NorbertsNiece

My experience with Saga in difficult on board weather and covid situations is that they have done their very best to communicate the current situation at that time and have always had the safety and security of their guests at the forefront of their decisions. I am not a Master Mariner but my travelling companion is. He said, "Not easy to be sure of how rough it is going to be. "Safety system kicking in" - guess the Master turned the ship to heave to .... better than running before the weather, risking a wave over the poop.

Yeah. A* in creative writing

Pics from on board Discovery in this DM article.

SoA heading to La Coruña, Vigo, Leixoes and Lisbon.

Phoned them this morning. The 2014 thing ..... hadn't caught that. May go for the long Discovery Jan 2025 depending on cost. 6th Jan 2025 49 days on Discovery Central America Funchal St Lucia Barbados Bequia Curaçao Aruba Colombia Panama, colon Costa Rica Honduras Belize Progresso Galveston Nola Miami Bermuda Ponta Delgado

I've been asked to comment on the cons as well as the pros of cruising with Saga. That's a difficult one and is really personal relating to dining Gluten Free. There's only one kind of biscuit in the Living Room and they only serve GF savoury snack food at 4pm and I found that out by accident! There's only one kind of roll at dinner and again I found out by accident that there's GF breakfast cereal, GF crackers to have with cheese and something that presumes to be a GF bagel by shape only. Oh and fritters should be crispy not soggy 🤣 So really no deal breaking cons! Did get an email offering a free cabin upgrade if I booked a cruise within the next 7 days. The 2025 brochure's not out yet...... nothing in 2024 that tempts me sadly Adventure still sheltering in Falmouth as of 2200

Thanks giving contd. Back in the Grill Elmer and Jonathan always smiling, always helpful Rizwan in the gym, stretched us and gave us the exercises to continue alone Fordy, you know who you are 😉 Chelsie and the cast singers for stretching my vocal chords! Julie on the Entertainment team for her jokes, they really were dreadful 😄😉 Massimo the CD on board for just the one cruise. Lovely to see a CD so evident about the ship. Molte grazie per l'invito a cena And Werner, the HGM, for being there As well as Saga themselves there are guest speakers etc. So. ORCA were amazing..... they have super visual acuity.... without binoculars! Best speaker imo was James Ketchell Adventure such an inspiration! Check out his story. Best entertainers were The Beatles Experience (UK) by a mile. Just brilliant. Last but definitely not least and in no particular order Jennie, Jaime, Melissa, Julie and Patrick. That's Jolly Super Things and Supercraft Cruises Natural teachers with endless patience, encouragement and such positivity. Thank you. ❤️

Hi everyone. I have some loose ends to tie up. The choir presents.... 5... or maybe 6..... songs. Link here to one song. Hopefully you can track links from there to the others 🤞

Hi 👋 didn't see you to say goodbye. You can email me at mmeward at hotmail dot com if you'd like to stay in touch. -------- I have more to blog but still getting over drive home. Have been in touch with Saga about the case and the car. Awaiting callback.

Screenshots from Wednesday morning. Was only unscheduled in so far it wasn't a cruise port of call. Contingencies days before embarkation were being investigated.

Bit of both plus really tired. Almost home. Buddy has been dropped off. 6 hours on the road. Not bad going considering the weather we've driven through

Am off the ship in a really timely fashion. Short queue for bus. There are trollies where the bus stops. There's a sign in the corridor for those who may have experienced terrorism issues in Ukraine and Israel to approach someone for support if required. There's no immigration/passport control. Luggage hall neatly arranged. It all goes downhill from now. The handle on one of my cases is broken. Locked in up position. Reported to 'Carol' in terminal. Have same travel buddy. Also 2 cases and bags. Car is Skoda Octavia Estate. Cases barely fit especially with one having a broken handle. It's not going to be a smooth ride up. My sharer is sat in the front. I have my rucksack and tote with me in the back. Feeling teary. Glad I have water with me. We were spoilt with a water provided Mercedes on the way down

Room vacated. Currently sat in a packed Supper Club. People have forgotten about the shuttle bus transfer to the terminal. Some have cases. And we have to go down a deck to disembark.

View quayside from deck 6. Forgot about the business about a shuttle bus to the terminal. Cases being loaded onto forklifts and being driven to the terminal.

You guys have really spurred me on. Just clicking like on a post means it's been read!! Just had my first cooked breakfast (other than an occasional pancake). Have to be home by 1900. Ocado delivering!!

Portsmouth waking up. We passed an aircraft carrier sailing in.

0600 Disembarkation day. Good morning and thanks for following. Awake. Breakfast planned for 0630. Our clocks went back an hour last night. Ship currently turning to starboard in the harbour in order to park up. I have so many thanks to give. Let's start with Ely our room steward. Quietly competent, ever smiling, helpful. A real asset to the housekeeping team. Then there's Ajay, Christian and Johnson in the Grill. They couldn't do enough for me. Such a joy to be served by them. Ship still turning. I need to get up!

The saddest sight you'll ever see on a cruise ship. We're all packed and watching the Variety Show featuring the guest artists as well as the ship cast. Lovely.

Almost at the English Channel. Am reliably informed aka Western Approaches.

BoB definitely not looking good for the next few days.....

Geoff won the GK quiz on his own with the tie breaker answer! 19/20 otherwise 👏👏 He was on his own as I was busy shopping at the Supercraft Cruises and Jolly Super Things sale of items 😉 Back in the cabin there's a little SAGA Cruises Ltd. gift ❤️

Day 22 Final sea day, final day Good morning everyone and thanks for being out there! It really helps to know you're reading and commenting. Had a play with phone settings, probably not the right time to be practicing but it worked!

Hi 👋 thank you so much! In 6 weeks I'll be blogging again!! My signature will reflect the CC link. Sadly not with Saga as they cancelled a similar itinerary twice due to Covid and haven't reinstated it 😢

I headed back to the ship by my usual downhill fashion. FYI the cruise terminal in Lisbon has shopping facilities which you can investigate before heading out. Sailaway happened whilst we were at dinner so only managed a couple of pics through the Grill window.

Another memorial of note was that to Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) Fifth son of King D. João I and D. Filipa de Lencastre, was born in Porto on February 4, 1394. He was one of the most important figures at the beginning of the Portuguese Discoveries, with his action being decisive in North Africa, in the conquests made, and in the Atlantic with the discovery of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores and the recognition and establishment of commercial warehouses in the West African coast. At the time of the his death, in 1460, the African coast had been explored up to what is now Sierra Leone. D. Henrique (Henry) died on September 13, in the village of Sagres, aged 66. Provisionally buried in the now-disappeared church of Santa Maria da Graça in Lagos, his remains were transferred to the Monastery of Batalha in the Centro region of Portugal, where they remain in one of the parietal tombs of the Founder's Chapel.