Strikebound in Helsinki

The Mariella and Gabriella laid up together at Katajanokka on 26.11.2019 due to the strike, with the Lotus (Danish-flagged and therefore outside the strike) bunkering the Gabriella and slightly messing up my envisioned shot.

The Finnish postal services have been on strike for the past two weeks, after the employer decided to unilaterally move a part of the workforce under a different collective agreement, resulting in pay cuts of 30-40%. When the postal services wouldn't budge from their original position, support strikes quickly begun – for reasons that should be obvious, workers across the board were not exactly keen on a precedent being set for such radical pay cuts made purely at the employers' discretion.

The Finnish Seamen's Union (amongst others) joined the strike on Monday, with Finnish-flagged ships laid up after arriving in Finnish ports. For the Helsinki-Stockholm route, this meant that only the Silja Symphony was sailing, with the Mariella laid up on arrival on Monday and the Gabriella and Silja Serenade on Tuesday.

Need a magazine cover?

Finnlines attempted a strikebusting move by moving the Finnstar, which normally sails on the Helsinki-Travemünde route, to the Malmö-Travemünde route (meaning she never arrives at a Finnish port and is therefore not subject to the strike), and moving the Swedish-flagged Europalink to the services from Finland instead. However, the strike was resolved earlier this morning, before the Europalink even reached Finland.

The Lotus leaving – I was so preoccupied with taking photos that I didn't notice she was moving at first! Alas, she reparted just as the light was getting a bit too dark for really good views.

Of course, the Helsinki-Stockholm ships laid up gave nice chances of photographing ships that are normally not seen together in Eteläsatama in Helsinki (similar unusual pairings could also be seen in Vuosaari, Turku, Naantali and Hanko, but I didn't have time to zoom around the country quite so much).

Line-up of the Finnish-flagged Helsinki-Stockholm ships. Unfortunately, I only realised you could take a photo with all three properly visible through the harbour fence when it was a bit too dark for really good photos.

You wait for five months for a blog update and then two come at once? Worry not, I'm sure we'll be back to the one update per month if you're lucky -pace soon. :P

The new Silja Serenade interiors, 27 November 2018

Earlier today, I had the chance to attend the press showing of the Silja Serenade, showcasing her most recent interior refit. So, let's get down to business

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

Once again, the new interiors of the various public space are the work of the Finnish interior design firm Aprocos, who have pretty much become Tallink's designers of choice. Interestingly enough, Aprocos' founder and CEO Heikki Mattila had already worked on the original interiors of these ships.

Starlight and the Seaview Lounge on Decks 7 and 8

The former Atlantis Palace show lounge and casino complex, forward on decks 7 and 8, which previously survived nearly in original condition, has been finally given a thorough refit, which included new staircases, replacing three old bars with two new ones, and an increased number of seats especially in the forward viewing area (now called the Seaview Lounge, whereas it was previously just the Bow Bar). Unfortunately, during the press visit the Starlight complex was not entirely complete, most notably lacking the various plants that are an integral part of the final design.

The Seaview Lounge now has much more seating, thanks to the bar originally the left being demolished. The little bit of purple in the background is the new bar, which serves both the Seaview Lounge and the main Starlight complex.

The tiered seating is where the space retains most of its original appearance, but gone are for example the seashell-shaped lamps.

On the right here was originally another bar counter, but that too has been demolished to make way for more seating. The new bars are also more up-to-date in their design, as the sheer number of drinks served has radically increased in the past two decades and the originals were simply not designed for the number of things served today.

Aft and partially below of the twin-level showlounge area is Starlight's casino, which already had the final greenery in place. I very much look forward to sailing on the ship again and seeing the Starlight complex as it is meant to be.

As a part of the programme, we also had the pleasure of seeing the ship's new The Great Gatsby -themed show. I must say in all honesty that I'm not usually a big fan of onboard shows, be they on my local cruise ferries or on proper cruise ships. But Silja's Great Gatsby really made an impression on me. I would say it easily topped, for example, Norwegian Cruise Line's much-advertised Havana, which I saw when I sailed on the Norwegian Bliss earlier this year. Then again, the show did have a lot of stuff I enjoy, such as an art deco aesthetic, an electro swing soundtrack and handsome dancers.

The Great Gatsby.

