SaraSailing

Tuesday in Gothenburg

We went into town in the morning. Clearly everyone else did too, as the shuttle buses were a bit overwhelmed. So rather a lot of waiting around - but luckily for us not in the rain. 3 miles or so into the city centre.

On the cruise pier, a lovely little park and the Volvo museum. I'd have been happy to stay out of the city.

Back on the ship, the South Cape bar (sister to North Cape bar on SoA). Bright, fresh and welcoming

.

And the desk in my cabin, viewed from my chaise created by moving furniture! This shows the floor space of the deluxe single. I do like it. One thing I found is the TV was almost too big for the standard width cabin, I used to watch TV on the preview window!

It rained a lot in the afternoon. People on the boat trip reported very wet phones and cameras. I'm glad I stayed in and sat with my feet up, as my (previously broken) ankle had swollen.

Oh, forgot to say Monday was the first of three formal nights. Nice to see everyone dressed up.

Leaving Gothenburg we wiggled between a lot of tiny islands, before the pilot hopped off.

And a lovely sunset

Monday in the North Sea, doing its best impression of a mill pond.

The promenade deck...

The sign down by "Explore Ashore" explaining the shuttle bus plan for Gothenburg.

There are books back in the library!

The living room on deck 5 - I tried to avoid showing any guest faces

The grand stair case to the living room (5) from the south cape bar(6). I go out of my way to use it. In my head I'm super elegant.

Special lunchtime pop up in East to West (Asian) restaurant. This was a special kung po chicken with wheat flour batter (allergic to the gluten free that is used as standard).

Embarkation day.

Some internal pics:

External vies of Dover, Lido party, sail away

Inside the cabin (deluxe single, midship)

that's the bedside light! Worth noting that there are power sockets either side of the bed. These are useful as my laptop plug doesn't fit the space on the desk sockets.

And the soot issue out the back. Not as bad, but definitely still there.

15 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

Thanks for that - I hate gluten free batter as it makes me feel nauseous. My mother had coeliac disease for 50 years (living until she was 97). We joked that she could go on Mastermind with her specialist subject being gluten-free products!

 

We were on SoA last year and absolutely loved it.

 

Sorry about your cat, it’s very sad to lose a pet. They make up a big part of many families.

This is something I only found out in March, and it does explain why I was so low key sick last year on SoA. But all worth it for the night with the huskies!

19 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

Great to hear they are still operating the 10K, last year on SOA it benefited Ukraine,  fitting as it was originally black sea cruise. I think it was 21 laps , but felt like more. Jan the hotel manager was a runner and broke the hour, quite a few of us managed around 1.15, most of the walkers under two hours. For a ship of oldies a very good turn out. Raised about £1500. Who is it benefiting this year.

 

 

Enjoy the cruise, think of the 10k as a good excuse to have an extra ice cream or double dessert.

This time it's a Rotary charity.

2 hours ago, twotravellersLondon said:

Sorry and very surprised to hear that. Saga tend to be far more careful in the design of ships than many other cruise companies.

 

Cabins with any slight difference are usually left until the ship is virtually full and the sold at a massively impressive discount with the caveat that they may be a wee bit different. Clients who book these cabins sign an agreement that they understand that this may be the case when they buy the cabin. Typically those who book these cabins save thousands on the deal.

 

So if you’ve not purchased a discounted cabin and have not agreed to these conditions, you could have a quiet word with reception. There are about 40/50 currently available… you may be able to transfer to one of those… it would be such a shame to ruin your holiday.
 

However, if you are super- sensitive to noise… it may well be that you might be detecting sound from cabins on the deck below or above or even your neighbours. So a change of cabin my not help. After all … it is exceptionally unusual for SAGA passengers to be wandering around the ship looking for a public loo in the middle of the night!

 

Please do let us know if we can assist in any other way. We would be very happy to oblige.

 

Must go… Diva show just about to start! 

