Saga reassures customers over newest vessel

Saga Cruises has sought to reassure passengers about the reliability of its newest ship following a series of on-board mechanical problems.

Saga Sapphire, the replacement for the popular Saga Ruby, the last British-built cruise ship in service, which is due to be retired next year, had to curtail its inaugural cruise in April because of engine trouble.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9466472/Saga-reassures-customers-over-newest-vessel.html

We sailed on the Sapphire from 11th - 18th July this year and there were no problems at all that I was aware of. We kept to the itinerary and had no missed ports of call. The only fault that I was aware of was that the swimming pool was empty for the duration of our cruise - when it did have water in it at the beginning of the cruise, it crashed about so much that it would have been dangerous to use and it was emptied out and we never saw water in it again. That didn't matter on a cruise to Norway, but had it been sailing to a warmer climate that may have caused a problem. The hot tubs were never in use either.

There are now a few reviews coming in on the Saga website for the Sapphire, which you can view here:

http://travel.saga.co.uk/holidays/ocean-cruises/saga-sapphire/saga-sapphire-reviews.aspx

I did see there was a review that mentioned the problems with the Baltic cruise, which is the cruise that immediately followed the one that we were on.

I also done a travel blog about our cruise as I found it difficult to find out information prior to the date I sailed - this is the link if anyone would like to see it

http://mynorwayholiday.blogspot.co.uk/

I also posted photos taken on the Sapphire here:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/583196574GnDEfZ

Fingers crossed that all the problems have now been ironed out.