I had to keep looking at the cover to make sure she hadn't accidentally picked up Adventure Holidays for the Under-25s. But, no, believe it or not, these are now the kind of trips Saga offers for the over-50s. The thought of Mum trekking across Nepal on an elephant with a box of earl grey teabags and a Vicks Sinex spray in her bumbag gave me nothing short of a panic attack.
Imagine how relieved I was when I found out she actually had her eyes fixed on a holiday that was less get-up-and-go and more sit-down-and-flow: Ancient Wonders of the Mediterranean, a 21-day cruise visiting seven countries, including Spain, Italy, Egypt and Libya. As she put it, it offered "all the adventure without the lugging, the lassitude and the lumbago".
Before we knew it, we were both aboard the Saga Rose at Southampton, smiling at the stewards as they levered our luggage into the cabin. Unlike flying, there's no restriction on weight, so it's a tad easy to get carried away with the packing. Just as well we had a surprisingly spacious cabin that included a TV suite and a private balcony. The first stop was the Spanish port of Cadiz, where we took the guided tour of nearby Seville. Here, at one time or another, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Moors and Romans all had their say, providing us with a perfect introduction to a cruise all about the hidden glories and crumbling grandeur of ancient civilisations. It was a taste of things to come. Next up was the 3,500-year-old Minoan palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete, followed by Malta's medieval walled city of Mdina, and Sicily's capital, Palermo.
Ruled by the Arabs in the 9th century, this was once the world's second largest city after Constantinople. Today its past proudly lives on in a feast of baroque monuments, Arab craftsmanship, Roman mosaics and Byzantine madonnas. And so our ship headed for Alexandria. In between stops, we recharged our batteries with breakfast in bed, long lunches on deck, afternoon tea in the grand ballroom, a movie in the ship's theatre and pre-dinner cocktails in the Britannia lounge.
In the evenings, the formal-dress nights for dinner simply gave us an excuse to dig out our high heels and sparkly bits. We ate like kings and slept like cats. There were at least half a dozen experts on board, treating us to lectures on everything from Homer to Cleopatra, who was partial to the odd cruise around the Med herself and probably, like us, enjoyed 24-hour room service.
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At Alexandria the ship moored overnight, giving us time to tour the ancient city, see Cairo and the pyramids at Giza, and indulge in a little light supper on the Nile. One of the highlights of the cruise was Libya we stopped off at both Tripoli and Benghazi. As one of the lecturers had explained earlier, it's a new age of oil and tourism for this bold North African state. And one of the main attractions is the Roman sites to be found along the coastline. The most spectacular of these are Leptis Magna, a World Heritage site, and Cyrene, with its temples to Zeus and Apollo. On the trip back to Southampton, Mum and I reflected on our adventure and how we'd finally found the perfect way to travel. I have a suspicion, though, that she's considering the Saga elephant trek and is looking for that bumbag.
Sun spot
Stephen Reid found serenity on the Greek peninsula of Halkidiki From a sun lounger in the grassy private garden of our suite at the Sani Resort in Halkidiki, I watch my wife and baby son paddle in the shallows where the warm blue sea meets the golden beach. I even have a piña colada in my hand. Yet the stuffed vine leaves in the restaurant are the clearest clue that this is Greece. With no ancient ruins in sight, it could be any seaside paradise in the world, with swimming pools and a spa, award-winning restaurants and smart shops around a marina. In January, we can only dream on.
How to get there
Ancient Wonders of the Mediterranean aboard the Saga Rose, 21 nights, from October 31: from £2,634 per person, based on two sharing. Tel: 0800 0960083. Seven nights' B&B at Sani Asterias Suites, Halkidiki, with return flight from Gatwick, from £703 per person (based on two adults sharing). Amathus Holidays, tel: 0870 0172929