New to Saga

[david05]

On SoD the main dining room is open for lunch on embarkation day from noon until 1pm for back to back passengers and early arrivals. The buffet is sometimes open beyond 3.30pm if a late sailing.

[JoJo1947]

1 hour ago, david05 said:

On SoD the main dining room is open for lunch on embarkation day from noon until 1pm for back to back passengers and early arrivals. The buffet is sometimes open beyond 3.30pm if a late sailing.

Back to backs we did last year  the MDR was not open at lunchtime . Only food available was the  Grill,Verandah and snacks in the Living Room . Unless after January when we came off SoD it's changed 🤔

[Vivaldi]

22 hours ago, lincslady said:

Included tours are a recent addition, and I think Saga should be given time to find out how they work

 

On 6/27/2023 at 6:17 PM, Windsurfboy said:

The included excursions are all described as panoramic.

 

I'm  in complete agreement with lincslady on this: this is something fairly new and Saga will get feedback from guests which could result in changes to the sort of included excursions which are offered. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

The SofA is visiting the Isles of Scilly in August and, perhaps surprisingly given that landing is by tender and St Mary's is not vast, an included excursion is available. It is to the Tresco Gardens and is described as of a  "Moderate" activity level, with walking of a mile or more. It might be a rare non-panoramic included excursion, but it shows that they are not totally absent. Whether the weather is sufficiently benign to allow any tenders to operate, to Tresco or to St Mary's, is another matter though!

[FatBoy20]

34 minutes ago, Vivaldi said:

 

 

I'm  in complete agreement with lincslady on this: this is something fairly new and Saga will get feedback from guests which could result in changes to the sort of included excursions which are offered. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

The SofA is visiting the Isles of Scilly in August and, perhaps surprisingly given that landing is by tender and St Mary's is not vast, an included excursion is available. It is to the Tresco Gardens and is described as of a  "Moderate" activity level, with walking of a mile or more. It might be a rare non-panoramic included excursion, but it shows that they are not totally absent. Whether the weather is sufficiently benign to allow any tenders to operate, to Tresco or to St Mary's, is another matter though!

I am unsure where you obtained the information regarding" an included trip" to Tresco Gardens on SOD in August. I am on that Cruise & their are no included excursions in this Port. The Excursion to Tresco Gardens is £49pp.

[JoJo1947]

38 minutes ago, Vivaldi said:

 

 

I'm  in complete agreement with lincslady on this: this is something fairly new and Saga will get feedback from guests which could result in changes to the sort of included excursions which are offered. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

The SofA is visiting the Isles of Scilly in August and, perhaps surprisingly given that landing is by tender and St Mary's is not vast, an included excursion is available. It is to the Tresco Gardens and is described as of a  "Moderate" activity level, with walking of a mile or more. It might be a rare non-panoramic included excursion, but it shows that they are not totally absent. Whether the weather is sufficiently benign to allow any tenders to operate, to Tresco or to St Mary's, is another matter though!

Saga are not allowed to use their own tenders as locals provide them. Won't say anymore 😱😀

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, Vivaldi said:

 

 

I'm  in complete agreement with lincslady on this: this is something fairly new and Saga will get feedback from guests which could result in changes to the sort of included excursions which are offered. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

The SofA is visiting the Isles of Scilly in August and, perhaps surprisingly given that landing is by tender and St Mary's is not vast, an included excursion is available. It is to the Tresco Gardens and is described as of a  "Moderate" activity level, with walking of a mile or more. It might be a rare non-panoramic included excursion, but it shows that they are not totally absent. Whether the weather is sufficiently benign to allow any tenders to operate, to Tresco or to St Mary's, is another matter though!

 

I don't think there are large coaches on Isles of Scilly, so you have to walk , only enough transport for those that really need it. Mini bus.

