X-Factor singing sensation Sam Bailey will join Saga Sapphire’s music-themed St Petersburg and Baltic cruise this summer and the former prison officer who won the TV talent show in 2013 is hoping to ‘really wow’ passengers with her incredible voice.
Mother-of-three Sam said: “I am going to be singing numbers from current West End shows and there will also be plenty of feel-good music.
“I love to have fun and show off my voice so I hope the passengers will be singing along with me and enjoying themselves. I have got lots of great music up my sleeve to wow the audience.”
Sam, 37, will be travelling with her husband Craig and is looking forward to exploring the ship and going ashore to discover new destinations. She said: “Years back I used to sing on cruise ships, sailing over to Bilbao and to Gibraltar, but I have never been to the Baltic or any of the ports of call on this cruise.”
She said: “I love visiting new places so when a ship docks I am always quick to get into town, to see the sights and do some shopping. This will be so good!
“My mum will look after our three children so Craig and I will be able to spend lots of time together. Life has been so hectic - our house is being extended so we have all been staying at my sister’s. There are four adults, six children, including my three - Miley, eight months; Tom who is six, Brooke, 10, and two dogs in all one house!
“We could have moved to a bigger house but my children like it where we are in Leicester and with so much going with my career we decided it was best to stay where we were and for them to have a settled base near their friends and school.”
In Christmas 2013, Sam had a no.1 hit Skyscraper and a £1m record contract but in 2015 her priority after sailing on Sapphire will be to start getting her home ready to have ‘a big family Christmas with everyone coming round to us’. She said: “We never had the room before so this year we can have all the family at our house. We are so excited about that.”
Sam added: “I have to be honest, I work to live. As long as I’m earning money doing the thing I love most, I am happy; I can choose what I want to do, like singing on a Saga cruise.
“I am the cheque bearer for the new extension that’s for sure - I work to provide for my family so we can have a nice home and holidays. We have just come back from New York, our first holiday in two years, and that was amazing.
“Now I am back home I am on a diet, but I won’t be on Saga Sapphire. I just love hearty British food so I will be looking for stews, steak and chips, shepherd’s pie, Yorkshire pudding, all of that sort of thing. I will also be going in for afternoon tea - we are going to have such a good time.”
Despite being so busy, Sam has also started song writing. She said: “I should have a single out by the end of the year and an album coming out, too. I have decided to keep my fingers in lots of pies.
“Different doors are opening but overall I love singing to an audience so being on Saga Sapphire is perfect because I want people to hear my voice and enjoy my show.”
Cruise guests will also be able to enjoy the music of The Four Legends performing Rat Pack favourites as well as Colin Bryant and the Hot Rhythm Orchestra playing sounds from the Glenn Miller era.
As the music plays Saga Sapphire will take passengers to timeless cities including an overnighter in Stockholm and a two-night stay in St Petersburg as well as lesser-known ports such as Klaipeda in Lithuania. Further ports of call include Turku, in Finland; Tallinn, in Estonia; Gdansk, in Poland; Sassnitz and Ijmuiden, in The Netherlands.
