We were a little hesitant about booking a cruise of any sort as we'd never cruised before and I had the notion that I might feel trapped on a ship - or that it might just be boring. However, we thought this  would be the best way of seeing a destination we'd dreamed of experiencing and stifled our doubts. In addition, the departure point of Harwich suited us as we live nearby.

Well, set your minds at rest would be cruisers! The cruise to St Petersburg, taking in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn and Gothenburg, was fantastic. The ship is great - more like a city than a boat - all glass and atriums, very light, sparkling and upbeat.The food in the Tides dining room was delicious, lots of choice, often tending towards the gourmet, but always plenty to eat. The staff can't do enough for the guests and are polite, helpful and very friendly and it is apparent that their training is very thorough.

We very much enjoyed our shore days and managed to see all the destinations, apart from St Petersburg, without paying for expensive excursions. These are quite costly, but if you ration yourself to what you really need it isn't too bad. St Petersburg was wonderful and I now need to go back again to see all the things I missed this time - eg the ballet. We also had very enjoyable at sea days. There was always something to do and, after a 5 day stint of shore trips, it was a relief to sit in the solarium, have a few swims and read a bit of my novel.

So, on the whole, I can thoroughly recommend Jewel of the Seas. It was a bit American and US terminology was used for everything - but you get used to that. When we sailed they had recently (the cruise before last) experienced a bout of Norovirus on the ship. I must say that I was impressed with their cleanliness measures - hand sanitation rigouously enforced on entering any food outlet and when coming aboard after shore days, plus lots of information and reminders about the benefits of careful handwashing. As far as I know, there was no infection problem on our cruise.

So, dear readers. go for it! Make St Petersburg your next destination. It is an impressive city and the Hermitage Gallery was fantastic. We had brilliant weather throughout and no choppy seas. I hope it will be as great when you go.