One Night On The Spirit of Discovery - #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Morning my lovely friends.

Many thanks for joining me today.

How's July going for you?

I decided to head over to my local outlet yesterday, I was so looking forward to spending a couple of hours wandering round the shops - Imagine my disappointment when every shop had hardly anything I liked!  I wanted to see what M & S had in there, especially the underwear - very little was being offered.  Same in Clarks, the shoes and sandals were pretty naff to be totally honest.  Phase Eight and Roman weren't any better and after an hour I decided to call it a day and come home.  I might have to resort to doing what I hate .... online shopping!  I just don't enjoy it - I like to look at clothes, feel them, see what the fabric is like, do the colours suit me up close and finally try them on in the store!   Am I the only one who feels like this?  Please tell me I'm not!

Anyway enough about my shopping antics let me tell you about my night away. 💓

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I were lucky enough to go on a Saga cruise on The Spirit of Discovery for a Saga Shakedown!  If you don't know what that is (I didn't) it's an overnight stay onboard the cruise ship for family and friends of the Saga family.  It's basically practice for all the staff to get to grips with passenger standards etc without worrying the paying customers ... yes it was a freebie as our nephews works for them!

I didn't have time to get photos actually on board so have taken shots at home in my outfits.  The dress is an absolute winner in my eyes.  I bought the Warehouse dress from Asos a few years ago and having only worn it a couple of times it's as good as new and very me.  I'm smitten with everything about it, the one shoulder style, the balloon sleeves, the tie detail on the cuff and waist but above all the design is stunning.  I paired my wedding shoes with it, navy high heels ... so feminine, so ladylike. x

This isn't the shirt I wore, but it's very similar.  I finally found this longer tunic style top in the H & M sale.  I'd seen it online quite a few times when browsing their site, but didn't see it in store.  I figured I'd buy it to see what it was like, so glad when it arrived and looked great on so I kept it.  I love the tie detail on the waist, it just feels like a nice and easy to wear shirt. X

We travelled up to Tilbury in Essex to be met with staff who gave us a second Covid test (first one at home that we did ourselves).  Obviously both were negative and we were given our bill of good health papers & proceeded to check-in.  We had to go through numerous cleaning stations along with security checks before we could board, but once we were on we were shown to our cabin.  Lucky for us our cabin had been up-graded to a suite which was 100% a fabulous treat!

Greeted with a bottle of Champagne our personal butler introduced himself and showed us around the cabin pointing out various areas like the fridge, tea & coffee facilities, balcony, safe and how to use the tv!  Nothing was too much trouble and he handed us his card in-case we needed him for anything else.

I got him to press my shirt, very impressed with that!  Our nephew told us that the company had installed the hot drink facility from customer feedback, but he pointed out room service for ANYTHING was a better option!  I'd have taken full advantage of that if I'd have been on holiday!

We watched the safety program and studied where our muster station would be along with where all the facilities onboard were.  I could have quite easily got lost on the boat, luckily hubby could work it out!

We had a wander around the boat checking out the bars and restaurants and before long our nephew came to find us.  The boat was moored at Tilbury and this held a special place in my heart.  You see when I arrived at the London cruise I realised I'd been there before.  When I was younger I lived near Gravesend, the other side of the Thames to Tilbury!  We would travel on the ferry to be met by my Auntie to spend a week with her in the Summer holidays - I remember worrying about my mum who would travel back alone to spend the week on her own (my parents were divorced) silly me, when I grew up I realised she probably cheered that she would have some time alone and not having to look after my sister and me - ha ha ha.  Anyway on deck I spotted the ferry crossing the Thames and pondered how small it all looked.  Bizarrely my son now works from the same area, his job is with the Port of London Authority 

I'm sharing the dress I wore for our evening meal.  We dined with my nephew in the East to West restaurant.  Typically fine dining with chefs bringing to the table vibrant eastern dishes with contemporary twists.  We ate soft shell crab, Singaporean chicken and pork satay followed by fiery hot Southern Thailand Tiger Prawn Massaman curry & hubby had Surf and Turf.  The drinks were included which was good value and we took full advantage of having prosecco and wine with our dinner and also in the bars before and after dinner.  Our chosen venues were the delightful South Cape Bar and The Britannia Lounge - both were extremely comfortable and looked very classy.  The South Cape bar was  designed with Art Deco in mind - I felt so at home lounging on the classic leather sofas enjoying the relaxing music and waiter service.  The Britannia bar was a bit more lively with a band situated in the middle next to a dance floor and then a bar - the views over the front of the boat would be magical - especially at night, I'm starting to get to like the idea of cruising!

Our evening didn't stop after our dinner, we'd booked seats in the theater for the show, West End meets Broadway.  We were treated to a medley of musicals (right up my street), with songs from shows including Les Miserables, My Fair Lady, West Side Story & Phantom of the Opera.  I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and tried hard not to sing along ... lol

We finished off the evening having a night-cap in The Living room.  Said venue is classed as the 'hub' of the boat, doubling up in the daytime where coffee & cakes can be relished.  Afternoon tea is served here too but I missed this one as we were too late .. another reason to book a cruise I think. 

Morning arrived quickly!  We were woken by the tannoy instructing us that breakfast was being served and disembarkation was imminent.  We packed before making our way to The Grand Dining Room.  Plenty of staff were on hand to guide us to our table and take our order.  Tea and coffee was served and replenished as we needed it, I also picked a fruit juice and was tempted with a croissant with jam.

I save 'big breakfast's' for holidays and weekends away - so my night on the boat counted right?  Just as well because I devoured eggs benedict, which is one of my all time favorites, and it tasted divine. 😋

With breakfast finished and bags packed we made our way off the boat and back onto dry land (because we were docked all the time I didn't notice any kind of movement).  

The drive home was full of chatter about the night away, both David and I decided we'd quite like to try a mini cruise ....three guesses who's already ordered a brochure. 😏🛥

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Time for the #Chicandstylish #LINKUP

Favourite blogger from last week is .... Katie - Hello Katie girl.  Wow what a stunning rainbow dress, it's just spot on for the weather here in the UK ... sunshine + rain = a rainbow. 🌈

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Great to have you join me today, can't wait to see what you've all been styling over the past week.

Have a super weekend and I look forward to seeing you again on Monday.

Cheerio for now. X