SoA Western Med, March 2023

[SaraSailing]

DAY AT SEA - FRIDAY

 

There's not much to say about a day at sea. Of course, there are lots of activities on board, but no need to do any of them. 

 

One nice thing was that a waiter came down the back terrace to take drinks orders. Hopefully this will be a regular thing. 

 

Something worth mentioning is the black soot. I've seen it before, but never to this extent. The back of the ship is constantly coated in sticky black particles, despite the crew cleaning all the time. It gets on everything, and is not quick to wash off. If I can, I'll ask why it's so frequent this cruise. 

 

 

On a more positive note, the starboard side of every deck on the the terrace has a prox/push button opening. A wheelchair user might still need someone to open the door to go back in, to avoid getting thumped by the door, but the access is much better than I've seen on other ships. 

 

 

Other than that, second formal dinner (of three). Dining room was heaving. Our junior waiter and wine waiter worked exceptionally well together, making service seamless in the section. In general, the senior waiters have been much more active and charming the last two days. The haggis, neeps and tatties came with what our waiter caller "piper bourbon", but we think was an Aberdour? One of the steaks was very over-cooked, and the maire d' (or assistant, I forget) took one look and said he'd have a polite word in the kitchen. My mum wore a skull and crossbone scarf.

[Jammy Bun]

Soot very much in evidence on our cruise last month.  Even on our balcony, which was on C deck. The railings on the top deck looked like they’d never been cleaned - and we never saw anyone up there doing any maintenance work. 

[SaraSailing]

35 minutes ago, Jammy Bun said:

Soot very much in evidence on our cruise last month.  Even on our balcony, which was on C deck. The railings on the top deck looked like they’d never been cleaned - and we never saw anyone up there doing any maintenance work. 

Oh goodness, that was worse! They are working really hard on the cleaning now - though it's not enough. Originally I thought it was from cargo ships in Gibraltar, but it must be from our engines. We definitely didn't have it on this ship last February, nor have I experienced it in the med before more than a once off from a cargo ship.

[david05]

1 hour ago, SaraSailing said:

Oh goodness, that was worse! They are working really hard on the cleaning now - though it's not enough. Originally I thought it was from cargo ships in Gibraltar, but it must be from our engines. We definitely didn't have it on this ship last February, nor have I experienced it in the med before more than a once off from a cargo ship.

It was bad at Christmas and it is worrying that it doesn't look much better now. If you took clothes with soot marks to reception they did arrange for free of charge cleaning.

[Windsurfboy]

Strange we were on same ship for a month last year and no soot for the 32 days..

 

Either it's a maintenance issue that's built up , or fuel quality.

[SaraSailing]

2 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Strange we were on same ship for a month last year and no soot for the 32 days..

 

Either it's a maintenance issue that's built up , or fuel quality.

Yes, we had no issues in Feb last year. But if @david05 had it at Christmas and @Jammy Bun had it last month, then it's an on-going issue. Interesting that they were cleaning things back at Christmas, so it's a known issue. I might just go on a Diego hunt for info. 

[Windsurfboy]

In Feb  and May/June last year ship was relatively new,  money on a maintenance issue that's built up. Interesting to hear what they tell you on board.

 

How fast are you travelling. We only very occasionally hit the 18 to 20 knot maximum,  mostly pootling along at 13 to 14 knots

[SaraSailing]

SOOT UPDATE

It's been happening on both ships, for about six months. The manufacturer has recently come up with a new idea. It's been tested on SoD, and seems to make a big difference. They are going to do the same on SoA when we get to Portsmouth. The belief is this will progressively improve the situation with each visit back to the UK. Not sure if Viking have been through the same thing, or if their slightly different configuration makes it less obvious?

@Windsurfboy speed has been similar to what you said - 12-16 knot.

[Wacktle]

22 hours ago, SaraSailing said:

You will find the grill buffet bizarre post-covid - it's very hard to talk to the staff who plate the food, when they are behind complex screens. But I think they are working REALLY hard to get things right. The most important thing you can do is tell them when things miss. After all, if (like us) you've been cruising for 15 years, and observing the patterns, you are an expert of sorts. I am just a people watcher and pattern spotter. I like to see what can be done to keep raising the bar - especially when it's low cost and makes life easier for the crew too.
 

Sara,

Firstly thanks for your blogs. 

Is there now a buffet in The Grill in the evenings, albeit served from behind the plastic screens? I hope so. I think the evening meals were all served ready-plated last time we were onboard (Sept 2022). I much prefer to say how much of each item I want, and what I'd like plated with what.

Thanks.

