JMMKUK

We would love them to get a smaller ship.

Just checked the door to door for UK it is 50 miles. We were OK for Tower Bridge in 2017, there was a 50 mile route.Sorry, but they are drawing in on a promise they have no intention of keeping because of the small print.

We were told they planned to & I am surprised that it hasn't happened by now. Maybe they have nowhere to accomodate them if the single cabins fill up first. Sapphire had some interesting single cabins for entertainers. When we were in a Royal Suite the pianist was in a tiny inside cabin opposite us.

Really enjoyed the sudoku race & the afternoon quiz when we sailed on her. Met some great people through the quiz. That was in 2017 so before her refurb. Hope you have a fabulous time.

SS have been repeated calling us this week to discuss our future cruises. They don't get through because we have a caller filter & as yet I haven't put their number in. Just wondering if they are getting fewer repeat bookings & are going on an all out sales campaign. After reading this thread I'm not sure I want to talk to our cruise advisor.

You can request Saga to pick you up the day before & you pay for your overnight hotel.

We have Saga health insurance & had a letter recently saying they are partnering with BUPA for that. Loosely based on that I can't imagine them partnering with P&O or NCL.I did wonder if the NCL rumour started because of this NCL Connect partnership announced last week.

Our first Saga cruise was on Rose in June 2003 to the Baltic Capitals. What a great cruise it was! The Baltic was flat calm & the sun shone everywhere except Finland & Russia. We were the youngest couple on board. The only fly in the ointment was St Petersburg. We were treated very badly by security in the Hermitage & teens threw bricks at the ship as we left through the canal.

We shared a car with a Spanish resident although she probably still had a UK passport. We picked her up from her son's house so she got the free transport from there. The car was running late & he couldn't get through to her as he didn't have a UK number or mobile for her. He had her Spanish mobile. The online booking is very limited, I always end up calling them with the cruise details down to the online price on a screen for reference.

They do use an agent that offers fabulous deals though. When Saga used the same agent the only perk for booking though said agent was the agent's loyalty points. I made the mistake of booking with them before the pandemic & the cruise was cancelled. Caused me problems with the rebooking & using the lovely 25% Saga had allocated for the cancellation. Saga sorted it out for me but they had to keep agent 'in the loop' because they had taken the original booking.

Well done. That means no 35% for us off that cruise.

Been there twice. First time on Adventure's inaugral cruise they moved smoking to Deck 11 & got us. Second time we booked and hoped they'd moved it again but they hadn't. Only reallu a problem when not moving or when Captain Kim decides to reverse down the side of the Isle of Man.

We've only had a driver call once, the day before. She was checking directions for our house. Sensible because satnavs take you to a neighbours'.

I've noticed the swell more on the new ships than on Sapphire & Pearl 2. We put it down to the deeper hull of the old ships. One very bad night Sapphire was followed from Southamton by a P&O ship. I was watching on marine traffic & the P&O ship seemed to be strugging to keep up with us. In fact she didn't & we got well ahead.

Looks like she's arriving in Portsmouth early & missed a port again. Biscay was running over 7 so I guess this time they successfully out ran it.