SoA Western Med, March 2023

[SaraSailing]

Much to my own surprise, I'm back on a Saga ship and hoping the drama of last February in Norway isn't going to try for an encore.

I think today is day 4. We've made it through the Bay of Biscay and are turning the corner of Portugal.

The rest to follow in the comments...

[LandC]

I look forward to reading your updates. I note that you have two good speakers on board - a wine expert and a former chef to the Royal Household.  We will embark SofA on 22nd April, but have no information on who our speakers will be.

[SaraSailing]

DAY ONE - PORTSMOUTH

 

The shared "VIP" transport picked me up just after 11am, and a speedy 2 hours to drop off at the port. Portsmouth staff were pleasant, helpful, friendly, and super efficient: from drop off to being in my cabin was 35 minutes. 

It's lovely to get straight into cabins, no waiting around with hand luggage until permission is granted. It's a nice Saga touch to be escorted to your cabin - and especially nice as my guide turned out to me my cabin steward too. 

I'm in a superior single this time. To the best of my guessing power, it seems the superior cabins are just a touch longer than standard, but otherwise identical. The seating area by the window is nice, the dinky balcony perfectly adequate and there are plugs and usb sockets everywhere. The TV is slap bang in front of the foot of the bed, which suits my post-dinner movie habit. The shower room is compact and bijou. Or small, if you prefer. The shower is fine for showering, but leg shaving is a contortionist's art form. The wardrobe is big for one, but the same size in a double cabin, which would need more careful allocation of space. I do miss the walk-in deluxe wardrobe, but the deluxe cabins are seriously tight in the window seating area, so it's swings and roundabouts.

 

I just had time for a quick wander around before my parents arrived on the shuttle bus from the terminal. Next time we really must ask to share a car, as I'm on their route to the port. As it was, we both shared with different people. The green sofa clashing with the carpet is still an assault on the eyes at the top of the grand staircase from the Living Room to the bar.

 

One thing Saga do is allocate place and time of dinner for the first night, to spread everyone out. Despite our linked bookings, we'd been given two different times in two different restaurants - which was quickly sorted out by the dining room staff (I did go and ask at lunch time, the people trying to move bookings after the start of dinner service didn't do so well.)

We were definitely ready for our fist lunch in The Grill, and then suitcases showed up and we could unpack. Then we were waved off by the Portsmouth harbour staff and a brass band,

 

 

(One day I will learn to use my camera the right way up!)

(Honestly, the photos magically right themselves everywhere but on cc, so I don't know which ones are right or wrong until I get them here.)

Seemed like no time until dinner. I'm always a bit nervous on the first night as I've got a couple of odd allergies - I always feel better once I've seen the chef and agreed how to handle ordering, and what hidden risks there might be. I think I was in bed before 9pm, still recovering from the post-viral effects of the Christmas illness. 

 

[SaraSailing]

26 minutes ago, LandC said:

I look forward to reading your updates. I note that you have two good speakers on board - a wine expert and a former chef to the Royal Household.  We will embark SofA on 22nd April, but have no information on who our speakers will be.

Hello! Yes, Oz Clarke (who I watched on TV when I was a kid). He's pretty visible around the ship and always seems to have time to talk to people. The destination expert seems good, and we have a few other speakers. Not seen the royal pastry chef yet, but I've slept a LOT!

 

[SaraSailing]

DAY 2 - BAY OF BISCAY

 

As with most ships, we skirted round the outside. Not exactly rough, but fairly big swells, windy and wet. I basically ate and slept.

 

Met the chef, who told me something I didn't know before - a lot of the batters and sauces use gluten-free flour. And a lot of gluten free flour contains pea protein - to which I am very allergic. So no fish and chips for me unless I put in a special request the day before. He's also asked for all my dining room meals to be cooked with butter or olive oil, which I didn't even realise until I saw my menu on Friday night. I'm not sure what oil I'm avoiding, but I'm glad. I don't use seed oils at home, so it is a bonus to reduce how much I get of them when away.

 

Here's a photo (upside down) of a slightly soggy pizza. Flavour is decent. But not a patch on Silversea's pizza, and definitely not close to Nick Nairn's amazing pizza up in Port of Menteith.

 

[SaraSailing]

DAY 3 - OFF PORTUGAL

 

The formal night had been postponed until Saturday, as a precaution, as worse weather was expected. But it really wasn't bad, and plenty of people were up and about. 

