The new Baltic Princess interiors, 8 March 2018

My original intention was to give you a full interior tour of the Baltic Princess today, combining my photos from today's press tour and the previous crossing with her to Gdansk. However, as the wonderful people at Tallink Silja offered me an impromptu cruise on the ship, we will instead look only at the parts of the ship that were changed during the refit, and the full tour will have to wait for another time.

Baltic Princess

IMO 9354284
Built 2008, Aker Yards Saint Nazaire, France / Aker Yards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draugth 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 484 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemetres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

The Baltic Princess' new public rooms were designed by the Finnish interior architects Aprocos, working in close collaboration with the crews and based on extensive passenger feedback. (Aprocos of course also worked on the ship's original interior decor back in the day). Heikki Mattila's firm is quickly becoming one of my personal favourite ship interior designers, as their work has a strong tendency to be both stylish and functional. And there is a Nordic modernist trend running through their recent work, which as a style is right up my street.

Grande Buffet on Deck 7

The old Buffet Silja Line on Deck 7 has been transformed into a Grande Buffet, with all-new decor, re-designed servery areas and new equipment.

The chairs are the originals, but they have been reupholstered in the Grande Buffet colours. The new upholstery is also designed to be easy to clean, so that they will look good even after prolonged use.

Several partitions were removed to open up the space and make it more airy.

The jewel of the restaurant is the new dessert buffet, which is also the workstation of the dessert cook, who can then also make portions on order and special portions for people with allergies or other special dietary needs.

Midships stair lobbies

The midships stair lobbies on all decks have been given new, more vibrant carpets (the old ones were not that nice, at least in my opinion). A small but attractive change.

I really like the new carpets here. A shame they didn't change the forward stair lobbies at the same time, as the carpets there are of a particularly dismal colour in my opinion.

Fashion Street on Deck 7

The pre-existing Fashion Street shop on Deck 7 was enlarged into the space of the old Siljaland children's playroom (which moved down to deck 5, of which more below). The expansion includes the world's first Tommy Hilfiger Shop in Ship, or a shop in shop onboard a ship. According to the Tommy Hilfiger representative here, the Baltic Princess has been a big seller or TH clothing to start with, so a Shop in Ship was a logical next step.

The Tommy Hilfiger Shop in Ship of course has TH brand displays - but adapted for shipboard use, rather than the movable versions used on dry land.

Fast Lane cafeteria on Deck 6

The old Cafeteria on Deck 6 has been transformed into a new-style Fast Lane cafeteria, with "action stations" making portions on order replacing the old buffet-style system. In terms of decor the space is a fusion of elements of the Fast Lanes onboard the Silja Europa and the Megastar, using similar extensive plant decor as on the Megastar but with the rest of the decor more subdued (and more in keeping with the Fast Lane concept) as on the Silja Europa. Personally I'm really highly impressed with the decor here.

The old Cafeteria was not really today... but the new Fast Lane certainly is!

The lime green that is the Fast Lane colour is much more subdued here than, for instance, on the Silja Europa - and of course, the plants provide a nicely Fast Lane -esque palette in themselves.

Very pretty.

The new servery areas are more station-based, so that if you want a coffee, you can just get a coffee and not queue though everything. I like the use of hexagonal floor tiling here, reflecting the hexagonal carpet pattern that is the Fast Lane "thing".

Siljaland on Deck 5

The old luggage room on Deck 5 has been transformed into the new, much larger Siljaland for children. The space includes a small stage for children's shows, a cafeteria for parents, and it is located adjacent to the conference suite, which can be converted into a part of the playroom during the holiday seasons. This is of course routinely done on just about every Baltic ferry, but putting the regular playroom next to the conference room of course gives adjacency benifits missing from other ships.

A TV screen will be added to the blank space behind the stage, so it can also be used for kid's karaoke.

A small cafeteria for parents, with grown-up sized seating on the left (mostly off-frame, unfortunately).

Designers chairs in child size. In addition to PS4's and to-be-installed iWalls, kids can also play board games and draw - or just frolic around.

