Saga This is the END

We have travelled with Saga on many holidays and almost 100 nights of cruising. We wanted to see the Northern Lights so we booked a cruise that started on 26th February 2013. Because of previous experiences we had confidence that this would be a great holiday. How wrong we were!

The newly refurbished Saga Sapphire has very little to show for all the work. The public rooms are too small for the number of passengers and the strangely decorated Drawing room looked like an airport lounge when all the flights were delayed. People walking around trying to find somewhere to sit . The dining room (Pole to Pole) was divided up in to smaller areas making the noise levels and temperature levels too high for comfort. Because the main restaurant did not have enough seats for everybody on some nights, usually the formal nights people were being turned away to eat in the smaller cafeteria type eatery called The Grill.

Gone is the Silver Service when a waiter would bring the vegetables to you , different every night, and you could make a choice. Now the meal is put in front of you complete with vegetables, every day the same, carrots and broccoli, it became very boring. The quality of the food has dropped and cut backs are too obvious. Saga cruises were never cheap, but the prices remain the same and standards have dropped. Even the cocktail of the day is missing, there was always two and on a cold cruise one would be hot. Afternoon tea has become very predictable with only one special Viennese Tea that really seemed like the standard. The old practice of specials has gone. The special buffet lunches are also a thing of the past, more cut backs.

We stayed in a suite that looked like it still had the original décor. What happened? I thought all the cabins were to be refurbished.

The destinations and trips were of a very high standard, but apart from one, were also very expensive extras.

To top this experience of on the last day of the cruise I felt unwell and on returning home I was suffering severe gastric problems. My doctor arranged for tests and I was diagnosed with Campylobacter (food poisoning). As this has an incubation period of 2 to 11 days I could have only got this whilst on the cruise. Having not eaten ashore there are not many conclusions I could come to as of the cause. I contacted Saga who were not interested and told me they checked the ship and they could not have caused it!

Sorry Saga you have lost us as customers.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. we were on the same trip and loved every minute of it. We thought the staff and service were wonderful, loved our beautifully decorated room and the general feel of the ship, and very much enjoyed the ports and spectacular scenery, including five consecutive nights of viewing the Northern Lights. We also met many interesting and well travelled fellow travellers, all of whom seemed to be enjoying the cruise. The library was the best I have seen at sea. I think the fact that it was a cold weather cruise impacted on the indoor areas, though, and the chair hogs were in evidence in the drawing room as opposed to around the pool!

I've been on the Sapphire and recognize the ship Willma writes about. I'm not sure Dogberry is quite accurate because all the cabins/suites/drawing room have been redesigned in a contemporary style. We did, though, find the food inconsistent. My full review of the ship is here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k6309048-The_Saga_Sapphire_a_few_thoughts-Cruises.html

Hi Fletcher I can assure you that cabin 10010 has not been “redesigned in a contemporary style” it has had a quick bit of touching up done to it. We paid a lot of money to have a suite and were very disappointed when we saw it. The suite was drab and nothing like the new cabins look. We checked with a neighbouring suite and that was the same. The butler service is next to useless as the butler has so many suites to look after. Most of the time he was on other decks doing room service duties. A couple in one of the Royal suites had asked to be returned home because the heating could not be made to work and they had several fan heaters to stay warm. (The Royal suites had been updated to the new blue look).

I did notice Fletcher that your blog stopped whilst you were on your cruise and discovered that this site had been blocked on the Saga WiFi network. The SagaZone forum has also been discontinued by Saga at the same time as people started to moan about the Sapphire.

I did find everything ashore excellent……just the ship was the problem!