Vivaldi

All cabins have a shower, but there are a few De Luxe cabins which have a bath with shower over, rather than a separate shower. These are: Twin Deluxe cabins A020, A521; B022, B521; C037, C536; D525; E024, E523. Single Deluxe D026. (I hope I haven't missed any!) All the other cabins will have a separate shower, and the Suites have a bath plus a separate shower. These are marked on the printed Deck Plan, and I'm sure Saga would be happy to send you a copy of this plan if you request it.

It would be nice if it is - the Balfour is excellent stuff. But a bottle of it costs a lot more than a bottle of Prosecco, so it would be a real bonus if glasses of it were offered free. (Come to think of it, I'm not sure that any English sparkling wine is cheaper than an average Prosecco.)

Thanks for your last few posts Sara - they have helped to restore my confidence in Saga! And I'm sure we will now be booking 2024 whenever the new brochure arrives. Any chance of posting the menu for the formal meal tonight - I can't be the only person who loves to see what is being offered. Many thanks!

The actual speed of service was not my concern, rather the reported lack of attention given to diners with empty glasses or those who have opted not to eat all that they have been offered (was the food too much/disappointing in some way/not what was expected?). Thank you, Windsurfboy, for your reassurances about the overall standard at meal times. In our previous Saga cruises, dinner time was always a highlight of our trips.

I also feel that the dining experience is one of the most important aspects of cruising, and I have read the comments made above about shortcomings in that experience with some concern. We haven't sailed since the Covid outbreak but will be cruising on SofA this year. We were planning to book our 2024 trips whenever Saga released them to the general public (reportedly, next week), but might now delay that until after this year's trip to see if we are still happy with everything. It is a pity that there is no way for Saga to respond to comments made in these pages. Not only would it show that they are being read, but it would enable Saga to give explanations for problems (eg staff sickness/equipment problems) and to let people know if any of the very helpful and sensible suggestions being offered are going to be acted upon. Many thanks again, Sara, for your excellent posts, and I hope that, overall, you are having an enjoyable trip.

Delighted to see that you are posting a report of your cruise. The reports you posted of your first Saga cruise were very balanced, detailed and informative, and I won't be the only regular on these pages to be keen to read your posts. It will be particularly interesting to learn whether there have been any improvements (or otherwise) in the onboard experience since that first cruise. The standard single cabin is shorter than the superior one, and consequently has one fewer chair between the bed and the balcony. The superior single is, I believe, identical to the standard double. Have a great cruise, and I look forward to reading about it. Thanks!

What I said was purely speculative, and I have no evidence whatever to support it, but it seems a possible theory at least and I can't think of another one! We've also been surprised to have had private cars back from a couple of our Saga cruises, and you could well be right, that a lack of large vehicles was the reason. I'd still like to know why Saga thinks that a £2.50 a mile supplement is appropriate.

I agree with you. It is an astonishing supplement for a private car for two people, and suggests that a car for four people is costing £5 a mile, which is beyond belief. It's such a big charge and such a large price hike that I wonder if there is another issue involved here: could it be that Saga is having difficulty finding sufficient drivers and vehicles to ferry all their passengers around and that they have decided to limit the demand for private cars by making them a lot less affordable? If that is the case they should say so, otherwise people will look at the exorbitant car costs and wonder where else Saga might be ripping them off. It's not good for their image.

We were on the same cruise and went to the tastings, hosted by a Master of Wine. He did think that the paid-for wines were very good and bargains at the price. Granted that if you buy one of these bottles to have with a meal you are probably not also taking glasses of the house wines, so Saga can pass on their savings on that, but the prices are considerably below those I'd expect to see on the wine menu of a restaurant onshore. It's a pity that the paid-for wines are not also available by the glass, although Saga's website has always said that they are: Wine included A choice of house red, white, rose and sparkling wines will be available throughout your cruise, at no extra charge. In addition, there'll be a hand-picked connoisseur selection to purchase both by the glass and by the bottle. I've moaned about this before, so I won't do so again. But I do wish that Saga would correct its website since it could mislead potential guests. Just to make one other point: I have encountered the occasional guest who wasn't very keen on the particular house wine being offered that day, but didn't realise that you could simply ask for a different one. In fact on one Saga cruise we only liked one of the red wines on offer and after a few days, when the wine waitress spotted us entering the Dining Room, she would wave at us, grin, and call out "I'll get your wine for you!" Happy memories!

As someone who has considered taking a RSS cruise, could I ask whether all the restaurants onboard have background music? Being a retired classical musician I'm afraid that unavoidable background music would be a bit of a deal-breaker for me! Very interested to read your detailed and balanced review. Many thanks.

It's not clear to me whether every cabin is available at 35% discount when the first bookings for those with advance registration become available. Is it possible that some cabins on some cruises are never offered at more than a 25% or 30% discount?

