I took this ferry to save on an airfare. I had no idea what I was in for

Just before 5pm, the MS Silja Serenade slips out of Stockholm and disappears into the blackness of a mid-December night. Onboard, it smells like a seafood buffet and perfume testers. Slot machines chirp. I start to wonder if I’ve boarded the wrong ferry. This feels less like public transport and more like a floating Vegas.

I’d never taken an overnight ferry before, but when my partner discovered it was cheaper than flying from Stockholm to Helsinki, he booked us a €90 cabin, figuring it was a chance to try something new.

Economy cabin on Silja Serenade.

Our C-economy cabin is buried deep beneath the cars and trucks on deck two. Inside, there are two narrow bunks, a tiny desk and a small private bathroom. It’s basic but clean and comfortable for a night’s sleep.

We drop our bags and head upstairs. The ship’s promenade is a fluorescent corridor lined with tax-free shops, bars and restaurants. There’s a Tommy Hilfiger outlet, a Moomin store and a shop called Luxury selling Ray-Bans and Coach handbags. But the real action is at the duty-free superstore, where passengers pile trolleys high with vodka, wine and cartons of cigarettes like they’re prepping for a hedonistic apocalypse.

Silja Serenade’s promenade is lined with shops and restaurants.

On deck 12, there’s a sauna, a spa and a hairdresser. The premium suites and cabins are stacked above us on decks eight through 11. In hindsight, I would’ve paid an extra €60 for one of the nicer rooms we glimpse from the glass elevator

Back on the promenade, a man is doing Neil Diamond covers at the pub, a queue wraps around the buffet entrance and children chase each other between slot machines. We find a table in the pub, planning to have a quiet beer and call it an early night. It’s a ferry, we reason. How wild could it get?

By 9pm, the ship begins to shimmer. Puffer jackets are replaced with sequined tops, glittery dresses and a surprising number of high heels for a vessel somewhere in the middle of the Baltic. A Gatsby-themed cabaret is in full swing in the lounge.

The Starlight Lounge hosts entertainment aboard Silja Serenade.

At the next table, a group of Estonian men clink glasses and shout over the music. Looking around, it’s clear that everyone knows exactly what kind of night they’ve signed up for – everyone except us.

It’s 1am. The sequined dancers have clocked off, but an Eastern European band takes over the stage, and the dance floor is still going strong. The music swings between Swedish, Finnish and English, ABBA one minute, Euro-disco the next.

What we thought would be a quiet night on a ferry has turned into a lay-over on the Vegas Strip. On the walk back to our cabin, the bars still buzz. Parents sip drinks while their kids sleep across lounge chairs with makeshift blankets made from jackets spread over them.

In the morning, people queue quietly for coffee. The same strollers that carried children rattle with bottles of vodka.

MS Silja Serenade.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Just one of those weird, wonderful travel surprises you mentally file under stories to tell later. Then, a month later, I posted a five-second reel on Instagram for a laugh. It hit two million views in 48 hours. Comments flooded in from Finns, Swedes, and Estonians. Apparently, I’d stumbled into a very Baltic, very boozy ritual that’s been going strong since the 1970s.

A blogger named Nordiciiru put it best: I’d found the most popular way for Finns to go “abroad”. Another user, britmaike, described it as a classic student move – ferry to Riga on a Friday, back on Saturday. “Two nights of party cruise and a half-day city trip.”

Most comments hinted that the ferry is the way to stock up on duty-free cigarettes and booze. Some people still come for that. Others come for the entertainment. The chaos. The nostalgia. The shared experience of partying at sea and waking up in another country, slightly dazed, slightly hungover, and with a story.

It confirmed what I’d only started to suspect on board. This wasn’t just a way to get from A to B. It was a cultural phenomenon.

THE DETAILS

FERRY
The Tallink Silja Line ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki departs daily at 4.45pm. Economy C-class cabins start at €111, while standard promenade-view rooms for one to four people begin from about €230, depending on the season. Eurail pass holders get a 20 per cent discount on tickets. See tallink.com/en

FLY
Qatar Airways operates flights from Sydney to Stockholm, via Doha. See qatarairways.com

The writer travelled at her own expense.

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