Malmö museum leaves cruise line representatives squirming

It featured on the programme of Cruise Baltic’s latest familiarisation trip showcasing the Baltic’s hidden gems.

‘It’s definitely memorable,’ said Bailey Hugh, destination services, shore excursions specialist, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, after sampling Surströmming – fermented Baltic Sea herring – followed by a 2.8m Scoville chili sauce called Hellfire Doom, with chili up to 9m scoville also available to try after signing a disclaimer. ‘If you’re an adventurous eater, you’ll never forget it,’ stated Hugh.

Crickets, worms, sauerkraut juice and salty licorice were among the 23 disgusting foods available in a game of ‘Disgusting Bingo’ where the winner can purchase an ‘I ate it all!’ t-shirt. Charlotte Krantz, product development – shore excursion, Ponant, tucked into black ants and a diving beetle.  

The quirky attraction nonetheless shines a light on animal cruelty in order to produce foods considered delicacies in regions around the world and informs on food contamination scandals.

The October 4 experience was preceded by a cycling tour of the city by E-bike, taking in sights such as the yacht-filled Western Harbour, the city’s most exclusive area; the opera house, the futuristic, twisted Turning Torso residential skyscraper, the 14th century St Peter's Church, the green gathering space Naturmolnet in a district undergoing regeneration, as well as street art. 

Sweden’s third largest city is heavily focused on sustainability. Bikes and Experiences can deliver hundreds of E-bikes to the port, and next year, will have an E-bus at its disposal.

Malmö has 540 bike trails in total. 

Food and beverage 

The programme in Malmö coincided with Cinnamon Bun Day (Kanelbullens dag) celebrated in Sweden and Finland. To mark the occasion, fam trip participants sampled the celebrated treat, before later trying Baltic Sea herring, traditional to Swedish cuisine, at some of Malmö’s fishing huts. Meatballs typical for the region were feasted on at Malmö Saluhall in the city centre with popular local snack falafel also tasted by the group. 

The evening saw the group take a coach from the city centre to Hällåkra Vineyard located 46km away for a wine tasting session and meal. The vineyard makes 15,000l of wine per year from an area first recognised as a wine region two decades ago. It can accommodate 40 people in winter or 100 people in summer, when it is possible to wine and dine outside among the vines. 

Six calls this season 

Noble Caledonia turned around this season at the port, which attracts smaller sized ships. It can, however, manage turnarounds for larger vessels: ‘We typically accommodate vessels of 240mtr length and 8.6 draught,’ said Luis de Carvalho, commercial cruise director, Copenhagen Malmö Port. While luxury and niche cruise vessels are the port’s main clientele, ‘everything is scalable’ according to de Carvalho. Harbour master Andreas Andersson explained there is potential for ships up to 295mtr length to call: ‘We’re willing to look further into that if the interest should arise,’ he said.

de Carvalho described the port’s proximity to the city, less than a mile away, as an advantage, with blue dots on the pavement pointing passengers in the right direction from the port to city centre and vice versa. The port is 900mtr from Malmö Central Station, and it takes 30 minutes by train to reach Malmö from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Malmö ordinarily receives five to 10 cruise calls per year, receiving six this season – a call from Oceania Cruises among them. The local community is welcoming of cruise ships, said de Carvalho.

Marie Åkesson, senior manager cruise/travel trade, City of Malmö advised the cruise line representatives to avoid bringing their ships on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day or during Midsummer with many businesses and attractions closed at that time.

Cruise Baltic’s new strategy

Cruise Baltic is currently working on reinventing the Baltic region as it aims to attract more cruise calls.

In Hamburg last month at Seatrade Europe, Holland America Group’s director of port operations, Chris Martin, said the region needed rebranding.

Shandra Stoeterau, manager, land product development, Azamara, and Melanie Lewis Carsjens, director of shore excursion operations and product development, Holland America Group, also join Cruise Baltic’s director Klaus Bondam and its senior manager Louise Røssell for the October 3-9 trip.

October 2-3 saw the group explore Arendal for Kløckers Hus bottled boats museum, Bratteklev Shipyard Museum, Trollpark Hov Adventure Center, Arendal Prison Hotel and took The Glass Elevator for views of the city and archipelago.

The fam trip moves to Karlskrona today.