First Experiences CRUISE

3.11.17

First Experiences CRUISE

Viking Amorella

Something I did not expect or even think to experience so soon after getting here was taking both a picnic cruise and a night cruise. During my first two weeks here, I was able to go on a picnic cruise with my husband, I did not quite know what that was, in my mind I actually thought it was like one of the ferry restraunts they have here that set off and come back within a few hours at most.

So what is a picnic cruise? The picnic cruise that we went on would also be considered a day cruise. It would set sail from Turku port and go to the Aland Islands which is the halfway point between Finland and Sweden in the Baltic Sea. It would then turn around and come back to Turku. Although the islands are a part of Finland, they have their own governement which I thought was pretty cool. My husband and I plan to actually get off the ship one day there and look around the area.

The cruise line we took was the Viking Line and although it is the only line I have been on, I do like it very much. For the day cruise we take one ship to the islands, which for us was the Viking Amorella. This ship I saw later on was a little bit on the smaller side. It had the tax free shop, which is a huge store with such a variety of things that are a little cheaper and no taxes on them, and had a couple restaurants, which we enjoyed the lunch buffet very much, it also had a couple little clubs and lounges for entertainment.

The time we were on the Amorella, we did the shopping and the buffet, but the rest of the time we just walked around the sun deck and enjoyed the views of the water. At this point in the sea, we are within the archipelago, so you see islands of all sizes everywhere you look. Which for me is always a lovely site. I only wish I had a proper camera to take better pictures because using a phone camera does not do any justice for the beautiful sites.

Mariehamn, Aland Islands

It took around 6 hours before we docked at Mariehamn, where the ship only stays for about 15 minutes, long enough for passengers to get off if they are turning around, and for cars to clear the dock after they exit the ship. At this point we got off and switched to what is probably my favorite ship so far, the Viking Grace to take us back to Turku as the Amorella continued its voyage to Stockholm.

The Viking Grace is the ship we took our night cruise on. Every night it leaves Turku around 21:00 and arrives in Stockholm around 7:00 the next morning. The night cruise was most certainly my favorite cruise to be on and cannot wait to go back.

The Viking Grace is larger in size and I feel more to offer. It has more to offer for food and entertainment, there are a couple dance clubs, and although there is no top level sun deck, like the ship before, the decks are more spacious. The tax free shop is enormous as well compared Amorella and just by looking at the size of cabin windows, you can tell that Viking Grace has larger cabins, and better views.
When you enter the Viking Grace, you feel like you are on a grand thing, you get your picture taken when you first board, the first time I came on I did not realize this and so our picture was not that great, so I made sure when we boarded the second time to stop and smile. When you go pass the threshold you are greeted with very spacious areas, even when you know there are loads of people aboard, you do not get that feeling at all wherever you walk around the ship.

I think my absolute favorite part of being on the night cruise was the cabin itself. It was so cozy and warm, the views from the window were amazing and it was so nice to know that if you wanted to relax but did not want to sit where everyone else was, we could just go back to the cabin, sit on the couch and watch out the window there. It was so beautiful too, being able to wake up in the morning just in time to see the city lights of Stockholm right outside your window, knowing you went to sleep in one country and woke up in another. To be honest that was something I had dreamt of happening for years and when thinking of all the traveling I want to do.

My second favorite thing about the Grace is that they have a spa on board, although we did not go this last time, I did get to experience it the first time we went there, and I must say it is very nice. The only thing we did was go to the sauna and the jacuzzi and there is such a strange feeling to sit in the jacuzzi looking out the window to watch the waves rise and fall and also watch the water in the jacuuzi do the same. What I enjoyed the most about the spa is that they actually have a snow cave, so when you need to cool off from the sauna, you can just hop right into the cave, even throw some snow at each other and then hop right back into the sauna.

If I were to suggest a ship to anyone wanting to do a cruise from Turku to Stockholm, I would suggest the Viking Grace, if you did the picnic cruise you would be experiencing both ships. I cannot wait to have visitors here so that I can take them on a cruise so they could experience it themselves.