Ship or Boat from Finland to Germany

network_engineer · Post by **network_engineer** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:55 pm

Hi all,

Anybody know of shipping lines from Finland to Germany? I suppose there was something from Hanko (?) to Rostock? Any other ideas?

Thanks.

Cheers!

PS: Yeah, it is related to my earlier post, I thought I would drive, wife, dog, all!

**Sponsor:**

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Mon May 04, 2009 3:14 pm

Finnlines run a service between Helsinki and Traavemenude. Be aware that they run two types of ship (or at least they did last time I used them) and the older ships take significantly longer. Quite a pleasant trip but a bit slow and pricey.

I know someone who took some dogs from Finland to the UK. There was some vaccination needed between, I think, 24 and 48 hours before entering the UK. The only sensible option was to get the dogs vaccinated in Traavemunde, so they had to book a vet there. I know no more than that though.

dave071061 · Post by **dave071061** » Mon May 04, 2009 3:43 pm

network_engineer wrote:Hi all,

Anybody know of shipping lines from Finland to Germany? I suppose there was something from Hanko (?) to Rostock? Any other ideas?

Thanks.

Cheers!

PS: Yeah, it is related to my earlier post, I thought I would drive, wife, dog, all!

There is a ferry from Turku to Rostock, however I would think carefully about putting your dogs on it as it takes about 36hrs (Long time for a dog to go without a tree) Much pet friendlier is to Sweden and drive down.

dampa · Post by **dampa** » Mon May 04, 2009 5:38 pm

dave071061 wrote:
There is a ferry from Turku to Rostock, however I would think carefully about putting your dogs on it as it takes about 36hrs (Long time for a dog to go without a tree) Much pet friendlier is to Sweden and drive down.

I have been made to understand there is a place where the dogs can do their thing on board

AldenG · Post by **AldenG** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:22 pm

dampa wrote: I have been made to understand there is a place where the dogs can do their thing on board

Ah, so is THAT why every ship has a log...

Mikie · Post by **Mikie** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:37 pm

Not sure of your originating port, but there is also Helsinki-Rostock with Silja-Tallink. It ends up being just under 30hrs as you need to get there early with the car (took my motorcycle the opposite direction). Actual travel time is under 24hrs.

dave071061 · Post by **dave071061** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:17 pm

dampa wrote:
dave071061 wrote:
There is a ferry from Turku to Rostock, however I would think carefully about putting your dogs on it as it takes about 36hrs (Long time for a dog to go without a tree) Much pet friendlier is to Sweden and drive down.

I have been made to understand there is a place where the dogs can do their thing on board

There is a sandpit which my dogs refuse to use because it smells of wee

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:31 am

The Tallink Ferries run from Hanko to Rostock and the other way round of course. It is not cheap, especially if you take your car. For a share in a 4 person cabin + car it was about 300 euro the last time I did it (2008) and I think that was only the one-way price. The trip is basically 2 days. You get on board at about 21.00, sleep on board for 2 nights and arrive early in the morning of the second day. You can circumvent this by travelling on a Sunday, the Ferry leaves earlier and arrives at night on the following day (something like that anyway) so you just sleep one night on board. The trip is mind-numbingly boring. There is actually little to do on board. Ok, there is a bar, sauna etc., but the brochures make it sound like it's a luxury cruise ship - it's not. You can get drunk the 1st night, sleep in, then go to the buffet lunch, hang around the ship, go to the sauna etc., thats about it. There are no TVs in cabins except for the luxury cabins which are really expensive. The second night, you can't really party if you have a long drive ahead of you early in the morning. Flying is cheaper nowadays, it's only useful if you need to take the car with you, or are moving stuff which will all fit in your car.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:30 am

biscayne wrote:The trip is mind-numbingly boring. There is actually little to do on board.

That is a matter of perception really. What to you was mind-numbingly boring might be incredibly relaxing to someone else. I have never been bored on such a ship. I avoid them because they are slow and expensive, not because of boredom.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:14 pm

Agreed, it is all about perception and is very subjective. If you travel with significant other for example, ok it could be relaxing (though the two-berthed cabins don't have a double bed!!!!), but if you go alone, you are sharing a tiny cabin with 3 people you don't know, so you can't really stay in the cabin all day, and eating only takes up so much time. I love ships and boats of any type, but there honestly weren't many ways to pass the time. Obviously I did all the usual things like reading, walking around on deck etc. Still, the two days passed slowly.

Desundial · Post by **Desundial** » Tue May 05, 2009 1:46 pm

We found something cheaper from finland to maybe rostock, maybe other german port but have been frustraringly not able to find it again. Defiantelyl was a "truckers" ship though. Instead this year once again booked Silja, helsinki to Rostock (only one notch above "trucker's ship". I vote with mind numingly boring, but saves a lot of driving. Or you could just zip to tallin and drive via baltica. A few summers ago we did the Rostock to Helsinki ferry and some friends the via baltica. Same amount of total travel time, maybe a bit less for the via baltica. They had scenary and something new, but had to stay awake and navigate We had 24 hours of fattening up and sleeping, but emerged ready to shoot ourselves. To each his own

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:57 pm

Yeah, even the Tallink ones are definitely "Truckers Ships", and most of the truckers are from Russia. Got nothing against truckers, they bring us all the stuff we use, but these blokes did seem slightly on the "rough" side. I did the trip 3 times, on my own, and frankly was a bit scared. I couldn't really sit in the bar area without being without feeling uncomfortable. Again, I know each to her own, but I still go with "mind numbingly boring". Only did it as was bring cars back and forth.

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