Sir Ranulph Fiennes is hoping for a smooth sailing when he joins Saga Pearl II’s Jewels of the Canary Islands cruise in November. Saga referred to Fiennes as “the world’s greatest living land explorer” in a prepared statement. 

He was the first adventurer to reach both the North and South Poles by surface travel, and the oldest Briton to conquer Everest, and added “I do get terribly seasick” when it comes to being on the ocean. 

“The first time I experienced seasickness was on expedition ships in the Arctic and Antarctic waters,” he said. “On those vessels it was the crew’s job to take us there, to crash through the ice, and then pick us up on the other side – if we ever got to the other side that is.”

More recently, Sir Ranulph, 73, sailed around Cape Horn with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo non-stop around the world. He said: “Robin is the greatest solo sailor of all time, and I was sick once again. So it hasn’t gone away.”

He will join the Saga Pearl II for two nights, where he  plans to talk to guests about his 40-plus years of adventure and exploration.

He said: “I’ll be covering stories of my life and attempts at breaking world records and I will also show a film of the first vertical journey around Earth, which is narrated by the late Sir Richard Burton. 

“I’ll also be there if people want to ask questions, which always makes me happy.”

The all-inclusive Jewels of the Canary Islands cruise features the maiden port of Avilés, in Spain, and calls at Funchal, Madeira; Santa Cruz, Tenerife; Las Palmas, Gran Canaria; Arrecife, Lanzarote; Cadiz, Spain; Portimão and Lisbon, Portugal and La Coruña (for Santiago de Compostela), Spain.