Bon Vivant on Deck 7

Further aft along the Promenade, the Bon Vivant fine dining restaurant, wine bar and the adjacent wine shop have also been redecorated (and it was about time too).

I'm afraid the lighting here didn't quite agree with my camera, and the vibrant dark blue of the chairs and carpets ended up looking grey instead.

Grill House on Deck 7

Further aft, the popular El Capitan grill restaurant has given way to the Grill House, a similarly themed restaurant already found onboard many other Silja Line and Tallink ships. Gone is the 1990s fax mexicana and in is a more refined grill restaurant (though I must say that my favourite Grill House remains that onboard the Silja Europa – also designed by Aprocos).

I wasn't a fan of El Capitan, but here I could eat just for the decor.

I really show have cleared that plate away.

Coffee & Co on Deck 7

This space wasn't actually added in the most recent refit, but in the 2015 one (I think). As it has not featured here before I thought I would put it in anyway. This space used to be the children's playroom back in the day, but that was moved to larger premises down on Deck 5 (my son loves the place), so a new cafeteria could be inserted here.

This place is, alas, where the Serenade loses to her younger sister Silja Symphony, as that ship has a sushi restaurant – one of the best I've eaten in outside Japan – instead.

Sea Pub on Deck 7

Previously, the pub aft on the promenade was named Old Port Pub and in my books, it was one of the gloomiest, least pleasant spaces onboard. The new Sea Pub is much lighter, airier and generally more pleasant (but it must be said it isn't quite as good as its cousin onboard the Silja Symphony in my books, as on that ship it's even nicer and less publike).

This is a pub I might consider visiting. The old incarnation wasn't.

Stairwells, corridors and lobbies

All over the ship, the stairwells, lobbies and corridors have been given a new look, including new carpets, a new colour scheme and new artworks. And it was about time, as these were areas where the original look of the ship survived. And while it feels silly to put money on these things, as they don't really generate money, they are also some of the first places the passenger sees when coming onboard and will effect how they judge the entire ship.

This is just so much better than the old one. I kind of feel bad about the originals artworks in the staircases... but then again, they weren't particularly impressive, so I won't really miss them.

Special thanks to Heikki Mattila and Miko Mattila of Aprocos. Kships, as always, will return.

Silja Serenade interiors, 17 February 2014

I guess it's nescessary to start with the traditional apologies for the lack of updates recently. My goal was to update the blog once a week, starting from November, and there was a grand total of one entry in all of December. In addition to Christmas, I was busy working simultaneously with not just one but two issues of Ulkomatala (a  Christmas special, which you can read from the magazine's website - presuming that you speak Finnish - and the next proper issue, which will come out in two days). I'm not sure how regular updates will be in the future either, as I've received a research grant for a book on the history of Finnish shipbuilding and I'm starting as a regular contributor with Cruise Business Review. But weekly updates still remain the goal, and hopefully I'll also achive that somewhat more frequently.

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

The Silja Serenade was at Rauma last November for a few weeks being refitted. These photos are not from that particular refit, but rather taken after her February 2014 refit, which started the current renewal cycle for the Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony. I did not post these here immediately after the refit, as shots from the session were featured both in my 2014 book, Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink, and in Ulkomatala. It's high time these get featured here, too. Most of the photos are of the refitted spaces and as such they are the current interiors of the ship.

All photos are from the press tour of the refitted ship on 17 February 2014. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Deck 13 houses the bridge as well as New York Club & Lounge, an observation lounge around the funnel.

Deck 12 has the main sun deck, and the Sunflower Oasis Sauna and pool complex around the base of the funnel.

Sunflower Oasis' pool area was one of the spaces completely refitted. Seen here is, according to the compamny, the largest jacuzzi on the Baltic.

I have to say I find the new interiors a bit blad, too much white and not enough colour. Sure, the original had terrible plexiglass rocks, but also some quite nice streamline moderne -inspired furnishings and teak furniture - I kind of miss those.

At least at the time the actual saunas, as well as the dressing rooms, were in original appearance. If I've understood correctly, the dressing rooms have since been rebuilt - which is a good thing, they rather clashed with the new look of the pool area.

Deck 11 is dedicated exclusively to cabins.

Deck 10 houses a dedicated Commodore Class lounge forward, alongside more cabins. The Silja Serenade was the second ship to introduce the "ship within a ship" class concept now popular wth cruise ships, and the first newbuilt ship to do so (the first was the Finnjet after her 1986 refit).

