Denarius

Only the open part of a C deck balcony is overlooked. The part under the B deck balcony is not.

Those long in the tooth will remember the old days, when there was silver service of vegetables. Unfortunately these were invariably chosen to compliment the roast of the day, so you could end up with fish accompanied by roast potatoes and brussels sprouts! At least nowadays the vegetables (usually) compliment the individual dishes.

Picture of Golden Horizon for comparison. Pretty sure that the ship photographed by NorbrtsNiece was she. General shape is the same, particularly bows and stern and superstucture between fore and main masts, and relative height of rear mast.

The attached photo was taken a few days ago by a passenger on Saga's Spirit of Adventure and posted as part of a blog (by NorbertsNiece) on the Saga board. Picture taken at night so details unclear, but shows a five masted sailing ship. She is square rigged on 4 masts with just a spanker (?) on the rear, like the Golden Horizon/Flying Clipper. Is it she, and if so who is sailing her?

Ravenna is an interesting historic city in its own right. I have visited there on a cruise as a featured destination with no mention of Venice, which is some distance away.

Is the five masted sailing ship in the next to last picture the Golden Horizon, operated by Tradewind Voyages but originally built for Star Clippers? At first I thought that she was the Royal Clipper, but the RC is square rigged on all five masts whereas the GH's rear mast just carries a spanker like the ship pictured. I thought that Tradewinds had ceased operating, if this is she then it appears that they have not.

What are you doing instead? Are you staying in Split overnight? If so, you will find that the place has a different feeling in the evening after the day trippers (and cruise passengers) leave. The seafront promenade and old town are awash with local people strolling, eating and drinking. There are street entertainers etc and almost a carnival atmoshere. Highly recommended.

Yes, it is called the Cobblestones Hotel. For anyone who is interested it is on the main coast road in the centre of town. It has a lovely little rooftop bar restaurant, to get to which you need to go into the hotel's courtyard then up through the hotel on the left as you go in. I do not recall there being a lift but that does not mean that there is not one, just that I neither noticed or looked for it.

Nothing made me feel unsafe, and I have been there several times over the years. But you have to accept it for what it is, a working port which makes little or no concessions to tourism as few stay there; St Vincent has no tourist beaches so most visitors are just passing through to nearby islands which do. If you can get there, the Catholic church at the far end of the centre is worth a visit (very unusual architecture, and does a lot of good work for the local poor), as is the Anglican one nearby.

I registered in March (2023) so you should hear fairly soon.

Exactly. In the old days tipping was customary and was effectively part of the stewards and waiters wages. But some passengers did not tip, and as cruising became more popular the newer passengers (it is believed) showed an increasing tendency not to do so, lowering the income of the said employees. So some cruise lines started to charge automatic tips by default but left an option to remove these. And passengers took advantage of this option, some to tip directly but others to avoid tipping at all. So the automatic tips were incorporated in the headline fare and not separately identified, meaning that everyone effectively paid them and the staff were remunerated accordingly. It was made clear that tips were neither required nor expected but inevitably some passengers began to tip again, possibly because tips were no longer separately identified. We have indeed gone in a full circle.

I think that it is very much a matter of horses for courses. In my experience Saga very much harks back to the older days of cruising when an ocean cruise was very much seen as a sociable holiday and interaction with your fellow passengers in the lounges and on shared tables at dinner was very much a part of it. Indeed, this onboard camaraderie appears to be one of the reasons why many people especially solo travellers sail with Saga. As one of the latter I welcome the abundance of shared tables, but accept that others may prefer to avoid them. But only they can decide whether relative unavailability of tables for two is of sufficient importance to them to put them off booking with them.

Got my call yesterday. Booked Canaries on SofA departing 5/1/25. 35% discount.

Try this link https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/ocean/2025-cruise-season/advance-reg-2025.aspx?pid=&ctiq=44017344&ecti=MK6qHuH46gvVe6CVzbReNA%3D%3D&scid=eml-t|trv|cruise|operations|NHE-SC6784|control|20231010|body|button&dcid=DM244320&bid=769285184 PS It is important to know that you cannot book these cruises by ringing Saga. They will ring you if you have made an advance registration, otherwise you have to wait until they go on general sale.

This time there is just a link to a webpage, where previously there was a downloadable pdf brochure.

AS well as the Dermotsgirl review, suggest that you read the blog on the Saga board by NorbertsNeice, who is currently reporting live from the Spirit of Adventure. Pics (incl menus) are particularly good.

Canary Islands 15 nights

Just got my email re 2025 cruises, which states Included chauffeur service: Saga's 20‍25 ocean cruises include a private chauffeur service up to 75 miles each way, or a shared service nationwide.

Further thoughts on this. Saga have in recent times been co-ordinating their tours and small ship sailings with those of Titan, which they own. Titan have always offered home transport as standard as long as I have been travelling with them (since 2011) but from my personal experience only offer shared cars. I think that Saga started offering it after they took over Titan. The current Titan brochure states. "Our friendly drivers will pick you up from home (anywhere on the UK mainland) and take you to the airport, port or your UK hotel. Depending where you live our VIP pickup includes a home transfer and flight from your local airport to London.* * An extra supplement will apply if you decide you'd rather not take a domestic flight and travel via road." It could be that Saga will disconinue private cars and bring shared cars in line with Titan.

Could be. I seem to recall that when the included shared mileage was increased from 250 to 300 the mileage rate for extra miles was also increased. Could also be logic in simplifying the scheme to include a shared car from anywhere (on the mainland?) but an extra mileage charge if you want a private car.

I suspect that over a certain distance they will offer the "car to local airport - flight to London - car to port" option instead. I doubt if they would offer a transfer which necessitated changing drivers on the way.

I think it depends on your own priorities and what you personally want from a cruise. No different really than booking a holiday on land where the choice may be between a small intimate hotel and a large resort one. Do you favour a more intimate and sociable setting with more opportunity to interact with your fellow guests, but where entertainment and dining options may be limited? Or do you prefer a greater choice of dining and entertainment, with the acceptance that you and your fellow guests are likely to be as ships in the night? There is no correct answer, its all down to personal preference.

Saga do not issue boarding cards. All you need is your passport. This will be scanned at check in and then returned to you; your booking is automatically linked to your passport. At most ports all you need to go ashore is your cruise card. At a minority of ports however, you may be required to carry your passport. Whether or not you are required to carry your passport will be stated on the daily programme delivered to your cabin. If you are required to carry your passport you must carry the actual document; a photocopy is not usually acceptable.

I agree totally. I have been cruising for 30 years and have taken over 50 cruises with several different lines, initially with my late partner and more recently as a solo cruiser. When we first started sailing, cruise ships typically carried 600 to 800 passengers. Whilst facilities were few compared with todays mega ships, there was an camaraderie onboard. You felt that you were one of a crowd, not a stranger within it. Then ships got bigger and bigger, entertainment options multiplied, but somewhere along the way that camaraderie was lost. Saga ships have that camaraderie. Passengers actually talk to and socialise with one another rather than just dashing from show to show. And that's what imo makes Saga special.

This thread appears to have been hijacked by coffee afficinados. May I respectfully suggest that the quality of coffee is not a major factor for most people in deciding which cruise line to sail with.