 

 

Enjoy the show. I've been a bit in retreat today, as one of my cats died this morning (sudden complication of life long heart defect). I just wanted my bed and quiet. 

Thank you for all the info. Because I'm in a single cabin, there are fewer choices. And I do like the wider space. Luckily, I don't think I've heard the toilets after about 11pm. It's always worse at the start, but once I get used to it I'll be more able to tune it out. Just sometimes it's a shock - and I don't think that's just me, but as I'm here alone it's hard to compare! I can kind of tell the different noises, the neighbour loos are what I'd hear in my own bathroom or wardrobe. The downstairs one is from the desk area. It's not a big issue, I just like to list out what I notice. Different people will write about different things, and that all gives a rounded picture to other people. 

I'm trying to recall the same cabin on SoA, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't as loud, but then that cruise had so much drama, a screaming toilet would easily be forgotten!

2 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. We’ll be on SoD in Nov 2024!

 

Just a quick question if you don’t mind - is the batter on the fish and chips gluten free for everyone? 
 

Thanks.

Hello! Yes. This is something I found out in March. Because of the number of people with gluten intolerance, a lot of things use gluten free flour as standard. Particularly sauces and batters. The gluten free flour is primarily rice and chickpea. Explains why I was getting low grade sick all the time. 

I do like SoD more than SoA, it feels classier in decor. But that's just my opinion!

2 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

 

We certainly will do so. It does represent additional choice for lunch on sea days and that's very welcome. Did you have to book your lunch at the East to West, or could one just turn up and hope it wasn't already full?

 

Sorry to hear about the noisy cabin. Looking at the deck plans it would appear that about four cabins on D Deck are directly above public lavatories on E Deck, the only such configuration on the ship. It's very helpful to know that there could be a noise issue with these - it would never have occurred to me.

 

Despite that, I hope that you are having an agreeable cruise; and thanks for your splendid reports.

All lunch options are first come first served. Chef seems to be doing a good job of offering enough options to spread everyone out.

Rather sweetly, we've been given the option of taking part in the Folkestone 10k, that Saga sponsor. We can record laps of the promenade deck, all at once or in small batches. As can crew. 

I am a bit hyper noise sensitive, and fortunately the toilets aren't heavily used. I still jump every time, but suspect in a few days I won't notice. 

On the topic of noise: Whatever has been fitted to the funnel to reduce soot emissions seems to have made it louder. It was very noticeable sitting up at the Lido for an ice cream today. 

On the plus side, I think the open ceiling in the dining room up to the club does make the dining room acoustics much better. And the dining room has been very full the last few days. 

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

Fish & Chips in Veranda today…

just excellent.

 

I keep meaning to advance order fish and chips with a traditional wheat batter. It always looks so good. But I'm now very allergic to chick peas, which are a big ingredient in the gluten free flour that is used in the normal batter.

1 hour ago, Vivaldi said:

Are the speciality restaurants now being opened for lunch on sea days? That would be a real bonus - they used to be open only in the evening. Or was this just a one-off offering?

They were doing this in March too, on SoA. I think it depends on the weather forecast. So, our first sea day this time, East to West was open with a special menu - three courses a la carte. And the Club was open for fish n chips, hot dogs and burgers. Today there is a curry pop up on the Lido deck, and the Verandah is open. So it's a bit variable, and something you have to keep an eye out for.

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

On the same cruise. We’ve had no problems with the Wi-Fi. If we had… we would have a chat to reception. However glad to see that you had no probs sending a lengthy post after the ship left port this afternoon… so hopefully all already sorted.

That was on 4G from my phone. 

Glad it's working better for you! This is like the old days of the Internet where you can make a cup of coffee while the page loads. It's slightly faster this evening, but maybe I will have to chat with reception to see if there are other options!

Well, here I am, back on Saga for a third time. Which I think makes me almost a Bronze member, though I think that's mostly a pretty badge.

