I was reminded of this trip when I looked back on my time in Russia recently. I have to admit that I never thought going on a cruise would be for me but when we got the chance to go on a voyage around the Baltic Sea we decided to go for it.

On reflection it was actually quite relaxing as the visits to the various ports were separated by a day or two at sea with nothing else to do but chill.

And it was interesting to see a wide variety of new countries, which I had not visited before, as well as revisiting Bruges in Belgium for the first time since I was at college in Sheffield.

Southampton in the UK: Tuesday, July 17, 2012:

There was an early alarm call at 3.30am so we could catch the 5.30am bus to Southampton so needless to say I got very little sleep.

The driver is called Dave and the first stop was at Wetherby at 6.30am.

During the journey there was a near miss with a truck on the way to Nottingham and we had a longer break at Northampton.

We went straight onto Southampton but a crash forced a detour along the A34 because the M4 was blocked. Despite that we arrived safe and sound and ahead of schedule.

Security was a pain – all thanks to the shoe-bomber no doubt – but once we were aboard we met up with my sister in law Karen Snaith, who works for P&O, and she sorted us out.

Apparently there is a chance that I can lead some of the shore excursions and it will be my first visit to Bruges since we went there when I was at college in late 1991.

We had a quick guided tour of the ship, there were a few safety demonstrations and we watched the sailaway from Southampton.

We then had something to eat – beef and veg at the buffet – and we managed to get sorted with a cabin with a bath. I left Karen soaking while I went out on deck and just watched the grey sea rolling past the ship.