SaraSailing

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.

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

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!). 014 video.mp4

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!) 20230315_164341.mp4 (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.

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...