We are in debate about which ship to take from Helsinki to Stockholm this summer.
All I have heard is that the Viking line is more of a party boat.
We have a young child with us so we do not want this.
Anyone have expirence with either.
The other factor is the locations. The Viking line ports in both towns are closer to the hotels we are staying at, but would be willing to go to the Silja line if it is better.
Any help.
Thanks
I've only been on the Silja line in 2008 (with children who were at the time 12,10, and 5) but the trip was wonderful and the children loved it. The boat was busy, but clean and no one was obnoxious. We felt safe letting the older two girls roam the huge ship on their own (which was a highlite of the trip for them). We slept well in an inside cabin.
We saved a small fortune by packing a light dinner and not eating on the boat.
We had trouble finding the recommended bus to get to the port in Stockholm - walked all over the place as time ticked by - finally saw a taxi outside the train station and took it. WHAT A RELIEF! We were there in minutes and the fare was very reasonable. I should have done that to begin with, but we almost never take taxis...
The walk from the port to the fishmarket (center of town) in Helsinki is a pleasant 5-10 minute stroll.
Go with Silja. A few years back I rode Silja from Stockholm to Helsinki. Midway through the journey the boats from both companies dock at some island for a short time. When the Viking boat pulled along side our ship, everyone on the Viking boat was drunk stupid: yelling obscenities, and throwing beer bottles in our direction. It must have been like girls gone wild/spring break on board:)
The Silja terminal is further away from the city center in Stockholm, but it's a short taxi ride away..not a big deal.
Can't help with the comparison since we only traveled on the Viking line. This was about 6-7 years ago and our kids were 4 and 10 approx. We also limited ourselves to day trips since we wanted to avoid lengthy trips across open water where the sea swells can make for an uncomfortable ride. We traveled from Stockholm to Marieham (did an overnight stop to visit the Aland islands) and the following day took another Viking line ship to Turku from where it was a 2 hr train ride to Helsinki.
What I do remember of the Viking line is that they had kids play rooms and movie rooms to entertain the kids. That said, there were also rooms with slot machines that I saw lots of young kids playing - there didn't seem to be any rules preventing kids from gambling.
One other thing - the departure port in Stockholm was way out of town that required a lengthy bus ride (I guess there are a number of different ports that the ships depart from so make sure you know where your boat is leaving from).
In the past, Silja tended to have higher prices and thus attracted a more mature crowd. You can reach the Silja terminal in Stockholm by bus.
In general, avoid travelling on Friday or Saturday night if you want to avoid the party crowd.
The real "party" boat is the one that sails from Stockholm to Mariehamn in the Åland Islands and back. It is very cheap. That might have been the boat that Michael observed.