[david05]

2 hours ago, JoJo1947 said:

Back to backs we did last year  the MDR was not open at lunchtime . Only food available was the  Grill,Verandah and snacks in the Living Room . Unless after January when we came off SoD it's changed 🤔

It has. We arrived at Tilbury just before 12.30 on 22 June and were eating lunch in the Grand Dining Room before 1 pm and the same arrangement was in place for the following cruise.

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, FatBoy20 said:

I am unsure where you obtained the information regarding" an included trip" to Tresco Gardens on SOD in August. I am on that Cruise & their are no included excursions in this Port. The Excursion to Tresco Gardens is £49pp.

Vivaldi was referring to the SoA cruise in August, not SoD.

 

I’m on the SoA cruise in August and have booked the Tresco tour, and it’s definitely an included tour. 

[Dermotsgirl]

2 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

 

 

I'm  in complete agreement with lincslady on this: this is something fairly new and Saga will get feedback from guests which could result in changes to the sort of included excursions which are offered. I'm happy to wait and see.

 

The SofA is visiting the Isles of Scilly in August and, perhaps surprisingly given that landing is by tender and St Mary's is not vast, an included excursion is available. It is to the Tresco Gardens and is described as of a  "Moderate" activity level, with walking of a mile or more. It might be a rare non-panoramic included excursion, but it shows that they are not totally absent. Whether the weather is sufficiently benign to allow any tenders to operate, to Tresco or to St Mary's, is another matter though!

I’m on that cruise, and was pleased that the Tresco tour was included. We were on a CMV cruise in May 2019 that called at the Isles of Scilly, and just went ashore to St Mary’s and did our own thing, so I’m pleased that we’ll go to Tresco this time (weather permitting). 
 

The rest of the tours are of a scenic nature. We’re doing the the ones on the Isle of Man and Invergorden, and will walk around the ports afterwards. There is another included panoramic tour in Belfast but we are not bothering with that, as we’ve booked a tour we particularly want to do

 

i generally prefer tours where there is some walking and time to do our own thing. I’ve assumed that panoramic tours are the included option to allow them to be accessible to all passengers. My suggestion would be for them to have a set amount that the passenger can spend on tours - then I’d be able to have some slightly more active tours in my tour allowance. 

[Dermotsgirl]

7 hours ago, Ladycommonsense said:

Slightly off topic again …. I am picking up D from several of the contributors on this site that if one gets to the ship at say 3 or 4 o’clock there will be no lunch available in the main dining room. If this is the case, I presume that there will still be lunch available in the buffet or somewhere else. Can someone please advise on this? 

This has reminded me of a question that I’ve got.

 

Is there any link between where you live and what boarding time you are given? 
 

I’ll be sailing from Tilbury, and on a reasonable day, I live  a 45 minute drive from the port. I can’t make up my mind whether this means I’ll get an early boarding time, so that people who have a long journey don’t have to get up ridiculously early or whether I’ll be one of the last as my journey is short.

 

Or it could be completely random, with no link to journey time at all ! 

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

 

 My suggestion would be for them to have a set amount that the passenger can spend on tours - then I’d be able to have some slightly more active tours in my tour allowance. 

 

After the disastrous included tours on eastern Mediterranean cruise,  someone said they put that exact suggestion to Nigel Blanks, but he just said  no , too complicated. We're sticking to Panoramic. 

[Brummijam]

On my first Saga trip Christmas and new year and curious to what is acceptable attire for dining/ evening wear for gents.  I don’t own a suit, I may be able to find a tie, Almost all of my clothes I would consider smart casual so what can I wear without fear of being ejected from the restaurants.😳😉

Edited July 1, 2023 by Brummijam

[lincslady]

4 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

This has reminded me of a question that I’ve got.

 

Is there any link between where you live and what boarding time you are given? 
 

I’ll be sailing from Tilbury, and on a reasonable day, I live  a 45 minute drive from the port. I can’t make up my mind whether this means I’ll get an early boarding time, so that people who have a long journey don’t have to get up ridiculously early or whether I’ll be one of the last as my journey is short.

