Tabicat

Was on the Saga Spirit of Discovery cruise for Christmas and New Year  

The dance teachers were Roanna and Goran who were very good teachers and also brilliant dancers 

Talking to some of the solo lady cruisers and they said on the old Saga Saphire  there were always "gentlemen hosts" who were in the ballroom every night to partner the ladies who liked dancing but were on their own. 

As so many ladies are on their own, or perhaps their husbands just don't like to dance, it would be a good idea to re-introduce them

16 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

One thing I don't understand. You get off the ship at, say, 9.30 for the 3 hr trip home. The other passengers need a loo stop after a couple of hours. Fair enough. But do they really need to spend 45 minutes having a cup of tea, a faceful of food and a wander round the retail outlets? They've only just had breakfast for crying out loud. 

 

L'enfer c'est Les autres

Absolutely agree  

Some people can't seem to go an hour without "having a coffee" or eating 

You see them on most cruises - half an hour after breakfast they are in the lounge stuffing biscuits and cakes.  Then mid afternoon after a three  course lunch they are ready for tea and cakes. 

I suppose their thinking is "well its all included so we will make the most of it, don't want to miss anything"

Agree with you

Just now, Tabicat said:

 

 

Our last cruise involved a shared car (people carrier)  We were the first pick up and the driver told us there were two more to pick up on the way, both in the same town.  Well we got to the first one and waited for about twenty minutes before we told the driver he should phone.  He did and was told by the lady inside the house that she would be out shortly.  It was a further fifteen minutes before she emerged and then she made him undo her case as she had forgotten to pack something.  Then we had to pick up the next lady.  Luckily she was ready, but decided en route that she wanted to stop for a "comfort break" 

Next time we will pay the extra for a car to ourselves

21 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

We had a shared transport last time, comfortable big merc 8 seater for 4 , nice company to chat to. Added 30 mins max.

 

Certainly not worth the extra £600 for private transport

1 hour ago, unicron73 said:

hi

first time cruiser

going from sidmouth to dover for norway cruise

does anyone have a rough idea of journey length,pick up time and how many stops on route

my bladder will need several stops on route

thanks

A white one will be ok 

On our Christmas and New Year Scandinavian cruise many of the men wore white or black DJs on the formal nights.  Also dark suits with bright bow ties and pocket handkerchiefs were a plenty

On 3/7/2024 at 4:07 PM, Auburn 22 said:

New to cruising, 

Formal  night  is a white  DJ too much ?

As I don't  have  a black  one !

We were on the Spirit of Discovery Christmas and New Year cruise. 

Found the temperature on board to be warm.  No need for heavy jumpers indoors

On 2/5/2024 at 2:00 PM, cleopatra1 said:

Can anyone tell me what the ship inside temperature is like in public areas, dining rooms and bars?  Do people generally feel hot or cold as I assume it’s all air conditioned?  I need to know whether to pack extra jumpers and trousers or lighter things.  I’m on the SoD Canaries Discovery 17th February. 

On 2/25/2023 at 12:35 PM, Jammy Bun said:

I am onboard at the moment.  Very British - if you’ve liked P& O or Cunard in the past, you’ll like Saga.  Average age on the cruise I would guess mid 80s.  We’re in our mid 70s and feel incredibly young.  At this point in our lives it’s not for us.
This was an expensive experiment… Back to Viking in the summer, for a less old fashioned holiday.  May try Saga again when we’re older, infirm, or when one of us is widowed 😳

Was on Spirit of Discovery for the Christmas and New Year cruise 

Very varied age range on this one between late fifties to eighties

We were on C deck midshipman for our Scandinavian Christmas and New Year cruise.  As it was winter the sea was a bit rough for one day going and one day and night on the return.    Fairly stable on our deck.  A bit wobbly in the Brittania Lounge however.     Got talking at dinner to people who were on A deck, which cost considerably more. They had a very bad time.  As they said "the more you pay, the more you sway!!!"

Was on Spirit of Discovery for Christmas and New Year.  There were dance classes by the brilliant Goran and Roanna from Canada.  They were also in the Britannia Lounge for the early evening dance sessions and both of them danced with solo ladies. 

However some ladies cruising solo said they missed the Gentlemen Hosts that used to be on previous Saga ships

The dance couple on our Saga Spirit of Discovery Christmas and New Year cruise were very good teachers. Brilliant dancers too.   Goran and Roanne 

Got me thinking .......... does anyone know if Jeffrey and Cheryl Dobinson are still working on the cruise ships?  I knew them many years ago but lost touch. 

