Overnight cruise from Stockholm; Tallin or Helsinki?

I haven't taken one of those overnight cruises and don't know which ships are involved. I have twice taken the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Turku, Finland, and I have ferried from Helsinki to Tallinn. Both ships were comfortable. The cabins on the overnight ferry were quite small, but they were clean and equipped with toilet/wash basin/shower. I think there must surely be provision for luggage storage when you take a one-day/two-night cruise. I don't know whether it's in the form of storage on the ship or there are lockers or staffed storage at the destination ferry terminal.

I like both Helsinki and Tallinn. I've spent about 8 days in each of those cities over the last two summers. I think Tallinn, which has a sizable medieval center and a very interesting history over the last 100 years, has more "wow" for the typical tourist. Helsinki is much newer, though it has lots of very attractive Art Nouveau architecture. Tallinn is quite a bit cheaper, but that probably doesn't matter a great deal if you'll mostly just be buying a few meals.

One could argue that Helsinki would be a more appropriate choice for a one-day visit because that limited time would allow you to see a greater percentage of Helsinki's major sights (unless you want to see every Art Nouveau building), but I'm pretty sure a substantial majority of the folks who have been to both cities would vote for Tallinn.

Our Scandinavian Trafalgar tour did the overnight ferry from stockholm to helsinki and we spent 2 night in Helsinki. From there, we took a morning ferry to tallinn and caught the afternoon ferry back same day. We enjoyed old Town Tallin more than Helsinki.
As for the ferry, keep in mind these seem like about half the size of a cruise ship, holding hundreds of cars and busses, and cabins for the overnight routes. Several restaurants, bars, stages, etc. It was fun. We were fortunate that our "interior" cabin actually had a bay window on the inner promenade and we were 2 rooms from the back of the ship so we could lay in one bed and see the ocean and have natural light. My only complaint about it is that the bathroom had a definite subtle smell, needed some deep cleaning.
I doubt you can leave luggage on board as you will likely be on a different ship going back. Pretty sure there are lockers at the terminals however...check in advance.

Thanks, very helpful replies!

You don't mention any special interests, so in general I'd say that Tallinn has more to offer for a general tourist. It is a much older city dating from the middle ages. Present day Helsinki was founded in 1640 but it wasn't until the 19th century that it became an important and it was rebuilt a lot after being appointed capital city in 1812. The drawback is that the cruises to Tallinn are not daily.

I don't think there are any major differences between the ships. They are all different and have their pros and cons but I can't say that one is better than the rest. The traffic is more or less back to the same situation as before the pandemic now, with a few exceptions.

How big your cabin is very much depends on how much you've paid for it. You can usually leave your luggage in your cabin during the day as the ship stays in port.

Also, please learn to spell the places that you plan to visit. It's Tallinn, with two N.

I should have mentioned in my earlier reply that ferry fares, or at least the cost of cabins on overnight ferries, can increase significantly in price as the sailing date approaches. Don't assume the fare you uncover during initial research will still be available if you buy your tickets late.

Yes, don't wait. Some cabin categories can also sell out.

Yes. Happened to me. Painful experience.

There's nothing wrong with using a ferry for transportation, or with deciding to only spend one daylight day in Tallin or elsewhere. But I think it is misleading to use the words "cruise" and "ferry" as if they are interchangeable. These are FERRIES, which for a long time, attracted tobacco and alcohol shoppers with tax avoidance on their minds. They also have a party atmosphere, with buffets and drink promotions.

I acknowledge that I personally don't have to consider night trains and the like to reduce my travel budget for hotels.

These ships are not ferries. They are usually called cruiseferries, as they are somewhere in between cruise ships and ferries. Connecting Sweden with Finland and Estonia are their raison d'être and there are usually many cars and lorries on them. But like cruise ships they also provide a lot of entertainment on board, there are many restaurants and bars, most ships also have a spa, there are musicians performing and much more that you won't find on a regular ferry.

I've related the story on here before about how my friend worked as an entertainer on the Helsinki - Tallinn route in her younger days. She saw (and had) some wild times by all accounts.

The Central Promenade which is now a feature of many modern cruise ships actually had it's debut in 1987 on two sisters in the Silja line fleet. Apparently inside balcony cabins facing the promenade also started on the Silja line cruise ferries- a term which the companies themselves rightly use.

And in it's time, one of the TT ships had the most modern stabilisers, before the same type appeared on conventional cruise ships.

It is misleading of the experience to try to dismiss many of the Baltic ships as mere ferries.

There are some pure ferries on the Baltic- notably Polferries (not surprisingly on routes to Poland).

Thanks!