Portsmouth to Dover Embarkation

I feel like I’ve been cutting things a bit fine just lately. Having only just returned from tutoring an Alpha Painting Holiday in the Peak District, I only had a day and a bit to get all my stuff together in preparation for this, our latest adventure, on Saga’s Spirit of Discovery, sailing to the Mediterranean and Istanbul.

It’s one of those rare occasions where we had to travel down to Portsmouth, only to be transferred to join the ship in Dover. This is because the cruise will be ending in Portsmouth, so we needed our car to be parked there, in readiness for the return journey home.

Needless to say, without going into too much boring detail, all went very smoothly. We drove down yesterday and stayed in the Travelodge in Four Marks, near Alton. The instructions were to arrive at Portsmouth in plenty of time to park the car and be ready for a car to pick us up at 10.30am. All of which happened like clockwork, and we were in Dover by 12.30, and on the ship soon after.

I must say, it’s nice to be back on a Saga ship, where we are looked after extremely well, the wi-fi is free, and every cabin has a balcony.

During the entertainments team meeting, I was given a printed schedule that not told me only would my classes be taking place in the Arts and Crafts Room (instead of the usual Coast to Coast restaurant), but that the morning class wouldn’t be starting until 11.30am. The euphoria of a lie-in didn’t last long, however; the Today programme for tomorrow (delivered to our cabin after dinner) shows us starting at the normal time of 9.30am. So, that’ll be a 7.30 start as per usual, then.

Julie Peasgood and her band of ‘Supercrafts’ are on board – we were surprised at just how many of them there are – and their sessions will be taking place in the Coast to Coast.

All is set, then for four weeks of intense on-board art teaching and the prospect of a fabulous trip. It’s been a while since we last went to Istanbul, so we’re really looking forward to it… bring it on!…