A good value cruise, but Tilbury was rather disorganised for embarkation especially as previously we had experienced Newcastle which was excellent. The ship is small enough to navigate where one needs to get to easily, without getting lost. The dining is excellent with lots of choice,& the staff are very obliging. Second sitting see the show before dinner, & first sitting see it after dinner. The shows reminded me of school productions, with gaps between scenes, & lots of whooping, & loud whistles. All the costumes were good, & the musicians were excellent. Some interesting history talks regarding the Russian Tsars, which gave us background for our trips to Peterhof Palace & Catherine Palace. The palaces are out of this world with lots of gold, & wonderful fountains, & I would highly recommend visiting them. They were the highlight of our cruise. A visa is required for Russia if you want to go it alone, & are expensive. If you pre- book online with a Russian tour company you do not need a visa, or indeed with the ship. Beware, we have been charged twice for our trips, & are in the process of trying to sort it out, so keep all your paperwork when you get home! We visited Copenhagen, Warnemunde (a pretty seaside place so advise not to spend 6 hours on a couch to Berlin.) Helsinki, & Tallinn. The days at sea mean the Raffles self service restaurant is inadequate to seat everyone, so rather chaotic, but the food was very good, & plentiful. We booked direct with Cruise & Maritime & expected to get the best price booking direct, however on the day we were booking Planet cruise were offering it for £100 less & CMV would not price match, so shop around!