Around Scandinavia: Part Twenty One

In which I cruised from Country3 to Country4

Day Seven continues …

Viking Cruiseline Gabriella sails between the cities of Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland with a stop at Mariehamn, Biljettkontroll at 10:15pm. Another route is to Talinn, Estonia via Mariehamn. It’s a 17.5 hours overnight journey through the Baltic Sea to the Gulf of Finland. We had embarked the cruise ferry at Deck 7. My room no was 5129, which means Deck 5. 

We went to the room at 4pm to freshen up and then Manasi went on the open decks. I dozed off till 5:30pm. The cabin was smaller compared to Nordic crown. Done with my power nap, I was ready to explore the Gabriella. Now we were pro how to wander around the ship by self. There are lifts and stairways on each deck. Deck 2 to Deck 4 have vehicle parking. Deck 5 and 6 are cabin rooms, the arrows were helpful in reaching the open area. Our group was divided on these two decks. Now I am elaborating the ship as per decks and what we did there. It’s not in chronological order.

Deck 7: we boarded here, has reception area, duty free shops, and cabins.

Deck 8: entrance area had sea facing seats.

Towards the bow is our dinner restaurant The Buffet. 

We had dinner at 7pm on a round table with juice/soft drink/wine as per our choice. The buffet was a delight for non-vegetarians while vegetarians had fries, beetroot balls and desserts. 

We can view the forecastle deck from the restaurant. 

Towards the stern is a chain of restaurants & bars, wine shop and nightclub Mar.

Deck 9: 

Towards the bow is reserved for cabin rooms.

Towards the stern are open promenade decks on both port and starboard sides, with the outlet from the starboard side only. I walked the starboard side; there are seating arrangements to sit and chill out watching the sea. 

There is an automatic door which opens the passage between the starboard and port promenade decks. If you skip the automatic door and walk ahead, there is an open deck seating arrangement with the Sundeck bar. 

The deck covers the stern side of the ship. There is a stairway leading to Deck 10. 

Deck 10: 

It’s a kind of balcony deck overseeing the Deck 9, with sofa seating area to enjoy drinks. 

It’s connected to Deck 11 through stairways from both port and starboard side. There are lifeboats tucked up of both sides of this deck. There is another way to reach this deck from the lift area towards the bow side, walk the narrow promenade and climb the stairs to reach Deck 11 as well as view the forecastle deck and ship front view. 

This wasn’t available in Nordic Crown. There is a playroom, game room and ghost room on this deck.

Deck 11: uppermost deck of the ship.

Towards the bow is the antenna mast with radomes on either side (protecting the radar antenna). 

Towards the stern is the funnel, which houses the exhaust system from the engine and white dome is satellite communication antenna Intellian. 

There is vast open area with only four long benches tucked on both sides of mast and funnel deck. The weather was not very cold here; we were used to the Vitamin Sea now. We sailed near the Marhallan lighthouse at 10pm. 

It’s located in the Aland islands, near Kobba Klintar. So, we were already in Finland.

We were back to our cabins by 10:30pm and dozed off. Before that I requested Manasi to turn sofa to bed so then I can sleep on it. 

Manasi woke up early and was back to the upper decks. I woke up at 06:30am and had breakfast at 7am, with Sunita and Sanjeevani. There was a variety of pastries and muffins, fruits and juices, pancakes, bread butter, non-veg options, etc. 

Post breakfast, I joined Manasi on the upper deck. We sailed on the Suomenlinna sea fortress, Lonna Island in the Gulf of Finland.

We had to assemble at 9am at Deck 5 for disembarking the cruise. Since our room was at the same deck, we left the room when the disembarking started. It docked at 09:10am at Helsingfors Hamn, Katajanokka port terminal. It took 15mins to alight from the cruise, wait at the gate for gathering all tour members, then board our bus. Finland is an hour ahead from Sweden time. So, its 10:30am local time.

Read next: Helsinki: Cathedral, Senate square, Market square, Megastar shuttle