arlowood

Looking on The Azura deckplan, cabin A421 has a diamond type symbol against it and the key to the symbols confirms that A421 "has two additional beds in the form of pull-down beds"

However there is an explanatory note further down on the list which states:- "All pull-down beds in twin cabins are accessible via a ladder. When pull-down beds are in use, lower beds cannot be converted to a double"

If you are planning to have a cot, and will not be using the pull-down beds for your baby, then maybe if you explain that to P&O they might be able to override the "computer says no" impasse that you are experiencing. Good luck

12 hours ago, LandC said:

January/February sounds a bit late, bearing in mind that the Winter cruises were released two months earlier than last year.  We’re on SofA for the Canaries Christmas cruise, so if I haven’t heard anything by then, I will ask  on board. 

Yes the Winter 2025 release was almost 2 months ahead of the date the 2024 Winter schedule was released (January 2023 if I remember correctly).

The Summer 2024 itineraries were released in February 2023, so I'm hoping that Saga are keeping to same time gap between releases. That would mean the Summer 2024 itineraries could be release in December or January at the latest. Fingers crossed for either of those options.

1 hour ago, LandC said:

I pre-registered and received Summer 2024 itineraries on 28th February 2023.  So if Saga are 2 months ahead this time, perhaps Summer 2025 itineraries will be released before Christmas.  We do like to book early, and are interested in a couple of 2025 itineraries with other cruise lines, but we want to see what Saga offers first.

I too am hoping that they maintain the time frame for the 2025 summer pre-registration release.

Before Christmas would be fantastic but any time during January would also suit. As you noted the Summer 2024 release was late February 2023 and by the time they reached our slot in the pre-registration queue, we were enjoying a postprandial drink in our hotel in Paphos. It did create some mild panic but we managed to get our booking choice done with the maximum discount. I suppoose I could have asked for a call back once we were back home in the UK but obviously there would be no guarantee that the cabins/discount would still be available.

We are booked again for 2 weeks in Cyprus in late February and I would prefer to avoid a repeat of last years' experience

1 hour ago, NorbertsNiece said:

A bit earlier...... from the Captain. Venice authorities have stated that due to high tides they will be closing some of the barriers around Venice to prevent flooding. We need to arrive before the barriers are shut so will be through them around 430am berthing by about 6am.

Where are you docking for the Venice port of call. Is it at Fusina or Chioggia. Hope not Ravenna as some other cruise lines have been forced to adopt. Ravenna is pushing it a bit as a "Venice" port of call.

1 hour ago, Hoveto said:

Correct. I am old enough to go on a Saga cruise. Chusan was my first cruise. I was taken by my grand parents. I want to try Saga but I really wanted to visit some far away places. Maybe Arcadia on a world cruise would have an enhanced product - who knows. Today’s ships are a world apart from the old liners - most cabins having no facilities. Not even all first class having facilities.

Maybe not quite on the scale of a world cruise but Saga have recently released there early 2025 itineraries and on 6th January the Spirit of Discovery will leave on a 49 night cruise from Portsmouth taking in Madeira, several Caribbean islands, several Central American ports, Galvaston, New Orleans then back via Bermuda and the Azores.

No prices available yet as the itineraries are being offered to clients who have pre-registered with Saga. Likely to go on general sale in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Below is a link to the cruise itinerary - hope it works OK

https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/ocean/where-we-go/caribbean-cruises/caribbean-and-central-america-discovery.aspx

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Olive Grove and Glass House are not bookable pre cruise.

 

Seems odd as @mklions in post #4 above reports that he has pre-booked 4 reservations for the Glass House

2 hours ago, mklions said:

when will the 2025 cruises appear on the saga website, interested in a Jan/Feb cruise.

Unless you have pre-registered for that particular segment of 2025 (Jan to March or April 2025) you will not see the full list of available cruises until Saga has gone through the process of calling all the people that have pre-registered to give them the option of bagging the best discounts.

They will then open the booking to the general populace.

Could be 2 -4 weeks from now at a rough guess.

In the past some kid souls who have pre-registered have posted a summary of the planned itineraries. But there will be no prices available at this stage so you can be into educated guess territory by comparing costs this year for an equivalent cruise and adding a bit for inflation

14 hours ago, mklions said:

Thanks for your valued replies,

I will need to investigate further, no point booking for next October if the ship is going into dry dock.

