Jane McDonald talking Baltics

As someone who either talks or thinks about cruising 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year I tend to watch all the TV programs that involve cruises.

I really enjoyed the last series of Cruising With Jane McDonald – apart from the awful cheesy bit at the end where she sings! It’s interesting that she showcases some of the lesser known, more niche cruise lines which most of us have not experienced and I think from the last series my favourite episode was the one in which she sailed round the Scottish Hebrides with Majestic Lines on the tiny Glen Tarsan which sleeps just 11 guests.

Having just watched the first episode of series 2 where Jane took a sailing around the Baltics & Russia I will be glued to the rest of the series. She sailed on the Viking Sky which is an all-balcony ship that has a capacity to sleep 930 passengers. On a professional level I would like to have seen a bit more of the ship itself, but I do enjoy having a little guided tour with Jane around the ports of call.

I have wanted to sail on a Baltic itinerary for quite a few years, but keep putting it off to head to tropical climes instead. This program, however has put this itinerary back in the forefront of my mind. Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki all looked beautiful ports with their own individual identities and the piece de resistance, St Petersburg looked just as majestical as I imagined it would.

I read an article in the Radio Times recently where Jane McDonald was kicking herself that she hadn’t discovered the joys of river cruising earlier as she thought it was just for the more mature sailor. “It’s for people who are keen to see more of the cities: you get a lot longer in them than on an ocean cruise stopover, and of course you can get straight into the city centre. The ship is more like a floating hotel. You only go back there to eat and sleep, then you’re off the ship again all day and sometimes all evening” said Ms McDonald.

Still to come in this 4 part TV series is a cruise around Cuba on the Celestyal Crystal, a Med cruise on the brand new MSC Meraviglia and a river cruise down the Rhone on the Avalon poetry II. I’ll be tuning in for sure. Will you?