From Rovaniemi: Icebreaker Sampo Cruise and icefloating

Amazing

Me and @mienitrips loved this tour. An incredible experience, everything happened on time and organized, we left Rovaniemi on schedule. An incredible experience to be able to navigate in a breaking ice, the part of the diving was also incredible. Walking in the ice is taking a picture in the proa of the ship. We loved everything, the staff was very solicited and proactive, a Spanish girl who was dressed in rena, was super friendly with us gave us various information. The photo service has an extra cost, but it was super worth it as you can take amazing photos throughout the experience on board. Unfortunately you cannot use drone, but not that spoiled our experience. We mentioned this tour a lot, we saw some negative comments here, but I think you can ignore it. It is good that we have not taken this comment into account. It was the best walk.

via Viator (translated)

Once in a lifetime experience!

Beautiful experience and breathtaking views! Unforgettable swimming in the ice at -25 degrees during a sunny day. Everything was perfectly organized, the guide super helpful and even the food amazed me, good and plentiful for everyone! Nice idea to award a diploma to everyone!

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Do Not Use Logic When Joining This Tour

Chaotic arrangements, read this before your tour: 1. Coach Pickup: You might see ‘Arktis’ written in front of the coach with no mention of ‘Sampo’. 2. Getting a Seat on the Cruise: Good luck… initially the only seats available (ie you won’t be kicked out) are opposite the bar. Capacity <20 people. 3. Ice Floating – Photos: There are NO staff taking photos, and you physically can’t take photos after wearing the survival suit. Try booking each person in your party individually/ request your party be split into different coloured groups (ie different timings). 4. Coach Return: DO NOT get off your coach without asking the driver where the coach ultimately goes/ further transfer instructions. Our return coach was NOT THE SAME as our initial coach. Now for the long read – I suspect you will still book the tour as it’s a monopoly (I know of nowhere else where you can board an icebreaker), but be ready for disappointment and please SUSPEND LOGICAL THINKING for the day. My head hurt that night from all the easy, logical solutions Kemi Tourism (the organisers) could have taken to make the tour much better (but didn’t). I’ve listed my experience chronologically, there are slight differences between different coloured groups: 1. Coach Pickup: Our ticket included a coach pick-up from Rovaniemi (where we were staying). However, the coach which turned up had ‘Arktis’ written in big, bold letters, with a much smaller font saying ‘Icebreaker Cruise’ (only visible when we literally stood in front of the coach). Luckily we remembered Arktis is Sampo’s twin sister, so we approached the driver to get clarity that the coach serves both cruises – otherwise we would have missed the whole cruise altogether. It would have saved a lot of confusion if ‘Icebreaker Cruise’ was written in big bold letters, and ‘Arktis/ Sampo’ was written instead of just ‘Arktis’. 2. Checking-In: Our coach dropped us off at the SnowCastle area for check-in. Despite entering our full names when purchasing our ticket, the staff asked us to enter our full names again onto their excel (using their computer). I see four main problems with this; (a) I strongly suspect this breaks GDPR as I can see other passengers’ names/ personal details, (b) people can, and have, entered their names in various formats (all caps/ last name caps/ potentially mixing order of first/ middle/ last names), which would create an inconsistent passenger list, (c) I could have created havoc by deleting the whole excel/ messed with their computer and outdated system, (d) the whole process was painfully slow (and hence the queue wasn’t short). Kemi Tourism should have a pre-populated excel/ system where staff only verify the passenger list/ names. 3. Check-In – Information Given: See the attached image – colour bingo anyone? It would be much easier for passengers if they were simply given a schedule only listing their group’s timings. I don’t know if people who are colour-blind will find accessibility issues with this/ have difficulty differentiating their own group. 4. SnowExperience365: There’s a reason it’s included within the ticket (instead of an optional payable extra)… not horrible but we didn’t find it particularly special. 5. Transfer to Harbour: ‘Arktis’ passengers left the SnowCastle area first. There were no loudspeaker announcements, only staff shouting in the reception area. We might have missed the transfer/ boarded the wrong one if we veered too far from reception. To avoid confusion, Kemi Tourism could have stuck labels in front of coaches and listed/ updated correct timings and arrangements on the screens in the SnowCastle area. 6. Ship Floor Plan: Non-existent. They were not given when we checked-in, nor when we boarded, and not shown around the ship (there were engineering drawings of Sampo on the ship, but they were very technical and not in English). This meant we had to find our way around Sampo ourselves, which we eventually did, but I would prefer not having to pass through the restaurant area, or going around in circles multiple times. It would have helped if the backside of the schedule we received showed Sampo’s floor plan. 7. Seating (initial): The buffet lunch and guided tours started soon after we boarded – which meant both the restaurant and bar seating areas were closed off/ passengers not in the relevant groups were asked to move. The only seating left was a small area opposite the bar seating area, with a capacity of <20 – not quite sufficient when Sampo could take 180 (as advertised on Kemi Tourism’s website). We even heard staff exclaiming Sampo can’t take the number of passengers onboard. Oh, and even if you bought food from the restaurant/ drinks from the bar you do not have seating options in the relevant areas due to other groups needing that space. 