 

Or it could be completely random, with no link to journey time at all ! 

From talking to others on arrival, the nearer you live to the port the later your pickup time will probably be. The most likely reason is that  you are more likely to have delays on a longer journey.  Living nearly 200 miles away, our pickup time has varied from 8 a.m. to 9.30, and I recall some saying that they only left home at 1.30, as they were only half an hour away.  

[david05]

6 hours ago, Brummijam said:

On my first Saga trip Christmas and new year and curious to what is acceptable attire for dining/ evening wear for gents.  I don’t own a suit, I may be able to find a tie, Almost all of my clothes I would consider smart casual so what can I wear without fear of being ejected from the restaurants.😳😉

See post #146. You can always eat in the Grill with smart casual clothes on a formal night. For ladies a smart dress, or elegant blouse or top with trousers or skirt. For gentlemen a smart open neck shirt and trousers are required. A jacket is optional but no polo shirts, t-shirts, shorts or denim in the evening. You may find that most of the passengers will dress up for the Christmas and New Year evening meals but there will always be some who don't and don't expect to get a window seat in the Grill if you are dressed in smart casual!

[Dermotsgirl]

10 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

After the disastrous included tours on eastern Mediterranean cruise,  someone said they put that exact suggestion to Nigel Blanks, but he just said  no , too complicated. We're sticking to Panoramic. 

I’m on a Round Britain cruise, and my main motivation is just to be back at sea again and to try Saga. I’m not too fussed about the ports, as I’ve been to some of them before, or could easily visit them again, so I’m happy to just do most of the included panoramic tours.

 

However, for something like an eastern Med cruise, I wouldn’t feel satisfied to see everything from behind a coach window, and would book alternative paid for tours. So I’d probably end up feeling that I’d paid for a service (included tours) that I didn’t utilise.

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

7 hours ago, lincslady said:

From talking to others on arrival, the nearer you live to the port the later your pickup time will probably be. The most likely reason is that  you are more likely to have delays on a longer journey.  Living nearly 200 miles away, our pickup time has varied from 8 a.m. to 9.30, and I recall some saying that they only left home at 1.30, as they were only half an hour away.  

I thought that would be the case. 
 

Actually, 1.30 doesn’t seem too bad. We’ve previously been on CMV and sometimes didn’t leave until 2pm for a 3pm boarding time. But we’d been able to monitor traffic, and if traffic was bad , we’d have gone earlier.  
 

 

[hjg20]

On 6/30/2023 at 8:06 AM, jsforum said:

Just returned from Norway on the SoD - Excursion availabiliy and service prior to cruise was a disappointment. In Bergen the included excursion was ok. We never strayed very far from the ship. Multiple stops / walkabouts and short but helpful explanations. Next time I would do own thing as Bergen is so compact

 

Olden was booked up solid for the activities suitable for my party that included  80 plus participants. Saga customer service asked me to be patient but never followed up with a solution. However, on the day we booked exactly the same tour with the same operator for 30% less than Saga, on a bus with 12 Saga refugees all having had a similar experience. This tour was excellent as smaller groups are much better.

 

In Alesund we had an optional overview tour. It would have been 50 quid a ticket but Saga never charged us presumably because it was dreadful and everyone complained.

The tour guide's vocabulary came from the sewer.Her points of interest were aligned to her own interests rather than what you reasonably expect. Highlights included the car park of the local aquarium, a 3.5km road tunnel - yes we went through it then immediately round a roundabout and back through it again, and the burned out shell of a house where the owners had had a domestic,The view from the top of the hill and short walkabout were good.As it fell so wide of the mark its good to know Saga did the honourable thing.

 

In Stavenger we did the included bus to the city and 3 hour walkabout. Why Saga changed the itinerary and docked at Sandnes instead of Stavenger we will never know. lIs a bit like budget airlines using a bus to the stand rather than boarding directly from the gate. Sandnes is a desolate place, but Costa were moored in Stanvenger harbour. 

