This was the planned cruise on Saga’s Spirit of Discovery.
Day 1: Friday 10th May 2024: Portsmouth
We had prepared for this Saga cruise by pre-booking three of the four complementary excursions. Our taxi arrived just after 11. It was a Prius and to our surprise it took all of our cases without any problems. The driver was usually based near Heathrow and it only done a Saga run once before. His navigation app took us a different way to the A3 that I will certainly try myself in the future.
Once on the A3, I reminded him that despite being on a Saga cruise, we could cope with speed greater than 50 mph. He had been trying to keep a speed down by constantly touching the brakes. The almost constant jerking was beginning to cause car sickness for both of us. Thankfully, he speeded up and kept off the brakes.
The extension of the cruise port in Portsmouth was now open. This meant our cases were offloaded to someone with a trolley about 100 yards away from the terminal entrance. Our driver then took us the short distance to the doors. Once inside we were guided to the check-in desks. After a quick check of our passports and issuing us with cruise cards, we were then into our Security checks.
Only one of the Security machines was working. The lady manning it was a bit flummoxed by the crammed contents of my carry on and Rusack. A quick chat confirmed that they were full of camera gear and then all was well.
Lunch was in the grand dining room and then we went to our cabin to leave our carry-on bags. By then our suitcases had arrived too.
Unpacking wasn’t easy as the cabin did not have a lot of drawer space. How anyone could take clothes for a longer cruise was definitely unclear?
The ship didn’t have a formal briefing for safety instead we watched the safety video and then attended the lower deck after our cabin’s deck call to our assigned lifeboat places. There we were scanned and we headed back to continue cramming our clothes into the cupboards, wardrobe and drawers.
Portsmouth Naval Dockyard
As Spirit of Discovery left the ferry basin I went out on deck to see which Royal Navy ships were in port.
I could see three destroyers and an RFA in the inner docks.
In the Grill
We joined our friends for dinner in the Grill at seven. Our bookings are not being linked and we went to the Grill as the best option available.
In the Britannia lounge we watched the production cast vocalists performed from 9:45pm which was then followed by the first performance of the house band, Broadband.
Day 2: Saturday 11th May 2024: At sea
We went for a very late breakfast to the grill. While we were drinking the last of our tea, the restaurant was closing.
Our exercise for the day were circuits of the promenade deck looking out for any passing ships. Lunch was back in the Grill in time to go down to the theatre to attend the first talk by a retired detective, Barry Cave.
Overall, his talk was disappointing as the speaker spent a lot of time talking about Princess Diana, related scandals and unsubstantiated gossip! We learnt very little about the role of protection officers in the Metropolitan police. The one standout point however, was about exactly where was the protection officers weapon when there was an attempt to kidnap Princess Anne on the mall.
From our balcony, we caught glimpses of sea life, a long way astern, but unfortunately I could get no images. Spirit of Discovery passed a private motor yacht, MY Perseus.
Later out on deck we caught again splashes in the sea again way astern.
Evening on Spirit of Discovery
We met our friends in the living room and went into the grand dining room for evening dinner. After dinner we headed for the theatre to watch Mark Wallace‘s show.
This was an enjoyable show, as Mark’s impersonations of Billy Connolly, Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury were all excellent.
The house band had started their evening set as we headed up to the Britannia Lounge. We danced and rounded off the first sea day with a late evening there.
Day 3: Sunday 12th May 2024: At sea
Breakfast was in the Grill again. The ship had now passed through the Bay of Biscay. After breakfast we walked around the promenade deck until it was time for a cup of coffee.
Again, there were splashes to be seen astern of the ship, but again too far away to see what had caused them. After a relaxing lunch in the Grill, we went to a talk on Spanish art in the Playhouse by Chris Newlands.
After a break for fresh air out on deck and I was back in the Playhouse for a talk on iPhone photography by Tracy Fleming. I did pick up lots of tips and lots of reminders from the talk.
Evening on the 12th May
This was the first formal evening of the cruise and we joined fellow passengers in the Britannia lounge for the Captain’s cocktail party. The dance instructors gave a demonstration of their skills.
We delayed our exit from the lounge and then had to wait for a table in the grand dining room.
Despite performing to an almost full playhouse this evening Mark Walker’s second performance was in the Britannia lounge. Another very funny show with lots of impersionasions including that of Rod Stewart Stewart.
Another late night as we enjoyed the house band set after the comedian.
Day 4: Monday 13th May 2024: At sea
An earlier start as the celebrity Chef Kevin Woodford was demonstrating in the Playhouse. From the promenade deck I looked out for sea life and for passing ships. On the bridge I could see passengers around one of the tables.
We had a more gentle walk after lunch and then rested in the cabin.
NRP Viana do Castelo
From the balcony, I watched this Portuguese Navy ship warship as we made our way to South to Gibraltar.
The warship was the NRP Viana do Castelo, a Portuguese patrol ship.
Evening on the 13th
We had a reminder to make us sure that our phones were on aeroplane mode as the ship would be passing near Morocco. Ship’s that are inbound to the Mediterranean pass close to Morocco. Ship’s leaving the Mediterranean pass on the Spanish side of the Straits of Gibraltar. Any calls, data or messages sourced from the Moroccan networks would not be covered by European data plans.
This was our first evening meal in a speciality restaurant. We met our friends at the small bar by the club.
What a marvellous meal.
As we have planned a very busy day in our first port, Gibraltar, we skipped the shows in the Playhouse and the Britannia lounge for an early night. XXX
Our first was Gibraltar where we planned to take a guided tour around the Rock.