Saga Cruises has announced that the 449-passenger Saga Pearl II will bid farewell with a 54-night cruise.

The South African Farewell Adventure, priced at £9,650pp (based on two people sharing the lowest available inside cabin grade), departs Portsmouth on 16 February 2019.

It includes the cities of Cape Town, Luanda, Maputo and Dakar, as well as chances to see the wildlife of Africa.

The cruise also takes in St Helena, Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde, plus a ‘crossing the line’ ceremony, echoing the naval tradition when passing over the equator.

Ahead of her final cruise, Saga Pearl II has a busy programme, including the Scenic Scandinavia, Flavours of the Canaries, and Moorish Mediterranean itineraries.

There are also Christmas-themed cruises to Hamburg – with the chance to see one of Saga Pearl II’s successor ships, the Spirit of Discovery, being built – and to Oslo and Copenhagen.

In January, the Canary Island Delights cruise visits Lisbon and Santiago de Compostela, while the penultimate voyage is The Canaries in Bloom, exploring gardens, ancient laurel forests and a cacti plantation designed by artist César Manrique in Lanzarote.

Saga Cruises recently held the keel-laying of the company’s first new cruise ship, Spirit of Discovery, during a ceremony at Meyer Werft’s shipyard in Papenburg.

The event marked the official start of construction for the 999-guest vessel, which is the first of two ships the cruise line is building.

Spirit of Discovery will be delivered in Bremerhaven on 20 June 2019.