Cabin areas on Deck 5

The passenger cabins on Deck 5 have been redecorated, but unfortunately we did not have a chance to visit any of them. The cabin corridors have also been recarpeted in similar colours as the midships stair lobbies. Again, a major improvement with a small change.

While I do like the new carpets, I have to say the juxtaposition of a blue carpet and red cabin doors is a bit jarring. Maybe paint the cabin doors to match in the next refit? Oh yes, also notice the signage in the new Silja Line style.

Kships will return.

The Baltic Princesses that will never be

I've recently been too busy to do a proper blog update, but in order for this place not to slip into obscurity again, I dug into the archives for something slightly different from usual, which manges to be topical at the same time.

As some might know, the return of the Baltic Princess from her refit in Gdansk has been seriously delayed; she was due to be back by 22. February but the current estimated return to service is on 8. March. Rumour has it that they are having trouble lining up the new gearboxes with the existing engines and propeller axles. As always with rumours, take this with a suitable pinch of salt (though it is hard to think what else the reason would be).

Anyway, before the Baltic Princess went to the shipyard, there were persistent rumours (or perhaps persistent hopes) that she would receive a blue-and-white livery more in keeping with the Silja Line brand image during the docking. She won't.

Over the years I've made a few different variations of what she could look like if painted in a more Silja-style livery, and this is as good of a time as any to look at them.

Photo and "whiting out" by Jani Nousiainen, new livery by Kalle Id.

A very stripped-back version, reminescent of the original livery of the Silja Opera, dating from 2015. Here my reasoning, if I recall, was that the blue stripes should only be along the public room deck windows - in retrospect an odd thought, as that hasn't been the case in other Silja ships either.

Same creidts as above. Incidentally, the photo actually features the Baltic Queen, not Baltic Princess.

Inspired the liveries of Brittany Ferries' Économie sub-brand and La Méridionale, I took the previous version to a novel direction with the wavy line blue area painted on the hull. I actually quite like this one, but it's not very Silja. Then again, these have been some quite novel variations of the Silja livery in the past, such as the original paintjobs of the Silja Festival and Silja Karneval.

Again, the same credits as above apply.

Fast forward to autumn 2017, when I returned to the subject and created this most traditionally Silja-esque, and arguably most attractive version. There is the thin blue tripe on top of the hull, borrowed from the Silja Festival and Silja Karneval's original livery, different heights of the superstructure stripes as on the Silja Opera's second livery, and a blue stripe along the bridge windows (don't know why I omitted that in the previous ones, as that has been a common feature in just about every ship since 1981). The superstructure stripes are also boken up by white diagonals as on the Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony. Also notice the liddle added details adjacent to windbreakers of aft top decks, and the blue "spoiler" on the funnel.


Kships will return to normal programming next week.

With the Baltic Princess from Turku to Gdansk, 10-11 January 2018

My first shipboard travel of the year was something slightly different: we boarded the Baltic Princess in Turku early in the morning of 10 January, and arrived the next day at noon at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. I was one of the seven journalists/bloggers invited to join the ship on this unusual trip. A lot photos were taken and some will undoubtedly form the basis of future entries, but I wanted to give you an overview of the trip when it's still fresh.

10 January 2018

At 5:15 in the morning we boarded a bus in Helsinki, and after a rather sleepy bus ride we arrived at Silja Line's terminal in Turku, with both the Galaxy and the Baltic Princess at quay. The latter had arrived the last evening, while the Galaxy had just arrived from Stockholm and would stay in port the entire day to take over her sister's place in the service for the duration of the docking.

Alas, the weather for photographing the two sisters together in Turku was far from ideal.

Entrance to the ship was via the car deck (the Silja terminal in Turku has passenger gangways to just one quay). From left to right are Sami Koski of Valkeat Laivat, Marko Stampehl of Ferryfacts, Olli Tuominen of Ulkomatala, and with her back to the camera Tuula Nurminen of Tuula's Life.

