While we reached Helsinki in 2 hours, we booked the overnight cruise while coming back from Helsinki. Our ship was at 6 PM, and it was indeed a Herculean task to reach the port on time, (more on that later, a big tale). We were in the city centre, and we ran all the way to the port with luggage on our backs. Once we checked in, it was a smooth ride!

Our cabin was tiny, but had all the necessary amenities, including a television. There was a bunk berth, and two sofas, that turned into beds. We didn't book a cabin with a window, (a tiny porthole was costing us 16k INR more,) so in place of the window, there was a mirror, which in my opinion was not at all bad!

We had planned to stay outside the whole time, and that's why we didn't pay much attention (and money) to our cabin. So many things to do and so much little time. After we dropped our daughter to the Lego room, we went for exploring the ship. It was the day of my birthday, ie 22 June, one after summer solstice. Which meant that the sunset was scheduled at 11 PM (whoa 😮) and of course lingering daylight a couple of hours after that. We got to enjoy 19 hours of daylight, which is a blessing for tourists, acording to us!

We decided to watch the sunset from the deck, but by that time, the freezing wind was beyond our tolerance. In fact, all the other co passengers, who were wining and dining on the deck, had moved inside. We were the only ones in the numbing cold, and after a few pictures, we too moved inside and watched the sunset from the porthole.

The cruise duration is only two hours (as mentioned in my previous post) from Helsinki to Tallinn. The ship reaches the Tallinn port and docks over there. All the boarding passengers get to enjoy the ship for the whole night and we can check out at noon the next day.

We decided to go to the discotheque area. There were a number of clubs, pubs and casinos. Live performances were going on and we joined them on the dance floor. The singing and dancing went on till the weekend hours of the night, 2 30 AM to be precise, while the bars were open 24 *7. Meanwhile we had dinner and had fed our daughter and put her to sleep. She was dead exhausted from running around in Helsinki and then playing so much in the ship. After leaving her in the cabin, we were dancing and wandering around as if we owned the place 😂

We then went out to the deck and the scenery was magnificent. There was still some light in the sky (it was post 2 AM) and the sea gulls were constantly chirping. Even they hadn't gone to sleep. There were big ships anchored around us. The city of Tallinn looked breathtaking with its twinkling lights. We hadn't carried out tripod as it was too windy and we asked a fellow passenger to click us. They were a couple of guys who were dead drunk, and he was literally swaying trying to focus. Ironically, he didn't know English while his companion did, and the English speaking fellow asked him to click us. Anyways, I just needed to freeze that memory 😂

We went back to the club, joined the dance floor with another couple, and danced till the singers left. At 3 AM, we decided to go to sleep, because our last leg of the trip was still left and we couldn't have possibly fully exhausted ourselves!

I highly recommend staying overnight onboard for this unforgettable experience!

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.