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?
