We're off to a flying start! A cruise with a British Spitfire send-off that ends with France's finest coastal towns
I defy anyone not to hum Vera Lynn’s wartime song as you sail past the White Cliffs of Dover. It was no surprise, therefore, when the Saga Orchestra on board the Saga Pearl II struck up the familiar song as if on telepathic cue.
What did come completely out of the blue, however, was the arrival of an unexpected drop-in guest to our sailaway.
A small black dot hovering among wispy clouds over the White Cliffs on the horizon grew ever nearer until a Spitfire suddenly roared into view and swooped low over our heads before looping around and criss-crossing the decks time and again, much to everyone’s delight.
The Mail on Sunday's Bridget McGrouther stepped aboard Saga's Pearl II, right, for a cruise that departed in Dover accompaned by a Spitfire plane display, left
This surprise Saga ‘Magic Moment’ was a first for me. In all my previous voyages, I can’t think of any other cruise where the passengers have received such a grand send-off!
The 450 or so guests on this yacht-like ship were chatting excitedly about the amazing spectacle they’d just witnessed and showing off photos of the aircraft.
What a memorable start to our five-day Continental Getaway to the Netherlands, Belgium and France, especially for first-time ocean cruisers like my friend Amanda Bell.
After all, we had enjoyed an all- inclusive, chauffeur-driven, door-to-door transfer from the Yorkshire Dales to the ship, where our luggage had been whisked straight to our balcony twin cabin.
This was the kind of ‘booze cruise’ I liked as we discovered a well-stocked, complimentary bar in our spacious junior suite: it had wine, spirits, snacks and even canapes delivered daily by our friendly butler.
Not that we had to worry about the price of drinks on board for, despite Brexit, they were still very reasonable, at only £1.65 for a very apt Spitfire beer!
The 450 or so guests aboard the cruise were whisked away on a five-day Continental Getaway to the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Pictured are huts on the sea front at Le Touquet
Tips, wi-fi and all on-board meals were included in the fare and we relished the fact that, although we are in our early 50s and therefore eligible for a Saga cruise, we were still considered ‘youthful’ by the other passengers.
Yet we appreciated the young-at-heart enthusiasm of all who were set to enjoy themselves indulging in the delicious fine dining (including excellent afternoon teas), interesting destinations, heavenly spa treatments and entertainment on board from comedians to dancing.
Even during late-night parties, there were revellers setting a pace we struggled to keep up with! Many had chosen this mini cruise to pay their respects to wartime sites – including Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam, the moving Last Post Ceremony at Ypres and Albert’s Somme 1916 Museum – during shore excursions from IJmuiden, Zeebrugge and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
As I had visited the soul-stirring war sites before, we chose instead to hop on a public bus for a spot of independent Haarlem globetrotting.
During one stop, Bridget made use of a ship’s coach transfer to explore the picture-postcard-pretty canals of Bruges (pictured) on her own
We also booked a ship’s coach transfer to explore picture-postcard-pretty Bruges ‘on our own’ and took an organised half-day tour of the elegant French coastal resorts of Montreuil and Le Touquet.
We even had time on our last afternoon to catch the free shuttle bus to walk around the fortified walls and boutiques of Boulogne.
Yet this is where our ‘youthful’ naivety showed as other, more worldly-wise passengers (namely repeat guests affectionately nicknamed Saganauts) made sure to stock up on bargain-priced French wine and cheese for their return chauffeur-driven journeys home.
Forgetting that without the need to fly, heavy luggage could simply go in the boot, we missed a trick.
C’est la vie! You live and learn…
Talking of which, I’m pleased to say that my first-time-on-board friend Amanda, who had previously been worried about her lack of sea legs but who found the crossings smooth, has become another wholehearted convert to cruising.
I’ll wager she’ll be back – just you wait and see.
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by ByzantineEmperor