Michi Photostory

I am done with my Animal Layered Craft so let me continue my Sydney, Australia series. For our sixth day, we went to Taronga Zoo via Fantasea Cruising Sydney. There are three zoos that you can visit in Sydney, you can go to Sydney Zoo, Featherdale Sydney Wildlife, and Taronga Zoo. I chose the latter because it is the most booked zoo in Klook and an opportunity for us to ride a ferry. 

The year 2019 is about to end but I’m not yet finished with my Scandinavian series and the last time I posted about Sweden was October. Waah! Anyway, I will try my best to finish my series before the end of the year 2020. hehehe! Nothing special happened on Day 1 because we just traveled from Copenhagen to Stockholm so we woke up early the following day so we can visit a lot of tourist spots.

Read: Where to Stay in Stockholm Sweden: Hotel Generator Stockholm 
Day 1 in Stockholm Sweden

Day 2 in Stockholm Sweden 

As I’ve said before, I did not prepare any Stockholm itinerary so we don’t know where to go and what to do. But of course, there are tourist spots that I wanted to visit but I don’t even have an idea when and how are we going there. Toinks. It is really important to have an itinerary so we can budget our time but since we don’t have a trip plan, we just rely on Stockholm Pass Guidebook.


We just bought our Stockholm Pass at the hotel but if you want to save money, you can buy it online. Click here to buy Stockholm Pass. The rate may vary depending on the season and of course the number of days of the ticket. This was the rate when we traveled last April 2019. We bought the 3 Days Stockholm Pass, the total is 3952SEK for 3 adults and 1 child. (PHP22,497.63)

Stockholm Pass Price

1 Day Adult Pass SEK 669.00
1 Day Child Pass SEK 335.00

2 Day Adult Pass SEK 929.00
2 Day Child Pass SEK 465.00

3 Day Adult Pass SEK 1129.00
3 Day Child Pass SEK 565.00

5 Day Adult Pass SEK 1479.00
5 Day Child Pass SEK 740.00

Actually, I don’t want to stress about our itinerary so I just wanted to follow the sample itinerary but my mom doesn’t like to do a boat tour or sightseeing by boat. Well, I can’t blame her because she lives in Norway and the Ferry boat is just a normal thing for her. But of course, wala niyan sa Pinas so kelangan pa rin namin maexperience so kelangan may isang boat tour. Hehehe!

Drottningholm Palace and Boat Tour 

We just walked from the hotel to the City Hall (landmark) where the Stromma ticket booth and boat are located. We got lost but thank God, we found our way. We’re running late because we only have 7 minutes left and the boat will leave at 10AM. Fortunately, we’ve made it on the first boat trip to Drottningholm Palace. You need at least half a day for this trip because boat travel is already 2 hours (round trip).


On your way to the palace, you can see some interesting sites and when you reach the island, you will see the following places.

1. Drottningholm Palace
2. The Chinese Pavilion
3. Drottningholm Slottsteater
4. Drottningholm Slottspark

Boat to Drottningholm Palace: 230SEK - Adult and 115SEK - Child
Drottningholm Palace: 140SEK: - Adult 70SEK - Child
Chinese Pavillion at Drottningholm: 100SEK - Adult 50SEK - Child
Drottningholm Court Theatre: 110 - Adult FREE - Child


We did not pay anything because the boat and tourist spots are part of the Stockholm Pass. Drottningholm Palace is the home of the Swedish King and Queen and one of Sweden’s World Heritage sites. The palace deserves a separate post so I will share more about it next time. We had our snacks at the convenience store but there are restaurants too but since we want to ride the 1PM boat back to the City Hall, we want fast food.



Stockholm City Hall 


After one hour, the boat docked and we went straight to bus stop #23. The bus stop is near the famous Stockholm City Hall. The beautiful city hall is a tourist spot and it attracts more than 400,000 visitors. It houses offices, ceremonial hall, conference room and the luxury restaurant “Stadhuskällren”. It is also where the Nobel Prize dinner held. We are torn between, visiting the city hall or wait for the bus. But since we don’t want to miss the bus ride, we decided to skip the City Hall Tour.

Stockholm Panorama Bus Tour



For our next tour, we availed the Stockholm Panorama. The bus tour will take you to all the city districts and famous sights such as the Royal Palace, Royal Opera, Shopping Area, Gamla Stan, Museums and many more. There are FREE flyers and earphones that you can get so you can listen to the history and other information during the bus tour. Just choose your preferred language. It is a simple tour but it gives you a glimpse of Stockholm City.

