Silver Wind Live! Helsinki to Hamburg, June 4-16, 2023

[jpalbny]

Two more sleeps to go until we fly out to Helsinki! Then, 12 nights cruising to small ports and islands. Starting in the Gulf of Bothnia, then we head down through the Baltic Sea, and the Kiel Canal to end in Hamburg.

 

 

Silver Wind is currently sailing the reverse itinerary from ours, and I've enjoyed the pictures that I've seen so far from that voyage. Lots of activity on our roll call here, and we are looking forward to meeting everyone on board! With all the camaraderie and daylight, I wonder if we will ever sleep?

 

We were lucky enough to visit Helsinki for a few days in November. Not much daylight, and even some snow showers, but it was charming and we can't wait to see it again. This time we expect to see much more warmth and daylight.

 

We fly out of Boston Friday evening and arrive in Helsinki Saturday afternoon. We made a dinner reservation for Saturday night at Kappeli, the old restaurant in the middle of the Esplanade. It looked pretty on our last visit so we'll see how the food is.

 

Now we really have to get packing! We unexpectedly took the long weekend off and went to Puerto Rico, so we are a bit behind. Usually we start thinking about packing the weekend before we leave. I guess we should start tonight.

 

Bon voyage and safe travels to all - see you in Helsinki!

[Daveywavey70]

kHave an amazing time JP. Can't wait to follow along.

[Lois R]

BIG BON VOYAGE😃. Hope you both have a wonderful cruise and of course safe flights on all counts🙂

[lincslady]

Looks great, jp.  Lots of ports most of us have never even heard of, so looking forward to reading about them.

 

Bon voyage,  Lola

[Dolcevita Diva]

 

Look forward to following your adventures!

 

[Dolcevita Diva]

And if you have time when you get to Hamburg...there are some great kitchenware and spice shops with easily packable "souvenirs" for J.P.'s inner chef...

[Tothesunset]

That looks like a wonderful itinerary. 

 

The Kiel canal transit is very special. 

 

Gute fahrt! 

[pavementends]

Looks like a neat itinerary with visits to many of the smaller islands. You get to peer across the water into Russia, for now inaccessible to most of us.

 

Have a great time. Be sure to do a walk around the harbor and stop in the old market building.

[dawntrdr]

We just got off the Wind in Hamburg; just prior to its current cruise.  They are changing Captains in Helsinki.

[QueSeraSera]

Have a great trip JP!

[Mr Luxury]

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Two more sleeps to go until we fly out to Helsinki! Then, 12 nights cruising to small ports and islands. Starting in the Gulf of Bothnia, then we head down through the Baltic Sea, and the Kiel Canal to end in Hamburg.

 

 

Silver Wind is currently sailing the reverse itinerary from ours, and I've enjoyed the pictures that I've seen so far from that voyage. Lots of activity on our roll call here, and we are looking forward to meeting everyone on board! With all the camaraderie and daylight, I wonder if we will ever sleep?

 

We were lucky enough to visit Helsinki for a few days in November. Not much daylight, and even some snow showers, but it was charming and we can't wait to see it again. This time we expect to see much more warmth and daylight.

 

We fly out of Boston Friday evening and arrive in Helsinki Saturday afternoon. We made a dinner reservation for Saturday night at Kappeli, the old restaurant in the middle of the Esplanade. It looked pretty on our last visit so we'll see how the food is.

 

Now we really have to get packing! We unexpectedly took the long weekend off and went to Puerto Rico, so we are a bit behind. Usually we start thinking about packing the weekend before we leave. I guess we should start tonight.

 

Bon voyage and safe travels to all - see you in Helsinki!

Who's tending to the sick and wounded while you're away gallivanting.

[jpalbny]

34 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Who's tending to the sick and wounded while you're away gallivanting.

 

The hired help...

[Mr Luxury]

4 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

The hired help...

Delegation that’s the key 

[LAexNY]

We are at Portland Airport waiting to board our flight to AMS connecting to HEL and arriving Thursday evening.  Spending 3 nights in HEL before boarding and looking forward to it.  We are onboard all the way to Reykjavik.

Is there any meet and greet being planned?

[spinnaker2]

Bon voyage!!!

[highplanesdrifters]

What an interesting itinerary.  Can't wait for details. Have a fab trip.

[FauxNom]

FOMO alert! If I hadn't been on the Explorer in Australia I would have booked this in a hot minute. My grandmother came from a village near Vaasa so that area holds great interest. Let me know if you see Oravais, and have a great time!

[drron29]

All the best JP but I am officially jealous.

Unfortunately probably a lot of zodiac rides and rojaan's back no longer up to those rides.

Really looking forward to your report.

[LAexNY]

That’s funny because we will be on Explorer this August in Australia, Perth to Darwin. How’s the ship?

[FauxNom]

4 hours ago, LAexNY said:

That’s funny because we will be on Explorer this August in Australia, Perth to Darwin. How’s the ship?

I loved being on the Explorer! One hundred pax is the key; I think you meet more people and it's a very friendly atmosphere. Many people gladly share a table so people aren't stuck in silos. The crew is terrific and the expedition program is both fun and educational. I was so sad to leave the ship yesterday. 😞

[WesW]

Fair Winds and Following Seas JP and Chris (and  RachelG (and George), and Smoky Angus (Anne & Bob).  Have a terrific expedition voyage and enjoy the hikes!

Edited June 1, 2023 by WesW

[daddyo]

We’ll be on board and really looking forward to it!

[Balian65]

Just to give you some impressions from the running cruise from Hamburg to Helsinki. Weather has been mostly nice all of the wind, although it could have been a little former and less windy the last days. The ship and the hotel crew are performing quite well. No big issues with food or service.

 

Most of the places we visited so far were interesting natural hotspots although there are only quite a few wow experiences . The expedition team is experienced and knows how to run operations.
 

As this is Silversea‘s first attempt on a Scandinavian expedition cruise there a quite a few lessons to learn. Whilst experienced the expedition crew has a lack of experience in the Baltic region, the Scandinavian culture and the local climate. They do have local guides in many harbors but these have often a small to none existing experience in dealing with the audience of a international cruise ship and the problem is not the language.

 

So excursions were a mixture between hits and misses. Sometimes the groups were much too big sometimes they was nobody taking the lead. And sometimes the title of the excursion was completely inadequate.

 

Hopefully many of the lessons are learnt for the next cruise and your experience will be even better. If you have any questions concerning special items and excursions feel free to ask.

 

 

[Neilio]

This is/was an Expedition Cruise?

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Neilio said:

This is/was an Expedition Cruise?

 

It is! In reality it will be more "expedition lite" but we're definitely going to places off the beaten path and there should be a nice mixture of tours. I'm really looking forward to a break from the hot weather, as it's been over 90 degrees here in Albany the past few days.

 

Thanks to @Balian65 for the update on the current leg. I don't expect a super smooth operation on these types of expeditions as they are more akin to "repositioning" cruises. The ships just don't visit here enough to have the experience down pat. It seems like the naturalists are exploring the area along with us and I've always had fun with that. The stops look very interesting nonetheless.

 

Well, we did some preliminary packing last night and we have too much stuff. So the choice is, to check a bag or to bring fewer things. We'll probably try the latter first. We haven't checked a bag (unless we're bringing wine home from a trip) since Covid. Between the casual dress for an expedition, and free laundry, we don't really need that much.

 

Hopefully LAexNY is safely arrived and settled in, enjoying Helsinki and those long summer nights that never end! We can check in online in about 50 minutes. Or less. Who's counting?

Edited June 1, 2023 by jpalbny