I would like some advice on the type of cabin for two for this overnight journey. I wouldn’t want the cheapest one nor the most luxurious. Would like location that would offer a view and be less likely to cause seasickness as I am prone to that. Thank you.
P.S. I posted this under Finland forum also as not sure best one to use.
Viking or Silja and which ship? And when are you travelling?
Seasickness is unlikely to be a problem as they are huge ships and the Baltic sea rarely gets rough. One of the cheaper options with a window is usually fine in my opinion.
Perhaps someone who has had a cabin with a window on one of those ferries (which I did not) can comment on whether the window was really large enough to enjoy the trip through the Stockholm Archipelago. I'm wondering whether one needs to make a restaurant reservation in order to have a view through a large window. I wandered around a Viking ferry last August (too late in the year for good views outside Stockholm) but found just a very few accessible windows outside the restaurants and bars, and they were small. My Hurtigruten ship up the Norwegian was much better--it had a large viewing lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows. I was expecting to find something like that on the Viking ferry, but it didn't seem to exist.
That sort of depends on how big you need a window to be in order to enjoy the view, and how much you are paying for the cabin. The cheapest cabins with windows have rather small windows, but if you pay a bit more you get larger windows. Viking also have some cabins with balconies that apart from a balcony also offers large floor to ceiling windows. But they also have less windows in the common areas, most of them are in restaurants, bars and in the conference department. Silja on the other hand has some lounges with large windows. And for both, the sundecks are a popular place to enjoy the views if the weather is nice.
Thank you so much for the information.
When I’ve taken the ferries, I’ve spent very little time in the cabin itself except to sleep. I have only traveled in a Class B cabin (no window) or a Class A cabin (window, but there is really no place to sit other than one of the bed).
To watch the scenery, people generally either sit or walk around on deck or view from a restaurant or lounge. You may want to consider making a reservation in one of the restaurants; I think it may be possible to book a table by the window. The best scenery is as you travel out of Stockholm.
Seasickness is unlikely to be an issue.
Just before the onset of the pandemic, I took the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. On the Silja Serenade. A very enjoyable voyage. The sailing through the Swedish archipelago was magnificent.
While I cannot recall what class of cabin I had, it was (1) an outside cabin with a window, and (2) on a higher deck. The window was moderately large and afforded good views. But most of the time you would want to be on the sun deck or the bow or aft decks for viewing. How much time will you be in the cabin other than for sleeping? I suspect, not much. Unless the weather is bad, you will want to be outside.
A suggestion for dining - skip the buffet. Yes, plenty of food and a good value, but also plenty of people! A better choice would be one of the restaurants. We dined in the Italian restaurant- very good food, service, and less chaos. Worth the few extra dollars/euros. Same advice for breakfast.
I appreciate all the comments on views from the ferry. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to check the ship diagram to see where the decks were. But I guess I may actually need to eat something other than Wasa crisps and cheese on the ship this time.
We are also considering the overnight ferry during our trip in September between Helsinki and Stockholm. The Viking website does not appear to offer reservations beyond the current month and Tallink Silja does not seem to translate their site when I get to the reservation part of the page. Is there some link I'm missing in trying to reserve this trip? I'd prefer to have a firm reservation (that I can understand) before we travel.
This is the English language version of the Tallink website, which should take you all the way through in English-https://en.tallink.com/book-a-cruise.
This version of the Viking line website seems to be booking up to the end of 2023-https://www.sales.vikingline.com/
The Viking website does not appear to offer reservations beyond the current month
I just went to the Viking website and had no trouble selecting a date in September. Are you using this website and selecting ”route booking”?
https://www.vikingline.com/find-your-trip/trips-for-individuals/
Thank you for posting the web addresses for Viking and Tallink Silja--I had been using the addresses from Rick's guide book (www.vikingline.fi) and tallinksija.com) which did not get me to the same place as the ones you shared. Thank you!