There are lots of activities on board, and so far I've avoided all of them. I'm happy with sea air and limited responsibility. It's been a great time to catch up on sleep, though today I was awake enough to watch my first post-dinner movie.  

We forgot to take photos of the scallops and black pudding starter, but the scallops were beautifully cooked - no mean feat in a dining room that size. Also not photographed, I managed to get some chilli sauce with my lunchtime prawns. It had to be fetched from the dining room, but was well worth the wait - deeply smoky and spicy.

 

The shampoo photo was to help my parents track down one via their cabin steward - there are a lot of different bottles, and they specifically wanted the only one they were missing.

As an aside, did find out rolling ship, plus hair conditioner, plus wet shower floor is pretty slippery.

[Scorpio41]

Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I hope you and your parents have a great time.

 

Patiently waiting for the next update. 

[Vivaldi]

Delighted to see that you are posting a report of your cruise. The reports you posted of your first Saga cruise were very balanced, detailed and informative, and I won't be the only regular on these pages to be keen to read your posts. It will be particularly interesting to learn whether there have been any improvements (or otherwise) in the onboard experience since that first cruise.

 

The standard single cabin is shorter than the superior one, and consequently has one fewer chair between the bed and the balcony. The superior single is, I believe, identical to the standard double. 

 

Have a great cruise, and I look forward to reading about it. Thanks!

 

[SaraSailing]

4 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

Delighted to see that you are posting a report of your cruise. The reports you posted of your first Saga cruise were very balanced, detailed and informative, and I won't be the only regular on these pages to be keen to read your posts. It will be particularly interesting to learn whether there have been any improvements (or otherwise) in the onboard experience since that first cruise.

 

The standard single cabin is shorter than the superior one, and consequently has one fewer chair between the bed and the balcony. The superior single is, I believe, identical to the standard double. 

 

Have a great cruise, and I look forward to reading about it. Thanks!

 

Lovely to hear from you!

The good thing is the exterior is getting a lot more maintenance now. I think they are still catching up, but the woodwork is in much better condition.

We have the same guest relations director - Diego, who is a star. And the level to which the dining room are caring for my daft allergies is amazing. For dinner I have a private chef who deals with my food away from everyone else (because all the sauces are gluten free, therefore pea protein, therefore really not pretty outcomes). The crew that I met last year have been super friendly - as well trained as on a much smaller ship.

(I do have to say, in between I went to Alaska on my favourite Silver Shadow, and it was as brilliant as ever.)

I'll post today's formal night photos (such as I have) tomorrow. Which is Gibraltar and a dolphin watching trip.

I think the ship is much better suited to this climate, so not expecting quite the same drama!

[SaraSailing]

5 hours ago, Scorpio41 said:

Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I hope you and your parents have a great time.

 

Patiently waiting for the next update. 

Laptop about to fade out, so I'll wait for photos to replicate and post tomorrow...

[SaraSailing]

DAY 4 - SOUTH OF PORTUGAL

 

The weather took a distinct turn for the better, the sun shone and people appeared on deck (some for the first time). 

Whilst the Lido and the Verandah are popular in terms of service, and the upper decks for sun, the rear terraces are a lovely place to sit in peace. Deck 11 is a smoking area, which is a shame, as the smell pervades the back of decks 10 & 12. It's not even pleasant to walk through - it would be nice for it to be more contained, or at least kept in a smaller area. 

In terms of daytime entertainment, I believe Oz Clarke did his second talk before leaving the ship in Gibraltar. And there was the usual range of crafts, cards and deck games. I avoided all of them, though I might watch some talks on the TV replay instead. 

 

The captain uses the tone and style of a children's entertainer (but the sort that secretly hates children). The usual run of things would be a captain who gives clear positional, weather and safety info, then a cruise director who can talk more about entertainment. We've heard from the cruise director once, as the captain is the only star of this show. Lunchtime highlight was captain's announcement: "Do I need to introduce myself again?", followed by a chorus across the Grill: "NO!" There's a pantomime air that I haven't experienced from a captain before. Dressed for formal dinner captain looks like a Disney prince, so good on him for staying in character!

Formal dinner, and we dined with a couple - the man was a uni peer of my father, and also shows up on my mum's first year physics dept photo, Whilst we've hardly seen them more than three times in the interim, there is a photo of two year old me hogging a swing in a garden in north London, whilst their son (also two) waits politely. Sorry, Jonathan.

