A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

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Grandad
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A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by Grandad »

A 12 night cruise off the West Coast of Africa on MV Saga Sapphire

I know that I said back in July, after our four night 'sampler' cruise to Amsterdam and Guernsey, that cruising was not for us. Well, in August we were trying to find a holiday before the end of the year but with my mobility issues we wanted to avoid the hassle of airports. So after much deliberation we ate our words and booked the twelve night Saga Saphhire Cruise to Madeira and The Canary Isles off the West Coast of Africa, and La Coruna at the North West corner of Spain.

I will break this into three separate sections, otherwise it will be rather long winded and boring. So here is a resume of our trip with a few pictures and finally our updated opinion of cruising.......saving the best till last. Here we go....

Monday 16 October we were collected from home by a chauffeur driven car and taken to Southampton cruise port. All part of the Saga deal. Our scheduled departure time was 16.00 hours but as the tail end of storm Ophelia was still causing a high sea (up to 6 metres) on our course, Captain Julian Burgess delayed our departure until 21.00 hours to give some time for the sea to settle somewhat. We then had three and a half days at sea before reaching Madeira. Those days were uneventful, we didn't see one other ship, and simply enjoyed all that was on offer aboard including of course the excellent cuisine with all restaurants silver service.
Before even leaving home we had decided that we would not wish to get up and shower and dress for breakfast between 07.30 and 09.00 so every day we had breakfast by room service at 08.00 and emerged from our very comfortable cabin after 10 am. We were on holiday so what is the rush?
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Friday 20 October we arrive at Madeira at around 13.00 for just a five hour stop. Three and a half days at sea for just a five our stop. We did not want to join any of the optional tours and had booked in advance a three hour taxi tour to places that I decided we would visit. This worked out very well and only cost exactly the same as two seats on an organised tour with about fifty other geriatrics. The taxi picked us up near the ship in Funchal port, he took us to the cable car which goes to the top of the mountain at Monte where our driver had driven up to meet us. We spent a little time up there visiting the church and watching the famous wooden sledges taking people down almost back to sea level.
The 39 cabins of the cable car take you to Monte at 560 metres
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The church of The Lady of the Mount is near the cable car station
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You can look down on people taking the sledge ride to the bottom. We just followed one in the taxi.
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We drove by taxi to our next stop, the high scenic viewpoint at Cabo Girau.
This viewpoint is 589 metres above sea level with a vertical drop from a glass viewing platform.
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From there we drove on to the little fishing village of Camara de Lobos.
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Our driver, Mausolino, was a really nice guy who spoke good English and told us about the area without going overboard like the tour guides. He got us back to the ship at 17.00 as planned. We cleared our mooring at 18.00 and set a course for Santa Cruz, La Palma, one of the smaller Canary Isles.
To Be Continued:


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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by Horus »

Thanks for that Grandad, looks like you and Mrs G had it all planned out including not rushing about for breakfast, good idea. ;) Nice pictures and looking forward to the next instalments. :up
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Wow - no time now to read #2 & #3 but will be back this afternoon and will hopefully has time to read then (and before the Trick or Treating starts)!!

Great pictures but will comment more soon ;)
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by Kiya »

Lovely photos Grandad & sounds Fantastic :)

Yeah I agree "why rush when on holiday "

Looking forward to more :)
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

Your cabin looks quite spacious and I bet you have a few cleverly placed mirrors to give the allusion of bigger! I was always quite impressed with the positioning of mirrors so as to give the maximum spaciousness look.

Loved the chandelier in about photo #4. Looks fantastic. I'm always impressed with them.

The sledge are also an interesting idea for tourists. Don't think I've ever seen that before but something different for tourists to do (although I doubt I'd opt to do it).

Always very interesting to see different areas. Great photos!
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by Grandad »

Yes it was a very comfortable cabin LLL with mirrors used just as you describe. We use mirrors at home for the same reason of adding an illusion of space. The cabin had two large wardrobes, a five drawer chest,fridge and more hanging space near the door. The small but adequate bathroom had a walk in shower and all necessary bathroom gels and potions, plus bathrobes were supplied.

Here are two more pictures inside the church. This church is at a rather isolated location at Monte but like all Catholic churches it is very ornate compared to Anglican churches.

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The sledges were used originally to carry goods and wine from the hillside to the port at the bottom. They became a tourist attraction when vehicles were able to negotiate the road to the top. They are returned to the top on a trailer vehicle but I guess the empty sledges had to be pulled up in the old days.
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I'm always interested in the interior decorations of churches. Most in Mexico are totally decked out. The people might be living on dirt floors and mud walls but the churches are extremely ornate.

I do love the crystal chandeliers though. Quite lovely and I'm betting they also get a regular shine and polish too ;)
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Re: A 12 night cruise on Saga Saphhire Part 1

Post by Kiya »

Awe that church looks amazing :)
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