Surprised the sales agent at Saga did not know this earlier today?

Just out of interest when do the Jan/Feb 2005 sailings come out for booking?

MKlions

An earlier post on another thread reported that a flyer had been received suggesting that the Jan to April 2025 cruise programme would be released "soon". However others have commented that Saga's interpretation of "soon" can be a bit lax.

As an example the release date for the Jan to Match 2024 season was Jan 2023 and the April to December 2024 season was released on 1st March 2023 (I remember it clearly as it was released just before we left for a holiday in Cyprus. As Sod's Law dictates we received our pre-registration phone call while we were relaxing after dinner at our hotel. Not ideal but we managed to get things sorted.)

So don't hold your breath - it could be released before Christmas but more likely early 2024

4 hours ago, mklions said:

We have been looking to book our 1st Saga cruise for next October, 18 nights sailing to the Canaries and Cape Verde.

The cabins on Deck E are coming in over £300pp cheaper than the same basic balcony cabin on other decks.

I've been told the cabins are the same size ( though on the Saga website the deck plan on standard cabins on other decks do look slightly larger) so why are they so much cheaper? and would you advise for or against a cabin on Deck E?

Thanks,

MKlions.

HI there

If you are considering the 20th October cruise on Spirit of Adventure then I would suggest you contact Saga before you go ahead with any booking.

I have seen a post today (on one of the Saga FB groups) from a disgruntled customer who had just received an email from Saga indicating that the planned dry dock maintenance slot for SOA needed to be extended and as a consequence they were cancelling the 18 night cruise to Cape Verde and the Canaries and offering a 14 night Canaries only cruise in November as an alternative. Those willing to accept the switch would receive a discount starting at £100 per person in a Standard Cabin up to £500pp in the most expensive suites. Alternatively they could switch to another cruise with no admin fees.

I have found the original post but the OP or the moderators have removed the copy of the Saga email from the post.

4 hours ago, devonuk said:

When I used them recently they were parking in Totton 😬

Secure from being stolen if your car is one of those wedged at the back or middle of that jumble🤣🤣. Not so secure from being broken into I'm guessing looking at the surrounding topography.

We haven't cruised with Oceania or Azamara but we have cruised several times with Viking both on ocean and river cruises.

We love the cool Scandi ambience of the Viking ships and the food and service is excellent but, and here it is a big BUT in our view. For a Viking cruise, UK customers will inevitably have to fly, either short or long haul, to join the ship. There are a couple of itineraries that either start or end in London (Greenwich/Tilbury) but the other end/start port for those requires one or more flights.

With the current state of play of the airline industry I would much rather avoid the hassle of relying on them to get you to and from your cruise in a timely and stress-free manner.

We recently cruised with Viking from Venice to Athens and for us, based in the Midlands, that involved flying out from Birmingham to Venice via Paris on Air France and returning from Athens via Amsterdam on KLM. Of the 4 flights we took 3 were an hour late leaving and the other was 15 mins late. We had reasonable layover times in Paris and Amsterdam but it was still stressful with the uncertainty of knowing if you would make your connecting flight and also whether your luggage would make it also.

On our return journey we were up early to vacate our cabin by 8am local time (6am UK time) and did not get home until 10pm that night after a 1hr taxi ride back from Birmingham Airport.

On balance, my wife and I have now decided that we would much prefer to sail with Saga and benefit from their UK based itineraries and door-to-ship transfers. At our age, life is too short (and getting shorter) to have the worry and stress of whether we will get to the ship on time.

11 hours ago, mklions said:

Hi Sailors,

As a regular cruiser (over 40 cruises) my wife and I have started to look at Saga Cruises for a first time. 

Not pinning our flag to any one particular cruise line we have sailed with both the mainstream lines ( P&O, Cunard, Princess, Celebrity ) along with such premium lines as Silversea,Oceania,Seabourn and Azamara.

 

When travelling with the mainstream we normally try to book a suite cabin, in fact we have two cruises booked either side of Christmas one on the P&O Ventura and one on Britannia both in aft suites.

