SS Regular Tries Another Cruise Line Shock!

[Tothesunset]

Yes, really. This coming Friday 8 July we Embark Saga's Spirit of Adventure for an 11 day itinerary that includes 5 ports in Ireland, one in France and a stop in Guernsey. All Saga cruises start and finish in UK. 

 

Now, it's going to be impossible not to compare Saga with SS but I'm hoping to be open-minded yet I shall immediately make some pre-boarding observations. 

 

Suite: About 22 sq mtr including a balcony - so expecting living space to be a tad less than the Wind veranda suites. 

 

Booking: Easy peasy. Book early for best price, no haggling, no OBC plus transport to and from the ship is included up to 250 miles each way. 

 

Price: Per diem rate roughly 1/2 equivalent SS itinerary (don't shoot me - I know there are differences). For all-inclusive that's pretty good. Some included excursions, too, but of the "3 hrs in a coach" variety. 

 

Ship: Nearly 1000 passenger capacity, 5 or 6 restaurants, several bars and all the other bits and pieces that we are used to. Will that be a bit big? Dunno yet. 

 

So we're good to go. Disappointed that it's not SS, excited to try a new line and to see my homeland again. 

 

One drawback that strikes me even now, and I really mean this in a positive way, is that the vast majority of customers will be from the British Isles. That isn't a problem per se but we will miss meeting folk of a more international flavour. 

 

But we're sailing, getting fed and watered and going to God's own country. What's not to like? 

[mysty]

Have an awesome sail!  It doesn't have to be an equivalent to Silversea.  If you enjoy the ride that's enough!  Enjoy! 🥰

[TLCOhio]

15 minutes ago, mysty said:

Have an awesome sail!  It doesn't have to be an equivalent to Silversea.  If you enjoy the ride that's enough!  Enjoy! 🥰

 

YES!!  Agree with Misty for enjoying this exciting adventure.  Plus, sampling a different line!!  Great summary for the different factors by Tothesunset for Silversea versus Saga.  Just sailing and meeting different people can be awesome, especially after being shut-down for the past couple of years.  Look forward to reading ALL of your details as to what you liked, loved and did not enjoy as much. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 244,543 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[labrasett]

We did [tried to do] a Saga river cruise.    Cant speak too highly about Saga although it did turn into a real saga.   We caught the train from St Pancras after meeting a Saga rep and being guided to our seats.  Met another co-traveller who was a delightful lady and shared the train ride to Lyon with her.  Boarded the beautiful river boat in bright sunshine.  Did the safety briefing, had pre dinner drinks and a lovely meal seated at a great table with our new friend.   Had a nightcap and went to bed only to be shocked awake by a huge bump and bang followed by another.   Long and short we had hit a bridge.  Saga really pulled the stop out, bussed back to a hotel in Lyon a very few hours later.  Offered either a land based holiday or a return to UK that day by air or rail (our choice).  Promised a full refund plus any out of pocket expenses.  Loads of Saga staff to help us at every step of our return.    Money back two days later, expenses claim paid also within a couple of days. Offered a significant reduction on another cruise that Autumn if we wished.   Finally an quite out of the blue a fairly significant sum appeared in our bank account three months later to compensate for our "disappointment".   Couldnt fault their management of what could have been a disaster.    But I have to say that we have been very well looked after by SS in connection with a number of Covid related issues.   So it is SS for us for far distant cruises and we wouldnt hesitate to rebook sometime with Saga.   Have a great trip TLCOhio, I am sure you will have fun, not the same as SS but not as expensive either.   

[lincslady]

Same here.  I will be unpleasantly surprised if you don't find it pretty enjoyable, Tts.  I have the impression that Saga have managed to keep most of the excellent staff, and there should not be the sort of service problems which seem to have cropped up on other lines of late.

 

I know what you mean about the demography; it is unsettling at first, but you are likely to find some like-minded people on board;  it just feels a bit strange chatting to people who you feel you might meet in the supermarket in 'normal' life.

 

Lola

[Tothesunset]

18 minutes ago, lincslady said:

 just feels a bit strange chatting to people who you feel you might meet in the supermarket in 'normal' life.

