There is a crack

 In Skjolden, Diva studied some movements on the water on the opposite side of the fjord. She was convinced that she was watching a pod of whales occasionally surfacing and showing a flash of white.  TSH maintained that it was a group of birds and when he saw one of them fly off, he presented this as evidence that he was right.

Food continues to be excellent. The duck in East to West is very special and the Norwegian buffet evening presented lots of interesting choices, including venison meatballs and a cocktail called Viking Scream. Diva has discovered that the cookies in the Living Room are far more to her taste than the lunch-time Grill offering of creamy desserts, so the Living Room is where they now have their after lunch tea and hot chocolate.  They are still welcome in the Living Room – perhaps less so in the Britannia lounge, where Diva accidentally tipped up the table, sending many items to the floor. The tea pot was broken and the tea bag made a serious stain on the carpet.  TSH was relieved that he was not involved in the incident.

Standing Room only

 

Saga run an excursion ‘system’ which has participants meeting on board to be allocated a bus number. The trick is to match the number of people with the number of seats on the bus.    TSH and Diva were allocated to bus 13, only to find that there were 6 more people than seats. There was much consternation and recounting and it was suggested that the ‘surplus’ guests should stand until a meeting with another bus. Health and Safety? Eventually this suggestion was dropped and bus 12 was recalled. TSH and Diva were looked at disapprovingly (and sometimes scolded) by those already on bus 12, who just assumed they were late and had caused significant delay to their excursion. No member of crew bothered to explain otherwise.  Diva has explained her fury to the excursion manager.

The highlight of the excursion was the traditional Saga handout of Werthers originals.

Visit to the rainy port

The daily program said that the gangway would be on Deck 4 forward. TSH and Diva have cruised enough times to know that this means 'towards the pointy end'.  But they have not been on Spirit of Discovery often enough to be confident where that is and which way they should turn when leaving their suite. Especially when the ship had taken a tortuous path in its approach to the dock, appearing to make a complete about turn at one point. So when they emerged from the lift on Deck 4 (with other guests - it was not just them) they were met with empty corridors and no sign of an exit. They met a shocked crew member who was relieved to direct them away from the crew area. They had to return to Deck 5 and descend using the correct stairs at the other end of the Spirit of Discovery.

It is a well known fact that it always rains in Bergen. Except when it is 28 degrees C and sunny and TSH and Diva are visiting.  The heat was relentless in a way that was totally unexpected in Norway. So this was a brief visit, although they found some shady alleyways of quaint old wooden buildings that they had not encountered before. They were relieved to return to the air conditioning of the ship. Large glasses of water before lunch.

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?

Not a holiday

 

Normally this blog is just for holidays but Diva and TSH’s venture to their local Marks and Spencer is worth a mention. They went because of an enticing email about large discounts on fashion and beauty.

On arrival, they went to the Café and attempted to order 2 hot drinks and 2 bacon ciabattas, using the newly installed screens. On the first attempt, the screen said only one ciabatta was ordered, so Diva went back and changed the order to 2. Which showed correctly on the summary screen. When 4 bacon ciabattas arrived at their table, the waitress was kind and helpful in taking 2 of them back and arranging for a refund. Diva said that she had checked the screen very carefully and that this must be a frequent error which affected many people. She was assured that it had never happened before.

Whilst trying to drink her tea, Diva managed to spill much of it down her dress, which fortunately had a complex pattern which did not show the stain. But Diva was soaked to the skin.

When TSH and Diva arrived home, there was further communication from Silversea about a cruise they have booked for 2026. At different times they have been told it is cancelled, partially cancelled, chartered and re-routed. Further news is expected to arrive next week.

The discounts on beauty products were very limited and did not include anything Diva wanted to buy.

Late, late, late

Diva is not good with the unexpected, especially when it involves time-keeping. 4 hours late docking in Portsmouth, 3.5 hours late leaving the Spirit of Discovery and 4 hours later than expected arriving home. So when the assistant cruise director decided to 'entertain' the guests waiting in their designated lounge, it did not go well. He told a series of misogynistic jokes and Diva used a loud voice to inform the people around her that this was totally unacceptable and the root of unequal pay and opportunity. She was gratified to find several people nodding and voicing agreement. He would not have dared to make the equivalent racist jokes and although he will not change his behaviour she has sowed the seed of objection in at least a few peoples' minds.

Portsmouth disembarkation was long and tedious and they had to transport their own luggage over quite a distance. Very unlike Dover, where there were many porters with trolleys to assist. 

Not a good last day. TSH was so tired when he got home that he forgot to check whether the wood-chippings he had ordered to be laid in the garden were in place or not. (They were)

TSH would like it recorded that he tried most of the ice cream flavours available - lemon curd, mince pie, rocky road.

Later and later

The third formal night offered the usual good dinner and both TSH and Diva ate beef wellington and crepes suzettes. The previous night in East meets West, TSH gave lessons in beer pouring. The waiter hurled (no other word for it) the beer into the glass so that the foam head filled the space. He then went to fetch a spoon and had to be stopped from removing the foam!! TSH demonstrated the correct method of pouring gently against the side of the glass but was unconvinced that the waiter really understood. 

Lost in translation .... Some guests had a problem with the rubber seal on the balcony door and rang to say there was a draught. 'So there is a problem with the air-conditioning?' 'No, the rubber seal has perished'. 'Your door is broken?' 'No, it is just the seal'. First the air-conditioning engineer arrived and then the joiner, before they rang Reception to contact the door seal expert.

TSH and Diva are beginning to understand why the ship has been moving comparatively slowly and why the Captain has been so cautious in denying access to the upper decks. During the rough passage a few nights ago, a freak wave hit the ship and many guests were thrown to the floor on Deck 12. Broken hip, broken femur ......... Saga clearly do not want to risk a repetition.

The Bay of Biscay - in both directions - has been completely smooth.

The horses have been encouraged to sail as fast as possible but they are not able to reach Portsmouth for the planned docking time of around 7:00. The new plan is for arrival in Portsmouth around 11:00, with TSH and Diva disembarking around mid-day. So Diva's hopes of an afternoon at home with the washing machine are dashed. And the Sainsbury order is rescheduled for Thursday.