trams

Turn the Library into a Casino. Entertainment for passengers and income for SAGA, problem solved!

Pre-cruise information from SAGA concerning evening (post 6pm) dress code: "gentleman can wear a smart open neck shirt and trousers. A jacket is optional and we would ask that polo shirts, t-shirts and denim are kept for casual wear during the day". 

No mention of a collar needed on the shirt!

Casual wear is verboten after 6pm anywhere on the ship.

I  

Received e-mail from saga yesterday to advise that Scottish government have closed all Scottish ports to cruise ships until all of Scotland achieves Covid level 1 protection. Consequently the affected cruises are being "re-routed".

The cruise we are booked on due to sail on 3rd July will now cruise the south/south west coast of England. Lets hope Cornwall (Kernow) don't declare UDI.

The cruise booklet supplied on the last SAGA cruise we were on, in 2019, specifically advised  that polo shirts were not appropriate smart casual wear for evenings.

It will be interesting to see what the latest cruise booklet says.

Just looked at the SAGA included insurance for our the Northern Islands trip on 3rd July  which includes the the following statement "This means that we will also cover the associated costs to return you back home following you actually falling ill with a coronavirus on your trip"

We are booked on the SoD for the July 3rd "Northern Isles to the Fjords" cruise on 3rd July. Used the re-booking bonus to upgrade to a mid ship suite which apparently includes " full butler service".

Has anyone experienced the services of a SAGA butler?

Received a letter today from SAGA today concerning our upcoming cruise on Spirit of Discovery, due to sail on 17th June 2021, which included the following statement.

"In the light of the ever changing situation we now find ourselves in, I wanted to offer you a little peace of mind and am pleased to advise you that if you have not already done so, you do not need to pay your balance at this time."

I would have thought that SAGA would be keen to have the money so that I might be persuaded to roll the booking forward to another cruise.

Anyone else had a similar letter?

20 hours ago, Denarius said:

For the benefit of anyone who does not know, Vistafjord was later renamed Caronia then sold to Saga, with whom she sailed as Saga Rose.

The Caronia (originally named Vistafjord) launched on the Tyne in 1972, was the last ocean liner to be built in the UK. She was renamed Saga Ruby when owned by SAGA.

The Saga Rose was originally named Sagafjord, built in France in 1965. She was renamed by SAGA when purchased from Cunard .

I have happy memories of cruises on both the Ruby and the Rose.

According to Cruise Mapper Saga Sapphire sailed at midnight and is steaming at 6 Kn off the south coast heading for Gibraltar.

4 hours ago, nosapphire said:

The one I used (and received a reply from) was : cruise.postsales@saga.co.uk

This was for my query about Saga included optional insurance on a cruise, it won't be the right one if you have purchased Saga insurance as a standalone policy.

Maybe, if enough people keep asking, Saga will finally realise how very confusing their website updates can be.

Thank you that's perfect as it is the included insurance I have a query with. 

I require an e-mail address for SAGA insurance queries. I notice that some contributors have had e-mail answers from SAGA so would be obliged if thet could share the address with me.

Thankyou in anticipation

I booked acruise back in December 2019 to be taken in May 2020. In March 2020 I ttransferred the booking to a cruise for June 2021. The booking No did not change.

I phoned SAGA this morning for some clarification and was assured that the insurance taken out in December 2019  would roll over to the re-booked cruise.

I am not convinced  and will be asking for some written confirmation.

We received our weekly SAGA mail this morning which included a leaflet on preregistration which indicated that 2021 cruises will go on sale 23rd March. I phoned and paid the £90 and was told that I would be contacted by phone before the 23rd March to choose a cruise and book if required. The brochure will not be distributed before 23rd March.

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

Just  wondering - does 'deep' mean that the seats are too long from front to back, making them difficult for people with shorter legs to sit back?  I only find that very low sofas and chairs are a bit of a problem to get up from, especially if you don't have an arm rest to use.

It is the front to back that is the problem even for the average height male.

Whilst on board I met the headquarters based Hotel Director Horst Pint who agreed there is a problem with the furniture which was being addressed.

I was on the Norway Rocks cruise and agree with Glenndales summary of the cruise and as an existing SAGA customer see no reason to change aliegiance.

One thing I was impressed with was the treatment I recieved when suffered from a "tummy wobble". I was confined to my cabin for 24 hours, had visits from the nurse and given necessery medication as well as advice on a suitable diet.

Unfortunately this coincided with formal evening and resulted in me having clear soup and crackers watching my wife eating Haddock and Lobster.

There was no cost for the medical treatment.

20 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I’ve just returned from a very enjoyable 7 night cruise on Spirit of Discovery.

There were some niggles but overall the cruise met our expectations.

There is certainly a wow factor in the living room with its mural which goes up the stairs. 

All around the ship the art work was of a high standard. 

The china and cutlery in the dining areas were very high quality.

The furniture in public areas was one of my niggles, many of the seats were too deep and because of this uncomfortable, a case of style over substance.

In spite of this the library was a lovely spot to grab a coffee and sit and chat.

I wish they had a couple of self service coffee machines in the Britannia lounge then we might have used it more. It did seem very underused during the day.

The cabin was nicely appointed, our cabin steward did a good job and promptly changed the very warm duvet for a sheet and blanket when asked.

The bed was fairly comfortable so no real complaints, no bed ever meets the one at home does it? , although the beds on Oceania are an exception.