Stockholm Panorama: 330SEK - Adult 156SEK - Child

The bus tour is 75 minutes long but of course, it may take a while depending on the traffic condition. During our trip, there is construction within the city. Stockholm Panorama is free with our Stockholm Pass but if you don’t have the pass and you want to experience this, you can buy the ticket here. We alighted at the bus stop #20 Ice Bar since this is the nearest stop to our hotel. We had an early dinner before we went back to Generator Stockholm.

Read: Pasalubong from Sweden

Few years ago, I’ve learned that I can ride a Ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen or vice versa so I already took note of it. So when we’re planning for Copenhagen - Stockholm and Oslo Trip, I suggested it to my mom so at least we can experience riding a ship even for one night. In my mind, it is better than riding a plane, train or bus because we can move around. One more thing, the cheapest way to go to Copenhagen or Oslo is by Ferry.

Booking is easy, just go to DFDS Seaways website and purchase a ticket. You can ride the ferry with or without a vehicle. They have different destinations not only Oslo to Copenhagen to Oslo route. They are sailing to Norway, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, and Belgium.


The price of the ticket depends on the cabin that you will choose; Standard Cabin, Sea View Cabin or Premium Cabin. The price may vary too depending on the season or date but during our trip, the lowest price of the cabin is ₤83 good for 4 persons. We chose the Seaview Cabin for ₤119 because I want to have a window so I can see the view.

My mom booked our ticket and we got a better price because she used Norwegian Kroner as currency. She only paid NOK996 for our cabin without breakfast. When I learned that, I told her to book all our transportation ticket and I will just pay na lang so I can save for the foreign exchange currency fee. Hehehe!

Elverum to Oslo via Nettbus 

We stayed in my sister’s house for four days in Elverum so we need to travel back to Oslo to ride the Ferry to Copenhagen Denmark. We have two options, bus or train and we chose the bus so no more transfer. The price of the ticket varies too so it is better to buy your ticket in advance. Just check their website so you will have an idea which is cheaper. My sister is the one who booked our ticket back to Elverum, I think 3 weeks prior to our trip kasi magmamahal pa daw pag malapit na.

Oslo to Elverum via NSB Train NOK650 (2 adults and 1 kid)
Elverum to Oslo via Nettbus NOK637 (2 adults and 1 kid)

From my sister’s place, we just walked all the way to the bus stop. There is no waiting shed so you can just go there few minutes before the schedule para hindi matagal ang tayo. The bus is on time. We put our luggage and my mom showed our ticket to the bus driver. Free wifi on the bus but I decided to take a nap for our 2 hours bus ride. Travel Time: 11:30 to 13:25


Oslo to Copenhagen via DFDS Crown Seaways 

15:15 - Check-in
15:45 - Boarding
16:30 - Departure

From Oslo Bus Terminal, we walked to DFDS Ferry Terminal, it is a long walk. We reached the port after 50 minutes including our quick snack at 7-11.


Upon entering the Ferry Terminal, you will see a lot of Self-Check-In kiosks and the staff told my mom to use the kiosk but when we used it, there was a note that we need assistance. My mom went back to the counter. The staff who told us to use the kiosk, siya din naman pala ang magprocess ng check-in namin. Nagpabalik-balik pa kami.



I’m not sure if it is because we have Philippines Passport so we can’t use the self-check-in kiosk. Anyway, they gave us our boarding card which serves us our key card too. Then we proceeded to Boarding Area. The staff checked our passport, Schengen visa and boarding card.


For foot passengers, you can check-in as early as 11AM but boarding time is 3:45PM but we are lucky because our room is already ready at 2:25PM so we went straight to our room.

4 Beds - Seaview Cabin 

As expected the room is small, it had 4 beds and 1 small bathroom. Pillows, blanket, and towels are already provided. For toiletries, they only provide liquid hand soap and toilet paper. And because of the limited space, it is hard to open our luggage so it is better to put your stuff on your hand-carry.






Travel time is 17 hours and 15 minutes. Most of the time, we just stayed inside our cabin but there are so many things that you can do inside the ship. There are restaurants where you can eat and drink, duty-free shops, and there are entertainment rooms too, some are free and some have a fee like the swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, and cosmetic massage. There are also events or activities that you can join but we chose to sleep.







Restaurants and Cafes 

Sjø (A la carte Restaurant)
Explorers (Steakhouse)
7 Seas (Buffet Restaurant)
Little Italy (Italian Restaurant)
Blue Riband (Banquet)
Espresso House (Coffee Bar)

Bars 

Mermaid Bar
Sky Bar
Sky Club
Navigator’s Bar
Red+White
Columbus Club

Entertainment and Facilities 

Commodore De Luxe Lounge
Conference Center
Conference
Sea Shops
Amusement Games
Bubble Zone
Wellness Relax Centre

Overall, I did not have any regrets in choosing DFDS Seaways, we enjoyed our cruise experience even for one night. If ever we go back to Europe, I will check other cruising destinations.