This time, Spirit of Discovery, my first time on the earlier ship. She's not long out of dry dock and a thingummy-wotsit was fitted to reduce the soot issue.

The itinerary ambles around Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Germany and Denmark for a couple of weeks - with some interesting ports now ships aren't going into Russia. 

A quick note on the soot issue: apparently "100 times better". It's not totally resolved, but I'm told the funnel and the fuel choices mean it never will be. The back of the ship is still fairly liberally dotted with black specks, but further forward seems better. We'll see when the sun comes out. I'm nervously optimistic, but taking all the inhalers the last ship's doctor prescribed too.

On first sight, externally SoD looks pretty much identical to SoA. Internally, SoD is classier, with more subtle colour schemes (SoA has a slight air of someone with mild colour-blindness having picked the palette). Just having a single colour throughout The Grill makes it look bigger - though the chairs might be a little smaller (and nicer) too. Things like the dark rose gold floor numbers and locator maps are a nice touch. 

I'm back in a slightly bigger single cabin - I do much prefer the drinks station, walk-in wardrobe and the space at the foot of the bed. But I know when people are less steady on their feet, the narrower style can be easier to get around. Sitting above one public toilet, this is not a quiet cabin - one particular loo seems to have a screaming flush that shakes the walls. It can be a bit scary if you're asleep at the time. There's a riser of some sort next door too, and I think that might be the source of a sporadic sound like a metal pipe being hit with a hammer. 

The captain seems to hit the balance with being informative but not overly chatty (a welcome relief after our last trip). And the cruise director makes the classic twice daily announcements so we know what's going on (again, a pleasure after having an invisible cruise director last time).

Oh, and in a few short weeks, protocol has changed. Staff are no longer required to wear masks, and most of the buffet (apart from hot food) is back to being self-service. Lots of people are very pleased.

We have already had one medical evacuation this morning, I'm told.

Dover, despite being understaffed, handled embarkation quickly and smoothly, and we were on board in no time for a late lunch and muster drills. Our first dinner in the Dining Room had a slightly lighter atmosphere, possible because of the galleried landing from The Club. The senior waiter in our area was very hands-on (again nice to see, compared to some of the aloof telephone wielding senior staff on the SoA - though I think some of that was happening in other areas). The F&B manager did make a couple of flying passes through the dining room, but I didn't see much interaction so far. 

The first full day was at sea, with a formal night. This really highlighted the variability in food. Some things appear to be great quality and well put together, others less so. I'm guessing some of that is the difference between freshly prepared, and bulk prepped then frozen. The starters are generally excellent. 

Waiters, wine waiters, assistant waiters and room stewards seem great across the board.

The North Sea was pretty much a mill pond, so people were enjoying the prom deck and other activities. We took advantage of the sea day lunch options to try out the East to West (mixed Asian) - a lovely meal and great flexibility from chef handling allergies at short notice. 

First port today - Gothenburg. Unfortunately, not enough shuttle busses for the number of people, so quite a lot of waiting in both directions. I think I should have followed my gut and instead got a taxi to a local coffee roastery, gone to the port Volvo museum, and had a little stroll in the port park. But the local rep was very charming, spoke excellent English, and did his best to keep the bus service rolling. The shuttle buses did pick up and drop off at the right place (mostly because of the local rep), which is better than in many ports. 

Now we have another day at sea heading round to Visby. I think the best sights will be passed in darkness, but Captain says we'll get a better view coming back. So, most of the day will be skirting the south coast of Sweden. 

Photos will probably get loaded from Visby, as the wifi is the worst I've experienced in 15 years of cruising.

If you have any questions about the ship or itinerary, do let me know! If I don't have the answers I'll find them if I can.

 

IT'S LISBON, IT MUST BE TUESDAY

Woke up to find we we're moored next to the Silver Moon, with the Iona trying (but failing) it hide behind her.

(Yes, someone did really bagsy a chair while they went to breakfast!)