 

We are always looking for our next adventure (cruise holiday) and have started to consider Saga as a viable option,It appears that they tick all the boxes that the premium lines offer with their all inclusive packages plus a few really good extras, chauffeur service from home to port being the main one.

 

Cost wise Saga is similar priced to such luxury cruise lines such as Azamara and Oceania but how do they compare on the following?

 

1 Cabin sizes? along with cabin inclusions? (robes ,slippers, bath tub and toiletries Etc)

2 Food in main restaurant ?

3 Specialty restaurants ?

4 Service in general?

5 Last but no biggie for us entertainment?

 

Will be very interesting to hear your thoughts.

 

king regards,

Mklions.

 

 

 

 

To address point 1 on your post, the following link gives you the square footage of all cabin grades on offer. For each grade there is also a drop-down list to show what is included for each cabin grade.

Hope this helps to address at least some of your questions. Unfortunately we have not sailed on either Azamara or Oceania so I can't comment on the comparison points you have highlighted.

https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/ocean/our-ships/spirit-of-discovery/cabin-grades.aspx#app-Tabs-activeTab|Standard-Twin-with-Balcony||

2 hours ago, Mickey111 said:

Hi folks

are there sockets next to bed on ocean cruises for cpap machines? We always travel with an extension for hotels but I see they’re not allowed on board 

Yes there is a 13amp socket above the bedside cabinet on each side of the bed together with  USB sockets for phone charging etc.

A quick cabin tour is given in the link below.

51 minutes ago, Denarius said:

Watch and learn!

 

Sorry but here comes the pedant in me. George Formby is actually playing a Banjolele rather than a Ukulele. But let's not let accuracy get in the way of a good song title🤣🤣

1 hour ago, eric4395 said:

 Hi Can anyone advise where P&O 

Ventura normally docks in Lisbon. We are arriving  shortly on Oct 12th

Just keep your fingers crossed that you don't get bumped!! I read another post from a passenger (can't remember if it was P&O or possibly Saga) who was complaining bitterly that they has been bumped from the main cruise terminal with the air bridge and shopping facilities. They ended up at the commercial port with a nice view of cranes and containers and no shopping facilities.

On you arrival date (12th October) both Anthem of the Seas and Ambassador Ambition and due in port along with Ventura. Might be worth asking the Captain to get a wiggle on so that you bag a  slot at the official cruise terminal.🤣🤣🤣

33 minutes ago, FatBoy20 said:

Flyer received today indicates that Saga will launch Jan to April 2025 Cruises soon. This should be earlier than the 2024 Launch which was January 2023 (for Jan to March 24) & March (for April to December). Perhaps Saga are realising they have been nearly the last to release Cruises for future years.

Your post just prompted me that I should get pre-registered for the "summer" 2025 season.

Called Saga and made the registration.

The young lady I spoke to stated that our summer season registration would cover cruises from 1st May until 31st December 2025.

So I 'm guessing that Saga have massaged their season tranches to include April in the "winter" block.

14 hours ago, FatBoy20 said:

Not totally finished but far smoother & quicker exit than the previous "Rent a Tent". Still requires Bus Shuttle to & from Ship.

Don't think they will ever be able to dispense with the shuttle bus on health and safety grounds. The area between the terminal and the normal cruise ship berth is effectively a massive car/lorry park for traffic awaiting access to several loading ramps for the Brittany Ferries routes to France and Spain.

Unlikely they would be happy with foot passengers wandering around while heavy goods vehicles and containers were moving around.

Suppose it does beg the question what the Brittany Ferries foot passengers do but that's a different story.

Several options in Dover itself but also the option for a day trip to Canterbury, Leeds Castle etc.

The link below spells out some of the things to consider.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186313-Activities-Dover_Kent_England.html

On 7/21/2023 at 7:29 PM, tring said:

 

Thanks, we are not disabled but do not walk that far these days.  DH would be ok, but I would be the little old woman tagging behind 🙂

 

Seriously, we could manage a fair bit done slowly, bit by bit as long as there are cafes to pop into along the way, which I assume there.  We do tend to spend a lot of time on foot in ports, but after a couple of consecutive days my joints can just cease up altogether, so we will need to pace ourselves.  Can probably get to the nearest subway stations.  We had been looking at the buses, but bit worried we could get stuck in traffic, so probably best to keep to the subway most of the time.  Fancy a few ferry rides as well and possibly one of the circle line narrated boat trips.

