ighten

I totally forgot to finish this .. may apologies.. It seems we havent stopped last year..

I promise to catch them all up including the most excellent Faroes cruise..

In the mean time a little teaser from a meeting of two Freds that happened on this one.

I see the Bollette seems to be getting quite a lot of repositioning next year both out of Newcastle and Liverpool so we may end up on her.. Is she significantly different to Borealis

Lisbon does seem to be getting dropped from quite a few Itinerarys this and next years.. Its now almost missing from all of Sagas 24 Canary routings and is replaced with a port in Green Spain. I wonder if Lisbons port costings have significantly increased.

21 minutes ago, Kenmure said:

We look forward to reading more.

As soon as this NY period finishes I will crack down and start.. I do have a cpl more vids though

Fun on the Lido Deck

and fun with Ian Waite (the Strictly come dancing man - who was quite funny - though his actual evening show was not as good)

Just a little Rhine Gorge Action and Cabin details from Oct/Nov this year (oops now last year).. A beautiful first river cruise.

I'll catch this up as the new year passes out of the way but to start with a small video of the room. Not quite sure whats happened with the screen ratio you may have to go to "watch on youtube"

Pheasant was beautiful for dinner, not overcooked to its death bed.

Sunny arrival into Southampton where we disembarked after a hearty  breakfast .

And then just one final issue. Why do saga or Southampton insist on calling you by name like your being presented to the Queen on arrival to the departure lounge. All sorts of issues caused. We nearly found ourselves in a car to Chester as we almost have the same last  name as another couple other drivers simply didn't have  a name just an address. Wouldn't it be easier to announce by stateroom number and give the driver this. All fine now and look forward to the next cruise.

Have to say since we started re cruising and our blog began in 2010ish this has been one of the best cruises we have ever had and that's even with the restrictions and the missed port.(ps. we blog utterly independently unlike a few people I could mention who claim too)

Yes we did miss Guernsey , arrived to a very choppy and misty St Peters Port so The captain decided to head to Devon and give us a coastal scenic from Salcombe to Chessil Beach in the sun. Lots going on and we finished tonight with with real party spirit in the Brittania lounge where we shared a table with the guest entertainers sharing stories and the Spanish magician gave an in impromptu classical piano solo on the grand piano at midnight for about 6 of us. A man of many many talents.  Booked 2 more Saga  cruises and can only see us adding more. 

Never seen a Saga cruise drop towards the cruise. To me it seems the best possible pricing policy rewarding rather than not becoming a lottery gamble. Just about to disembark ouf first Saga on SoA on what is probably the best cruise we have taken since we started; but looking for a quick fix in green next few weeks I thought I would check Fred's last minute deals.

They have terraces coming up in the next few weeks where if I compare orig brochure price the saving is over 50% which seems a way of giving me no incentive to ever deposit with them in advance.

I see your point re the Baltic one but I'm guessing they also limit the number of cabins at 35% regardless of the total percentage of pax sold and are just sticking with that system.

Can't remember who asked originally but yes the library is now restocked with book s

After a late night we had breakfast in the room again for the early start to Quimper. It's ironic that the first day restrictions are lifted for the indy exploration we actually have two trips booked today. Though to be honest Brest is not the most attractive of Brittany's city's having been totally bombed by the allies before d day.

Quimper on the other hand is magnificent. 

Not quite sure why everything is sideways 

Had a good guide and a look around the Cathedral and some free time to shop. Avoiding the tourist shops we found some lovely artisan shops for the local earthenware and stocked up with a bottle of fine Barsac Sauternes that we didn't get the opportunity to buy when we were actually in the region.  After a lunch we took the free late Brest tour. Incidentally if your wondering the  free shuttle buses are now back in service though those who used them wished they had taken the tour as Brest is a bit of a concrete 60s and 70s planning monstrosity unless you know where to look and what your looking at. The naval base and maritime museum being the highlights.

Just cast off and am perusing tonight's menu.

We fully indeed get beautiful weather in Lorient despite arriving in the fog.. it slightly delayed arrival by 30mins or so but what a port to arrive in as you slide past the star fort guarding the entrance.

We rake a very early morning trip to carnach for the standing stones. Think Stonehenge but a 4km straight line heading east to west.  Pass through some beautiful villages that make me want to sell up and move.

Wonderful sail away helped by the weather, the band, the free cocktails and the cruise staff having a good old dance around the lido for an hour.

Captain Jason then came on in his usual laid back style to explain the reason we had the pilot boat circling us and coming back was because the pilot had left his bag onboard and he had just heard from head office that we are free to explore independently from now on. 

After another excellent dinner we lasted some time with our dining companions in the supper club lounge listening to the pianist over drinks and sharing many tales.

Later we headed to the theatre for the guest performer an Australian opera/Show performer and yippee he was accompanied by a live band on stage. So hopefully that was a restriction that has now been lifted. Show was excellent with the live band really giving the music that extra depth and atmosphere that the sterile backing tape hasn't been able to provide. Tomorrow Brest.

Ps as we passed through the library it seemed they were cleaning down ready to put the books back

5 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Ighten apart from the hunger really enjoying blog, just one question is the library open.

