Nynäshamn to Stockholm

As this is a tender port and Christine is confined to the ship, I am going to Visit Stockholm on one of the organised tours.

So it is off to the landing stage in Nynäshamn. There I board the coach that will take us to Stockholm.

All at sea

Wednesday is a full day at sea.

I attend three port-talks. These are quite informative but the young lady giving them has quite obviously no extensive knowledge of the ports and is reading a prepared script. The main emphasis is to push the organised shore excursions. She positively discourages people from making independent tours. In the case of St. Petersburg where independent touring is not really feasible, then fair enough. I do feel the difficulties at the other ports though are exaggerated.

I take the opportunity to do some washing. The ship has three laundry rooms with washers, dryers and ironing facilities. You only have to pay for the washing powder. This time I have brought my own.

Late in the evening there is a huge thunderstorm. We are in bed by then but the lightning flashes through the curtains. I hear later that many people watch the storm from the Crow's Nest and enjoy a spectacular show.

Down the Solent

Shortly after 5pm the ship pulls away and heads down the Solent towards the Isle of Wight and the English Channel.

Our evening meal is taken in the Medina Restaurant. As last year we are on the early sitting which suits us well. We share our table with some newbie cruisers, a couple from Prestwich only a few miles from us and a couple from Hampshire. Making up the eight are two women from Nottinghamshire. I'm not sure if they are mother and daughter or just friends who met through work. They've certainly been on several previous cruises together. The Hampshire lady is also in a wheelchair, but a manual lightweight folding one so she is able to access some of the excursions unavailable to Christine.

After dinner we go for a stroll around the ship. Christine buys a lovely sunhat. It proves to be a useful purchase as the sun shines for the majority of the cruise. We visit the Tours Office and find that, in addition to ones in St. Petersburg, wheelchair-accessible excursions are also available in Copenhagen and Helsinki. We get our names put down for them.