For Finns, the destination or the travel programme is more and more often the reason they take a cruise. A record number of special cruises are being arranged next year – more than one hundred in all. The themes vary from champagne to stand-up comedy and from different musical genres to fashion. Today, there is an especially strong desire for relaxation and down-to-earth themes such as handicrafts and gardening.

When tickets went on sale for the Kaija Koo special cruise on Viking Grace sailing next May, all 2,000 tickets sold out in two hours. Things are selling almost as quickly if travellers want to get a seat on Viking Line’s special departures to Visby next summer – last summer, all four departures were sold out.

Along with artists and unusual destinations, travellers are also increasingly drawn by different themes, which take over the whole vessel or the conference facilities, for example. Next year, Viking Line is arranging more than one hundred special cruises, which is a new record for the company. More than 60,000 passengers in total are expected on these departures.

“There is always a wonderful atmosphere on our special cruises, and they expand people’s notions of what a ship experience is like. These passenger don’t take the special cruises mainly to shop in the tax-free store or marvel at the archipelago views, but instead to enjoy the programmes developed around a shared passion and to meet like-minded people. For us, the special cruises are an effective way to reach target groups that are not interested in traditional cruise products,” says Project Manager Jaakko Ahti, who is in charge of Viking Line’s theme cruises.

Special cruises are experiencing a boom right now, but Viking Line has been arranging such cruises since the 1990s. Just ten years ago, the theme of wellness through self-help was a popular attraction on the company’s special cruises: the focus was mostly on physical well-being and lectures about this. However, the Covid pandemic spotlighted gentler themes and the desire for tangible experiences.

“With Covid, a more relaxed view of wellness started to gain ground. Instead of strict routines and discipline, people started looking for something else that would make them feel good – gardening, cooking and handicrafts are good examples,” says Jaakko Ahti.

“Last spring, we sailed with 150 passionate craftspeople to the legendary craft shop Karnaluks in Tallinn, and this past autumn we headed for the Stitching and Craft Fair in Stockholm. Both trips sold out in just a few days, as did our gardening cruise to Estonia. Passengers usually have their hands full of shopping bags when they leave the vessel, but for the gardening cruise they used carts to wheel berry bushes and summer flowers ashore.”

On the music front, 90s dance and rock are the hot tickets right now. Finnish hip-hop and rap are making gains, and in January Finland’s premier rap artists will gather and perform for a second time on Viking Grace’s cruise The Shipment. But music of a completely different kind also attracts people: The Beatles cruise on Gabriella brought together three generations of fans – including young adults whose grandparents had listened to the Beatles.

“I think the idea of age categories will completely disappear in the future, so that the theme itself will be the most important thing. Anyone between twenty and ninety can be interested in fine vintage wines, gardening cruises or metal music.”

Special cruises, winter and spring 2023-2024

Helsinki–Stockholm

• Wine cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm, December 7–9, 2023
• Rockabilly cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm, January 26, 2024
• BTS goes Stockholm! 60s music from Helsinki to Stockholm, March 16–18, 2024

Helsinki–Tallinn

• Retropenu 90s party cruise – the best songs from the 90s on Viking XPRS’s mini cruise, November 18, 2023
• Eurovision Cruise mini cruise, December 9, 2023
• Finland-Swedish dance cruise to Tallinn, December 13, 2023

Turku–Stockholm

• The Shipment – Modern rap music’s biggest cruise on Viking Grace, January 13–14, 2024
• Flame Jazz Cruise 23 on Viking Grace, February 3, 2024
• Whisky cruise from Turku on Viking Grace, March 22, 2024