Stockholm Goes All Out For Its Cruise Visitors

Stockholm is an ideal city to visit by cruise ship. Whether it’s a port call or a turnaround cruise, visitors will enjoy the ease of travel that makes Stockholm—and the Swedes—so unique. First of all, if you are departing from the city on a lengthy cruise, you will find flying into Stockholm Arlanda International Airport almost effortless. The new international terminal is equipped to speed you through the process of getting through customs and getting your bags in very little time. Then, if you choose not to take a taxi into the city to your hotel or cruise ship, there is the 20-minute express train leaving from Arlanda three times an hour that brings you into Central Station in the city’s center.

Stockholm cruise center
In the past five years, Baltic cruises have become very popular. To accommodate passengers, the city government opened a new Stockholm Cruise Center at Frihamnen to accommodate a record setting 165 ships this year. A former cargo terminal was totally renovated. With an area covering 3,000 square meters (32,291 square feet), it now offers cafes, Internet access, waiting areas and customs and baggage handling. And it can accommodate megaships of up to 4000 passengers
This year sees 30 ship turnarounds and upwards of 300,000 passengers in a season that runs from April to late September. “Already our bookings for 2009 are up ten percent,” with 11 more bookings next year so far.” David Schubert, the Marketing Manager for Cruises and Passengers at the port told me during my visit to Frihamnen. “The popularity of minicruises is also increasing. Three minicruises scheduled for this year were immediately sold out.” As a result, “more minicruises are scheduled for 2009—16 of three- or four-day length on Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas, which will make Stockholm her homeport during most of the summer.”

Interior of new passenger terminal
The 3,000-square-meter (32,291 square feet) former cargo terminal underwent a complete interior and exterior renovation, Schubert said, and now includes several cafés, Internet access area, waiting areas and baggage handling. The exterior has created a new city landmark with its brightly lit colors and original design and in the evening it is lit up funky style. Schubert also added that future plans call for lengthening the pier so that vessels can dock along side the terminal to allow visitors to walk from the terminal instead of being transported to the ship docked further away.
Besides the new terminal at Frihamnen—about a ten minute taxi ride into center Stockholm—several other quays are located closer to city center for smaller vessels so

Ships docked at Stadsgärden quai near the Old Town
that passengers can walk to their destinations. They include Nybroviken 5, a short walk from the Old Town; and Stadsgärden 160/165/167 with limited facilities but that will change. Next year, said Schubert, “a new terminal is expected to open at Städsgarden” with the capacity to dock cruise ships with up to a thousand passengers.
In light of projected growth at the Frihamnen port, the adjoining areas to Frihamnen, now a jumble of refinery holding tanks and container piers, will be redeveloped in the next few years, Schubert pointed out, to make the area more hospitable to passengers while a new shopping center/residential complex is being planned near the ferry terminal with a dock extending out.
As for the cruise port’s future, “the prognosis looks bright through next year and hopefully beyond,” concludes Schubert. Given the current state of the world economy, keep your fingers crossed.
Website: www.cruisestockholm.com
-- PW Mooney

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