 

 

 

Rome2Rio gives several options to travel to Battery Park from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal but it would appear that most involve an initial walk from the terminal to access a subway, bus stop or ferry port. Quickest is by taxi but probably most expensive and as said above you may still have to walk a bit to find an area where there are taxis available.

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Manhattan-Cruise-Terminal/Battery-Park-City#r/Ferry

13 hours ago, Scorpio41 said:

You’ll probably need the shoe horn to get in the dressing gowns. 😱 Bigger ones are available just ask the cabin steward. 

That's bordering on "sizeist" Scorpio41. 🤣🤣??!! Have a care or the cancel culture warriors will be baying for blood. 🤪

13 hours ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

Britannia members have all sorts of perks... from discounts of up to £1,000 off a cruise to complementary cruises if they've travelled with SAGA often enough. Guests who register can book early at launch rates and can book tables and soon as they book at that stage.

 

Just read the webpages and find out! 

 

They Registration Scheme whereby you pay £90 per person per annual sailing sector is open to all SAGA cruisers, not just Britannia Club members. We are testament to that as we only did our first SAGA cruise last year and while on board we learned of the registration scheme from another passenger. We registered for the summer 2024 season at that time and earlier this year we had the call to choose our cruise option(s) ahead of the official public launch of the itineraries for Summer 2024. We were able to get the full 35% discount on the cabin of our choice for a cruise in August 2024.

Just to add some additional information to that provided above.

When a particular season is launched, a proportion of the cabins in the various grades are offered at a 35% discount on the normal price. (I believe it's a proportion rather than all the cabins being offered at 35% but I am happy top be corrected if this is wrong). As these initial maximum discounts are booked by prospective passengers , then the discount drops to say 30% then 25% an so on.

Consequently the earlier you register for a particular season, the earlier you will receive the phone call once the programme has been emailed to you. That will give you the best chance of snagging a maximum discount.

Just be aware that the call can come anytime depending on you position in the pre-registration queue for a particular season. We had pre-registered for the April - December 2024 season and received the email with the Summer 2024 programme shortly before we left for a holiday in Cyprus. As sod's law often dictates, the call came while we were having a relaxing drink in our hotel in Paphos. Cue a dash back to our room while still on the call to retrieve passport details and credit card info so that we could secure our chosen booking. I'm sure we could have requested a call back when we were back in the UK but that might have meant missing out on the best discounts.

If you keep checking this forum or the various social media groups (I think there are at least 2 on FB) you will start to see posts as people receive their phone calls for a particular season. You can usually get a rough idea of how things are progressing, if people are willing to share there pre-registration number. The calls go out in sequence from the earliest to pre-register and your number will reflect where you are in the queue.

On 4/23/2023 at 5:59 PM, jc522 said:

I received our Guest Statement. It shows us arriving in Istanbul at 7am and disembarking the next day. I'm sure there will be an opportunity to see the sites.

 

Thanks to all for the responses.

It's possible that your arrival in Istanbul constitutes a changeover day where some passengers may be continuing on to a follow-on itinerary and others will be disembarking. 

I have read that, to save confusion, Viking does not normally advertise day excursions ahead of the cruise and that they will be publicised to eligible passengers while on board.

Just a thought as to the reason for the absence of day excursions

There was a post on one of the Facebook groups last week reporting that somepone had been contacted by Viking to ask if they were prepared to forego their upcoming cruise (Empires of the Mediterranean) in return for a full refund plus a free future cruise (ocean or river) of up to 14 days. I think there were additional sweeteners but can't recall exactly what they were.

The inference was that Viking had oversold the cruise and had not had the expected number of drop-outs/cancellations.

I must confess that it puzzles me that they are employing the airline approach of over-selling with the expectation that some will cancel before the actual cruise date. 

17 minutes ago, rayandjean said:

That would be fantastic if we could still get to Acadia from Eastport. 

A quick look on Google maps shows Acadia National Park to be around 2hr 30mins by road from Eastport so I guess it might be doable if the ship is in port for at last 7hrs.

From its size I'm presuming that Eastport will probably be a tender port like Bar Harbor so that could complicate the timings a little bit.