So, what was the day like? We toured the ship, with expert guidance from both the crew and Tallink Silja's office staff, ate at the temporary mess set up in the Grill House restaurant for the duration of the docking, chatted, worked... I think this in particular is a case where pictures speak louder than words, so let's get to it!

The old Siljaland on Deck 7 was still intact, though not for long. This area will turn into an extension of the Fashion Street shop, with a new Siljaland to be built on Deck 5.

The Starlight Palace show lounge & night club will get new upholstery and a new dance floor with in-built led lighting.

The information booth fullfilled its unusual function, plus there was coffee, juice and small bited on offer outside. The "analogue dial" sofas are presumably getting reupholstered.

Forward on Deck 6, the old Cafeteria will give way to a Fast Lane restaurant similar to those found on the Silja Symphony, Silja Europa and Megastar. This is in particular in answer to passenger requests for more warm foods in cafeteria-style dining.

Buffet Silja Line will be rebuilt to a Grande Buffet like those found on the Silja Serenade, Silja Symphony and Silja Europa. Here, the chairs will be reupholstered rather than replaced; I presume the new soft furnishings will be dark orange in keeping with the theme found on the other ships.

The servery areas will be rebuilt, with the new "jewel" of the buffet being the dessert station with waiters in attendance to "tune" the portions according to customer wishes.

The old luggage room on Deck 5, adjacent to the conference areas, will become the new Siljaland. Based on cuystomer feedback, this will have a cafeteria for adults and a stage for the children themselves, as well as Silja's mascot Herri Hylje, to perform on. During school holiday seasons, the play areas can be extended to the conference rooms.

Bridge visits are a rare thing these days, but since this trip didn't officially have any passengers, we visited the bridge twice.

Last winter saw the addition of a Tavolata Italian restaurant; the Baltic Princess is the only ship in the Tallink and Silja fleets where this also serves pizza, thanks to a dedicated pizza oven. Tavolata, like the adjacent Happy Lobster and Grill House, will remain unchanged.

In the archipelago, we passed both the Gudingen, seen here, and Finnlines' Finnclipper. Both encounters will get their own blog entries later, I think.

The big thing about this refit is the replacement of the Wärtsilä-built reduction gears, which have proven unreliable, with new Renk-built ones. These will have to be lifted off the ship via the car deck, which will mean cutting through many things that were not originally designed to be cut through. The Baltic Princess' gearbxes will be kept as spare parts for the sister ship Baltic Queen.

The starboard side main engines.

11 January 2018

On the second day of the trip I woke early, as we were expected to pick up pilot at six in the morning. No such luck, as there were several ships in the queue before us and in the end we only picked up the pilot around ten. This left some time for further exploration and working (it's surprisingly productive to write in your own cabin on a ship that offers no organised entertainment) before the rather exciting (if cold) trip up the Leniwka river to Ostrów island and the waiting Remontowa shipyard.

The old Siljaland had been almost entirely demolished by the morning of the second day.

New restaurants mean new signage, of course, but also most of the other signage onboard will be replaced by new ones in the new official Silja style adopted last year.

Sailing up the Leniwka with assistance of no less than four tugs.

Remontowa is a busy place: in addition to the Baltic Princess, the morning saw the arrival of the Pride of Rotterdam, being reversed into the floating dock here...

...as well as the Stena Scandinavica and the Mont St. Michel, seen here on the right in the background.

The most interesting ship, though sadly poorly positioned for photography, is BC Ferries' Spirit of British Columbia, which came all the way from Canada for conversion to run on LNG.

Disembarking the ship at half past three in the afternoon. Much like in Finland, it was already getting dark by this time.

After that, our programme included a brief walking tour of Gdansk (the planned visit to the maritime museum was axed due to us getting off the ship so late) and a quick dinner before an evening flight back to Helsinki.

