Baltic cruises compared

At this time of year, as winter starts to bite, many of us begin to think about a Baltic cruise to get the true Christmas spirit. The Baltic States in North Europe run along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea and visit unspoilt and relatively cheap Baltic destinations such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the more established tourist centres in Russia, Poland, and Scandinavia.

Norwegian Cruise lines has summer departures from Dover visiting Copenhagen, Denmark; Warnemunde, Gemany; Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russian Federation; Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm in Sweden.

Carnival sail the almost identical route, simply replacing Stockholm with Amsterdam

Princess Cruises sail a route from Southampton that visits Zeebrugge, Brussels, Belgium; Copenhagen, Denmark; Helsingborg, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.

P&O have a cruise on Arcadia that spends a full two days in Amsterdam as well as visiting Hamburg, Oslo, Copenhagen and Bruges.