Diva is glad she is not tall

 In Gothenburg, TSH and Diva took an excursion which gave views of the attractive buildings, old and new, including the extremely tall building where it is claimed that the luxury apartments can cost            £6 million. For a flat in a high rise in a city!! Part of the excursion was a ride on a canal boat, which gave a different perspective on Gothenburg. But the bridges the boat passed under were so low that everyone instinctively ducked. This moved the excursion into Diva's white knuckle category; The guide stood on a high part at the front facing his audience. He deliberately left it to the last minute to sit down for each bridge but he was disappointed if he expected screams instead of murmurs from the phlegmatic British travellers.

Diva has always suspected she has some Viking ancestry and this was confirmed when they passed Banana Quay and were told that Sweden imports more bananas per capita than anywhere else in Europe.

Another guest told them that the traffic problems around Dover (the ones which disrupted the shuttle buses and stopped them going into the centre) had combined with motorway problems elsewhere to result in some guests from the north-west of England failing to arrive before sail-away. The Spirit of Discovery waited for them as long as possible but eventually had to leave. They were offered a full refund or a night in Dover and 2 flights to catch up with the cruise in Gothenburg. What a nightmare!

The lecturers on Enchanting Scandinavia are just as good as the ones on the previous cruise to Norway.

The Living Room has a cake supporting the Lionesses in Euro 2025.

 

An excellent start

The drive from home to Dover was fast and comfortable, with only 2 brief stops to collect other guests and to allow Diva to eat her bananas at the motorway services. Embarkation was efficient and the prosecco at lunch very welcome. At the safety muster there was a temporary panic from Diva and a feeling of smugness from TSH, as she could not immediately find her ship card. She eventually dug it out of her bag, deflating TSH, who really did forget his card on a previous muster occasion. They chatted with a guest who had never been on a cruise before. She kept muttering about Titanic (a banned word on most ships) and the orchestra going down with the ship. 

Saga allocate everyone a restaurant booking to avoid confusion on the first night of a cruise and TSH and Diva were a little apprehensive to be sent to La Vie en Rose - a French-style restaurant which is new to the Spirit of Discovery. It replaces the Club, which was one of their favourites. Worry was unnecessary. They were greeted with large glasses of Kir Royale. Diva does not normally drink cocktails. She prefers to know exactly what she is drinking and large glasses of red wine normally satisfy demand. She now loves Kir Royale and will be requesting it forever. As well as red wine. They ate goat cheese salad, steak (TSH), duck a l'orange (Diva) and excellent lemon tart. Service was excellent and red wine plentiful. The new restaurant is a success.

The suite is now well organised and stocked by the butler with the requested drinks. The North Sea is exceptionally calm, although they met one guest who is already wearing wrist bands. How will she cope in a choppy sea?

Bananas and Potatoes

 TSH and Diva watched the sail-away from Tenerife in order to get a good view of the dramatic rocky scenery. The departure was, unusually, assisted by a tug because of the strong winds. The captain announced that the Spirit of Discovery would be taking a short detour into international waters in order to 'feed the fish'. 

In Santa Cruz de La Palma, they took a short tour which gave Diva a white-knuckle ride along the twisty mountain roads with steep unfenced drops at the side. They had good views of a massive volcanic caldera with their viewing position higher than the drifting clouds. The guide was confusing in her descriptions and her indication of which direction guests should look in was given by her raised arm which was invisible from many seats on the bus. She emphasised the drama of the route but she was the only person shrieking at the sharp bends.  She also asked guests to inform the driver if another bus was approaching along the narrow roads. Not sure what he thought of that.

TSH took many photographs to provide him with an occupation of deleting and editing in the afternoon. Another guest was taking photographs with a tablet with the sound instructions played at a high volume. 

Some guests are talking a lot about the rough seas encountered during some nights but this has not been at a level to bother TSH and Diva.

Diva's brightly coloured jacket was admired. The restaurant manager checked that TSH and Diva were happy with their lunch.

The main crops on La Palma are bananas and potatoes.

Hard day's start

Tony the SAGA  driver remained cheerful throughout the long journey to Portsmouth. Despite being gutted the previous night at Anfield, where he saw Liverpool drop out of the UEFA Champions League. A short stop at Warwick services provided the opportunity for TSH and Diva to eat the bananas.

Embarkation was not as smooth as they had experienced at Dover. More queues and outdoor in the cold for a while.  Diva had her photo (for ship id)  taken twice because she closed her eyes the first time. A well known trait. A quick lunch was followed by going to the cabin to await the lugage. 2 of the 3 suitcases soon arrived but the 3rd did not appear until later in the evening. Diva went to reception before sailing so that they could assure her that the bag was onboard.   Moisturiser, hair styling products, shaving equipment ........ She had tried to telephone reception but there is no telephone directory and the butler's card did not contain a number. The reception number is listed on the television if you can find the right number but so far Diva had not had the time to work this out. 

Safety drill went smoothly as TSH remembered his card and no torches were involved for Diva to test.

Dinner had been arranged for TSH and Diva in the East meets West restaurant  and the meal was excellent. Diva wanted a nightcap in the cabin and was pleased that the butler had provided Merlot, as requested. But it had a cork and the butler had to be summoned to provide a corkscrew. Another baby butler to be trained.

Are we nearly there yet?

 The cruise clothes are on the planning rails and the toiletries are laid out on the spare room desk. TSH has put out his dinner suit, which he accidentally left behind on his last cruise. The suitcases are ready and TSH and Diva have both had their hair appointments. Diva's nail appointment was cancelled because she developed a very bad back, which meant that she could not attend. Fortunately things are now improving but her nails are still bare.

At home, fresh food is dwindling and Diva has suggested she might count the remaining tomatoes and divide by the number of lunches to work out the portion sizes. There will be no more food deliveries but there could be an emergency visit to Sainsburys to top up. There are enough bananas for sustenance on the journey to Portsmouth. 

TSH is pleased with himself because his garden improvement program is running to schedule and a short holiday is possible.