 

Saga do talks to educate you about your destination. These were good albeit brief 20 minutes talks. 2 stops covered in each lecture. It was possible to view these in the cabin on the video on demand service. The televisions had a tendency to freeze so not very practical. 

 

The cruise Director and guest facing officers were practically invisible. The cruise director was especially poor. Apart from the odd brief appearance on the stage at the big events, I never once saw him engaging with passengers.

 

I would rate Saga 6 out of 10 for excursions. I am new to Cruising and if I go again will do my own thing. Saga do many things well but excursions are not one of them.

 

  

I was the Destination Speaker on this cruise. As we only had one sea day before reaching ports  I had to put 2 ports in each of my two slots. Those double talks lasted 45 minutes each so to say that I did 2 ports in a 20 minute talk is incorrect.

 

I also explained why we went to Sandnes rather than Stavanger. Saga added an extra included excursion from Sandnes to Stavanger so that you had the chance to visit there at no extra cost for the guests.

[david05]

23 minutes ago, hjg20 said:

I was the Destination Speaker on this cruise. As we only had one sea day before reaching ports  I had to put 2 ports in each of my two slots. Those double talks lasted 45 minutes each so to say that I did 2 ports in a 20 minute talk is incorrect.

 

I also explained why we went to Sandnes rather than Stavanger. Saga added an extra included excursion from Sandnes to Stavanger so that you had the chance to visit there at no extra cost for the guests.

We watched the talks and can confirm this. Hazel's talks were, as always, useful and informative.

[Windsurfboy]

Must say Hazels talks are best on any cruise line. Great for self organisers and wanderers, not just selling trips

[nosapphire]

13 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

This has reminded me of a question that I’ve got.

 

Is there any link between where you live and what boarding time you are given? 
 

I’ll be sailing from Tilbury, and on a reasonable day, I live  a 45 minute drive from the port. I can’t make up my mind whether this means I’ll get an early boarding time, so that people who have a long journey don’t have to get up ridiculously early or whether I’ll be one of the last as my journey is short.

 

Or it could be completely random, with no link to journey time at all ! 

We live about the same distance from Tilbury, and our pick up was 14:30 (Saga said between 14:20 and 14:50, driver phoned the day before to say he would be there at 14:30).

At Tilbury you are not dropped off at the same time as your luggage, your car goes into one part of the dock to a warehouse-type, where you stay in the car, a cheerful Saga rep asks you to check  that you have your passport in your hand luggage, and your driver unloads your main luggage to be scanned before going to the ship. You then get taken to the terminal where you and your hand luggage get off, go through security, check in and board. (Coming home, the luggage is in the arrivals hall so you and your luggage get the car together).

It was all very slick, but we still missed lunch because by the time we got to our cabin it was nearly time for muster preparation.

Logically, first pick-ups should go to those with the longest journey and therefore the biggest risk of delays on route, Plus, in the event of some drivers getting badly delayed and alternative transport having to be found at short notice, much easier to for Saga to find local taxis for local people than to find long distance travel.

Our driver was from Southampton, and had already collected and delivered one set of passengers before us.

[nosapphire]

9 hours ago, Brummijam said:

On my first Saga trip Christmas and new year and curious to what is acceptable attire for dining/ evening wear for gents.  I don’t own a suit, I may be able to find a tie, Almost all of my clothes I would consider smart casual so what can I wear without fear of being ejected from the restaurants.😳😉

Just done a 7night cruise, and we did not want to take full formal wear for such a short cruise.

We were allowed (with no raised eyebrows) into the MDR on formal night with himself wearing a dark jacket, dark trousers (not a suit, but closely matching), plain white shirt and tie. Clip on, since you ask. Many men wore similar attire.

I add, we were quite prepared, and amenable, to be asked to go up to the Grill. Much probably depends on the senior staff on the ship at the time.

 

[Dermotsgirl]

48 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

We live about the same distance from Tilbury, and our pick up was 14:30 (Saga said between 14:20 and 14:50, driver phoned the day before to say he would be there at 14:30).

