A Highland fling, topped off with a terrific tattoo
IN THE latest in our occasional series about readers’ holidays around the world, DOROTHY
BEEDIE, a retired NHS clerical officer from Gloucester, and her husband Bill, a retired RAF officer, tell how they loved the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo as part of an 11-night Highland Fling cruise around Britain aboard Saga Sapphire. Dorothy says: BILL and I are not sitting-around-the-pool people. We chose this cruise because the itinerary included a number of places in Britain we’ve never visited, such as the Isle of Man.
We had travelled with Saga twice before, so we were confident that this cruise would be good, too.
We like the fact that you are picked up from your house and taken to the ship in Dover and returned home afterwards, so you never have to lug suitcases around. The cruise ended in Dover, too, so there was no flying involved – airports are such a faff nowadays.
Saga Sapphire is a goodsized ship, taking up to 720 passengers, with about 400 crew. She has excellent facilities, including a gym and indoor pool. We enjoyed walking around the Promenade every morning – six laps made up a mile. We liked the evening entertainment, especially the magician and two singers, Maria and Stuart. The Drawing Room, with its picture windows on three sides, was our favourite place for pre-dinner drinks.
The food on board was exceptional, with many options – I especially enjoyed the Orkney crab and smoked salmon.
You’d never go hungry on a Saga cruise. There was even 24-hour room service – on the one occasion we used it, the meal was delivered within seven minutes.
We’d booked a standard twin outside cabin. Housekeeping kept our cabins immaculate. The bedding was changed three times in 12 days, and you could have fresh towels every day if you wanted.
The sightseeing was wonderful. We sometimes forget how great Britain is. Liverpool is a splendid city; we’ve visited before but had never been to the Anglican cathedral, which was most impressive.
Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man, had a wonderful floral display along the promenade. We lived in the Shetlands when Bill was stationed there in the early
1970s but never visited the Orkneys, so that was another reason to choose this cruise. We especially liked Skara Brae, the ruins of a stone-built Neolithic settlement.
In Dundee, we met up with Ian, who lives near the city. He was best man at our wedding 47 years ago. We talked to other couples who had also used the cruise to meet up with old friends who live in distant parts of Britain.
The magnificent Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was the highlight of our trip.
We docked in Leith, a 15-minute drive from the city centre, so we saw the Royal Yacht Britannia, too. The Tattoo and other excursions have to be paid for separately. As well as all meals, the price we paid included wine at lunch and dinner, insurance, some cocktail parties and a captain’s dinner, so it was good value.
We had three formal nights on board, and it was nice to dress up.
We have already booked to go on a Northern Lights cruise with Saga next year.
A five-night Edinburgh Fringe At Sea cruise aboard Saga Sapphire, from £799 per person full-board, departs from Dover on August 22. Visit travel.saga. co.uk/cruises.