The Cruise - Season 1

Tonight, as the 11 day voyage around the Baltic from Copenhagen to St Petersburg begins, the guests have more than relaxing on their mind – they're vying for the coveted award of the most travelled passenger. Some cruise superfans have spent up to 7 or 8 years of their lives aboard. Martha & Rusty Underwood are in the running but say "These people have so many cruises, the only way we will ever catch up is if they die and we don't!"

The crew's entertainment team is joined by new dancer Dulcie, from Portsmouth, but will she make the grade as a professional dancer? The inimitable Timothy is charming passengers on the front desk but has his eye firmly on a job with ‘ship bestie' Emma doing shore excursions. And ex navy engineer Scott, from Darlington, joins the engineering team and soon has to find the source of a leak – no mean feat when you're dealing with hundreds of miles of pipes.

Captain Ed Perrin is facing one of the biggest test of his career in tonight's episode. A year in the planning, he's been given permission to sail his vessel all the way into Stockholm. It may be his greatest achievement if he can complete it however with thousands of tiny islands to avoid and shallow waters, it is a very terrifying task.

One hour before her big show, Dulcie is put to the test when injury strikes. To make matters more difficult she has been paired with a new recruit who doesn't know the routine. Elsewhere on the excursions desk Timthy's amobition is about to be put to the test on a trail tour of the rooftops of Stockholm.

Tonight it's turnaround day when crew have to help 3,300 guests check out with their 10,000 pieces of luggage and welcome the new batch – with just a few hours to clean & prepare the 1,800 passenger rooms.

They are up against the clock but hotel general manager Dirk, who's famed for his meticulous inspections will not tolerate any slip in standards. With a teutonic attention to detail he is on the prowl, torch in hand, and woe betide the crew if he unearths any misplaced dust.

On the entertainment team, new dancer Dulcie is missing home. Getting the gig was a long held ambition but the reality of missing her brother's wedding and living apart from her boyfriend to do the job she dreamed of is tough. "Being away from him for so long actually kills you a little bit inside," she says.

And while some passengers enjoy the finer things in life; dressed up and dining at the ship's lumiere table with its million pound décor and a curtain of light enveloping the diners, others have only the clothes they stand up in. After the airlines lost their luggage front desk supervisor Herbert is under increasing pressure to find it & get it aboard at the next port – no mean feat when you're dealing with a moving target. He has a keen eye on Dirk's job so he's hoping he can deliver his usual 97% success rate in getting bags back.

In tonight's episode, the staff compete to win the coveted title of employee of the month, with a top prize of £500 as well as deck privileges, tours, dinners and extra time off - the employee are desperate to win. Rhymond is braving the elements to keep the ship looking pristine. He decides at 5am, the prize is clearly his. Elsewhere Timothy is a cock-a-hoop about his new job with the shore excursions team however leaving his friends on the front desk will be hard. Will his excitement carry him through the challenges he faces? Also Scott is left in charge of the whole team when his boss goes on leave. He is busy with one of the most important jobs on board - making drinking water from the sea - over a million litres a day of it.

Tonight, the captain throws a huge party as the ship celebrates its first birthday.