[Jammy Bun]

I’ve spent almost 12 weeks on several different Viking ships - never seen anything like the soot on SoA.   We’d hoped Saga would be similar to Viking, but it’s nothing like…  

back to Viking this summer, and hoping to remain fit enough to travel with them for as long as we can.  

[Jammy Bun]

9 minutes ago, Wacktle said:

Sara,

Firstly thanks for your blogs. 

Is there now a buffet in The Grill in the evenings, albeit served from behind the plastic screens? I hope so. I think the evening meals were all served ready-plated last time we were onboard (Sept 2022). I much prefer to say how much of each item I want, and what I'd like plated with what.

Thanks.

I prefer to have the choice of using a buffet too.
It was seated, served, when we were on in February.  The same menu as the dining room.  Actually a nicer area than the crowded noisy dining room though.  

[Wacktle]

35 minutes ago, Jammy Bun said:

I prefer to have the choice of using a buffet too.
It was seated, served, when we were on in February.  The same menu as the dining room.  Actually a nicer area than the crowded noisy dining room though.  

Oh, that's a blow. I preferred the pre-Covid proper buffet. We never eat in the MDR. It's just not our thing.

 

Another question. Could you choose where you sat in The Grill? Again, pre-Covid we could select our own table and usually sat in the same area, as did others, which was nice. However, post-Covid we've been "put", resulting in different serving staff for every day and meal. 

[Jammy Bun]

2 minutes ago, Wacktle said:

Oh, that's a blow. I preferred the pre-Covid proper buffet. We never eat in the MDR. It's just not our thing.

 

Another question. Could you choose where you sat in The Grill? Again, pre-Covid we could select our own table and usually sat in the same area, as did others, which was nice. However, post-Covid we've been "put", resulting in different serving staff for every day and meal. 

Sara will know the up to date info - but 4 weeks ago, you were shown to your seat - no choice.  Never got to know a waiter, and tbh they were pretty disinterested and overstretched on our cruise.  Maybe we were unlucky, and it was a ‘bad’ cruise,  but we’re not spending another £8000+  trying again! 

[Wacktle]

2 minutes ago, Jammy Bun said:

Sara will know the up to date info - but 4 weeks ago, you were shown to your seat - no choice.  Never got to know a waiter, and tbh they were pretty disinterested and overstretched on our cruise.  Maybe we were unlucky, and it was a ‘bad’ cruise,  but we’re not spending another £8000+  trying again! 

Sorry that your experience means that you won't be on a Saga cruise again. We've got 3 Saga cruises booked, but all short ones. Aside from Saga, we've recently enjoyed a week's Caribbean cruise on Marella's Explorer 2, and have already booked again for 2024. 

[nosapphire]

1 hour ago, SaraSailing said:

SOOT UPDATE

It's been happening on both ships, for about six months. The manufacturer has recently come up with a new idea. It's been tested on SoD, and seems to make a big difference. They are going to do the same on SoA when we get to Portsmouth. The belief is this will progressively improve the situation with each visit back to the UK. Not sure if Viking have been through the same thing, or if their slightly different configuration makes it less obvious?

@Windsurfboy speed has been similar to what you said - 12-16 knot.

Soot - usually I would say cheap (bad) fuel and/or poor maintenance.

But in this case, the manufacturers coming up with ideas points towards a manufacturing defect. Maybe the scrubbers are not adequate. 

Certainly the manufacture was not as good as it should have been in several areas - we noted on our first season cruise on Discovery that the varnish on the exterior balconies was already flaking off.

[SaraSailing]

1 hour ago, Wacktle said:

Sara,

Firstly thanks for your blogs. 

Is there now a buffet in The Grill in the evenings, albeit served from behind the plastic screens? I hope so. I think the evening meals were all served ready-plated last time we were onboard (Sept 2022). I much prefer to say how much of each item I want, and what I'd like plated with what.

Thanks.

Mostly it's served the same as in the dining room, unless there is a themed buffet (according to my friend who tends to eat there in the evening). You do get shown to a table, but you can ask for a particular table if it's free when you arrive. The staff do rotate more upstairs than in the dining room, or at least they seem to. I'm travelling with my parents, and we have had occasional blips where the host tries to put be with a different older couple, or to seat my parents without me.

Down in the dining room. Kim greets us warmly and says, "You can go straight to your regular table." - which is a nice touch.

[Wacktle]

Thank you Sara.

 

[SaraSailing]

1 hour ago, Jammy Bun said:

I’ve spent almost 12 weeks on several different Viking ships - never seen anything like the soot on SoA.   We’d hoped Saga would be similar to Viking, but it’s nothing like…  

back to Viking this summer, and hoping to remain fit enough to travel with them for as long as we can.  

