Stockholm: Doherty Baltic Adventure

I finished my packing my suitcase early in the morning, then ran up to have a buffet breakfast on one of the higher decks, while sitting at a table with a floor to ceiling window view to watch our sailing in to Stockholm. The country is composed of about 221,800 islands, and the ones that floated passed us were all beautifully tree-covered with idyllic houses and boats.

Once the ship was docked, we made an exclusive visit to the Captain’s Bridge (one of the perks of being crew family!). One of the officers, Petyr, gave us the inside scoop, and let us ask a string of questions. He showed us the three methods for controlling the ship’s movement. One way is with the Ship’s Wheel which, despite our expectations, was actually smaller than a car steering wheel. The second way is with a tiny joystick, and I mean TINY joystick. The third way is with two devices that can rotate and swivel around 360 degrees, thereby changing the thrusters of the ship, which react and move exactly according to the thrusters.

Once off ship, we boarded a hop-on, hop-off bus and went to the first spot of interest: the Vasa museum. We really wanted to see the shipwreck that had been recovered and put on display. We didn’t know what to expect, but once we saw the huge line of people, we figured it must be good! I did a quick James Bond maneuver and went to the entrance to scout the situation. I returned to the family with a plan: we held a brief Doherty huddle, then exited the ‘Visitors’ line and entered the ‘Tour Group’ line, which actually was not a line at all, so we got in right away!

The ship was fascinating; as we learned from a brief movie in the museum theater, the ship was built over the course of several years, and then sank within the first half hour of its maiden voyage. So it was pretty well preserved and the explorer’s always had a pretty good idea of where it might be on the sea floor, once the technology to lift it back up and restore it had caught up, which began in 1961. They are actually constantly restoring the ship, though this is now mostly focused on gently removing the bolts that have corroded and replacing those with new ones.

After the Vasa, we took the hop-on bus around for a while, listening to the recorded information about places we passed by, and taking in the sights as a family. Before we knew it, the time for goodbyes arrived, and we exchanged hugs and kisses before I headed into the Central Station to get to the airport. Parting truly is such sweet sorrow! 

Me

Best memory: Operation Stealth Mode: entering the Vasa museum disguised as a tour group, so we didn’t have to stand in the thirty minute long line!
Fave spot: The Vasa
Fun fact from tour: The Vasa sank almost immediately after it set sail, yet the two shipbuilder brothers were not held responsible or faulted for anything wrong with the vessel.

Mom

Best memory: Sean using his natural charm and suave personality to expedite our wait time to tour the Vasa Museum. I am confident the Swedish ticket taker at the “Groups Only” entrance was totally smitten!

Fave spot: Touring the Vasa Museum and watching the video about the history of the ship was fascinating.  Although the ship was not seaworthy, the vessel is beautiful! It has incredible woodwork and carved sculptures.

Fun fact from tour: “On 10 August 1628, Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage and sank in Stockholm harbor.  The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea.”

Tim

Best memory: Vasa tour
Fave spot: Vasa Museum
Fun fact from tour: Short voyage for the Vasa!

Shannon

Best memory: Showing the family my favorite city!
Fave spot: Any coffee shop in Stockholm with delicious pastries!

for more photos, please follow this link