This entry was brought to you in collaboration with Silja Line. I would like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to both the crew of the Baltic Princess for their hospitality and in particular Tallink Silja's chief of communications Marika Nöjd for making the trip possible. And, naturally, further thanks are in order to the fellow participants. If you want to take a look at what the others participants have written on the trip, here is a list of links:

The Ferryfacts Blog by Marko Stampehl (in English)
Valkeat laivat by Sami Koski (in Finnish)
Ulkomatala by Olli Tuominen (in Finnish)
Kristallin hohtoa by Krista Hytönen (in Finnish)
Tuulas Life by Tuula Nurminen (in Finnish)
Beachhouse Kitchen by Heli-Hannele Pehkonen (in Finnish)

As said, further material from the trip will be published as separate entries in the coming weeks. The Baltic Princess will return to service on 22 February 2018 (if all goes to plan). I hope to visit her then and will report on how the refit turned out.

Baltic Princess in Turku, 20 June 2016

Today, I should have been in Turku to witness the start of production of TUI Cruises upcoming Mein Schiff 1 (previously slated to be named Mein Schiff 7). The new ships is looking to be very interesting, a lengthened and otherwise modified version of the Mein Schiff 3 design. However, instead of being at the shipyard, I was sick at home. To balance things out, today's update will feature photos taken in Turku when I visited the city for the delivery of the Mein Schiff 5.

Baltic Princess

IMO 9354284
Built 2008, Aker Yards Saint Nazaire, France / Aker Yards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draugth 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 484 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemetres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

For a history of the Baltic Princess, see this previous entry on the ship. The photos below show it departing from Turku on the evening of 20 June 2016, photographed from Ruissalo. As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

I wouldn't mind living in one of the Pikisaari villas you seen in the background.

As I recently discovered during the research made for the upcoming book on the history of Finnish shipbuilding, the livery was designed by Aprocos, who were also responsible for most of the interiors.

A ferry and a sailing boat harbour, very nautical.

The funnel and the upper "arch" of the livery line up very nicely from this vantage point.

Why they decided to retain the www.tallink.com text on the side when the ship was repainted with Silja Line hull markings I will never understand.

The design of the aft section is perhaps less than ideal.

Kships will return.

Baltic Princess in Mariehamn, 30 October 2015

Baltic Princess

IMO 9354284
Built 2008, Aker Yards, France / Aker Yards, Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draugth 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 484 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemetres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

When looking at photos I had taken during last year, I realised that I had not posted a single image of the Baltic Princess with the Silja Line hull markings where you could actually see her livery properly (the only Silja-coloured images are night time-shots). And I haven't put up an updated version of her history since she transferred under the Silja brand. So here goes:

The Baltic Princess is, of course, the second ship in Tallink's Galaxy-class (the name always makes me think about Star Trek; the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation was a Galaxy-class ship). Her sisters are the Galaxy and the Baltic Queen. While the other two ships were built at Aker Yards' Rauma shipyard, the Baltic Princess was built in Helsinki, during the brief time in the mid-00s when the yard specialized in ferries (though a part of the ship's hull was built in France and towed to Helsinki and the rest of the ship was built around the French-built part in here).

While the Galaxy had been built for a 22-knot top speed, the Baltic Princess was given slightly more powerful engines, yielding 24,5 knots. This lended cause to much speculation about the ship's eventual route while she was under construction: the higher speed was said to make the ship suitable for a Stockholm-St. Petersburg cruiseferry service, or (after Tallink took over Silja Line in 2006) for the Turku-Stockholm service where harbour turnaround times are short and catching up delays is often difficult. I recently learned the change was simply because the older engine variant used in the Galaxy was no longer manufactured. In the end the Baltic Princess was placed on the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise service when she was completed in summer 2008 (a service where her high speed is of absolutely no use). She replaced the Galaxy, which in turn transferred to the Silja Line fleet and was placed on the Turku-Stockholm route.

During her carreer with Tallink, Baltic Princess remained on the same service almost without deviation. In July 2009 she made a charter cruise from Helsinki to Pori (via Mariehamn), coinciding with a music festival in Pori, and as well as occasional summer cruises from Helsinki via Tallinn to Visby during the summer months of 2011 and 2012.

