used in Stockholm

We caught a glimpse of the royal color guard going by

Our departure from Stockholm was joined by many many sea birds, as seen from our cabin balcony.  It seemed odd to me, until those up top mentioned later that a woman had been feeding the birds!