Oh god, I hope not! Our Sainsbury seems to be the agreed meeting place for obese younger people with 3 squalling kids in tow. 

 

I'm grateful to Sainsbury though - they keep the riff-raff out of Waitrose!

[Tothesunset]

22 minutes ago, lincslady said:

 

I know what you mean about the demography; it is unsettling at first, but you are likely to find some like-minded people on board

If not I shall fix them with a threatening stare and whisper "I know where you live" in my best Shankill Road accent. 🤣

[TLCOhio]

21 minutes ago, labrasett said:

We did [tried to do] a Saga river cruise.  Long and short we had hit a bridge.  Saga really pulled the stop out, bussed back to a hotel in Lyon a very few hours later.  Offered either a land based holiday or a return to UK that day by air or rail (our choice).  Promised a full refund plus any out of pocket expenses.  Loads of Saga staff to help us at every step of our return.    Money back two days later, expenses claim paid also within a couple of days. Offered a significant reduction on another cruise that Autumn if we wished.   Finally an quite out of the blue a fairly significant sum appeared in our bank account three months later to compensate for our "disappointment".   Couldnt fault their management of what could have been a disaster.  

 

WOW!!  That's quite a story/experience from the Saga river cruise.  Appreciate this follow-up. Have not had Saga on my travel options radar.  Must be that they do not market that much here in the USA. 

 

From the London/UK Evening Standard and Yahoo News this morning, they had this headline: “Saga in profit as cruises catch on again” with these highlights: “Specialist travel and financial services business Saga marked a return to profitability as the over-fifties flocked back to cruise holidays.  The company said cruise bookings reached 73% of capacity in July, and bookings for the 2023/24 season had reached 34%, exceeding expectations. However, the company warned that bookings for its cruises to the Baltics and Black Sea had fallen amid concerns over the conflict in Ukraine.  It expected to generate pre-tax profits of £35 million to £50 million in the year to 31 January 2023, as it cut down its debt facility from £100 million to £50 million.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/saga-profit-cruises-catch-again-101831543.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 32,401 views.  Many interesting pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

 

But we're sailing, getting fed and watered and going to God's own country. What's not to like? 

So where are you stopping in Yorkshire?

[Tothesunset]

16 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

So where are you stopping in Yorkshire?

After coming from God's own country we settled in God's own county. 

 

And have ended up in the county time forgot! 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Tothesunset

[lincslady]

1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

Oh god, I hope not! Our Sainsbury seems to be the agreed meeting place for obese younger people with 3 squalling kids in tow. 

 

I'm grateful to Sainsbury though - they keep the riff-raff out of Waitrose!

 

There should be a much higher percentage of Waitrose customers than Sainsburys.   And on Saga no squalling kids  and very few noticeably obese people either.  Don't forget they are all over 50, indeed most over 65.

 

Of course, they might take exception to your Shankill Road accent,  so you should try to keep to your received pronunciation.

[Tothesunset]

19 minutes ago, lincslady said:

 

Of course, they might take exception to your Shankill Road accent,  so you should try to keep to your received pronunciation.

Catch yerself awn  wee woo-man. 

[lincslady]

Whatever that means.

 

I hope you will do reports from your trip on the Saga forum, live or back home.  No many people bother to do them, and they can be both helpful and interesting.

 

Maybe they are all too old and lacking in computer knowhow to do them?

[Tothesunset]

19 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Whatever that means.

 

I hope you will do reports from your trip on the Saga forum, live or back home.  No many people bother to do them, and they can be both helpful and interesting.

 

Maybe they are all too old and lacking in computer knowhow to do them?

Already on it. 

[rkacruiser]

I will be looking forward to learning your experiences.  As an American, Saga was a company that regularly sent me advertisements/brochures, pre-Covid.  I was interested and could be again.  

[Lois R]

Hope you have a wonderful cruise0

[mw8811]

Will be interested to hear your views.      We have looked at various Saga brochures but they all seem to arrive with the rooms we are interested in sold out.