With the prevalence of gluten free flours (and therefore legume flours/proteins) I'm getting very special dinner treatment. I do pick from the menu at breakfast time, so they know what I'll need. But things I've never thought of before - like a prawn tian - need to be done separately for me. It feels a bit embarrassing, but everyone is very nice about it, and the outcome of too much exposure is a big deal. If I were being sensible, I'd probably eat lunch in the dining room too, so that I can pre-order.

Had a sighting of a whale spout in the morning, but not sure how many people saw it. Then after dinner I stepped onto my balcony to be deafened by a hoarde of gulls screaming and riding the air stream. They stayed with us for hours, and it was an amazing sight.

Here's a random set of photos. Lunchtime cheese is lovely, desserts are super sweet, beyond what my palette can enjoy. A rainbow! Lots of sea. A bit of dinner. And the gulls (if the video makes it, sound on!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Edited March 19, 2023 by SaraSailing

[Wacktle]

Enjoying your blogs.

From your photo, the Captain could do an "Elvis"?

 

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Wacktle

[SaraSailing]

1 minute ago, Wacktle said:

Enjoying your blogs.

From your photo, the Captain could do an "Elvis"?

 

 

I know, it was a funny catch - but I'm sure his sense of humour can handle it!

[Windsurfboy]

Loving blog , can't wait to get on SOD in November. 

 

Very interesting, in our 32 nights on SOA in May never saw Captain eating in MDR, perhaps that was spill over from the covid protocols.  

[lincslady]

It would be, I feel sure.  Normally the Captain and probably other Officers will host tables on formal nights. I have the impression that the invited are those with hundreds of days on Saga and those in top suites.  (This true of other lines; maybe not with Saga).

[JoJo1947]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

It would be, I feel sure.  Normally the Captain and probably other Officers will host tables on formal nights. I have the impression that the invited are those with hundreds of days on Saga and those in top suites.  (This true of other lines; maybe not with Saga).

We were invited twice to join an Officer's table on the Christmas/New Year  SoD cruise. Standard cabin and not hundreds of nights on board.

[SaraSailing]

1 hour ago, JoJo1947 said:

We were invited twice to join an Officer's table on the Christmas/New Year  SoD cruise. Standard cabin and not hundreds of nights on board.

You did well! Most people on the captain's table are in the higher echelons of suite or days sailing. Or, the captain dinner is touted as a prize for those who stay loyal. 

Interestingly, Silversea (pre-covid)would start inviting people to officers' tables pretty quickly. We've had some wonderful, some bizarre, and some hilariously bad experiences - and probably not easily predictable. Our top favourite is a Filipino head of house keeping, who we've sat with twice. She is epic. Also, on Silversea, very few people are aiming for the captain's table - it's the free laundry at 100 days that is the true prize! 

But yes, I think this is a return to 'normality', whatever that means now. (As an aside, our local co-op replaced the hand wash station with a lottery stand, which feel faintly ironic.)

Dolphin watching today in Gibraltar, will post once the photos are up.

[JoJo1947]

I've never heard of it being touted as a prize. When we on aboard the SoD last October no dining with Officers or Officers mingling had restarted. Christmas thereon all back to pre covid

[lincslady]

I understand that on another British line which shall be nameless passengers PAY to be on the Captain's table!

 

We have done quite a few, some jolly and a few stilted.  This mainly because we had got to know one particular Captain pretty well on another line.  It is surprising how many people will ask you later ' how did you come to be  invited'.  

[nosapphire]

6 hours ago, lincslady said:

It would be, I feel sure.  Normally the Captain and probably other Officers will host tables on formal nights. I have the impression that the invited are those with hundreds of days on Saga and those in top suites.  (This true of other lines; maybe not with Saga).

It may have changed, but Saga spread invitations to dine on Officer's tables throughout the grades and with no particular regard to status. (A friend of mine got the invite on her first cruise with Saga) (and she was in a low grade inside cabin). I did hear that the selection was made by the general passenger facing staff, not the officers. We've been on officer's tables several times, and we are always in a cheap grade, and while we are regulars, certainly not one of the most frequent Saga cruisers.

