Vaxholm Dinner Cruise

Recommendation

The Travelin’ Man’s Overall Recommendation: VERY GOOD*
(surprisingly good, exceeding on some levels)

What did I like the most: sipping wine while watching the spectacular scenery of Sweden’s archipelago drift by
What is the biggest area for improvement: condition of the windows made photography a tad challenging in direct sunlight

Logistics

The dinner cruise is hosted by Strömma, aboard the s/s Stockholm, with restaurateurs Maria Svensson and Jesper Taube handling the culinary aspects.

We got our tickets at Strömma Kanalbolaget Terminal, Nybrohamnen 4, 111 47 Stockholm. They were 200 kr per person and do not include food or drink.

The cruise goes non-stop from Strömma Kanalbolaget Terminal (ours was slot #15) to the beautiful Vaxholm. We left the dock at 7pm sharp, and the entire trip was around 3 hours. The menus were in Swedish and English, and there is no tour guide, it is strictly scenic.

The Boat

The name of the boat was s/s Stockholm, and she was classy and cozy. We sat up on the second deck. Each table is by a window. There were three of us in our party, and we had a table to ourselves, but I don’t know if couples share a table with others or not. Will find out, though, since Jana and I will definitely be doing this again.

The Dinner

As you might imagine, dinner is handled very much like a restaurant. You order whenever you’re ready. It is possible to book your food in advance, and have it brought in by course, but we opted for à la cart. I ordered the classic steamboat steak, and it was cooked exactly to order, served hot, and tasted delicious. Combined with the gherkin, it made a surprisingly good taste combination. I did bulldoze some of those onions off though, haha. They also offered lamb tenderloin, corn fed chicken breast, and various other seafood dishes. Overall a very good menu.

The wine list was very diverse, better than most restaurants. Stockholm leans more towards the French and Italian wines, and seldom if ever have any USA representation. But the cruise had not only French, Italian, and USA, but also some selections from Spain, Italy, Chile, and Africa. We also ordered some of the desserts, which were all very good.

You really can’t go wrong here, the dinner and drinks were excellent; we and everyone around us had a marvelous time.

The Cruise

The cruise was on par with the rest of the experience, very smooth sailing, and magnificent views of the archipelago.

The noise levels inside the restaurant were acceptable, and there was no boat or engine noise whatsoever. We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather. I will say we sat on the starboard (right hand) side. Folks on the other side seemed to have more sun coming in, which we wouldn’t have preferred.

There was a brief stop at Vaxholm before starting back. We saw enough of it to make us want to go out there for a weekend stay. There was a really nice looking hotel right on the water and this cool palace to discover.

I should mention that photography was a tad challenging at times. As you can see above, there is a lot of glare. There is really no controlling this, nor any way to really deal with it other than to try different angles with the camera.

The other thing, which would be controllable, is that the windows could have been a little cleaner on the outside. Especially with the evening sun hitting them, any dirt becomes highly visible, which added additional challenges to photography, as you can see above. I know, first world problem, just sayin’.

But if you’re persistent and creative, you can work around these challenges. On the return trip, we got to experience a breathtaking sunset.

This was Brandi’s last evening with us. I can’t think of a better send off…..

* Each area is rated on a scale 1-5, with 1 = poor, 3 = good, 5 = exceptional
How did this do compared to what I had expected: 4
How well were the logistics handled: 3
Was the staff helpful and friendly: 4
Overall execution and presentation: 4
Total score: 15
4 – 8 is Poor (was not at all what I expected and/or was not worth the time/money)
9 – 10 is OK (quality of the experience was a little low, but I enjoyed it)
11 – 13 is Good (met expectations, would recommend, would do again)
14 – 15 is Very Good (surprisingly good, exceeding on some levels)
16 – 20 is Highly Recommended (outperformed my expectations, great value)