8. Guided Tour/ Ice Floating Instructions: We didn’t find the tour particularly informative, but I attribute this to our guide instead of the experience as a whole – other staff/ guides seemed more friendly and engaging. My biggest gripe though were the ice floating instructions given at the end of the tour. Our guide basically repeated what the video showed (the video was also looped on various screens around Sampo), without explaining anything. I think the principle behind going down the stairs was go forwards when the staircase is wide/ shallow (ie deck to ice), but backwards when it is narrow/ steep (ie deck to dressing room), but our guide didn’t explain this, which meant our group had to figure it out (or not) ourselves. 9. Buffet Lunch Timings: We were in the black group so had lunch scheduled at 1450 (in reality we didn’t get a seat until 1510)… three hours after my normal lunchtime. We didn’t know about this until we checked-in so haven’t brought any snacks with us, nor did we have a big breakfast. Better-timed groups seem to be allocated to package tour parties. Timings would have been much better if the cruise started 1.5hrs earlier. Upside… we get seating in the restaurant area all the way until our Ice Floating session! 10. ‘Icebreaking’: This should have been one of the highlights given we were on an icebreaker… but we simply didn’t see it during daylight hours. From the moment we boarded to the end of our guided tour, Sampo simply followed pre-opened shipping channels, where no icebreaking was required. I suspect we also turned back on ourselves at one point (so all passengers had enough time for lunch?), but we continued on the pre-opened shipping channels thereafter. Based on the rumblings we heard, Sampo might have been icebreaking when we had lunch, but (a) we were in the restaurant area, and (b) even if we were on the deck, it was already dark, hence we wouldn’t have seen much action either. 11. Ice Floating – Photos: As mentioned above, there are NO staff taking photos, and the design of the survival suit meant we couldn’t take photos ourselves once in them. There were staff in the dressing room area helping you get into the survival suits, there were staff on the deck guiding passengers, they were staff standing on the ice/ sea helping people get in/ out of the water… but NO staff was allocated for photo taking. Given the price of the tour, and the cramming of passengers onboard, one would expect Kemi Tourism to be experts at ripping-off tourists… just not when it came to photo taking/ charging extra for photos. We even asked at the end of our guided tour whether there’ll be staff taking photos – to which our guide couldn’t give a straight answer. So if you want photos of the experience, try booking each person in your party individually, or request your party be split into different coloured groups so everyone goes ice floating at a different time – the obvious issue here being you’ll also be separated for the guided tour, and possibly the buffet lunch. 12. Coach Return – Instructions (lack of): By now we were not expecting much organisation… there were announcements made near the end of the Sampo cruise but it was muffled and we couldn’t make out much. Our expectation was we would board the same coach that took us to the harbour, get off at the SnowCastle area, then change to the original coach that took us from Rovaniemi to Kemi. Hint: look at the title of this review. 13. Coach Return: Our first leg was fine. We got off at the SnowCastle area, then headed inside to find our coach timings/ further instructions – there was a queue to get on the coach we alighted, but we didn’t think more of it. Inside, the screens said the coach to Rovaniemi departs at 1800 (we arrived something like 1815) – we meant we missed our coach?! The coach we took in the morning was nowhere to be seen, and the only coach available (ie not parked/ had ‘private tour’ labelled in front of it) was the one we just alighted. After a bit of panic, we asked the coach driver who said he would actually go all the way to Rovaniemi. All good… but there was only standing capacity left. And the sticker above the door clearly stated ‘0’ standing capacity. Turns out our coach would drop passengers off in Kemi, freeing up seats, before heading to Rovaniemi. So in the end, we only had to stand for 10-15 minutes, but that was 10-15 minutes more than what we expected, or was legally permitted. It would have helped if the coach transfers followed the morning schedule/ arrangements, and again, simple destination labels stuck on the front window of the coaches would make it much clearer where each coach was heading. Conclusion: This is a one-in-a-lifetime experience of poor management and disorganised arrangements. The whole concept of cruising on an icebreaker, and floating in the frozen ocean was great, but we felt there wasn’t enough explanation of Sampo’s features, uniqueness, or historic value, which was further let down by illogical and half-baked organisation. There were multiple occasions where there was a real risk we could have missed our coach transfers, and I hope this review will (a) encourage Kemi Tourism to review and improve their arrangements, or at the very least, (b) help other passengers navigate the chaotic arrangements and set realistic expectations.

