MS Viking Cinderella

MS "Viking Cinderella" is a cruiseferry built in 1989 by Wärtsilä Turku shipyard, Finland, as MS "Cinderella" for SF Line, one of the owners of the Viking Line consortium. She's currently used on cruise traffic from Stockholm to Mariehamn and occasionally Riga during the summer.

History

The Cinderella was planned in the later half of the 1980s as the new flagship for SF Line. Her interior layout was based on that of MS "Mariella" but with more space and additional facilities. SF Line originally planned the "Cinderella" to take over the "Mariella"'s place in Helsinki — Stockholm traffic (the "Mariella" would have been placed on a new route from Helsinki to Norrköping). The plan was never realised however, and when completed the "Cinderella" was placed as a third ship on the Helsinki — Stockholm route, with departures from Helsinki on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (at 19.30 instead of the normal 18.00), with a 25 (later 24) hour cruise from Helsinki on Sundays. The one-day cruises proved very popular and after a few years they were made also on Fridays and Saturdays. During 1988-89 SF Line made plans to order a sister for "Cinderella", to be built at Brodogradiliste Split.Fact|date=May 2007 The plan was abandoned when Euroway came in between and made a big two ship order at the yard.In 1993, after the other Viking Line partner Rederi AB Slite went bankrupt, the "Cinderella" took over MS "Olympia"'s place on the Helsinki - Stockholm route, sailing in tandem with the "Mariella". At this time her passenger capacity was upgraded to 2700, but it was soon lowered back to 2500. In autumn 1994 she swapped routes with MS "Isabella", returning to making 24 (later 20) hour cruises from Helsinki to Tallinn. In summers 1995 and 1996 Cinderella sailed on the Turku - Mariehamn - Stockholm route, freeing MS "Rosella" for the seasonal Naantali - Mariehamn - Kapellskär route. In summers 2002 and 2003 "Cinderella" made cruises from Helsinki to Riga in addition to the normal 20 hour Tallinn cruises.

Viking Line decided to withdraw "Cinderella" from the Helsinki - Tallinn route after the end of the 2003 summer seasons, due to increased competition from Tallink's newer MS "Romantika" and the fact tax-free sales on the route would end in 2004 when Estonia joined the EU. "Cinderella" was extensively rebuilt in Naantali, and emerged as the all-white Swedish-flagged "Viking Cinderella" for the Stockholm - Mariehamn 22 hour cruise market. The name change was dictated by nescessity as a ship called Cinderella already existed in the Swedish ship registry. In 2003 the "Viking Cinderella" was declared the most environmentally friendly ship of her size in the world by the Swedish maritime authorities. [cite web |url=http://www.turunsanomat.fi/talous/?ts=1,3:1004:0:0,4:4:0:1:2008-08-30,104:4:561574,1:0:0:0:0:0 |title=Viking Line hahmottelee purjeita ja aurinkovoimaa käyttävää laivaa |accessdate=2008-08-30 |last=Vehmanen |first=Jukka |date=2008-08-30 |publisher=Turun Sanomat |language=Finnish ] From 2004 onwards "Viking Cinderella" made cruises to Riga (via Mariehamn in order to sell tax-free goods) during the summer season in addition to the 22-hour cruises.

Decks

# Engine room
# C-class cabins
# Cardeck
# Cardeck (hydraulic platform that can be lowered to divide the car deck in two giving space for two layers of passenger cars)
# A- and B-class cabins, crew accommodations
# Spa, hot tubs, swimming pool, A- and B-class cabins
# Information desk, Admiral Hornblower's Pub, Sea Side Café, Coffee Bar, Lilla Scenen, children's play room, conference rooms, game arcade, Club Seven Disco, Tax-Free shop, Pearl Beauty Shop, A- and B-class cabins
# Viking Buffét, Food Garden, Sea Food Marseille and Banquet restaurants, Tapas & Grill Wine Bar, casino, Fun club (level 1)
# Conference rooms, Fun Club (level 2), luxury, A- and B-class cabins, suites, sundeck
# Fun Club (level 3), A-class and luxury cabins, suites, crew accommodations
# Bridge, luxury cabins
# sundeck

References

ee also

*Largest ferries of Europe

External links

* [http://www.vikingline.fi/onboard/cinderella/ Viking Line official website for M/S "Cinderella"]

fi:M/S Viking Cinderella
sv:M/S Viking Cinderella