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A Finnish Ferry to Finland From Poland
What a Finnish Ferry to Finland is like.-- It is worth trying?
Departing from Austria, my
Mom and Dad donate their car to me. I am ready to travel by
car to Finland. And ok, I don't mind a bit of driving.
So, it is decision time about...
What ferry to Finland am I going to take, and from what country?
Considering
Some route
options.
A scenic driving tour through Sweden, means firstly, catching
a ferry from Germany to Dennmark. Then, another
ferry from Dennmark
to Sweden. Topped off with a looong 10 -12 hour drive through
Sweden, then...another ferry to Finland from: Stockholm or
Kapellskär Sweden: to Turku,
Finland. No thanks!
How about traveling from Austria or another southern european
origin to Finland? That means driving through Czech, Poland,
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia then catching a ferry to Finland from
Taliinn. A challenging drive! Not fast. Nor easy!
So I choose the easy and comfy way. And the price is not too heavy on
the pocket book.
Doing a bit of shopping around with different ferry companies is a
good first. For me, the real benefit by driving up to Gdynia, Poland...
- Getting a good nights sleep on the ferry, since the trip takes 18 hours.
- Less intoxicated passengers to put up with
(That depends which ferry you choose.)
- Price
Driving
through Southern Europe to Gdynia Poland.
While driving through Czech Republic and Poland, a
local hard copy versioned map, or an up-to-date GPS navigator is a
must. I got lost a few times along the winding sub-alpine
roads between Czech and Poland. Not worth repeating.
Enter the address of the Gdynia port into the navigator. Pay
for the local road tax tags in Czech repubic.
A detailed map of printed directions helped guide me from the outskirts
of Gdynia city to the terminal port.
At the port of Gdynia ready to
catch my Finnish ferry to Helsinki.
There is my Ferry boat.
The Finnmaid
can take up to 500 passengers. Container upon container is loaded
onto the vessel. 
A small crowd of less than 100 passengers -Romantic! A picture
of the
passengers and vehicles that are waiting to boarding our boat. This picture literally
shows our human cargo.
As you see ...there are not so many passengers on this finnish ferry to
Finland.
Quite comfortable to take your family on board. Children can
move
around the area whithout getting lost in other crowds of people. Not to
mention there is a decent play area for children on-board.
Benefit: Fewer
people on the ferry means more free space to move around.
Remember, once you park your car in the lower level of the
ship, you no longer
have access to it.
Passenger hallways - clean and shiny!
The
rooms of the ship are sanitary. Here is a view of my bathroom
and
shower.
Finnish ferry
to Finland from Poland -- Let's Sail...
The Baltic Sea scenery around port of Gdynia.
View of Gdynia twenty minutes after departure. Right 'starboard' side
of ship. The camera is facing the stern of the ferry.
Need to land your helicopter on a ferry?
The on board
monitor/televison in each cabin of the MS Finnline Finnmaid shows a map
of our route taking us along the coast of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
on to Helsinki.
My ticket included: Vehicle Boarding card ; 3 Meal cards ;
Keycard for a room without a window. All for 218 Euros.
Announcements are regularly broadcast throughout the ship in Finnish,
German and English languages. Like: "Lunch is served
on deck 11", and other important security messages.
First meal
- Lunch
Lunch: For starters: Vendace Muikku,
pineapple, dill pickle, mushrooms in a pasta souce, scrambled egg with
dill, pumpkin in a sweet marinated sauce. Potatoes with lettuce.
Main dish:(No picture) Noodles, Beef, berry souce. The beef is cooked
with wine and the berry balances out the beefy stewy flavor quite well.
A selection of 10 other types of foods available to try.
Plenty to
choose from, and "All You Can Eat"! style buffet.
Desert: Creamy caramel tapioca with chocolate chips.
Now it's...
 ...Sauna Time!
Oh yeah!
The boats sauna suits folks who do not do hot sauna's
regularly. Here we combine sauna with
a whirlpool -- Helps relax the muscles.
There are written and illustrated directions how to use this sauna
and whirlpool before entering.
First shower, then go to the sauna hot room.
Then go into the whirlpool, start it up by pressing the rubber button
at the rear of the tub.
Stay in the whilpool for maximum duration of 15 minutes.
The whirlpool
Now that I have lost liquids from my body...I
will need to get the salts back
into my body after a sauna and whirlpool. Sooo...
Dinner is served: (no picture) Kaviar, and Greek salad with black and
green olives do the trick. Main course: Fresh Norwegian Salmon with
rice. -- A flavory combination.
After a good nights sleep...Breakfast time!
Plate of fruit including a peach, kiwi, honey-melon,
baked sausages and scrambled eggs. A bowl of muesli and plate of dried
plums, apricots.
Shortly after breakfast. My ferry to Finland is a few hundred meters
from the port of Helsinki at the Vuosaari terminal.
An announcement across the PA system... "All passengers with
vehicles to bottom deck please"! That is my cue!
I head down to the
bottom level of the ferry, find my car and wait for the crew to open
the bay doors.
Though it was only the end of August, the temperature dropped 11
degrees celcius between leaving Poland and arrival in
Finland. Cold enough to have an extra sweat shirt or light jacket to
use.
Importing a passenger car via ferry to Finland ?
Bringing
a vehicle into Finland purchased within an EU country?
The steps I took...
At the country of origin. In this case, Austria.
- The seller of the vehicle and
I fill out a
concise version of our "Kaufvertrag" or "Sales Agreement" - Get
receipts, and make 2 copies of each.
- Get both parts I and II of the
"Zulassungschein"
bring them with. I have the original licence plates on the vehicle
while driving up to Finland, allowing me to drive the vehicle
in Finland, once registered in Finland, for 90 days.
After arriving to Finland with a passenger car.
Exit the ferry, drive through customs, park the vehicle at customs in
Vuosaari. Then...
- At the port in Helsinki Vuosaari...Fill
out a paper called "Imoitus
Ajoneuvon Käyttöönotosta, submit it to the customs folks
at Vuosaari.
- Drive to your destination and get the
vehicle registered
immediately. Pay a minimal fee for the submission of foreign paperwork.
Have a talk with the folks at the DMV or Finnish registration what to
do next?
--No need to
buy extra vehicle insurances in Finland if you have a
really generous relative.--
During the registration of a new
vehicle into Finland there is the option of buying a temporary licence
plate and vehicle insurance. (If you have an insurance company in
Finland arlready you use.)
I choose to keep the Austrian licence plates since I purchased the
vehicle from my dad who agreed to pay for insurances in Austria for 90
days after the purchase. --Thanks Dad!
- After registration. Take all your papers
with to the nearest customs office, or Tulli in Finnish.
Like: Patamäenkatu 18, Tampere. Submit paperwork to customs and wait
for
a reply. My tax on the vehicle is about 30 percent of the
book value of the car in Finland.
A rough way of how much tax to pay on your newly imported
vehicle into Finland. Find your car on the internet for sale in Finland
and multiply that sales price by .30.
- After paying all taxes on the vehicle, go
back to registration and change the plates over to Finnish
licence plates.
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My best Ferry to Finland experience while transporting a vehicle.
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