Spirit of Adventure Cruise round Ireland
This is a Saga ship but the age limit is from 21 years.
There are no balcony cabins but I had a double cabin with 2 picture windows. It was spacious and spotlessly clean. Dressing gowns are provided. It is a small ship of 9570 tons and the capacity is 352. There is a lovely dining room with open seating and also the Verandah self-service restaurant on Promenade deck. Both are open for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Late evening snacks are served in the bar. The Sirocco lounge is a comfortable venue for shows and lectures and the Yacht Club is a cosy bar where a pianist plays in the evenings. The ship is mainly non-smoking but smoking is allowed on port side in the Yacht Club at the moment but I think this will become non-smoking next year. There is a large, well stocked library and a spa and hairdressers onboard. The treatments are reasonably priced eg. Hot Stone Massage 75mins £60, blow dry £20. The drinks prices on board are also very reasonable, eg pint of beer £2, Gin & Tonic £2.30, Irish Coffee £2.25, wine from £2.35 per glass and £15 per bottle. Free bottles of water are provided to take on excursions and most excursions are included in the price, as are the gratuities.
The food and service is excellent and presentation very good. There was a good choice in the buffet and also in the restaurant, where they served a starter, soup, salad, main course, dessert or cheese and biscuits plus coffee. The Pavlova was the best I have ever tasted!
There is a small pool to the aft of promenade deck and another small indoor pool in the spa. At the top of the yacht films are sometimes screened in the open air.
The following excursions were free. In Londonderry we were taken on a leisurely tour of the city with free time to shop and then we were taken through the Bogside area on our return to the ship.
From Killybegs we had a tour to Beleek Pottery, which was very interesting and then had free time in Donegal.
The only tender port was Galway and from there we did a tour of the Galway countryside and visited a farm where we had delicious scones and cream. We finished with a short time in Galway to see the Cathedral.
From Foynes (nr Limerick) we had a full day excursion to Buratty Castle which included a guided tour of the castle, free time to explore the model village and sample the local Guinness and then we had good lunch of salad, Irish Stew, salmon or vegetarian dish followed by apple pie and cream, tea or coffee. Wine was including with the lunch and a pre-lunch drink of Irish Cream or Mead. Local entertainment of dancing and music was provided during the lunch.
The next port of call was Cobh for Cork. There was a choice of visiting the Blarney Stone or a tour to Kinsale. I chose Kinsale which is a pretty port with a selection of good seafood restaurants and gift shops.
The last port was Dublin. There were two tours here but because I have visited Dublin before I did not take a tour and went to see the Guinness factory as it was raining heavily on the morning.
A nice touch with the tours was that they brought round cold towels at the end of the tour along with boiled sweets. When we arrived back onboard we were given hot towels. At the tender port there was a choice of a cold drink or hot chocolate available while we waited for the tenders.
The evening entertainment included 2 shows by Elaine Delmare. In Galway the ship did not sail until 11pm so a troupe of Irish dancers and singers gave a show, which was excellent. There was also a classical concert and the staff put on an entertaining show one evening. Another evening a Jazz band played.
We disembarked in Liverpool.
This is an excellent product and good value for money when you consider what is included.