We were told that due to intricacies of port rules that we had to exit via the main terminal, which required a port shuttle bus for the 200 metres distance, no walking allowed. (But we'd be allowed back in the building right next to the ship - no shuttle required. Not really a problem, if the shuttle just keeps running up and down - but we were there about 25 minutes. Then they packed a tour group in, which meant several people had to stand. 

Because we weren't on a tour, there wasn't a huge amount of guidance for where to get the Saga shuttle up the hill. But eventually we found a yellow jacketed Saga man who sent us to a random gap between two of the Iona shuttles. We were expecting to get the second shuttle at 9:30am, and the bus finally rolled in somewhere maybe 10 minutes later. Then a local rep spent a while putting up the information sheets before we were finally allowed on. Most people dodged the dog poo on the pavement (probably why Iona didn't want that space. Huge coach, totally inappropriate for a shuttle, obviously not accessible.

Then we waited some more. Getting good at waiting. Just before 10am, the coach pulled out. There's a one way system which apparently required the first 15 minutes of the shuttle ride to take us lurching through tiny streets back to the ship we'd stepped off an hour previously. The next 25 minutes were more lurching and back-rolling up the hill to the designated drop off at the Hotel Mundial. Which the driver flew past, without stopping, without a word, nothing. The crowd were starting to get edgy. When challenged, the driver said something like "No one get off, I just drive." We phoned the ship, who agreed this was very wrong - but without having a rep on the coach there was no one to take charge. Under increasing pressure, he dropped us off - right across the road from the ship. It was just after 11am, and truly a horrible hour. 

Some people were so distressed they went straight back to the ship. We started to walk, then found the coach was following us around a very tight corner. Didn't stay to see how that went.

We found a lovely little café, and a couple of other guests were already there enjoying coffee - and once we'd ordered Portuguese tarts, they got some too! The coffee was lovely, the tarts brilliant, and we started to feel a bit better. 

Then we had a stroll through the tiny lanes between houses. LOTS of steps, lots of steep slopes and twisty turns, lots of shiny tiles on the pavements. It's such a beautiful city, and we came across many more gorgeous looking cafes perched on sloping pavements. 

In amongst the very strange bus ride, I'd noticed a shop I wanted to go back to, to buy a birthday present for my husband. So we weaved through the lanes to find it. Shopping done, we walked back to the ship, through the small terminal and straight on.

The later phone call from "Explore Ashore" explained they think the driver had a mental aberration of some kind. If I believed that, we were essentially kidnapped for an hour. However, they also mentioned he'd been re-briefed, and had no further issues during the day. So, I think that the issue might have been total lack of appropriate briefing of the driver before he set off. Otherwise it feels like incredibly irresponsible behaviour from Explore Ashore. For some reason, I was sent chocolate-dipped strawberries with their tops off, and an apology note. 

The dinner menu had changed since I'd had to pre-order, no more curry - which disappointed both parents. However, I got mine because it was already ordered. The sauce was pleasant if watery, but very bland for a jalfrezi, the chicken was extra dry. And none of the promised "condiments" appeared. They did make me nice poppadums (the thing I've drained myself to eat to help keep allergy less bad). Parents went for the veggie options, which are generally more interesting than the meat offerings. 

Before dinner, we left, past the lift in the cliff, the massive statue Santuario del Cristo Rei, and the low bridge.

 

The night sky is beautiful, and my cabin does look cosy...

19 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

SaraSailing

 

The curtains annoyed me too! We had a mid-ship suite which had a sofa along the side wall of the bedroom so when seated your only view was of the balcony divider - a very poor design. We would have preferred to have 2 chairs to position in front of the window.

 

Sorry about your breathing problems, hope you feel better soon.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

Brenda

You reminded me of the deluxe single - great walk in wardrobe, but huge lump of walk just where you'd want to sit to look out. I'm used to the side sofa on Silversea, but then there's also a chair, and a wider balcony, so the angles work better. Which is also my gripe about glass balconies - impossible to keep clean, and they spoil the view from the bed/low chair. 
 

