Spirit of Discovery Itinerary

What Spirit of Discovery's Autumn Sailings from Portsmouth Are Actually Like

Our database has the dates but not the ports, so I went digging and found them. The routes below come from Saga's own pages and the cruisetimetables.com schedules. Ports can change, so confirm with Saga before you book. The 17 October departure leaves tomorrow at 17:00, so if it tempts you, you're running out of runway (and, frankly, out of excuses).

Saga's ocean ships are for guests aged 50 and over. Spirit of Discovery carries 999 guests, which makes it a small, calm ship. Every sailing starts and ends in Portsmouth, so there are no flights. Instead you get a few days of Atlantic first, as a little character-building. Our database shows a CDC Vessel Sanitation Program score of 96 out of 100 from an inspection on 11 February 2025. That's over 20 months old, so check the CDC inspection lookup for anything newer.

Weather and seas

The Atlantic leg comes first. Most sailings reach their first port after two or three sea days, and winter Biscay has a lumpy reputation. I found no hard statistics, only passenger anecdotes. One reported a calm Bay but storms off Portugal on a Christmas cruise. Pack seasickness remedies and treat the first days as a gamble.

Once you arrive, the climate is mild. Aggregator averages put Canary highs at about 24–25°C in November, 22°C in December and 20°C in January. The sea runs roughly 22°C, 21°C and 19°C. Funchal is cooler, with highs of about 18°C, 16°C and 15°C across those months. It also gets rain on 11–12 days a month. The Croatia sailing is a different story. Dubrovnik's highs are around 19°C in October and 13°C in November, and November is its wettest month. That's sightseeing weather, not beach weather.

Which length suits whom

• 14 nights (22 Nov, 6 Dec): the easy first taste of Canaries sun, with six or seven ports.
• 14 and 15 nights in January: choose Casablanca and Cadiz (6 Jan), or six sunny ports and an overnight in Funchal (20 Jan).
• 16 nights (6 Nov): seven Mediterranean ports for people who'd rather see Monaco and Marseille than a beach.
• 20 nights (17 Oct): eight ports, three of them Croatian. It suits Dalmatian coast fans who don't mind a cooler, wetter coast.
• 17 nights (20 Dec): the festive pick, with Christmas Day at sea after Lisbon on 23 December.

Seasonal quirks

The Christmas sailing is the big one. Per Saga's itinerary, it reaches Funchal at 08:00 on 31 December and doesn't leave until 01:00 on 1 January. That's New Year's Eve in port. The price reflects it. Saga's own pages currently list from-prices per person, including travel insurance and additional cancellation cover, of £3,768 for the 6 December departure and £7,999 for Christmas. That's £4,231 more per person, a little over double, for three extra nights. Fares move constantly, so check Saga for the live price before you get attached to either number.

What to pack

Pack layers. Portsmouth in a damp November is nothing like Tenerife. Bring a waterproof jacket for Funchal and Croatia, a light jumper for evenings, and swimwear for the Canary days. Add a sturdy umbrella if you're on the Croatia or Mediterranean sailings. Browse the full list on our Spirit of Discovery itineraries page, or compare other ships on the itineraries hub.