I do hold that everyone who cruises has a cruise line they consider "home". And we love that line to the extent that faults become quirks. I love Silversea, but goodness, they have their fair share of dropping the ball. And they have their fair share of pulling the rabbit out of the hat, too. 

My nature is to like to know what's going on. So the fact that Diego is so honest answering questions is a big bonus to me on Saga. As an example, yes, I'd prefer not to see black soot on the decks - but I know why, I know what they are doing, and I know what the plan is. And if it works, the next cruise won't have the issue.

I think the trick for each of us is to find what matters most and what we can compromise on. So, this year, spending time with my parents is the top priority - and this is the way to do it. When I travel with my husband in July, we'll be back on Silversea, and that will feel like home to us, even though it's a ship we've not been on before. And I know other people who are mega happy with an internal cabin on a huge ship. 

 

[SaraSailing]

18 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

Soot - usually I would say cheap (bad) fuel and/or poor maintenance.

But in this case, the manufacturers coming up with ideas points towards a manufacturing defect. Maybe the scrubbers are not adequate. 

Certainly the manufacture was not as good as it should have been in several areas - we noted on our first season cruise on Discovery that the varnish on the exterior balconies was already flaking off.

I think they are slowly catching up on varnishing the teak on SoA. It's certainly better than last February. 

Diego says they have been working really closely with the boat builder to resolve the engine issue, and they have been doing everything by the book. I tend to trust his honesty, after the help he was to me last year,

[SaraSailing]

VALENCIA

 

It's about 3 miles from the port to the city centre. I have an aversion to those inaccessible coaches, so decided to walk to the beach instead. One thing to note is at a steady pace (faster than many of the guests) it's a 4-5 minute walk from the side of the ship to the front of the cruise terminal. Given that's where the tours and shuttle depart from, I feel maybe more could be done for the wobbly walkers to get them to their coaches. 

The route to the beach isn't great to start with, as the yacht builders have claimed the sea facing area. But after that it's pleasant and maybe 30 minutes in total to the start of the sand. There are some wonderful old port buildings in the first phase of a massive restoration project. If the bridge could be closed to allow foot traffic, or a little water taxi provided, it would be more like 10 minutes. That area is nice, and being further developed with lots of local restaurants and bars. It looked like there was going to be a rock concert in the band stand later, based on the sound checks. 

I've been really struggling with my breathing, which I thought might be a chest infection after a cold, but now thinking it could be linked to the soot emissions. Being in a cabin at the back of the ship, I'm probably more affected then most (and more sensitive, too). I've been reading how Royal Caribbean are having similar issue this year.

Best dessert on ship so far - pineapple in a stem ginger syrup with mango sorbet. It was fresh and tasty. 

 

Finally got a photo of the moon, and that's the Pleiades just above. 

 

And a random photo of the staircase landing. 

[SaraSailing]

CARTAGENA

 

A wonderfully tight entrance into the harbour. An walking event called the "ruta" raising money for an autism charity dominated the centre. An amphitheatre, A marching band. And sailing races outside my window all afternoon. Plus a random photo showing how much of the window is blocked by the curtains - it would be so nice to have the full width available.

 

[SaraSailing]

DAY AT SEA - from Cartagena to Lisbon

 

Past the usual dolphins by Gibraltar at breakfast.

 

I realised my breathing had gone from being able to power up eight decks to struggling up one. So I phoned the medical centre. Nurse Jo was up in no time to covid test me (negative) and then book me in to see the doctor in the afternoon. Doctor Geo said lots of people had a cough and he was getting low on cough medicine. But I also had a wheeze in my lungs. He said the soot would be problematic for anyone sensitive - and that it seems it has made my very dormant asthma into something acute. He also said we should treat me as though I had a chest infection. So now I have two inhalers, cough medicine and antibiotics for the reast of the week. 

 

Photo of northern Africa, going through the straits.

[Windsurfboy]

're soot , is your cabin forward or aft of the funnels. If aft then balcony out of bounds

 

[Windsurfboy]

I saw a program on TV about air pollution on ships , how even if not visible you get fine particles aft of funnels. If funnels are in middle  it's aft 3rd of ship by time they come down to deck height ship is moving. 

[SaraSailing]

19 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I saw a program on TV about air pollution on ships , how even if not visible you get fine particles aft of funnels. If funnels are in middle  it's aft 3rd of ship by time they come down to deck height ship is moving. 

Yes, I'm aft. My balcony is a bit black. Just a tad forward and on the other side, parents' isn't.