The bathroom had a good shower etc. but no drying line (these are being retrofitted) and for myself I would have preferred to have shelves or a bathroom cabinet at eye level, I don’t like cluttered sink surrounds. The toiletries were super.

In the cabin my main concern was the lack of hanging space, just ok for a 7 night cruise. 

The placement of the safe and box containing hair dryer restricts hanging space even more.

Using the hairdryer is a pain as you have to remove the kettle plug to access the only 2 pin plug.

The fridge really is inadequate. What more can I say?

I liked the rounded bedside cabinets but felt they should have been a little bigger and the USB ports at the side of the bed are a nice touch.

We managed 2 visits to the club, 2 to East to West and 1 to Coast to Coast, the remainder of meals were taken in the MDR.

The food in the specialities was excellent and in the dining room good to very good.

We found the Grill a slightly confusing layout but it was very popular although we preferred the relative quiet of the MDR.

In the evening we enjoyed the ambience of the Club lounge and their resident vocalist. 

The bartender mixed my s-i-l and I some very tasty cocktails.

Entertainment by the resident dance group was excellent and the other acts The 4Tunes and Elektra received standing ovations.

I only managed to attend one lecture which covered global warming and renewables, but I thought it was well presented.

The gym was fitted out with weights machines, 4 treadmills, 2 cycles, 2 rowers and 2 steppers.

The spa area had a thalassotherapy pool, heated beds, an infrared sauna, a steam room and a conventional sauna, plus the usual showers etc. 

I found the steam room to be far too hot.

On the sea days I attended the jewellery workshops and made 3 necklace and earring sets. There was no charge for any of the kits and the instructors were very patient with us.

There is a shop with the usual sort of ship stuff, perfume, clothing and jewellery plus essentials like toothpaste and shaving foam.

My s-i-l was worried about sea sickness one evening and reception supplied her with a full box of Sturgeron - no charge.

The staff were all very friendly and happy to help.

I tried to fit in as much as I could but with 4 ports in a 7 night cruise I’m sure there are some experiences I missed.

We arrived late into Bergen, midday instead of 8am which was a nuisance as we had booked a private fjord cruise with Rodne.

Saga extended our leaving time and I was able to change our tickets for the afternoon and reprint them in the library, no charge for printing or WiFi.

Any questions I will do my best to answer them.

 

Sorry about the font, copied and pasted from Notes on iPad 🙂

 

4 hours ago, cinnamon said:

I didn’t complain about it. If I’m honest,  I figured that Saga assume their usual demographic may forget their cabin number and needed it on the cards. 😏

I find that an ageist remark.

Who is the Cruise Director on the current cruise? We are due to join the ship on 26th September and the cruise booklet gives the Cruise Director to be John Parton whois probably one of the best SAGA cruise Directors.

Would those who prefer to dine alone decline an invitation to dine with captain or any othe ships Officer on formal night?

Could this business of the number of diners at a table have anything to do with the society in which we now live as it is often deemed "odd" if we speak to strangers in the street or in shops. This is most prevelant in big cities particularly on public transport, the London tube being a case in point, whereas more rural communities are much tighter knit.

Before anyone goes off on one I am not sugesting that all city dwellers are anti social.

We are often told that these days families rarely sit down together for a meal so people are just not used to dining with a number of othe people.

We are due to join SoD on 26th September and recieved a letter from SAGA this morning explaining the new arrangements for booking the speciality restaurants. You have to visit your chosen venue between 15:00 and 16:45 on embarkation day to book a table, only one booking per guest Any further bookings can be made at the passenger's leisure.

There are 1038 covers available across the 5 restaurants excluding the 189 on the veranda so in theory there is enough room to seat a full ship for dinner but not necessarily where they choose to dine. It is different for lunch as there are only 788 covers available plus the 189 on the veranda which must make things a bit busy on sea days.

1 minute ago, trams said:

Always remember "one man's meat is another man's poison" and "you can't please all of the people all of the time"

18 hours ago, Tigrou said:

 

I’m afraid you’ll find it very different than you’re used to and somewhat restrictive, as I have. Sometimes you may be able to seat yourselves, if you happen to arrive when crew are busy or distracted, but mostly you’ll be escorted. And even if the place isn’t busy they seem determined to put people together. Don’t think there are many 2-tops, mostly 4-tops. Even if you are seated alone at a 4-top, chances are you’ll come back from buffet to find someone else has been seated there even if you can see plenty of empty tables.

 

You can still have your medley of things to try but only from the same menu as MDR, whether at breakfast, lunch and dinner. By the way, if you like waffles for breakfast you’re out of luck but you can get as much porridge as you like!

 

I suspect the food situation is like everything else on here, designed exclusively for current Saga cruisers and not for future ones. From what I’ve heard, they consulted their long-standing customers but not their potential future market.

 

They need to get their act together, decide what kind of cruise line they want to be and advertise accordingly. I didn’t necessarily believe all the hype, I thought I was prepared for the reality, but I wasn’t. Doing my best to ‘make lemonade’ as they say but it’s hard going, especially as I’m on my own and have no one to ‘laugh it off’ with. Someone with a different disposition could find it rather depressing, and it’s a lot of money to spend on a holiday from which I’ll be glad to get home.🙁

The speciality restaurnt booking system sounds like a lottery to me. Can you choose a particular restaurant when making your first booking?

You infer that you can go on a waitlist, do they contact you when your name comes out of the hat?