The redecorated Commodore Lounge. This was the first time the area was given a proper makeover - so after 24 years it was high time!

Deck 9 is, again, dedicated to cabins. Forward are three junior suites added in the 2014 refit, which replaced the conference suites previously located there.

If I remember correctly, the interior architect for the suites was Marjut Nousiainen. Each suite is themed; here is the bedroom of Spring...

...the sitting area of Summer...

...and the sitting area of Autumn. As you can see, the main differentiating factor is the colour of the upholstery and carpets.

Deck 8 has the upper storey of the Atlantis Palace showlounge complex forward, followed by more cabins.

Deck 7 is the ship's heart, with the promenade (horizontal atrium) running through it, lined by shops, restaurants and bars. The forward half of the promenade was rebuilt in the 2014 refit, with the aft parts following in 2015.

View of the promenade from the entrance to Atlantis Palace, facing aft.

The gift shop added in the 2014 refit.

Kids & Toys replaced the previous Trend Shop in the 2014 refit.

Deck 6 houses conference rooms forward, followed by the Tavolata Italian restaurant, the Tax Free Superstore and the Grande Buffet. Apart from the conference rooms, all spaces on this deck were rebuilt in the 2014 refit.

The conference area as it appeared in 2014. At least the conference lobby was completely rebuilt in the 2015 refit. I'm not sure if all conference rooms were given the same treatment.

I admit my first reaction to Tavolata was "not another Italian restaurant!", but the food surprised me very pleasantly. As for the interiors... well, I like subtle use of the colours of the Italian flag, but it does lack that something. Now sure what, but something.

The new Tax Free Superstore encompasses the old main tax-free shop, Orient Café and parts of Bistro Maxime.

The crew were still hard at work putting everything in the correct locations when we were onboard, normally there aren't piles of cardboard boxes laying around.

The new layout emulates that of airport duty free stores, which is a very nice change from the old grocery store -style layout. This is in part by nescessity, as the only route through deck six now passes through the tax free shop.

The buffet restaurant, aft on deck six, was completely rebuilt. The entrance, seen here, has been opened up beautifully.

The servery areas were rebuilt, but remain in the island-type arrangement, with the exception of the servery area for main courses. I'm somewhat surprised the latter wasn't extended, as it's long been the bottleneck of the whole space.

While the new look of the sitting areas has been criticized, I really very much like the vibrant colours and simple forms.

In fact, I like it so much that here's another photo.

At the time of this visit, Deck 5 housed a spa forward and cabins aft. In the 2015 refit, the spa was converted to a large children's playroom and ice cream bar.

Decks 3 & 4 house the ship's car deck and crew cabins.

Deck 2 has economy-class cabins forward and technical spaces aft.

Next time: probably the Princess Anastasia.

Silja Serenade in Helsinki, 23 November 2015

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

The Silja Serenade returned from her most recent drydocking yesterday. In addition to changes to her interior (which were more extensive than the ones carried out on the Silja Symphony previously) the also received a new smiling seal logo on her funnel. While the old seal was painted on, the new one is made out of metal and has a rather attractice led lighting behind it, making it look very nice in the dark, as the following images, taken of the ship while moored at the Olympiaterminaali on the afternoon of 23 November 2015, show.

The new happy seal and a rather neat moon too, as photographed from Tähtitorninmäki.

Moving to Kauppatori, the Serenade is seen here with the local bunkering tanker Lotus.

Magazine cover potential here, methinks.

Another Serenade with a another ship shot, this time featuring the Suomenlinna ferry Suomenlinna II.

Next time: Magellan

Silja Symphony & Silja Serenade in Helsinki, 15 October 2014

Silja Symphony

IMO 8803769
Built 1991, Kvaerner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 377 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

The Silja Symphony returned from a long drydocking at Naantali on 15 October. During the refit she was given a new livery, with the new-style smiling seal in the funnel, while her interiors were given a similar overhaul as the Silja Serenade, but more extensive, with a redecorated promenade, a sushi bar and a new, larger children's playroom, in addition to the new shops and restaurants already introduced onboard the older sister.