In early 2013, the Baltic Princess moved to Silja Line's Turku-Stockholm -route, swapping services with the Silja Europa. The reasons were twofold: one, the Baltic Princess, as a newer ship, could better compete with Viking Line's new Viking Grace, and two, the Silja Europa suffered from persistent engine problems. Thus, the Baltic Princess was repainted with Silja Line hull markings (but otherwise retained her Tallink-era livery, complete with a www.tallink.com text on her hull) and joined the Galaxy on the Turku route. It is perhaps of interest to note that this was the first time since 1993 that Silja Line had a pair of identical sisters on that service.

Since 2013, the Baltic Princess has remained on the same service. Ironically, she seems to be suffering fairly often from engine trouble, even though she was brought in to replace the Silja Europa to get rid of the engine trouble.

The photographs below show the Baltic Princess departing Mariehamn on the afternoon of 30 October 2015, photographed from onboard the Viking Grace. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Rush hour in Mariehamn: the Baltic Princess and Galaxy depart to make space for the Amorella and Viking Grace.

I kind of get the Tallink funnel symbol (though wouldn't she look cool with a backlit Silja seal in the funnel, à la Silja Serenade?) but they could have painted over the www.tallink.com-text on the hull. Who puts urls on ship sides in 2016 anyway?

No, of course I didn't spend a stupidly long time fiddling with the layers to get the lighting just right.

Next time: Galaxy.

Baltic Princess in Turku, 15 February 2013

Baltic Princess

IMO 9354284
Built 2008, Aker Yards France / Aker Yards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draugth 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 484 berths
600 cars
1 300 lanemetres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

The Baltic Princess, as most of you will probably know, recently swapped routes with the Silja Europa and hence the former now sails as a Silja Line ship between Turku and Stockholm. For the previous history of the Baltic Princess under the Tallink house flag, see this previous entry.

The photographs below show the Baltic Princess departing from Turku on the evening of 15 February 2013, photographed from Ruissalo. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Photographing departures from Turku during the wintertime does have the problem that when the sky is cloudy (and at least this winter, it was pretty much always cloudy) the city lights up the sky and turns the ship into a dark silhouette.

Notice the new bolt-upright Silja Line logotype on the hull.

Now this is what a proper night-time photo should look like, lighting-wise.

Next time: Sea Wind

Baltic Princess in Helsinki, 14 December 2012

After the entries dealing with the new Finlandia, we now return to regular programming and the oft-promised entry featuring the Baltic Princess, also providing details about the route swap between the Baltic Princess and Silja Europa next year.

Baltic Princess

IMO 9354284
Built 2008, Aker Yards France / Aker Yards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draugth 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 484 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemetres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

For a short history of the Baltic Princess, see this previous entry on her. The photographs in this entry might very well be my last photos of her in Helsinki, as she will swap routes with the Silja Europa next year. The Silja Europa will replace the Baltic Princess on the Helsinki-Tallinn 22-hour cruise route on 23. January 2013, after which the Baltic Princess will be drydocked and she will enter service on the Turku-Stockholm run on 1. February. The ships will swap flags and crews, the Silja Europa moving under Estonian flag & crew and the Baltic Princess under Finnish flag and crew.

Sources within the company give somewhat conflicting information on what will happen to the ships in terms on names and brands. The Silja Europa will either keep her current name or be renamed Tallink Europa. She will, defiantely, be repainted with Tallink hull texts and funnel symbol. The Baltic Princess will be painted with Silja Line hull text but retaining the Tallink funnel symbol - or she will gain the Silja seal to her funnel. It will be interesting to see what the ships will look like come February.

The photographs below show the Baltic Princess at her quay in Helsinki's West Harbour on 14 December 2012. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Lit up like a christmas tree. Very topical.

Princesses aplenty: Baltic Princess in the center and behind her on the right the Princess Maria.

Next time: possibly the Star... or then something completely different.