Bit of a Blog : B2B2B : SoA : embarking 20/01/22

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi,

 

It's been a while. Have missed the sea, the ships, the adventure. Currently sat in the back of a Mercedes E Class on my way to Southampton. Nearly 4 hours in with one stop. Maybe 3 to go. Traffic hasn't been kind with the M1 partially closed.

 

Should have been headed to the Amazon on Jan 5th but that was cancelled due to Covid. Cruising with a friend we decided to take 3 of the 4 alternate cruises offered. Just as well as the people doing B2B who boarded on the 5th have not been allowed to continue to their 2nd leg. No explanation given.

 

Here's the route map for this leg. First stop Cadiz. Fingers crossed!

 

Happy to answer questions. 

 

 

Linda

Edited January 20, 2022 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

Day 1

 

Took just short of 6 hours to drive to Southampton from NE England. My friend, coming from Surrey and also chauffered, had to deal with a flat tyre on the 'smart' motorway.

 

LFT and PCR tests negative. Bleeped going through security, I have a prosthetic hip. Checked in smoothly.

 

Cabin is very comfortable though short on drawer space. Watched the Muster Drill on the TV then at the designated time went and scanned in at the Muster Station.

 

We were assigned dining in the Main Dining Room at 645pm. After today we can dine where and when we like. Specialty restaurants are included in the fare but will have to be booked.

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

More tomorrow. Exhausted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ann141]

It looks great.Glad all went well with check in and no delays to departure

[NorbertsNiece]

Well equipped shower room. There are M size robes. Will ask for larger!!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

Room pics and a few from a walkabout. Walls are magnetic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tothesunset]

Our first Saga cruise will be on SoA in July so very appreciative of the narrative and photos. 

[NorbertsNiece]

Assigned Main Dining Room for the first night.  Shared a table with others. Socially distanced. Included wine was a Sauvignon Blanc, a Merlot and a Zinfandel rosé.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[paulatsea]

Excellent - I look forward to reading all your blog - thanks for posting . Going on saga end of august hopefully - 1st time - so this is very interesting. 

[wowzz]

Really enjoying reading your blog, and the pictures are great !

Roll on September! 

[NorbertsNiece]

Last night's wine menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

Short walkabout. Enjoyed a quiz. Back in the room a fruit plate had been left!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Day 2 / 67

 

Am barely noticing the motion of the ocean! Very calm waters. 729 pax on board. One of my booked excursions isn't going ahead..... a BBQ on volcano! Will do an included one instead. Money will be refunded to my ship board account. 

 

The view from my window this morning. ALL cabins on this ship have balconies.

 

More cabin pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Have been to breakfast. Yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Another walkabout. The Spa is gorgeous. The hydrotherapy pool allows up to 10 people each bookable hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sleepingcat]

Info I got today: we were given pcr  tests at same time as lft yesterday before check in . I m told that once results of those are reported to saga on Tuesday, if all are clear more freedoms wl be possible on this cruise.

 So far all going well. Can’t imagine Linda how u ve had time to do all those photos 💕!

 

 

[Medeba]

Loving the blog, Linda.  Must take up a fair bit of your time but it's much appreciated.

[Kenmure]

Good to hear from sleeping cat that you might be getting more freedoms. However we bet that those who weren’t allowed to go on a B2B on this one will be even madder when they see this. Hopefully this was a one off for whatever reason but we hope NorbertsNiece doesn’t get caught up in the same way at the end of your cruise. No doubt she will keep us up to speed!

We are now speculating what freedoms we would like to see after experiencing the current regulations on two B2Bs. The strangest and perhaps the least obvious one is the removal of the library books. Directly we heard there weren’t going to be any we went to the local library and stocked up and brought them with us! Seat mapping on coaches, theatre and dining? We saw quite a number move in the theatre after signing in. It would be a relief for the staff not having this checking imposed on them.

We won’t mention masking as this is much more controversial.

The last plea..... sometime in the future bring back self service dinner in the Grill!

[NorbertsNiece]

54 minutes ago, sleepin cat said:

Info I got today: we were given pcr  tests at same time as lft yesterday before check in . I m told that once results of those are reported to saga on Tuesday, if all are clear more freedoms wl be possible on this cruise.

 So far all going well. Can’t imagine Linda how u ve had time to do all those photos 💕!

 

 

They see me coming now! Executive chef approached me at lunch today....  "Are you Linda?" It's been years of doing this as a hobby. It's fun. Helps me to get my bearings wandering around.

 

Biggest issue is uploading pics here from my phone.

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, Kenmure said:

Good to hear from sleeping cat that you might be getting more freedoms. However we bet that those who weren’t allowed to go on a B2B on this one will be even madder when they see this. Hopefully this was a one off for whatever reason but we hope NorbertsNiece doesn’t get caught up in the same way at the end of your cruise. No doubt she will keep us up to speed!

We are now speculating what freedoms we would like to see after experiencing the current regulations on two B2Bs. The strangest and perhaps the least obvious one is the removal of the library books. Directly we heard there weren’t going to be any we went to the local library and stocked up and brought them with us! Seat mapping on coaches, theatre and dining? We saw quite a number move in the theatre after signing in. It would be a relief for the staff not having this checking imposed on them.

We won’t mention masking as this is much more controversial.

The last plea..... sometime in the future bring back self service dinner in the Grill!

I am sailing on SoA on 29 March, my first ocean cruise with Saga and am finding this blog most interesting.  I will be interested to see how Saga and other cruise lines react if the government removes all covid restrictions as from 24 March, when the current legislation expires.

[BestGuessed]

We will be having our first Saga cruise onboard SoA in July.  Really loving hearing all about the ship and seeing the photos.  Thank you so much for posting Linda.

[Kenmure]

See you on 29 March Denarius!

[JuCru]

Hi Linda

It is great to see all these lovely photos of the ship and to get more information.  Thanks for posting. We are on the next cruise on SoA - going to Norway on 5Feb. - and it is nice to know as much as we can in advance.

Have a great cruise

 

Julie

 

[NorbertsNiece]

1 hour ago, JuCru said:

Hi Linda

It is great to see all these lovely photos of the ship and to get more information.  Thanks for posting. We are on the next cruise on SoA - going to Norway on 5Feb. - and it is nice to know as much as we can in advance.

Have a great cruise

 

Julie

 

Come find me on board!

[NorbertsNiece]

8 hours ago, sleepin cat said:

Info I got today: we were given pcr  tests at same time as lft yesterday before check in . I m told that once results of those are reported to saga on Tuesday, if all are clear more freedoms wl be possible on this cruise.

 So far all going well. Can’t imagine Linda how u ve had time to do all those photos 💕!

 

 

Saga have the results. Info from Diego we all passed!