 

Cheers

Library is open but bring your own books but coffee etc is available 

Just been informed this second all restrictions lifted.. free to go ashore

Just to clarify..  yes independently 

3 hours ago, Denarius said:

Independently?

Yes

All restrictions lifted on soa .. free to go ashore 

Just been informed this second all restrictions lifted.. free to go ashore

Just continuing on from last night with more Amalfi food. The calamari starter was excellent.

the red pepper and capers salad not so much. It consisted of 5% red peppers 5% capers and 90% olives. So needs renaming to olive salad.

the limoncello marmalade Tart though was definitely a hit.

Queen we will rock you show in the theatre tonight. Again not quite there and no fault to the performers. The backing tape jmusic ust lacks any dynamic or power. If Fred can  have live bands on stage for shows surely Saga can manage it though I suspect this stage is too small.

Early start tomorrow in lorient and we are promised excellent weather.

21 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

You are making me feel very hungry 

Just to rub salt in the wounds then.....

Amalfis menu I personally think is a lesson in how not to write a menu. Italian menus can be hard enough to negotiate without actually replacing the basics such as food translation with poetic waffle.

However I digress,; on asking the most excellent server what the grilled Fish of the day is she let us into a secret.

A) it should be a whole grilled Fish cooked with Italian Herbs.. but it isn't

B)instead it's a filleted sea bass but

C)it's quite a small but thick fillet so it's not the main part of the dish .... in fact it's now grilled seafood of the day with a fillet of sea bass

D)it's actually lobster with some other seafood and a fillet of seabass

Think I'm in heaven 

We left Bordeaux this morning a little earlier than planned to catch the tide and set sail at 9.30am. A couple of extra free trip coaches have been arranged for tomorrow when (1am and 1pn) but we already have plans in place so if doesn't really effect us.

We eventually reach the mouth of the river for the pilot to be taken  off. Not in the usual way  but quickly and efficiently by helicopter.

First ourselves and then the following German liner whose name escapes me at moment but may be amera.

Much excitement therefore on the top decks. You will have to forgive the quality of the pics until I get home and write up the blog as I had the main camera in one hand and this phone in the other.

Lovely seafood curry and dal for lunch from the live cooking station in the dining room. 

Beautiful desert to follow.

Believe we are at Amalfi tonight. 

Trip this afternoon was to the chateau Roquetaillade a medieval castle still occupied by the same family. Slightly different set up today as we are met by a guide on arrival.

Lovely tour of the family church and the restored interior. 

the guide speaks perfect English and its only when we are heading back to the ship that the Bordeaux coach guide (we also have with us) points out that he is actually the owner.

As I mentioned before it really is a pity that we can't simply explore now. At least we don't have any more testing but Bordeaux is a place you just have to roam around and eat out and we are here overnight. Tbf the weather has turned a little rainy this afternoon so it would probably have put most off anyway.  I'm also not entirely sure how exactly (if it wasn't  for the rain) Saga intended stopping people anyway. There isn't really any terminal just a tiny fence on the promenade that even the locals seem to be ignoring so you could quite easily wander off anywhere. I did show my badge to a man leaning on a lamp post but he may have just been taking his dog for  a walk 😉

Back to the supper club tonight for dinner.. the chateaubriand was most excellent and as a bonus whilst we are trapped on board in Bordeaux there is no charge tonight for many of the premium bottles. 

As the magician is doing his show in the theatre we watch the 4 production singers and the show dancers perform an 80s special. I can't help thinking this would have worked better with just the singers singing and allowing the guests to dance (everyone seemed to agree).. as it is the dancers routines use the entire floor. .. the night ends with the Brittania band and Mandy on vocals. I do find it slightly hilarious that whoever puts the days itinerary leaflet together seems to label this as "The Brittania band and vintage vocalist Mandy" ... probably just me but I just think of Stilton or cheddar cheese.

It does have to be said though there are other cruise lines out there with other utterly bizarre rules. Granted non take away this major key element of indy shore visits  but the most ludicrous I have come across is Cunards mask policy on our Jan/Feb trip. 

You can sit at a table with strangers in the Queens room and socialize and drink but they actually chase people for dancing if not wearing a mask even  with there partner and more than likely in a ballroom hold.

Yet 10 minutes earlier they will set up the same entire room into packed elbow to elbow cabaret seating for a comedian to take the stage in the same room but because everyone has a drink no mask required whilst everyone's rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. 

Small video of the Arrival.

https://youtu.be/K_ZXUnCo3fA

We had a nice sail in Brunch as well 

champagne and a tomato tartlet to start things off 

Beautiful sail up the Gironde. Weather seems to be behaving itself. Few spots of rain  expected but we are heading to Aquitaine. Berthing close to the Cathedral is a wonder experience but it's also the first time it's felt a little bad regarding the no independent. The food in Bordeaux is nof yo be missed. Luckily we were in Bordeaux for 5 days not long ago.(unluckily it was 40c in the shade) it was a brilliant gastro TGV eurostar trip ,watch out for them if they ever re start. 

Anyway some pics from this morning before we set off to the castles of Aquitaine. 

Quick update from the captain here on SoA 

Another all clear day for pax and crew and no more testing. So that basically works out that half the cruise days we have tested and caught I think 6 pax. 2 of which were actually the results of failing Southampton pcr test.