19 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I saw a program on TV about air pollution on ships , how even if not visible you get fine particles aft of funnels. If funnels are in middle  it's aft 3rd of ship by time they come down to deck height ship is moving. 

Yes, I'm aft. My balcony is a bit black. Just a tad forward and on the other side, parents' isn't.

DAY AT SEA - from Cartagena to Lisbon

Past the usual dolphins by Gibraltar at breakfast.

I realised my breathing had gone from being able to power up eight decks to struggling up one. So I phoned the medical centre. Nurse Jo was up in no time to covid test me (negative) and then book me in to see the doctor in the afternoon. Doctor Geo said lots of people had a cough and he was getting low on cough medicine. But I also had a wheeze in my lungs. He said the soot would be problematic for anyone sensitive - and that it seems it has made my very dormant asthma into something acute. He also said we should treat me as though I had a chest infection. So now I have two inhalers, cough medicine and antibiotics for the reast of the week. 

Photo of northern Africa, going through the straits.

CARTAGENA

A wonderfully tight entrance into the harbour. An walking event called the "ruta" raising money for an autism charity dominated the centre. An amphitheatre, A marching band. And sailing races outside my window all afternoon. Plus a random photo showing how much of the window is blocked by the curtains - it would be so nice to have the full width available.

VALENCIA

It's about 3 miles from the port to the city centre. I have an aversion to those inaccessible coaches, so decided to walk to the beach instead. One thing to note is at a steady pace (faster than many of the guests) it's a 4-5 minute walk from the side of the ship to the front of the cruise terminal. Given that's where the tours and shuttle depart from, I feel maybe more could be done for the wobbly walkers to get them to their coaches. 

The route to the beach isn't great to start with, as the yacht builders have claimed the sea facing area. But after that it's pleasant and maybe 30 minutes in total to the start of the sand. There are some wonderful old port buildings in the first phase of a massive restoration project. If the bridge could be closed to allow foot traffic, or a little water taxi provided, it would be more like 10 minutes. That area is nice, and being further developed with lots of local restaurants and bars. It looked like there was going to be a rock concert in the band stand later, based on the sound checks. 

I've been really struggling with my breathing, which I thought might be a chest infection after a cold, but now thinking it could be linked to the soot emissions. Being in a cabin at the back of the ship, I'm probably more affected then most (and more sensitive, too). I've been reading how Royal Caribbean are having similar issue this year.

Best dessert on ship so far - pineapple in a stem ginger syrup with mango sorbet. It was fresh and tasty. 

Finally got a photo of the moon, and that's the Pleiades just above. 

And a random photo of the staircase landing. 

18 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

Soot - usually I would say cheap (bad) fuel and/or poor maintenance.

But in this case, the manufacturers coming up with ideas points towards a manufacturing defect. Maybe the scrubbers are not adequate. 

Certainly the manufacture was not as good as it should have been in several areas - we noted on our first season cruise on Discovery that the varnish on the exterior balconies was already flaking off.

I think they are slowly catching up on varnishing the teak on SoA. It's certainly better than last February. 

Diego says they have been working really closely with the boat builder to resolve the engine issue, and they have been doing everything by the book. I tend to trust his honesty, after the help he was to me last year,

1 hour ago, Jammy Bun said:

I’ve spent almost 12 weeks on several different Viking ships - never seen anything like the soot on SoA.   We’d hoped Saga would be similar to Viking, but it’s nothing like…  

back to Viking this summer, and hoping to remain fit enough to travel with them for as long as we can.  

I do hold that everyone who cruises has a cruise line they consider "home". And we love that line to the extent that faults become quirks. I love Silversea, but goodness, they have their fair share of dropping the ball. And they have their fair share of pulling the rabbit out of the hat, too. 

