Finland - 1

Icebreaker Sampo Cruise and Snow Castle Winter Park

It was ambitious to plan this activity after arriving the night before, but we were excited to start exploring and rested on the shuttle bus on the way to the town of Kemi, which was about a 2-hour drive from our pick-up location. When we arrived at the harbor, we loaded the impressive ship and embarked on a 4-hour Icebreaker cruise on the Gulf of Bothnia. After we powerfully crashed through some icy channels (which was cold but amazing to watch from the bow of the ship, so bundle up!), we anchored down and experienced ice floating, walked and pulled a sled on the frozen sea, and took memorable pictures at the front of the ship. 

On the way back to the harbor, the kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt activity throughout the ship. Upon exiting the Sampo, we each received a diploma. 

The shuttle bus then took us to visit an ice castle. Included in our experience was admission to the SnowExperience356 exhibition room, which was a room full of ice sculptures and fast and fun ice slides, as well as a buffet lunch.

pros and cons

Our oldest daughter woke up feeling nauseous and could not join us. Thankfully, we were granted a full refund for her ticket since the rest of our party was present. This was truly a unique and once in a lifetime experience and though it was the most expensive activity we booked this entire trip for our family, we felt it was worth the splurge. However, it was a long cruise and the kids got bored during some of the down time. I was happy bundled in my hooded jacket, soaking in the scenery from the bow of the ship, but the kids got too cold and sat inside.

The SnowExperience 365 was neat to see, but it was just a room and we exited to have our lunch in another area of the building. For some reason, we had the impression that we would be eating in the ice room, but this was not the case. The lunch buffet was decent, but nothing to write home about. All in all, it was worth it for us, but I hope this provides enough information to gauge whether the hefty price is worth the experience for you. 