It is strange that Saga has done this. I have to say that I always book directly for flights, hotels and cruises, since I never like to deal with third parties when I could be dealing with the service provider directly. On the other hand, the benefits at the lower end of Britannia Club membership are rather modest, the main one (for me) being the bottle of Balfour sparkling wine awaiting us in the cabin. So I was somewhat disappointed to see that someone was, instead, given a bottle of sweet 7% Argentinian wine - that would almost tempt me to book with a travel agent! (Only joking, of course.)

From your previous posts, it seems that you are currently on a Canaries cruise onboard SofA. While on a Saga cruise some years ago I was told that their Canaries cruises attracted the more elderly guests, as did some round-Britain cruises, but since I haven't been on any of these myself I can't confirm that. Perhaps on a different Saga cruise you might not feel quite so young!

While we await pictures of the Library with the books restored, here is a reminder of what it used to be like: My only complaint in the past was that the bookcases didn't indicate the category of books each contained, such as fiction, biography, theoretical physics, and so on (not too many of the latter, I suspect). Nor was there a plan on display to show where to find books of a particular genre, so it was a matter of wandering around until one stumbled across one's area of interest. It would be nice if that could be made a bit easier, but, in any case, it is absolutely splendid news that the Library will be back in action. At last!

A quick off-topic comment, if I may: I'm very pleased to see that the prices of these wines are exactly the same as they were when we were on the SofD in September 2019. Is Saga still putting a bottle of Balfour Hush Heath sparkling wine in the cabins of Britannia Club members?

Excellent idea! Since Saga described the library as a booklover's paradise, they could describe the champagne bar as a drinker's paradise.

This is what Saga currently says online about wines on the Spirit of Discovery. As with books (or the lack thereof) in the library, the descriptions and reality don't agree. Wine included A choice of house red, white, rose and sparkling wines will be available throughout your cruise, at no extra charge. In addition, there'll be a hand-picked connoisseur selection to purchase both by the glass and by the bottle.

I asked this question some time ago on another thread, and it appeared that they were not available by the glass, although with luck things might have changed (I am a glass half-full person). I sometimes like white with the starter and red with the main course, so buying a whole bottle (or two) of premium wine can be a bit too much of a good thing (or so my GP says), so I'm very much in favour of being able to buy by the glass. In early bumf about the Spirit of Discovery it did say that premium wines would be available by the bottle and by the glass, but then it also said that the Living Room would become a champagne bar in the evenings and that didn't happen. Selling premium wines (or at least some of them) by the glass would increase the demands on the waiting staff, and with current difficulties hiring staff it might be considered a bit tricky to offer this at present. But it would certainly be regarded favourably by many Saganauts and I would most certainly take advantage of it , were it to be offered in the future.

I was looking at the Adriatic cruise on the SofD which takes place at Easter 2024, and at the very bottom of the page online there is a section entitled "At Sea". Scrolling through the pictures and information there, number 4 of 7 refers to the library, as follows: The Library A booklover’s paradise combined with an artisanal coffee-shop, it's the perfect spot to research your next port of call. Please, Saga, either change your descriptions or put the books back (preferably the latter). The top of the Atrium is actually in the centre of this picture, at the back.

It's not just semantics, it's a question of fact: as Windsurfboy mentioned, Saga says that the library offers a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction books, and on their website, Saga describes the library on the SofD as "a booklover's paradise". Not quite, if there are no books there. In the absence of books, Saga should remove these misleading descriptions. As for the "salary" debate, the OED agrees with Tothesunset - the word refers to the payment, not to the salt itself.

In fairness, we don't know exactly why the books have not reappeared. To say that it is because of the cost is more speculation than fact - Saga haven't said this . Given that Saga are effectively increasing their costs by offering premium spirits to guests from next month, I'm not convinced that the modest savings achievable by failing to restock the library would make much difference. Perhaps it is a fear of norovirus - but that would be speculation on my part!

It's very unlikely to happen, but if one missed the sailing, perhaps because the car broke down or some people had glued themselves to the tarmac, it might be easier to get recompensed in some way if one had taken the Saga transport. Others with more knowledge of the legal position might be able to clarify this.

I might be mistaken, but I thought that the extra charge was for the return journey. We live over 200 miles from the ports and Saga quoted us £400 extra for a private car - but that was for the return journey, in other words for a total of over 400 miles. So, if I'm right, it might not be such a rip-off, although your local firm certainly sounds cheaper.

Every fortnight or so I receive stuff in the post from Saga about cruises, and have had my usual mailing today - but about 2023 cruises. I haven't received anything in the post yet about 2024. Has anyone? I can access this online, but I do like to have a printed cruise calendar. Are we supposed to do everything online these days?

I thoroughly agree. It was always a great pleasure on a sea day to pick out a book which looked interesting and sit in the library with a coffee reading it. I've mentioned in another thread being impressed by one bookcase on the Discovery which was filled with volumes from Everyman's Library - a collection of written material which could hardly be bettered. Of course I could take my Kindle with more than enough books on it to last me a cruise, but browsing shelves and finding something unexpected is much more fun.