Unpacking in my spacious cabin on board the Saga Ruby overlooking Stockholm harbour, grinning like a Cheshire cat, I’ve just nibbled on canapes and caviar, and I’m about to pop open a bottle of bubbly, writes Debbie Bennett.

My view is obscured by one of the ship’s decks,but it’s a view nonetheless.  I’ve joined the ship part way through her two-week cruise around the Baltic and hoping it won’t be rough.

The cabins are really well equipped, and switching on the TV, I can see the harbour. The ship has a webcam mounted on its bridge so passengers can watch the journey in the comfort of their cabin.

Relaxing on the deck of the Saga Ruby

When I think of holidays at sea, I imagine supercruisers which carry thousands of passengers. But Saga Ruby is a medium-sized ship. She’s lovely and old-fashioned with panelled interior walls and wooden railings on the decks.

Saga cruises are strictly for the over-50s, although many of its passengers are much older, returning year after year because of Saga’s first-class experience.

Relaxing after unpacking, I head up on deck, grab a drink and take in the atmosphere as the Ruby gets ready to leave Stockholm. The Lido deck at the rear of the ship has a small bar and hundreds of loungers to relax on.

But most of the passengers out here with me are standing by the railings, cardigans draped over shoulders, preparing to wave goodbye to Stockholm as the autumn sun sets.

A couple of beers later (drinks are surprisingly cheap on board), it’s time to dress for dinner. Dress codes vary each night but this evening its informal.

I meet my party of seven for our evening meal in the stunning dining room. It has echoes of the one on the movie Titanic, with circular tables, all beautifully laid on crisp white linen tablecloths. The food is nothing short of superb and is included in the price of the cruise.

Waiting staff are abundant and always there to top up your wine glass. Four courses and several bottles later, we head back to our cabins.

Most of the cruising takes place overnight and each day you wake up in a different land. The next morning we dock in Helsinki, where giant ice-breakers sleep in the vast harbour, ready to resume their channel-cutting duties in the winter months when the sea freezes over.

After a sumptuous Saga breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and croissants, our first excursion of the cruise is a walking tour of the city. Helsinki’s spectacular architecture includes grand palaces and Orthodox cathedrals, as well as beautiful parks and outdoor markets.

Ainola, the birthplace of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius

After our tour, a 20-minute coach ride inland takes us to Ainola, the birthplace of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The house stands in pine woodland and is where he lived with his wife until his death in1957.

A short coach ride then takes us to Finland’s Musical institution were we are treated to a rousing 30-minute recital of some of Sibelius’ greatest works, including the superb Finlandia.

Back on board the Ruby and it’s casual dress code for dinner as we set sail for St Petersburg in Russia. It’s surprisingly warm and sunny when we dock there the next morning, making the hour’s taxi ride to Peterhof Palace all the more pleasant.

But it also reveals a great divide between the high rise blocks where the poorest families live on the breadline, and the obscene extravagance of the palaces with their golden turrets and ornate ceilings.

Peterhof is bling on a palacial scale. Tour guides and and their parties aren’t allowed to linger long in any of the rooms and are often ushered along by stern-faced guards. At 11am prompt each day, the fountains in the palace grounds give their all in a pompous display set to music blasted out of ropey loudspeakers.

The fountains in the grounds of Peterhof Palace

The grounds are beautiful, though, with lakes, forests and walkways overlooking the deep blue of the Baltic in the distance.

Later in the afternoon we are given a coach tour of St Petersburg, a city of smog and splendour. Then, after an early dinner on the ship, we head back to the city for a musical evening at the Hermitage, the world’s biggest museum.

After a couple of hours, we head into one of the state rooms where the State Hermitage Orchestra gives a 40-minute concert to this small but appreciative crowd.

While the Ruby stays docked in the waters near St Petersburg, the next morning’s excursion takes in the Spilled Blood Cathedral, a multi-coloured church built on the spot where Alexander the Great was assassinated in1881.

The tour is followed by a narrowboat cruise around the waterways of the city.

After lunch on the ship I dip out of the afternoon’s excursion and explore a little more of the Ruby, where I find a gym, deck quoitsa nd spa among its treasures.

I spend a little more time getting ready this evening, despite it being a casual dress night. My party has been invited for a bridge visit, which turns out to be a real highlight. We watch fascinated as Captain Phillip Rentell shouts his orders to the crew as they carefully guide the Ruby out of her dock.

Later on, it’s cocktails in the Preview bar with entertainment from the Touchstone Trio, who I recognise as waiting staff from earlier. When I wake the next morning, I switch on my webcam channel and I catch my breath.

The rooftops of Tallinn in Estonia

We are in Tallinn, in Estonia, and I can see medieval turrets and dozens of ornate church spires under a clear blue sky. I can’t wait to explore and after breakfast a five-minute coach ride takes us to the centre of this amazing little walled city.

A two-hour walking tour eats up more camera snaps than any other destination on the cruise. At high points, views of the Baltic are stunning, the cobbled streets fascinating and the people are charming. Our tour includes a traditional dance performance in one of the buildings and I manage to get roped in.

Most of my party heads back to the ship, but I decide to stay a while, not wanting to miss one cobblestone of this intriguing place. I discover street cafes overflowing with beer and delicious food, outdoor theatres and curious little shops selling amber jewellery, common place around the Baltic.

Back on the ship in the late afternoon, I sit on the deck supping beer and soaking up my last views of the city. Another superb dinner later, and I head back to my cabin and look forward to a lie in – the Ruby won’t arrive at my final destination until lunchtime tomorrow.

A galley tour in the morning provides an insight into the culinary part of the cruise. We are below the ‘water line’ where 60 staff work day and night in the galley’s steel rooms preparing meals.

In the afternoon, the Ruby docks in Riga, Latvia, a real mix of a town bursting with Art Nouveau architecture.

My final day on board the Ruby is a day spent at sea as she steams towards Warne-munde in Germany.

In the morning I join most of the passengers for the 11am church service held in the Britannia lounge. In the afternoon I indulge in a luxury treatment in the health spa – a full body massage complete with reflexology.

Later, my party members and I spend our final evening together enjoying a captain’s cocktail party followed by entertainment by international banjo player and comedian Steve Galler.

Wheeling my suitcase down the gang-plank and towards my taxi I look back at the Ruby, envious of the passengers who have more places to see. I am flying home, but Ruby will continue on to Copenhagen, Mandal in Norway, and finally docking in Southampton in five days time.

Right – I have eight years to save up for my cruise with Saga. They won’t let me back on board until I’m 50.

Travel Facts:
The next Saga Ruby Baltic cruise will be a 14-night voyage from £2,549 per person departing on June 1, 2010, and
a 13-night voyage from £2,464 per person departing on August 31, 2010. Both cruises sail from Dover and include travel to the port, all meals and entertainment, all on board gratuities, travel insurance and additional cancellation cover. For more information call 0800 056 5880, or visit  www.saga.co.uk/travel-shop