The ship's arrival in Helsinki also meant that it was possible - for the third time in history, to my knowledge - to photograph the two sisters in port at the same time. And the first time this was possible with the new livery, obviously. The overcast weather was far from ideal... although still better than the previous time they were together in Helsinki, when there was thick fog that made it impossible for both ships to be visible at the same time.

The seal sisters: smiley (right) and serious (left). Alas, treating this for publication was so much work I couldn't be arsed to retouch any of the other images showing both ships.

After the Serenade departed, the Symphony shifted to the normal quay at Olympiaterminaali.

Since I was out with my tripod, I hund around long enough to take some dusk lighting photos.

Next time: Highspeed 4.

Silja Serenade in Helsinki, 22 May 2014

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draught 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

I realised the Silja Serenade's new livery has never been featured in this blog. Since the ship has been sailing with the new colours for several months now, it's high time this is rectified. The new livery looks... well, better than I thought it would, when I saw the new logo for the first time. Still, even for the fear of coming off as terribly conservative, I have to say the old look was more attractive. A modernisation of the old Silja logo was perhaps a good idea, but the changes made were not for the better. (The same also applies to the new Tallink logo).

Anyway, the photos below show the Silja Serenade on Kruunuvuorenselkä shortly after departing Helsinki South Harbour on the afternoon of 22 May 2014. Photographed from Lonna. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The light unfortunately comes from a bit of a wrong direction at this time of the afternoon for ideal lighting.

Close-uppy.

On the other hand, the light on this view is absolutely perfect. For afternoon arrivals, Lonna would be a near-ideal place - if there were any, that is.

Silja Festival and Silja Serenade in Helsinki, 7 January 2013

Silja Festival

IMO 8306498
Previous name: Wellamo
Built 1986, Wärtsilä Marine Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 34 417 GT
Length 168,00 m
Width 27,60 m
Draught 6,50 m
Ice class 1 A Super
1 886 passengers
1 937 berths
300 cars or 60 trailers
4 Wärtsilä-SEMT-Pielstick diesels, combined 26 200 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 22 knots

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draugth 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

For a history of the Silja Festival, see this entry. For a much briefer history of the Silja Serenade, see this entry.

The Silja Festival closed this year's winter cruise season for Helsinki, visiting the port on 7 January. As most readers are probably aware, despite her Silja Line -esque name and livery, the Silja Festival sails as a part of Tallink's fleet between Riga and Stockholm. However, as has been done several years in a row now, a Russian travel agency chartered her to do longer cruise out of St. Petersburg for the Orthodox Christian Christmas. This year's cruise was a five-night trip to Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki.

The photographs below show the Silja Festival at Helsinki's South Harbour together with the regular Helsinki-Stockholm ferry Silja Serenade. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

A hung around the South Harbour for closer to an hour waiting for the moment in the evening when it starts getting dark and even an overcast sky will look magnificient. At around 16:30 it arrived.

This might be the greatest individual photo I have ever taken. Taken at 16:39

At 16:53 the sky was already almost black...

...and at 17:01 it was properly dark.

Next time: The previously overlooked LISCO Optima, photographed during my 2011 MSC Poesia cruise.

Silja Serenade in Helsinki, 3 October 2012

Silja Serenade

IMO 8715259
Built 1990, Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 58 376 GT
Length 203,03 m
Width 31,93 m
Draugth 7,12 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 852 passengers
3 001 berths
410 cars
1 600 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Vasa diesels, combined 32 580 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 21 knots

The last time the Silja Serenade was featured in this blog was in winter photos. Today we continue with a "four seasons" theme, with the same ship photographed departing Helsinki in Autumn foliage last week.

Click on the images to see in larger size.

I was tempted to go out on this particular day due to the beautiful weather, even if the only ships to photograph were the regulars Silja Serenade and Gabriella...

But alas, just as the Serenade was coming to the Kustaanmiekka strait, the sun was obscured by a cloud.

Not that these would be bad photographs, but if the light had lasted, these would have been downright orgastic images.

Although I complained about the cloud obscuring the sun, those clounds in the background were pretty neat...

A little bit of sun there... and the advertized Autumn foliage too.

Even better as far the foliage goes.

Unusually, the Serenade departed via the Porkkala shipping lane rather than the open-sea lane. That, combined with the low sun, game some rather superb photo opportunities.

No comment needed, really.

Next time: Gabriella with more of the Autumn foliage