Advice on ferries
 

My husband and I want to take an overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. We believe that the Silja and Viking lines are the two dominant players in that market. Does anyone have experience with these lines? Does one have nicer ships? Also, what advice can you offer re: cabins? Thanks for helping with our planning.

I rode Silja's magnificent <i>Finlandia</i> years ago, back and forth between Stockholm and Helsinki. This ship has been replaced but they must be running an even better ship now. The food and entertainment were great. Reserve restaurant seating as soon as you can after boarding (maybe before, nowadays?), but no need for an individual table. You'll love it if you like herring, or any of the scores of cheeses, meats, veggies, baked goods, and deserts on the smorgasbord.

The ride was included with Eurailpass but the cabin cost extra. You will definitely want a cabin.

If the duty free shop still exists ask the locals for recommendations. Everybody speaks English.

It would have been good if you had put Stockholm-Helsinki to the title.

Silja and Viking are the only ones, and I have used both. Both have boats that are nice enough, more like floating hotels or cruisers than what people usually think to be a &quot;ferry&quot;. I usually use Silja because I like their seafood restaurants and different food theme weeks. But both have those, Silja just more often or in a more showy way. For example they can have game weeks, Andalucian weeks, archipelago weeks, Italian weeks and so on. Silja also has reward-winnig wine cellars.

Viking generally has younger crowd and wilder parties. Which can turn very wild.

If you want a buff&eacute;t dinner do as hopscotch says. Reserve a table right after boarding. Wine and beer are included in the price. And the tax frees are still there. &Aring;land island are part of Finland, but they have a special status in EU, and the ships dock there on the way. That way they can still sell tax-free between two EU countries.

And cabin. If possible, get one with an outside window. It is great to watch the archipelago the first thing after waking up. And when approaching Helsinki make sure that you are on the deck. The boats float past little islands with wooden villas, and Suomenlinna island fortress.

I think you can see the boats in www.silja.fi (or www.silja.se) and www.viking.fi (or www.viking.se).

&quot;reward-winnig&quot;

My English just gets better and better: award-winnig.

Vikin's site:

www.vikingline.fi

Thanks for the very helpful replies---and I apologize for not being more specific about which ferries I was researching. Thought of that the minute I saw my own posting. Sounds like Silja is the way to go. Had the same thought about the cabin with window over the sea.

Note that Silja's ships have a lot of cabins with windows, but some overlook the central enclosed promenade which is a glorified shopping mall lined with restaurants and bars. You can specify whether you want a cabin overlooking the sea or the &quot;promenade&quot;.

Regardless of the company this is one of the most gorgeous rides anywhere - goes along rocky coast much of the way and in summer the sun is up most of the night.