Wednesday 18 June 2014

Early summer sights

The summer season in Tallinn is on and going for a while now. Some regular ferry timetables have changed and most remarkably, Mariella and Gabriella of Viking Line, usually on Stockholm - Helsinki route, have started doing short trips to Tallinn instead of staying in Helsinki all day. During this peak season the Gulf of Finland is crossed by ferries about 38 times a day, depending on the day of the week. The weather and my hectic schedules have prevented me well from going out to watch the cruise ships. Nevertheless, I'm slowly getting started at a new and very enjoyable job where one of the locations is the cruise area of the harbour, which gives me nice views and spotting possibilities every now and then. So, in the weeks that have passed since my last post I've actually collected a nice bunch of photos I'd like to share with you.

Mariella approaching Tallinn. According to my data, not counting the test drive she did in December 2013,  it's the first time since 1996 - I'm not sure though, so if you know anything about it, please tell me. ☺

Fleetmates Viking XPRS and Mariella with Superstar minding her own business in the background.

Two sisters and former fleetmates - Mariella and Princess Anastasia - moored right next to each other. Although they often meet in and near Helsinki and Stockholm, they usually stay at different parts of the city. 

The behind of Celebrity Eclipse and Gabriella minding her own business in the background. I don't have any data of Gabriella ever visiting Tallinn before, so all info is, once again, more than welcome.

The bow of Celebrity Eclipse

Demonstrating the modern cleaning methods of big ships

Viking XPRS and another fleetmate - this time Gabriella

Gabriella heading out

Aidabella departing some time ago

Tallinn Old City Marina

Finlandia backing out of the harbour

Silja Europa, coming from Visby, and Marina

Adventure of the Seas

Marina and Adventure of the Seas

The ship that needs not be named, Baltic Queen and Silja Europa

The bow of Adventure of the Seas with three Helsinki ferries - Superstar of Tallink, Finlandia of Eckerö Line and Viking XPRS of Viking Line.

And finally, a small challenge - here's a panorama photo of the Tallinn harbour area - go ahead, spot and name all ships present at the harbour.