A wonderful cruise with Silja Line! We have been on a cruise with Silja Symphony, to Åland and back. Wonderful that you can once again make such small mini-adventures!
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Share
ShareTable of contents
Special cruise - Grand Rehearsal Tour
The trip we went on was a special cruise - Grand Rehearsal Tour - when Silja Line took the press, business partners and Club One members on a cruise with Silja Symphony to Åland. We drove on board with the motorhome, as it is easy and convenient when you want to shop in the duty free on board.
Silja Line has had a long break in the cruises due to the pandemic, and only ran freight transport and the like. Now the trips have started again and during the small welcome presentation you could feel the joy of finally being able to say "Welcome aboard" to guests again. In the picture below you can see the ship's captain.
On board the Silja Symphony
We stayed in an A-cabin, which was a relatively simple but nice cabin overlooking the sea. The photo below is taken with a wide angle perspective, to get as much of the room as possible.
We started by looking around the Silja Symphony's large and attractive shopping street, where there are both shops and bars.
Of course, we also wanted to see the view while leaving Stockholm. When the weather is like this, it's wonderful to be out on the deck!
A lovely afternoon on the sun deck
We had an absolutely fantastic afternoon on the sun deck. Up here was a DJ who played awesome music and we hung out in the sun with a beer each. I actually think this is the first time in a long time that we could relax really properly, without computers or musts.
Tax-free shopping
We also took the opportunity to shop in the duty free shop. We did not feel that everything was cheap, but if you look for offers you can make really good bargains. In the future, there will also be service, so that if you wish, you can have what you bought delivered to the car on car tyres.
For those who want to shop exclusively, there is also a lot to choose from. How about the Otard Cuvee 3 cognac for €4,699? It may be a super bargain, but it's not quite in our price range...
Large buffet
We had dinner in the large buffet restaurant Grande Buffet. As usual, there was plenty to choose from in the form of salmon and prawns, cold cuts, hot dishes and sweets. We did not think that the buffet stood out in any way, but if you look for the goodies, you can enjoy a nice dinner. To finish, you can pick up an ice cream cone or dip fruit in a chocolate fountain.
Evening on board the Silja Symphony
The evening on board continued, as we had a glass of wine on the promenade and watched Åland, where the ferry was returning.
In the bar we met a nice couple, with whom we chatted about travelling and who later joined us in the pub, where we were entertained by live music.
Breakfast and return journey
We slept well in our cabin and the next morning we had a leisurely breakfast in the Grande Buffet, before it was time to roll off and head home.
How did you tick in pandemic times?
The pandemic has entered a calmer phase, but it's not over yet. The ship is large, so in many places it is possible to keep your distance, but you have to think for yourself because many people seem to "forget" about distance. Perhaps many are so happy to finally get away and do something fun. Perhaps many also feel safer as a result of being vaccinated. The ship recommends face masks in places where it is difficult to keep a distance, and hand sanitiser is available everywhere.
Summer cruises with Silja Line
It's really great that you can cruise again! This summer, Silja Line arranges a number of cruises that attract at least us a little extra much, namely tours to the High Coast, Visby and Visby in combination with Ystad. On these cruises it is just Silja Sympony you go with.
Day cruises to Åland and 23-hour cruises to Turku are now also available. Later in July the Stockholm-Tallinn route will resume and on 1 August the Stockholm-Helsinki route will resume.
You might also like:
English (UK) 
Svenska 
Deutsch 
Suomi 
Polski
Ama de casa says:
Great to be able to cruise again and get out on some adventures and niceties 🙂 Great pictures too, you really get the urge to go!
I remember when we took the ferry between Rome (actually the harbour city C... something, which is impossible to pronounce and even harder to spell 😉 ) and Barcelona. There, people rolled in with their motorhomes and then had to stay in them overnight. We who camped at that time chose a cabin because it was so difficult to get the tent pegs into the floor 😉.
We thought it was a bit strange, because car tyres are usually "always" locked while driving. But practical for those who could live "at home" but on the boat 🙂.
04 July 2021 - 10:48
Helena says:
Yes, I've heard about boats where you can live in the campervan, but I've never experienced it myself. It is, as you say, usually closed to the car deck.
04 July 2021 - 17:04
Ditte says:
Glad that it starts to ease a little even on the cruise front. and understand that it was a nice trip. Fun to keep up with.
We stayed in October with the Viking Line's Cinderella to Åland and it worked very well. Departure then on em and return journey the following morning.
Have tested Silja Symfoni,, then to Helsinki and before the pandemic times. (We prefer to choose Viking because we have walking distance to the ships.)
We have some tours with Cinderella booked, both longer and shorter and we look forward to it. The High Coast is so nice and I am going on a work trip there in a few weeks. Will be great fun.
Maybe you'll even get away on a longer cruise.
04 July 2021 - 15:53
Helena says:
Great to have some cruise trips booked! We hope to see more of the high coast!
04 July 2021 - 17:05
bmlarstravellingblog says:
So fun to get away on a cruise and wonderful weather as an extra plus. We have never gone on a ferry or cruise from Stockholm, perhaps because we have the west side so close. Now that time is not in short supply, we will probably start looking in that direction.
04 July 2021 - 16:03
Helena says:
I understand that there will not be tours with these boats as often if you live in another part of Sweden! But nice to cruise sometimes, perhaps not least if you can also make visits to destinations such as Tallinn or Riga!
04 July 2021 - 17:08
BP says:
Then it is almost normal again, the thing with cruises so. Nice! Oh you could not have had better and warmer weather. Perfect timing:-)
04 July 2021 - 20:04
Helena says:
Yes, it feels like a step forward. And fantastic to sit on the deck in the lovely summer weather 🙂 ðŸ™'
05 July 2021 - 8:22
Frizz says:
Funny, my sister-in-law works on that boat. She hasn't been able to work for over a year because of the pandemic, so she was very happy to go to work on 1 July. However, she was made redundant last autumn, so she is kindly accepting the work shifts that are offered and hoping for re-employment when traffic picks up again. She often says that she is on holiday when she works, because she doesn't have to take care of the children, get the food served, etc. Sure, you get a little cruise longing when you see the pictures!
04 July 2021 - 20:17
Helena says:
Understand that it was tough for everyone who worked on these boats! You could almost feel in the air how many people thought it was fun to be back again! Lovely to cruise 🙂
05 July 2021 - 21:50
diana's dreams says:
So lovely to tick again Hugs
04 July 2021 - 20:50
Helena says:
Indeed! All the best!!!
05 July 2021 - 21:51
Liniz+Travel says:
It looked good and nice! Too bad I missed it.
Hugs
05 July 2021 - 22:01
Lena - good for the soul says:
Oh how cosy! Can imagine that it was a special feeling. It is wonderful to go on a cruise.
Really looking forward to travelling again. We are planning the first Kiel trip in two years. This time we will stay a bit longer.
11 July 2021 - 8:59