Princess Maria en route to St. Petersburg - Tuesday, 27 September

Geoff
A lazy morning on site at Rastila Camping. I walked to Lidl, fifteen minutes each way to get some ciabattas. Around lunchtime, we took the Metro into Helsinki and then the no. 9 tram to West Terminal. We're beginning to feel like locals now on the public transport system.

At West Terminal, we went through a couple of passport controls and boarded the Princess Maria ferry bound for St. Petersburg. We boarded early and had plenty of time to familiarise ourselves with the on board facilities. Our cabin is functional; it is Russian, after all. There are a couple of restaurants, one Italian and the other, Russian/European (The Explorer). There is also a buffet restaurant and a cafe/bar. For our evening meal, we reserved an early table in The Explorer which proved to be a good move. Although the ship is by no means full, there was a bit of a rush shortly after we sat down, maybe due to the fact that we didn't depart for forty five minutes after the scheduled time.

It was an interesting menu. As starters, Amanda went for the Finnish cream of salmon soup; I had the Ukrainean borsch. Both were good. For the main course, we both had pike perch fillets. These were excellent. Unlike in the UK where chefs can't seem to cook fish without drenching it in butter, these were just lightly grilled and were perfect. We had a very good bottle of dry German Riesling.

We wandered round the duty free shop. Purely for cooking back home, we bought very inexpensive bottles of brandy and dark rum. Also available were litre bottles of vodka for as little as €2.50 (much cheaper than lighter fuel!).

Amanda

I was never quite sure whether this bit of the adventure would actually happen, but here we are, foot passengers on the good ship Princess Maria on our way to St Petersburg! TripAdvisor reviews of this visa-free two night, one day cruise varied significantly in their assessment of the ferry, so we boarded with an open mind. Yes, she is a bit faded and old-fashioned, and not absolutely huge, but all the better for all that as far as I am concerned. Our basic outside cabin is just that, but totally adequate with two berths rather than the bunks I expected. And, of course, a treat to have our own shower and loo.

We were warned to check in in good time because the formalities took some time, so got to the terminal (by Metro and tram) soon after check in opened at 3 pm. It was a breeze, all very quiet, and we were through and boarded in no time. This left us with plenty of time to explore while the ship was pretty empty, although it is still fairly quiet, and by no means full. It also meant we had time to do some reading up on St Petersburg and attempt to plan the best use of the day tomorrow.

We booked a table at the smartest restaurant, with an a la carte Russian/European menu, although there is a good choice of restaurants and it all sounded appetising. We ate early, just as the ship left port at 6.30. It was a very good meal and bottle of wine indeed - nice surroundings, good service and a window table so we could watch the sunset.

After an unrushed meal, a walk around the deck and a browse around the duty free shop, where Geoff bought some bargain rum and brandy for cooking purposes, and the casino (where we confessed that the closest either of us had been to a casino was James Bond films!) and we are settled back in our cabin and just about ready for bed! We are due to arrive at 8.30 am.