FINLAND - Scandinavia - page 907

Onboard Services
Meals: While ships have cheap, fast cafeterias as well as classy, romantic
restaurants, they are famous for their smörgåsbord dinners. If you want the
smörgåsbord experience, board the ship hungry. Dinner is self-serve in two
sittings, one at about 17:30, the other around 20:00. You'll save 10 percent if
you pay for both the dinner buffet (€36-39) and breakfast buffet (€10) when
you buy your ticket. If you board without a reservation, go to the restaurant
and make one. Make sure to reserve your table, not just your meal; window
seats are highly sought after. The key to eating a smörgåsbord is to take small
portions and pace yourself. (For more tips, see here . ) The price includes free
beer, wine, soft drinks, and coffee. Of course, you can also bring a picnic and
eat it on deck, or eat a standard restaurant meal.
Sauna: Each ship has a sauna (which costs about €8 extra) and other spa
facilities.TallinkSiljaalsooffersmassageforanextrafee.Reservesaunatime
or massage appointments immediately upon boarding.
Banking: Ships take euros and Swedish kronor, and just about every
vendororshopalsoaccepts credit cards.Eachboathasahandyexchange desk
on board with acceptable rates. None of the boats has an ATM, but all termin-
als have ATMs and exchange windows.
Tourist Info on Board: Boats generally offer racks of Stockholm or Hel-
sinki This Week magazines. Grab a copy for some practical bedtime reading.
Options
Tallinn: You can visit Tallinn as a day trip from Helsinki, or Helsinki as
a day trip from Tallinn, or you can make a triangle trip on Tallink Silja:
Stockholm-Helsinki-Tallinn-Stockholm, or vice versa (this has to be booked
as three one-ways). See the Tallinn chapter for details on the Helsinki-Tallinn
and Stockholm-Tallinn crossings.
Turku: Both Viking Line and Tallink Silja also sail from Stockholm
to Turku in Finland, a shorter crossing (11 hours, departing daily at about
7:00-9:00 and 19:30-21:00). Turku is two hours from Helsinki by bus or train.
The boats are usually smaller, with less cruise-ship excitement. The cheaper
fare saves you enough to pay for the train trip from Turku to Helsinki.