Once, on the Saga Pearl II (a much smaller ship) we were at sea on Valentine's day. It was a formal night, and the ship made a real occasion of it - chocolates in the cabin, heart shaped confetti on the tables, etc.

When we sat down, we realised that many of the tables either had different people on them or missing diners. We found out that the "missing" diners were all solos, and every single solo on the ship was (as we could hear) having an uproarious time on an officer's table (they had to create extra tables and bring down more officers than usual to cater for the number of solos).

The dining room ran merrily late that night.

[SaraSailing]

3 hours ago, lincslady said:

I understand that on another British line which shall be nameless passengers PAY to be on the Captain's table!

 

We have done quite a few, some jolly and a few stilted.  This mainly because we had got to know one particular Captain pretty well on another line.  It is surprising how many people will ask you later ' how did you come to be  invited'.  

OMG. That is funny, to PAY. Officers are spread thin and wide here, the captain and staff captain less so. We're perfectly happy doing our own thing, especially as I seem to have gained a private chef!

But two more formals to go, so we'll see what happens. I think it's great to see long term friendships develop, or even transitory ones.

[SaraSailing]

2 hours ago, nosapphire said:

It may have changed, but Saga spread invitations to dine on Officer's tables throughout the grades and with no particular regard to status. (A friend of mine got the invite on her first cruise with Saga) (and she was in a low grade inside cabin). I did hear that the selection was made by the general passenger facing staff, not the officers. We've been on officer's tables several times, and we are always in a cheap grade, and while we are regulars, certainly not one of the most frequent Saga cruisers.

Once, on the Saga Pearl II (a much smaller ship) we were at sea on Valentine's day. It was a formal night, and the ship made a real occasion of it - chocolates in the cabin, heart shaped confetti on the tables, etc.

When we sat down, we realised that many of the tables either had different people on them or missing diners. We found out that the "missing" diners were all solos, and every single solo on the ship was (as we could hear) having an uproarious time on an officer's table (they had to create extra tables and bring down more officers than usual to cater for the number of solos).

The dining room ran merrily late that night.

I love reading the room and seeing where the energy goes. Fascinating to sense the relaxation after the captain's table have received their main courses.

[david05]

A good few years ago on one of Saga Ruby's longer cruises, seats at the Captain's table one evening were auctioned off for charity. It wasn't a formal night and an indian dinner was served with the waiters dressed in Indian outfits but they were not the usual waiters rather Jo Bose (cruise director), Horst Pint and Jan Novack (hotel manager and ?deputy) and the Chief Engineer (whose name unfortunately I don't remember). It was a noisy table and the last to leave the restaurant! In addition, because it was a long cruise and a small ship, everyone was invited to the Captain's table once during the cruise.

Edited March 19, 2023 by david05

[SaraSailing]

10 hours ago, david05 said:

A good few years ago on one of Saga Ruby's longer cruises, seats at the Captain's table one evening were auctioned off for charity. It wasn't a formal night and an indian dinner was served with the waiters dressed in Indian outfits but they were not the usual waiters rather Jo Bose (cruise director), Horst Pint and Jan Novack (hotel manager and ?deputy) and the Chief Engineer (whose name unfortunately I don't remember). It was a noisy table and the last to leave the restaurant! In addition, because it was a long cruise and a small ship, everyone was invited to the Captain's table once during the cruise.

That sounds like fun. Jo is our cruise director this time, and I feel Jan might have been the hotel director last year. 

I do love a good curry night on a ship. We've just been to the Khukuri last night, and everything was delicious. 

[SaraSailing]

DAY 5 - GIBRALTAR

 

What an interesting place. Both more British than Britain, and very not British at the same time. There is the only Morrison's outside of the UK (apparently a beacon for ex-pats still living in Spain), and a number of chain stores that I thought had gone bust long ago - but no one told the Gibraltar branch. M&S appear to be selling clothes from the 90s.

Mothers Day today, and I managed to get their steward to sneak a gift into my parents' cabin. The ship also gave us chocolates, with a card that said, "Celebrating all Mum's". Whilst I can be a bit loose with grammar, that apostrophe certainly grated!

