Spirit of Discovery blog
And she's off...
27th June, 2021
The Big Day!
After a 15-month layup (469 days since we dropped off our last guests) our crew onboard has been working hard over the last month to ready Spirit of Discovery for operation. 35 years at sea and I have not ever seen a finer crew. They are simply “awesome”! I am very proud of what they have accomplished in a very short period.
![Spirit of Discovery crew](/-/media/acromas/sagatravel/images/non product content/cruises/cruise blogs/captains blogs/spirit of discovery/2021/jun/the big day/blog4.jpg)
Today is finally here and we are readying the ship to welcome guests! A quick look around on the platform, Terminal and a walk through the ship to say hello to the crew.
![Spirit of Discovery crew](/-/media/acromas/sagatravel/images/non product content/cruises/cruise blogs/captains blogs/spirit of discovery/2021/jun/the big day/blog9.jpg)
They are all set. Welcome onboard!
![Spirit of Discovery crew](/-/media/acromas/sagatravel/images/non product content/cruises/cruise blogs/captains blogs/spirit of discovery/2021/jun/the big day/blog13.jpg)
Departure from Tilbury, a band, fireboat and confetti as we pull away from the pier. With the spring tide, and little room for a ship of this size, we spin the ship around 30 meters from the pier within her own length using her state of the art azimuthing podded propulsors.
Captain Darin William Bowland
Written by Captain Darin Bowland
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