I think they opened a dance school in Southampton but still did some work on cruise ships

Not as dressy as they once were.  Some men wore dinner suits with bow ties but many wore suits with ties.  Didn't see any ladies in full length dresses as most wore cocktail dresses.  A couple of men on our last cruise were in full dress tartan kilts which looked very smart.  On the non formal nights most men had on smart trousers and jackets, some with ties, and the ladies had smart dresses or trousers and glitter tops

The dance teachers on board our Saga Spirit of Discovery Christmas and New Year cruise were fantastic.  Goran and Roanne 

Does anyone know if Jeffrey and Cheryl Dobinson are still teaching on the cruise ships? 

Knew them years ago but lost touch. I think they opened a dance school in Southampton 

We didn't get an excursion brochure.  We got a few photocopied pages with excursions available to buy and the inclusive ones. 

However I do feel Saga waste a lot of money posting holiday and cruise brochures so much. 

We seem to get them sent at least once, sometimes twice, a week.   They must be very expensive to print and most just get put in the recycling bin.  Once we have that years brochures we don't need them to keep sending them. Also the postage is very expensive. 

I always feel if they didn't waste something money like this, the cruises could be a bit cheaper

Just realised I made an error on my reply to FannyLiz about the lift.  

It was the right hand aft lift, not the centre one

Yes that is the one

Just got back from the Scandinavian Christmas trip on Spirit of Discovery. A 14 night cruise over Christmas and New Year. 

Can't fault the food or the dining rooms, but noticed one of the lifts was out of order for the whole trip.  Several cruisers who were on the previous trip said the lift was not working on that one either. 

Are Saga trying to save money on maintenance?   It's difficult enough when disembarking for excursions if all the lifts are working, and the day of disembarkation at Portsmouth was chaotic

On 12/15/2023 at 10:30 AM, Harry Peterson said:

Genuine question from someone thinking of defecting from P&O to Saga.

 

I’ve seen a lot of reports lately of cutbacks on Saga leading to poor or indifferent dining experiences, less than pleasant travel arrangements to and from ports and other general dissatisfaction. This is the way it went with P&O and Saga seemed an alternative - albeit at considerably higher prices.

 

What has really put me off Saga though, apart from but linked to the above, is their treatment earlier this year of their Saga Magazine life members. We paid a pretty hefty sum to Saga for the privilege of receiving Saga magazine for life. Earlier this year, though, Saga wrote to all the life members telling them that it was too expensive for them to carry on sending the magazine - to receive it in future we’d have to pay for it all over again every year. 
 

Given that they were quite happy to break their contract on this, I no longer feel I can trust them on insurance or cruises, and the cutbacks I read about all seem linked to their considerable financial difficulties. 
 

Looking for feedback really - what’s actually happening on the cruise front, what’s the impact of the cutbacks, and how are Saga reacting to issues raised? They wouldn’t budge on the broken life membership contract issue, and it concerns me that finance is now dictating outcomes.

Yes it was extremely good. A 14 day cruise with 3 formal nights.   New Year's eve in Copenhagen was amazing. Brilliant fireworks display

Just been on the Sage Spirit of Discovery for the  Christmas and New Year cruise  

Brilliant 

Especially the dance teachers Goran and Roanna.  Such good dancers and very good teachers 

However some ladies who were solo cruisers said they missed the Gentleman Hosts who were available to partner them  

Goran and Roanna were always in the Britannia Lounge for the 6pm dance session and would dance with any solo ladies.  Such a lovely couple

Nice that they retain so many crew members 

On the last cruise on Spirit of Discovery  I would like to make a special mention of the dance teachers, Goran and Roanna. Brilliant dancers and very good teachers.  

However, many ladies cruising solo said they missed the Gentleman Hosts from the Saphire who would be around all evening as dance partners

Used to enjoy cruising on Saga Saphire 

Was on Spirit of Discovery recently and many of the bar and restaurant crew used to be on the Saphire.  Nice to meet up again 

Also some of the cabin stewards were from the Saphire 

And of course, Resty, the Assistant Cruise Director 

Just been on the Saga Spirit of Discovery. 

Had a cabin on C deck which was very nice.  Many people we spoke to who were higher up, on B and A decks, and the sun deck felt the motion of the ship much more than we did.  It was quite rough in the North Sea 

A new friend, just met on this cruise had a good saying "The more you pay, the more you sway"