Pre registration

[marsh99]

Hi all. We're new to Saga, so been perusing the forum for information and come across mention of pre registering. How does this work and how do we do it? I can't find anything on Saga's website to explain. We're thinking about a specific cruise in 2025 which is it runs the same time as 2023 and 2024 will coincide with both a big '0' birthday and anniversary, so if this gives a bigger discount we may splash out for a better cabin. Thanks.

Edited May 16, 2023 by marsh99
Eta for clarity

[FatBoy20]

You telephone Saga & request Pre-Registration (state the year wanted) & pay £90 per person which is credited against the booking or refunded if you decline. Saga E-Mail out the programme, it is usually out in 2 parts Jan-March & April -December. In date order of pre-registration Saga then ring you. For April- December 2024 the E-Mail was sent out early March with a telecon about 10 days later & the programme going on sale to the General Public the first week of April.

[Cynthia Darch]

4 minutes ago, FatBoy20 said:

You telephone Saga & request Pre-Registration (state the year wanted) & pay £90 per person which is credited against the booking or refunded if you decline. Saga E-Mail out the programme, it is usually out in 2 parts Jan-March & April -December. In date order of pre-registration Saga then ring you. For April- December 2024 the E-Mail was sent out early March with a telecon about 10 days later & the programme going on sale to the General Public the first week of April.

When is the Jan-March made available for pre reg .. thanks

[nosapphire]

There is no programme for pre-registry - you phone up and pre-register for whenever you want.

You can pre-register now for any year, so if you know that you want a specific date for - say - 2027, you can phone now.

There is a separate fee of £90 per person for each date, so if you register for- say - spring 2025, autumn 2025, and and spring 2026, you pay separately for each.

The fee gets deducted from any cruise you book, or is fully refundable if you do not book (even if you simply change your mind after pre-registration)(it is probably the most flexible system out there).

The programme referred to by FatBoy20 is the programme mailed out to people who have already pre-registered, and Saga have no set time for issuing either programmes or brochures.

Pre-registry is definitely the way to get an early choice and the best fares.

[arlowood]

Just to add some additional information to that provided above.

When a particular season is launched, a proportion of the cabins in the various grades are offered at a 35% discount on the normal price. (I believe it's a proportion rather than all the cabins being offered at 35% but I am happy top be corrected if this is wrong). As these initial maximum discounts are booked by prospective passengers , then the discount drops to say 30% then 25% an so on.

 

Consequently the earlier you register for a particular season, the earlier you will receive the phone call once the programme has been emailed to you. That will give you the best chance of snagging a maximum discount.

 

Just be aware that the call can come anytime depending on you position in the pre-registration queue for a particular season. We had pre-registered for the April - December 2024 season and received the email with the Summer 2024 programme shortly before we left for a holiday in Cyprus. As sod's law often dictates, the call came while we were having a relaxing drink in our hotel in Paphos. Cue a dash back to our room while still on the call to retrieve passport details and credit card info so that we could secure our chosen booking. I'm sure we could have requested a call back when we were back in the UK but that might have meant missing out on the best discounts.

 

If you keep checking this forum or the various social media groups (I think there are at least 2 on FB) you will start to see posts as people receive their phone calls for a particular season. You can usually get a rough idea of how things are progressing, if people are willing to share there pre-registration number. The calls go out in sequence from the earliest to pre-register and your number will reflect where you are in the queue.

Edited May 17, 2023 by arlowood

[marsh99]

Thanks everyone for responding. I've phoned and registered for 2025.

[FatBoy20]

9 hours ago, Cynthia Darch said:

When is the Jan-March made available for pre reg .. thanks

For the last 2 years it has been around the end of January (for the following year Jan-March).

[FatBoy20]

Saga have announced that for 2026 the two pre-registration block dates for booking are Jan-April & May- December (In previous years it has been Jan-March & April-December).

[Denarius]

Does anyone know if Saga have a similar system for river cruises? If so, what is the number to ring?

[FatBoy20]

Flyer received today indicates that Saga will launch Jan to April 2025 Cruises soon. This should be earlier than the 2024 Launch which was January 2023 (for Jan to March 24) & March (for April to December). Perhaps Saga are realising they have been nearly the last to release Cruises for future years.

[arlowood]

33 minutes ago, FatBoy20 said:

Flyer received today indicates that Saga will launch Jan to April 2025 Cruises soon. This should be earlier than the 2024 Launch which was January 2023 (for Jan to March 24) & March (for April to December). Perhaps Saga are realising they have been nearly the last to release Cruises for future years.

Your post just prompted me that I should get pre-registered for the "summer" 2025 season.

Called Saga and made the registration.

The young lady I spoke to stated that our summer season registration would cover cruises from 1st May until 31st December 2025.

 

So I 'm guessing that Saga have massaged their season tranches to include April in the "winter" block.

[LandC]

Did Saga say when they will start phoning people who have pre-registered for the Summer 2025 season?

[nosapphire]

Don't get too excited... Saga interpretation of "soon" is not the same as our interpretation.

They sent the same flyer last year at about the same time as this year.

And the year before. And the year before. And the...etc.

The flyer is mainly to encourage people to pre-register. The more pre-registrations, the better reports they can give to their shareholders.

 

 

[Denarius]

5 hours ago, arlowood said:

Your post just prompted me that I should get pre-registered for the "summer" 2025 season.

Called Saga and made the registration.

The young lady I spoke to stated that our summer season registration would cover cruises from 1st May until 31st December 2025.

 

So I 'm guessing that Saga have massaged their season tranches to include April in the "winter" block.

My flier states that "January to April 2025 cruises abard the Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Advenure will go on sale soon" So April is definately now in the Winter/Spring block.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Denarius

[FatBoy20]

1 hour ago, nosapphire said:

Don't get too excited... Saga interpretation of "soon" is not the same as our interpretation.

They sent the same flyer last year at about the same time as this year.

And the year before. And the year before. And the...etc.

The flyer is mainly to encourage people to pre-register. The more pre-registrations, the better reports they can give to their shareholders.

 

 

The Flyer for Jan to March 2024 came out in November 2022 & E-Mailed programme was early January.

[nosapphire]

39 minutes ago, FatBoy20 said:

The Flyer for Jan to March 2024 came out in November 2022 & E-Mailed programme was early January.

I stand corrected...🙊