The highlight of the day was the dolphin watching trip. I mean, the dolphins were the highlight, but many aspects of the trip were not. Let's deal with them first:
1. We had to meet in the theatre on deck 6. Gangway is deck 4. Buses have to park in a little car park a couple of hundred metres from the port building. So it takes quite a lot of time to gather everyone at the buses. We had several people who were distinctly wobbly on their feet, and lots of walking sticks.
2. The Gibraltar tour buses are not nice. They are tiny, so even our smallish group had to travel in two buses. The steps into the buses were big, which many people found tough, and one impossible. The driver did try to help by bringing out one of those tiny folding stools, but that seemed to make the process more dangerous. Getting out was equally challenging, with such a huge step down I don't think I was the only one to hit my head on the ceiling. The seats were small, and two of them had wheel arches completely blocking the foot space. Given the one way system, the short distance to the marina took a while.
3. Again, a couple of hundred yards walk from the carpark to the tour boat. The boat staff worked hard to not lose anyone, but at least one person missed being given the ticket getting off the bus to hand in at the jetty. And, again, it took the wobblers a while to make the short distance. 

4. The tour boat was also not easy to get on and off for anyone with mobility problems. The mobile steps and big drop into the boat were not walking stick friendly, though everyone made it. It is disappointing not to see an accessible offering, especially after amazing whale watching trips in an accessible boat for over 15 years in Juneau, Alaska. 

5. The bench seats in the boat were slippery, totally unsupportive, and crowded. Some people had to sit in the middle facing each other with their knees touching. And then everyone on the outside had their back to the water. There were also quite a few other non-Saga tourists on the boat, including several children - that definitely detracts from the Saga 'boutique' offering. 

6. We were lucky that the water was flat as a pancake, and there were very few other boats in the bay. As it was, walking sticks kept falling over, and most people had quite a restricted view of the water. The boat did, of course, have life jackets and life rafts, but I can't imagine the evacuation process going well with that many people - plus all the life jackets were inside the middle benches, which meant to get them everyone on that bench had to stand for the lid to be lifted.

 

That said, the boat crew were great. The captain did a lovely job of turning and making steady progress, which the dolphins appreciate. And the others were informative, if you were in earshot. I found a space sitting on the floor on the raised front, and stayed put, just waiting for the dolphins to come by.

Unlike seeing them out at sea, these dolphins are in no rush. They seem to have a lot of fun playing with the boats, sticking their noses up, laughing at us, rolling and generally dancing around.

The trip was short (too short after all the delays), and it seemed like no time before we had to head back to the marina. I'd have happily paid twice the price for fewer people, a more accessible trip, and a little longer actually out on the water. (Dolphin photos on big camera, will add once I can get them off, need a usb adapter.)

I opted out of the coach ride to the ship, and instead took the long-ish (for me, still being careful with an old stress fracture) walk to the cable car. Maybe 25 minutes or so the get there? The cable car is £18 return, or £34 if you want to go into the nature reserve. I think I queued for about another 20 minutes to get on the small cable car. The ride up is less than 6 minutes, including a stop at the middle station (not in summer). I knew I was starting to get a bit short on time, and definitely didn't want another queue, so I asked just to stay on for the ride back down. 

I'd heard the barbary macaques come to see the cable car at the top, and I wasn't disappointed. Thought I was briefly very close to a set of monkey balls being displayed at the open window - reflex reaction moved me back very fast, I really didn't want to lose glasses to this cheeky monkey.

 

I got a front space for the ride down and was able to film the fast descent. It's nice to get up high, if only briefly.

The cable car is not wheelchair accessible. After a few great rides in SE Alaska and Norway, this is very disappointing. Having checked a few reviews, even the local taxis (one company, strong union) can't handle a non-folding chair in the back, as they are full of seats. They do have two slightly more accessible vehicles, which need to be booked in advance - but I'm told it's hit and miss whether you actually get them. However, back down in the main square the drinking water fountain had a wheelchair level tap as well as a standing height one, and there were quite a few accessible parking bays. Maybe eventually things will improve here, but currently the accessibility for tourists is poor.

Another long-ish walk back to the ship, and I was tired and hungry. Then I remembered I'd not eaten breakfast, and I'd missed lunch!

Dinner at the Khukuri, which was lovely. Always good to get a well-made curry. Somehow my request for San Pellegrino now goes ahead of me, and a bottle arrived in the restaurant when we sat down. Obviously with curry I do have to be careful about legumes - but everything was taken care of and I had a lovely meal. 

 

 

Room service somehow interpreted my request for hot milk as cold milk, but with a bit of boiling water from the kettle I still made a decent mug of cocoa before bed.