Bio
Entertainment | Education | Adventure
Topi Ylönen is a pioneering entertainment and event manager from Finland and the first internationally working Cruise Director, Manager of Entertainment and Program Manager from his country within cruise industry.
As the Manager of Entertainment Topi has a proven track record of success both on and off stage, leading a team of 100+ team members and directing the daily and long-term entertainment strategy onboard.
Topi grew up and studied a bachelor's degree of Education in Finland, prior beginning his career in the field of entertainment, in which he started initially with resort and holiday club entertainment before moving to work at the cruise industry.
In his work Topi combines the skills gained from his studies in education, theatre, screen writing and story telling. This is along with the hands on experience of event management and team leading, based on an efficient combination of emotional intelligence leadership and attentive business strategy.
Topi has most recently worked onboard the most exclusive privately owned mega-yacht; The World as the Program Manager in charge of planning and delivering the overall onboard enrichment, entertainment and activities program.
Whenever Topi is not onboard a ship you can find him on his motorbike.. or sailing.. or hiking.. or ..somewhere in the world chasing thrills and new experiences.
HOSTING
As a host I use my personality, lingual/cultural understanding and situational comedy to make the events I host lively and comfortable.
The jobs of Cruise Director and Program Manager include to be the master of ceremony for a number of various events from cocktail parties, game-shows and onboard TV productions to more generic stage show presenting.
On right, a short documentary "Topi of the Caribbean" by the Finnish National Broadcasting company (YLE), filmed in 2018.
Entertainment
SINGING
Music has been a daily part of my life since my teens. In the early years solely for my own enjoyment but through the decades more and more on stage and in the corners of pubs..
On left, a show trailer of our 50's & 60's Rock 'n Roll Show; Topi & the Top Dogs.
DANCING
I do enjoy any form of physical performance and dancing always came to me naturally, so no wonder it made only sense to put all I've learned together into one choreography. And all of course in order to get some giggles from the crowd.
On right, my rendition of the so called "Evolution of Dance", originally made famous by Comedian Judd Laipply.
Education
Bachelor Degree,
Education
HUMAK, University of Applied & Humanities Sciences
Associate Degree,
Youth & Leisure Work
Partaharju Folk School,
Adventure, Recreation, Leisure
Associate Degree,
Theater & Drama
Lahti School of
Performing Arts
LECTURE
Sailing the South Pacific
An adventure across the greatest of the oceans on a Catamaran. These 70 minutes will bring a personal recollection of not only the incredible, rare and exotic destinations, but also an in-depth view to ones personal experience and learning, that only can be achieved through the solitude of the high seas.
Adventure
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Sailing,
South Pacific
How 'bout sailing across the Pacific from Panama to Australia for eight months?
"I've never sailed before,
let's do it!"
Roadtrip,
Route 66
Driving by myself from Miami to New York, Chicago and the Route 66 to Los Angeles sounded like a good idea at the time, turned out it was.
Train Ride,
Trans-Siberian Rail
Train ride from Helsinki through Russia and Mongolia to Hong Kong. With all the clanking, short sleeps - but you'll get used to it.
Climbing,
Kilimanjaro
Me and my "Mountain Madness" walked up the worlds tallest free-standing mountain in Tanzania (and yes, "MM" was the name of our guide).
Backpacking,
South East Asia
No plan, no return ticket. Just a desire to find myself from somewhere. Ended up doing exactly that from Singapore to Vietnam.
Roadtrip,
New Zealand
How much of south and north islands can you experience in two weeks? turns out, a lot.
Motorbiking,
East Europe
What to do when you finally get your motorbike
license? Get 9000 km in three months on those tires of course.
Cruising,
North West Passage
This incredible and remote passage from Greenland to Alaska has apparently plenty of Polar Bears.