My nature is to like to know what's going on. So the fact that Diego is so honest answering questions is a big bonus to me on Saga. As an example, yes, I'd prefer not to see black soot on the decks - but I know why, I know what they are doing, and I know what the plan is. And if it works, the next cruise won't have the issue.

I think the trick for each of us is to find what matters most and what we can compromise on. So, this year, spending time with my parents is the top priority - and this is the way to do it. When I travel with my husband in July, we'll be back on Silversea, and that will feel like home to us, even though it's a ship we've not been on before. And I know other people who are mega happy with an internal cabin on a huge ship. 

 

1 hour ago, Wacktle said:

Sara,

Firstly thanks for your blogs. 

Is there now a buffet in The Grill in the evenings, albeit served from behind the plastic screens? I hope so. I think the evening meals were all served ready-plated last time we were onboard (Sept 2022). I much prefer to say how much of each item I want, and what I'd like plated with what.

Thanks.

Mostly it's served the same as in the dining room, unless there is a themed buffet (according to my friend who tends to eat there in the evening). You do get shown to a table, but you can ask for a particular table if it's free when you arrive. The staff do rotate more upstairs than in the dining room, or at least they seem to. I'm travelling with my parents, and we have had occasional blips where the host tries to put be with a different older couple, or to seat my parents without me.

Down in the dining room. Kim greets us warmly and says, "You can go straight to your regular table." - which is a nice touch.

SOOT UPDATE

It's been happening on both ships, for about six months. The manufacturer has recently come up with a new idea. It's been tested on SoD, and seems to make a big difference. They are going to do the same on SoA when we get to Portsmouth. The belief is this will progressively improve the situation with each visit back to the UK. Not sure if Viking have been through the same thing, or if their slightly different configuration makes it less obvious?

@Windsurfboy speed has been similar to what you said - 12-16 knot.

2 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Strange we were on same ship for a month last year and no soot for the 32 days..

 

Either it's a maintenance issue that's built up , or fuel quality.

Yes, we had no issues in Feb last year. But if @david05 had it at Christmas and @Jammy Bun had it last month, then it's an on-going issue. Interesting that they were cleaning things back at Christmas, so it's a known issue. I might just go on a Diego hunt for info. 

35 minutes ago, Jammy Bun said:

Soot very much in evidence on our cruise last month.  Even on our balcony, which was on C deck. The railings on the top deck looked like they’d never been cleaned - and we never saw anyone up there doing any maintenance work. 

Oh goodness, that was worse! They are working really hard on the cleaning now - though it's not enough. Originally I thought it was from cargo ships in Gibraltar, but it must be from our engines. We definitely didn't have it on this ship last February, nor have I experienced it in the med before more than a once off from a cargo ship.

DAY AT SEA - FRIDAY

There's not much to say about a day at sea. Of course, there are lots of activities on board, but no need to do any of them. 

One nice thing was that a waiter came down the back terrace to take drinks orders. Hopefully this will be a regular thing. 

Something worth mentioning is the black soot. I've seen it before, but never to this extent. The back of the ship is constantly coated in sticky black particles, despite the crew cleaning all the time. It gets on everything, and is not quick to wash off. If I can, I'll ask why it's so frequent this cruise. 

On a more positive note, the starboard side of every deck on the the terrace has a prox/push button opening. A wheelchair user might still need someone to open the door to go back in, to avoid getting thumped by the door, but the access is much better than I've seen on other ships. 

Other than that, second formal dinner (of three). Dining room was heaving. Our junior waiter and wine waiter worked exceptionally well together, making service seamless in the section. In general, the senior waiters have been much more active and charming the last two days. The haggis, neeps and tatties came with what our waiter caller "piper bourbon", but we think was an Aberdour? One of the steaks was very over-cooked, and the maire d' (or assistant, I forget) took one look and said he'd have a polite word in the kitchen. My mum wore a skull and crossbone scarf.