Watch the video here.


DFDS Oslo Port Office 
Open from 9am - 5pm.
Akershusstranda 31, 0150 Oslo, Norway

Read: Day 1 in Copenhagen
Day 2 in Copenhagen
Day 3 in Copenhagen
Day 4 in Copenhagen

When I was planning for our Bangkok Thailand trip, I was torn between Chocolate Ville + IKEA Bangna or Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise for our first day. Chocolate Ville and IKEA has no entrance fee and of course, the dinner river cruise is not cheap. My son doesn’t like to visit temples so I was thinking that I can see the temples during our cruise kahit sa malayo.


The night before our flight, I immediately checked if there are still available slots for dinner cruise. I availed the Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise at Klook. There are different Dinner River Cruise that you can choose from so just read the package and reviews. I chose Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise because of the price and rating.

Adult P1581 (P2497)
Child P1332 (P1831)

I reserved 2 Adults and 1 Child for P4494 or $86.21, paid via Paypal. They have no cancellation policy and no refunds for no-shows or late arrival so make sure that you arrive on time.

Read: Where to Buy Discounted Tickets for your Next Travel Adventures 

Chao Phraya Princess Dinner River Cruise is a 2 hours dinner cruise at Chao Phraya River where you can see Bangkok’s historic landmarks such as Wat Arun, The Grand Palace, Wat Pra Kaew and city’s skyline at night. Indulge in a gourmet buffet that serves Thai cuisines, Halal foods and other international dishes.

After exploring Terminal 21, off we went to River City Complex. We rode BTS Skytrain Asok to Saphan Taksin Station.

Travel to Siam Station using BTS - Sukhumvit Line (4 stations)
Travel to Saphan Taksin using BTS -Silom Line (6 stations)
Then go to Exit 3, ride a taxi to River City Pier.
Follow the signs going to Chao Phraya Princess Cruise check-in counter. (office)

Train: THB44/person
Taxi: THB50

I gave my printed voucher. The staff looked for my names and went inside the office. Then he gave me tickets and stickers (color-coded) and advised the number of boat and boarding time which is 7:45PM. I was expecting 7:30PM so the schedule was not followed.

7-7:20PM - Check-in
7:30PM Departure
9:30PM Return

At that time, I was thinking if I made the right decision, we’re all tired and sleepy but we need to wait because I already paid for it. Remember, Bangkok is 1 hour behind so if ever we’re in Manila, we’re already sleeping at 8PM (Bangkok Time). We’re lucky that we found a bench where we could sit or else nakatayo kami. While waiting, you can see ladies who are holding a basket of orchids, they will pin orchid on your clothes and take a picture. Before the end of the cruise, they will sell the photos with photo frame at THB250.


As I mentioned before, there are several dinner cruises so don’t forget the name of the boat, boat number and boarding time. You can also check the stickers of other passengers so you’ll get idea kung sino kasama niyo sa boat. The boarding is organized but of course, first come first serve. You cannot choose seats, the seats are already assigned once they gave you the tickets.


Finally, at 7:45PM, they allowed us to board. The Chao Phraya Princess Boat has two floors and we’re on the first floor so it is hard to take good photos without reflection. There are chips, nuts, water and juice on the table.


After several minutes, the boat started to cruise and they announced that we can start eating. It was already past 8PM (past 9PM Manila Time) so our stomach is no longer in the mood for the buffet so we did not eat that much. The buffet spread is good enough to fill your hungry stomach. It is your chance to try different Thai cuisines too. There is a fried chicken so if you have kids in tow, they have something to eat.





There is live band too so if you are a fan of 80’s and 90’s songs, you will love your cruise. Eat and enjoy your cruise. Remember "Life goes pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

Watch the video here.




Even we’re tired and sleepy, we enjoyed our first dinner river cruise. It is nice to see Bangkok’s popular attractions at night. It is a different experience compared to our Loboc-Loay River Cruise in Bohol.

We took a taxi, as expected driver did not want to use taxi meter so we paid THB200. (River City Pier to Four Points by Sheraton Hotel) Price is not bad anymore if you compute our Train + Taxi on your way to River City Complex.

Read: Four Points by Sheraton Bangkok
6 Days Trip in Bangkok with Kids

First time to book with Klook, use this link to get discount

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