[Tothesunset]

1 hour ago, mw8811 said:

Will be interested to hear your views.      We have looked at various Saga brochures but they all seem to arrive with the rooms we are interested in sold out.

Their website is a bit clunky but if you're patient you can see which cabins are available on whichever voyage interests you. 

[Fletcher]

I was once on a Saga cruise - never again for me, mainly because the itineraries hardly change and leaving from UK ports, while a great advantage in some respects, severely restricts them.  Also, the ships are now too big for my taste.  They call them boutique ships which is a joke since they have 1000 pax.  However, I found Saga's front office team and on board extremely helpful and astonishingly generous - they refunded the cost of a bungled excursion without batting an eyelid; they moved us from a noisy cabin to a quieter one a deck below and gave us a refund; and they gave us cash back for unspent OBC.  In fact, they rather threw money at us.

 

We did a 30-day Caribbean trip, beginning and ending in Southampton.  We were constantly struck by how contemporary and modern the decor was on the ship and how that constantly failed to match up with the passengers, most of whom were very elderly and many had mobility issues.  At Antigua a passenger from another ship asked me if our ship was some sort of floating hospital.  We thought the rigid adherence to a dress code amusingly old-fashioned.  That said, we had a great time and met some great people from all walks (well, some walked) of life.  

 

Looking forward to hearing more from Tothesunset.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Fletcher

[Daveywavey70]

I was booked on a 15 night land tour of Rajhastan last January with Saga.  The holiday disappeared from their website last summer. Numerous phone calls were made but they could neither confirm nor deny that the holiday would take place. We gave up trying after 20+ calls over 3 months. Eventually my deposit was returned without any sort of confirmation that the holiday was cancelled. During the pandemic they were amongst the worst of companies to try to obtain a refund from  and they have now decided to ditch all TAs and only accept direct bookings. Well good luck with that. The last few companies that took that approach hastily  reversed the decision shortly before filing for bankruptcy. 

[jwh]

2 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

....... they have now decided to ditch all TAs and only accept direct bookings. 

Interesting that you say that Daveywavey.   I am a TA in Australia and 'was' one of the top producers for Crystal.  I approached Saga a year or so ago to discuss a group cruise and was told they 'only deal with UK based travel agents'.   Obviously are are no longer on our radar 🙂

[Daveywavey70]

6 hours ago, jwh said:

Interesting that you say that Daveywavey.   I am a TA in Australia and 'was' one of the top producers for Crystal.  I approached Saga a year or so ago to discuss a group cruise and was told they 'only deal with UK based travel agents'.   Obviously are are no longer on our radar 🙂

They switched last Autumn Jwh, uk agents have all been dropped. 

[jwh]

12 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

They switched last Autumn Jwh, uk agents have all been dropped. 

Interesting.  Such a bold move by them and one that will make it hard to come 'cap in hand' at a later date.   Most agents have long memories. 

[tiggertom]

We were on Spirit of Discovery in June and found the ship to be very cramped in eating places with tables for two people so close together that the servers couldn’t get between them. Also, the ship lacked areas for socialising outside in the evenings as the pool bar closed at 6pm and there is no other bar outside. There is also a lack of space for a pre-dinner drink as there is one bar adjacent to five restaurants. I loved the Britannia lounge which is the “observation “ lounge as it is huge, airy with a good sized dance floor. Also, there are plenty of sunbathing areas around the upper decks outside but no bar service and the area around the Lido pool is cramped. The food was good and the staff were friendly. We had a standard cabin which was limited in storage space but adequate. I think there must have been some problems as you couldn’t walk around the upper decks with getting soot on your clothes. The included insurance and door to door transport service make it an ideal cruise line for those with health and mobility problems. I’m glad we tried Saga as the ship was beautiful but it’s not for us as there were too many issues that weren’t dealt with properly.

[lincslady]

I feel sure Tothesunset will let us know how if he has a similar experience to yours, tiggertom.  Most reports have not suggested any crowding or shortage of space or lack of bar service.

 

I have not yet cruised on the newer ships, but did think that they would attract a fitter, younger crowd as well as those for whom Sagas helpful inclusions like door to door travel and insurance etc. are important.

 

Lola