Cruise ships are exciting, aren't they? You never know what kind of romantic shenanigans and…read moreslapstick adventures you run into on the high seas, especially if they involve Charo and Gopher. Oh, wait a minute, I'm having an acid trip and flashing back to "The Love Boat" circa 1977. No, the Victoria was big but no Pacific Princess, and I didn't see the Landers sisters anywhere near the swimming pool. Just a lot of hirsute Estonians in the communal hot tub. This was the overnight cruise Jamie W. and I took from Talinn, the capital of Estonia (yes, Estonia) to Stockholm.
We already had a similar experience on the Silja Line Serenade from Stockholm to Helsinki, so we knew the routine pretty well by this point in our Scandinavian maritime vacation. The cabin was A-class again and this time a bit roomier, a nice surprise since we got tired of falling into the toilet after taking a shower (photo: http://bit.ly/2iCQ6pE). There was no central promenade which took up a lot of space on several floors of the previous boat. No, the restaurants and shops were mostly on two of the decks, and you still had to make a reservation in advance to get dinner at a reasonable hour.
We shared a rather middling dinner in the central dining room starting with the €13 Mussels Mariniere (photo: http://bit.ly/2hvJnOj) and the €11 Caesar Salad with Free-Range Chicken (photo: http://bit.ly/2ige49T). Not bad but our main entrees consisted of the chewy €19 BBQ Pork Ribs with French Fries (photo: http://bit.ly/2iCNVTg) and the rubbery €21 Flank Steak with Potato Purée (photo: http://bit.ly/2id0PnX). None of these dishes appeared to reflect the chef's finest hour. However, our mutually bloated feeling meant we weren't about to embarrass ourselves in the disco where drunken Europeans of all stripes had already taken over with brio early in the trip (photo: http://bit.ly/2hMzZBW).
The morning brought new hope with the complimentary Breakfast Buffet offering quite a selection of Nordic specialties like smoked salmon and a lot of sausages (photo: http://bit.ly/2iD9Dm0). However, the best part of the trip was coming upon the Stockholm Archipelago where the picturesque sight of all the islands meant we were nearing our final destination (photo: http://bit.ly/2kQlEKh). This was a far cry from the dense fog we were escaping when we left Stockholm for Helsinki and couldn't tell where we were headed. Oh look, I think I see Doc and Isaac with the Landers sisters.
FOOD - 3 stars...wouldn't really come for the food if that's what draws you to a cruise
AMBIANCE - 3 stars...dated but functional
SERVICE - 3 stars...barely present...where's Julie McCoy when you need her?
TOTAL - 3 stars...really the only way to get from Talinn to Stockholm