Windsurfboy

At 5000 passengers Queen Anne would have a passenger space ratio of 22, which even the massive family ships beat, it would be the most dense ship on the water . So rep was talking rubbish. With a Passenger space ratio of 37, QA is a bit better than P&Os big ships at 35, but not in a different league. Cunard ships are mass market. Nice mass market , but space wise except QM2 , the queens are nothing to shout about.

Did Saga ring you on your English phone. As we don't have roaming in S.A. we have a local SIM , so planning to give them that number +27.... ...

If I change my number in my Saga, will Saga ring you if you are abroad, or do they only ring you in UK.

Do they disembark by deck , do suites get priority

Just seen advert in paper via travel agent , Capetown to Southampton, including flights and a nights hotel in PG £3850. Compared to direct with Cunard £4040 voyage only. Both cheap but via travel agent extraordinary

No doubt early preregistering gets best price. However my view is talk of 35% discount is a bit imaginative. Has anyone paid the full price?

You are right , should have been clearer I should have said more precisely , booking Saga at last minute when the discounts are normally small is bad value. Once discounts drop below 20 to 25% Saganstarts to look expensive.

I've never pre registered hadn't heard of it on first cruise, but have never had less than a 30% discount. 30% on first cruise 30% on second , 35% on latest (but on dearer B deck not C). I Have pre registered early for 2025 in 2022 I think the 35% discount is a marketing illusion ( bit of a con). As almost no one pays the nominal full price, on my last cruise just before sailing still could get 15 or 20% on most cabins. Nor should you pay full price, at the nominal full price Saga are not competitive, they as dear as luxury lines Practically pre registering helps you get the cabin you want , and a 5% discount, so definitely worth doing. Booking Saga at last minute except on guarantee basis is very bad value.

I dont think preregistering gives any better than the 35% discount unless I'm wrong let me know. Are there savings for booking on board ? Presumably you booked the other one very late and paid a high price. On a 30 day cruise in a suite at a 35% discount pay about £30000. , so £8000 more i.e. £38000, would be at a 20% discount which is a late booking. Normally preregistering ensures a 35% discount, normally a un preregister but early booking gets 30% discount. 5% not to be sneezed at. So on a normal cabin for 2weeks preregistering can save £500, well worth having. All the 35% discount on E Deck get snapped up by preregistering.

How?

You can still pay rate applicable at the time of booking if you choose

It still looks like the offers to stay on do not make sense. FCC less than difference between old full price and excellent new prices. Get refund and rebook gives more cash in hand.

On Discovery everything was fine for just a shirt at night , I like long sleeved. Except for the club dinning room which for some unknown reason was cold

Look just before and immediately after full payment date, ssomeone may cancel, don't leave it to Cunard

Looking at prices, people should think about taking full refund and rebooking looks a better deal than FCC.

Fantastic QG price , under 2/3rds of what we paid last year. Unfortunately our visa runs out on 8th April so will have to be out of South Africa before 12th.

Just spent afternoon windsurfing just north of Capetown. 30 knot winds but only 4 meter swell, QM2 wouldn't feel it. Weather gets calmer in April. Cape of good hope nothing spectacular. When Cunard cancelled Capetown to UK due to covid and we were stuck and bought own tickets back, Cunard reimbursed us for Business class back. We were in QG not sure if everyone would be allowed business class

That's the fun of CC 😁😁😁

The MSC website says 461 cabins 922 passengers, and 64000 tons (sorry I was wrong it's a bit bigger) so a slightly better passenger space ratio than Saga. Yes it does take children but not a family ship, priced slightly above Saga, well over double MSC big family ships Main point is they have also identified the circa 1000 passenget ,nalll balcony ship as a new market.

It is good news, they can negotiate a partnership from a position of strength. When we were in Carribean docked along side new MSC expedition ship, 960 passenger 58,000 tons all balcony , all adult. A new venture for MSC. What does it remind you of ?

Have they stopped table tennis

My eventual response was from Saga,

Starting 7th Nov , Island hopping in Carribean

No over crowding, means system works.

The problem is as Molechip explained, overcrowding. The terminals have safe capacity for 2000 people. Big ship can hold 6000, so you must control entry to terminal. So can't let those too early in.