I thought that the memory of a terrible overnight sailing on the Black Sea from Georgia to Russia would put me off all things nautical for life but in September 2007 I allowed myself to be persuaded to sail from Helsinki in Finland to the Estonian capital, Tallinn. Admittedly the choice of vessels (I shall take this opportunity to show off my knowledge of seafaring jargon) was rather more appealing the rusty bucket that had been our craft on the Black Sea and the crossing was scheduled to be much shorter, I was still finding it difficult to get that night out of my head. But overcome my terror I did and this is what happened.

At check-in we had to present the voucher and our passports and were then given boarding cards. We had about twenty minutes until embarkation and we went upstairs to the departure lounge to find a seat. Soon after music started blaring from some speakers either side of a stage just behind us and an odd-looking Lady wearing a nautical officers uniform began to shout something in Finnish and then in Estonian (perhaps it could have been the other way round, my grasp of both is not what it could be) and then everyone starting cheering while a Finnish (or again possibly Estonian) version of 'In the navy' was played, still at considerable volume.

Well fairly quietly, television screens were showing MTV or something similar but we managed to tune out the noise as we sat for the first half hour enjoying the little islands pass by outside and planning what to do in Tallinn. We bought sandwiches and beer, and found the prices quite reasonable given the situation.

Turning right out of the bar, we were so busy chatting and congratulating ourselves on escaping the karaoke that we failed to notice we had walked into the ballroom and were in the middle of half a dozen couples intensely tango-ing. When we realised we beat a hasty retreat and turned back the other way where we found the duty free shop. Inside lots of Estonians were loading up on cheap sweeties and chocolate. We took the chance to buy some liquorice as it worked out much cheaper than buying it in Finland. On the return crossing, the shop was teeming with Finns buying cheap booze to take home.

Finally we took to the decks to see Tallinn Bay come into view and then went back 'down below' to retrieve our luggage and to wait by the doors to disembark, a kind of waiting game where the passengers eyed fellow sailors with mistrust, taking a step forward every time someone else did, anxious not to let others disembark first. We had arrived safely and on time. Other than a brush with some Russian karaoke we were unscathed, perhaps my sea-legs had returned?

Overall we were satisfied with our experience although generally I do think that the Viking Line option is probably the - how shall I say this - no frills option. Fair enough it does have free entertainment for adults and supervised pay areas for children but it wasn't easy to find somewhere quiet to sit and relax, or sleep, if you weren't interested in those things. Fortunately the brief crossing - two and a half hours - does mean that your hardship is short-lived.

The only thing that put me off was the entertainment and if I did sail on a longer crossing I think I would make sure I paid for one of the larger cabins so I didn't have to listen to the karaoke or whatever entertainment was taking place.

The evening departure at 21.00 costs 27 Euro Sat -Thurs and 33 Euro on Fridays.

There are discounts for students and people using an Inter-rail or Euro Domino train pass can get a 50% discount. There are no family pass fares on this route, but there are on other Viking Line services.

We sailed on the MS Rosella but a new ship the M/S Viking XPRS has been sailing this route since April 2008 and the pictures of it on the website do look very good. I am sure it is far nicer than the ferry we sailed on.

Check out the unfortunately slightly out of focus and covertly snapped photograph of the karaoke ordeal