On May 6 2015, I will once again find myself heading north to south, as I set-off to join Saga Sapphire on a 16-night Baltic cruise.

Yes, you read correctly, I said Saga Sapphire, and I can now see the puzzled looks on your faces – let me shed more light.

Since I started my blog, one of my biggest goals has been convincing non-cruisers that a holiday at sea is not just for the elderly or very wealthy, and that an adult-only ship does not ALWAYS mean the passengers are simply passing time until the inevitable. It is no secret that Saga is often joked about and ridiculed because of the so called “average” age of its passengers – the comedians at sea love to give the old “midnight buffet is at 7pm and everyone is in bed by 9pm on a Saga ship” joke to an adoring audience, but is it REALLY like that? Well, that is what I am going to go and find out!

I am 20 years off the 50+ age restriction that comes with Saga, but I have enjoyed many cruises where the average age of the people that I have socialised with onboard was indeed 50+, and let me tell you that I have had the time of my life. Age ain’t nothin’ but a number, and it is so true! I have said time and time again that in my eyes a cruise is what YOU make of it and it really is that simple!

I have no doubt that there will be passengers onboard that keep to themselves and want to call it a night, every night at 9pm (the same could be said about any ship), but I am also positive that I will find the group of sociable rebels onboard who are quite happy to keep the bar open and conversation flowing for as long as possible, and just enjoy their holiday. If they exist on this cruise, then find them I shall – I’m not shy!

So, where am I going? Well, as I mentioned earlier, it is a Baltic cruise and our itinerary looks a bit like this: Ronne, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St Petersburg, Russia; Tallinn, Estonia; Saaremaa, Estonia; Riga, Latvia; Warnemunde, Germany and Ijmuiden, Holland.

There are a few new ports for me on this cruise (Saaremaa being the new port I am most looking forward to) and we have 2 Kiel Canal transits, which I can’t wait for! I enjoyed it so much the last time I ventured into that part of the world, it was so peaceful and nice to see people walking their dogs, lunching at a canal side pub and just generally enjoying their day – not really the kinds of things you usually see when “at sea”. Fingers crossed the weather is nice so it can be enjoyed from the open decks.

This particular cruise also has a crime theme and there will be a few famous faces onboard: Stephen Tompkinson, Phil Davis and Neil Stuke. I have never been on a theme cruise before (shock-horror), so I am actually looking forward to this aspect of the trip. Apparently there will be a murder mystery evening onboard, I suppose one will have to be on her best behaviour, otherwise I could be the one that gets the chop! 😉

Like the sound of this voyage? There are still cabins available! You can view the full details here.

19-days to go!!