At Tilbury you are not dropped off at the same time as your luggage, your car goes into one part of the dock to a warehouse-type, where you stay in the car, a cheerful Saga rep asks you to check  that you have your passport in your hand luggage, and your driver unloads your main luggage to be scanned before going to the ship. You then get taken to the terminal where you and your hand luggage get off, go through security, check in and board. (Coming home, the luggage is in the arrivals hall so you and your luggage get the car together).

It was all very slick, but we still missed lunch because by the time we got to our cabin it was nearly time for muster preparation.

Logically, first pick-ups should go to those with the longest journey and therefore the biggest risk of delays on route, Plus, in the event of some drivers getting badly delayed and alternative transport having to be found at short notice, much easier to for Saga to find local taxis for local people than to find long distance travel.

Our driver was from Southampton, and had already collected and delivered one set of passengers before us.

I must admit, a pick up of 14.30 to 14.50 makes me feel slightly insecure - just hope the Dartford Crossing isn't snarled up.

 

I'm not bothered about lunch as we can eat before we go, but, I'm keen to get speciality dining booked, especially as our wedding anniversary falls during the cruise.  

 

But not much that can be done, as it's up to Saga - this is new to me, as we normally make our own arrangements to get to the port (and I'm a bit of a control freak when it come to travel !!) 

[nosapphire]

31 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I must admit, a pick up of 14.30 to 14.50 makes me feel slightly insecure - just hope the Dartford Crossing isn't snarled up.

 

I'm not bothered about lunch as we can eat before we go, but, I'm keen to get speciality dining booked, especially as our wedding anniversary falls during the cruise.  

 

But not much that can be done, as it's up to Saga - this is new to me, as we normally make our own arrangements to get to the port (and I'm a bit of a control freak when it come to travel !!) 

No need to worry. We did not have to cross the river, so you probably will get picked up earlier.

I don't think Saga themselves arrange the pick-up times, they give details to the transport company, who then allocates vehicles and drivers, and tell Saga what times they will pick people up so Saga can relay the information.

The companies and drivers are all experienced in this, so will know exactly where the pinch-points are, when they are likely to be, and the best way to get around them.

(We had a magical mystery tour on the way home - our driver cheerfully said "minimum of an hour, bad accident this morning, I'll go round the back ways to avoid it" and he did, very successfully.)

[twotravellersLondon]

53 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I must admit, a pick up of 14.30 to 14.50 makes me feel slightly insecure - just hope the Dartford Crossing isn't snarled up.

 

I'm not bothered about lunch as we can eat before we go, but, I'm keen to get speciality dining booked, especially as our wedding anniversary falls during the cruise.  

 

But not much that can be done, as it's up to Saga - this is new to me, as we normally make our own arrangements to get to the port (and I'm a bit of a control freak when it come to travel !!) 

 

One SAGAs Hotel Managers recently explained to us that, "All things are possible" and that they was almost always tables available in the speciality restaurants later in the evenings as most SAGA clients preferred to be seated between 7.00 and 7.30 pm. 

 

So you may well be able to enjoy a special celebration... and if you want to... pay a little extra for some real Champagne... Taittinger is only about £35 a bottle... ten quid cheaper than our local supermarket. We just couldn't resist.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by twotravellersLondon

[jsforum]

On 7/1/2023 at 11:27 AM, hjg20 said:

I was the Destination Speaker on this cruise. As we only had one sea day before reaching ports  I had to put 2 ports in each of my two slots. Those double talks lasted 45 minutes each so to say that I did 2 ports in a 20 minute talk is incorrect.

 

I also explained why we went to Sandnes rather than Stavanger. Saga added an extra included excursion from Sandnes to Stavanger so that you had the chance to visit there at no extra cost for the guests.

I was referring to your first talk that lasted 20 minutes. I was pleased as I needed the loo. I didn't have time to attend the second session