Response from the operator: Dear Rex Chiu, Thank you sincerely for taking the time to share such a detailed and thoughtful account of your experience. We are truly sorry that your long awaited icebreaker cruise turned into a day filled with confusion, frustration, and avoidable problems. Reading your review was difficult, but incredibly important for us. Your message highlights issues across nearly every part of the customer journey, which means this is not just a single mistake. It is something we must address as a company, together, from start to finish. Even though your review is from last winter season, it is still an important part of understanding and improving our customer journey. We believe and truly hope that many aspects of the experience have already improved since then, but rest assured your feedback will continue to serve as a guideline for what we must never allow to happen again. Please know that I will personally bring your full feedback to our management team and to every department involved in the service chain: transportation, check-in, harbour coordination, onboard staff, guiding teams, and scheduling. Your review will not be taken lightly. We are committed to a full internal review and to using your comments, point by point, as a roadmap for improvements. Thank you once again, genuinely, for writing all of this out in such detail. Your feedback is valuable far beyond a simple complaint! It offers us a clear structure of where we must improve to provide a safe, smooth, and enjoyable experience for future guests. We share your hope that these insights lead to meaningful change, and we are committed to making that happen. On behalf of our entire staff, please accept our deepest apologies and our heartfelt gratitude! We truly appreciate the time you took to help us improve! Thank you.

via Tripadvisor

Everyone must do this...

Everyone must do this once in a lifetime.It was my first experinece of travelling to this kind of remote location But I enjoyed every second of my life there.

via Viator

Not worth it at all

Very unimpressed with this tour. The entire thing was pretty chaotic with little to no communication. The tour of the ship was very quick and our guide just showed us the rooms and then asked if we had questions. No interesting facts or information beyond what you can read in the brochure. Lunch was fine, but not great. Both the water at our table and the hot water for tea were empty long before lunch was over. The most disappointing part, for us anyways, was that you get zero photos of the ice float portion. For the money paid, you would think there would be a photographer or a picture package you could buy. So many other tours that I've been on do this, and they charge a lot less. I would not do this again and definitely do not recommend it. The 10 minutes you get to float are not worth the huge cost and an entire day of your vacation.

via Tripadvisor