Viking line’s M/S Gabriella and M/S Mariella ply the route between Helsinki and stockholm daily. Except for some backpackers getting cheaply from a to b, the 48-hour round trip is used for one chief purpose: the intensive sale and consumption of tax-free alcohol. Monocle booked a berth on the baltic booze cruise and witnessed up close the teenagers, swingers and hard-drinking sailors stocking up and knocking back.

Get on, get hammered, get off. Not the official company line of course, but a revision of the responsible “Eat, Drink and Be Merry” slogan advertising the M/S Gabriella, one of two vessels the Viking Line operates between Stockholm and Helsinki. Gabriella’s diplomatic captain, Henrik Grönvik, is quick to sing his Finnish employer’s praises, “We are the popular choice. Viking Line is recognised as the people’s cruise.”

It’s something the numbers confirm. Passenger volume on Viking Line’s Stockholm, Helsinki, Kapellskär, Mariehamn, Turku and Tallinn…