Friday and Saturday, 31-May-2024 and 01-June-2024
I left May, and entered June, on my first cruise.
True story – going on a cruise has never been a goal of mine. I can see the attraction, logically, but they just don’t quite do it for me for one reason or another. Both “one reason” and “another” generally being the fact that I get seasick, and don’t like being stuck in one area without the option to just kinda wander off like a weirdo. I mean, I guess technically I COULD wander off like a weirdo on a cruise ship… but chucking myself overboard doesn’t feel like a good career advancement move.
All of which is to say – My first cruise was one of necessity.
When I first planned this trip across Europe, I used the Eurail map to chart my general course. A map showing a connection between Stockholm and Helsinki. I, obviously incorrectly in retrospect, assumed that meant a train. Why I thought a train could go across the Baltic Sea, I couldn’t say. I trusted the Eurail Map, and didn’t think more of it.
When I went to book the tickets, the Eurail system noted that there was no connection via Eurail, but that I could book an overnight cruise instead… for a significant fee on top of my Eurail pass, of course. Without diving into my frustrations with the Eurail system, suffice it to say that I found myself unexpectedly booking a cruise.
That’s a bit of backstory.
For the cruise itself, it went simply and cleanly. I scouted out the terminal the day before, checked with the docents about how boarding would go, and then arrived the day of departure. I left my bags in a locker, explored Stockholm one last time (Ed Note: This is Ben was at the Nobel Prize Museum!) and then arrived back about 30min before boarding. I had learned that, while the ships listed departure was 4:30, boarding actually began around 1:30, and was a sort of “at your leisure” anytime until 4:10. I arrived, grabbed my bags out of the locker, boarded through security, and was happily ensconced in my room by 2:30… with, of course, a good dosage of 24-hour Dramamine in my system.
From there, I explored a cruise ship for the first time in my life. It was… eerily similar to exploring a new town – I wandered through the decks, looked at restaurants and shops, saw empty dancefloors and casinos, and finally found myself a seat on the top deck in the sun. I edited some photos, relaxed, and soon enough the ship was on its way to Helsinki.
This was an overnight cruise, which meant I had a lovely cabin about halfway up the ship, with a nice view and a “cozy” bed. To be frank, it was tiny… but then again, it was more luxurious than I was expecting, and far nicer than anything on an equivalent overnight train.
It also meant that I’d be having two meals aboard – a buffet dinner, and a table-service breakfast. Both of which ended up being absolutely excellent! The buffet dinner was my first exposure to pickled herring, which I absolutely (and unexpectedly) adore! The buffet dinner was also my (not first) exposure to all-you-can-pour wine… which I sampled very sparingly, to avoid seasickness. The combination of wine and good food did set me pretty well sleepy, though, which I took full advantage of to sleep quite a bit earlier than normal as a way to limit the risk of any vertigo.
I slept well… surprisingly well, for how bad my motion sickness had been on the train from Oslo to Stockholm. The Dramamine was doing its job, I guess, and I was able to get a good 10hours of sleep … just enough to give me time to shower, wander the top deck and enjoy the sun, and then make it back belowdecks in time for breakfast.
Which was, similarly to the dinner buffet, excellent. And, thankfully, well-received by my stomach… so well that I was able to get some more time editing the last of my Sweden pictures! I enjoyed the sun, took some photos of the islands passing by as we entered Helsinki Harbor, and before I knew it I found myself walking back down the gangway into Finland!
