Denarius

I agree. The insurance business is still the fly in the ointment but the travel arm appears to be booming, especially cruises. 88% is a good average occupation rate for ocean cruises especially when you consider that Saga does not benefit from extra berths in cabins during school holidays. And the river cruise business probably still has plenty of scope for growth.

In my early days of sailing with P&O I would have regarded Cunard, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity as P&Os main rivals, offering a similar product at a similar price point. Since then P&O have imo moved down market and operate at a lower price point than those named; people comment on these boards how expensive these companies now are, whereas the reality is that P&O are now cheap. Currently I would regard Marella, Ambasador and possibly MSC as P&Os main rivals for the market they are now chasing, with the next tier up reprented by those previously named and the one above by the likes of Viking, Saga and Oceania.

Over reaction indeed. And who are they going to book with instead, as to my knowledge virtually all other lines have similar restrictions except those which are all inclusive? Or are they going to book with the latter for the sake of drinking their own favourite brand instead of the one for which they have already paid in their all inclusive fare? Joined up thinking, please!

I agree. I've always thought it odd that people will spend thousands of pounds to go on a cruise then go to inordinate lengths to save a few pounds onboard.

RE maps. I too would like to know who took this incredibly stupid decision. Apart from the issues you raise, keep getting your phone out to look at a map is not a particularly good idea in many locations unless you want to be mugged for it, and one which I would prefer to avoid. And where does this leave those who do not have one? A few months ago I took a Saga river cruise on SotR and excellent paper maps were provided at every berth. So why cannot they be provided for sea cruises?

I think that they were. In context, you have to remember that at the time Ocean Village were launched the cruise business was radically different than it is today. Fixed time (ie, club) dining was usually the only option at dinner; the buffet was only open for lunch and breakfast. A three tier dress code applied in the evening throughout the ship; casual (ie smart casual) informal (jackets and ties for men) and formal (black tie). Against this background, a cruise line which offered flexible dining with no formal dress code was a radical departure. Nowadays of course, it does not appear as radical as most cruise lines have adopted parts of the Ocean Village modus operandum.

That is your personal choice. Not everyone however, has an internet connection, home computer and printer. Indeed, a survey by AgeUK earlier this month ( https://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/articles/2024/more-than-1-in-3-over-65s-4.7-million-lack-the-basic-skills-to-use-the-internet-successfully/ ) indicated that more than one in three of the over 65s - Saga's main clientelle - lack the basic skills to use the internet succesfully and that one in six do not use it at all.

Agree. As I recall it the dress code was indicated on the invitation as Smart Casual, which I interpreted as being anything which would be accepable in the main dining room on other than a Black Tie night. I usually wore chinos and an open necked shirt, although I recall that I once wore a plain (ie, non logo) tee shirt without comment.

I agree that the present situation is far from satisfactory. Although I have fibre internet access with a home computer, printer and iphone I opt to receive my communications in paper form as I find it more convenient to refer to; also, I like to highlight and annotate important information. Despite this I find increasingly that I receive communications by email only, excursions for my next cruise being a case in point. I do not normally go on excursions preferring to explore independently, so when I received the email 2 days ago I took no immediate action. After reading this thread I decided out of curiosity to have a look and found that several are already sold out even though the cruise is not until July. If I did not have internet access and an email address I would not have even known that they were on sale!

Very true. When I started cruising in the 1990s the QE2 was thought of as being a very large ship. Nowadays at 70000 GRT and carrying 1800 passengers she would be regarded as mid size at the most. In a few years time she will no doubt be regarded as small.

I believe that there is a strong case for getting rid of self service buffets on cruise ships in favour of served ones, even if there is no obvious infection onboard. Much more hygenic.

Sorry, slip of the finger. Bacteria in final sentence should have read virus.

Earlier this year I was on a cruise with another line. There were a small number of cases of norovirus identified on board and preventative measure were introduced including the enforced washing of hands before entering any restaurant; all had washbasins at the entrance. Some people asked why they could not just use hand sanitisers such as had been used during the covid emidemic and were told that this was because hand sanitisers were generally only effective against bacteria. Covid was an exception as the alcohol in the sanitiser destroyed the bacteria's oily coating.

I also use Firefox but tried Edge as well and got the same result, but I think that the key lies in your final paragraph. The Spring and Summer cruises do not go on sale to non Britannia Club members until tomorrow so are not yet visible to the general public on the website, only by clicking the link sent to Britannia Club members. I am a Britannia Club member so got the email but I deleted it as I had already booked my 2025 cruises.

My summer 2025 cruise to the Baltic is now £1300 more than I paid from advance registration but my second cruise - "coastal delights of France and green Spain" on 19 September 2025 - does not appear on the website. Curious!