"In the light of the ever changing situation we now find ourselves in, I wanted to offer you a little peace of mind and am pleased to advise you that if you have not already done so, you do not need to pay your balance at this time."

I would have thought that SAGA would be keen to have the money so that I might be persuaded to roll the booking forward to another cruise.

Anyone else had a similar letter?

I have a couple of questions, sorry if they have been asked before. I have gone back a really long way and can’t see that they have.

We are booked on the Caribbean Christmas 2022 and are just wondering, does Saga Cruises have block parties? And do they have organised deck games with the entertainment team?

Once again, sorry if this has been asked before.

Thanks in advance

Sally

Today I received the new Saga Cruises brochure showing that they only spend one day in Stockholm instead of two then on to Tallin.

We have had no communication from Saga informing us of this. Yet we get post of some sort from them nearly every week, or more.

We are not happy about this as it wasn’t what we signed up for.

 Noticed included excursions in some ports.Can any regular Saga cruisers give me some examples

of what these excursions consist of.

Ports included on this cruise are Malaga,Valletta,Athens,Palma,and Lisbon

Many thanks

If it is the case that the O cruise is cancelled we would be looking to take a late booking with Saga.

Has anyone on here accepted a guarantee cabin on Saga and if so were you happy with the allocation?

My husband and I have never travelled with Saga, or indeed cruised before!

 As we have taken early retirement and have no restrictions on our time anymore, we have booked a thirty night Caribbean cruise in 2022.  We loved the look of Spirit of Discovery and just wanted something to look forward to, as like a lot of other people,  our 2020 getaways were cancelled.

We have started thinking about what the cruise will be like and we wondered if there would be a sail away event.  The ship is scheduled to leave Southampton at 6PM.  I have been through the Saga Board but didn’t see any mention about this.  I see that you can’t wear casual clothes after 6 PM so I assume we will have to change into our glad rags if we want to attend the sail away (if there is one)?

The second question I have concerns The Club restaurant.

We like to eat around 8 PM and wondered if we could sit at our table after dinner to listen to the entertainment or is there a separate area we would need to move to?

I’m sure we will have lots more questions as we get nearer to our departure date so please stand by!

We've not been to Eastern Europe and not been river cruising so it seems like an opportunity to tick off some big ticket items.  I found the usual suspects and then added up what Viking would cost us - although our travel budget is very underspent at the moment - that s a lot of money.  We're looking at cruises Budapest- Bucharest and   Bucahrest - Kiev (Saga is a actually a return from Kieve to Odessa and back) 

Saga is coming out exactly 1/2 price - and that's before  a discount I'd get for the included air transfers which we wouldn't need. The itineraries are identical- the inclusions seem very similar (drinks with meals, some excursions, wifi, gratuities) . I get that the Viking ships are "prettier"  - but given that you spend most of your time seeing Europe not the ship - that doesn't really matter to me. 

What am I missing?  I understand its an over 50s cruise line (we fit that criteria) - I checked the fine print and they do take non-UK residents. 

Been reading reviews,  ships are certainly boutique luxury ships, with space ratio of 58, this is much closer to Seabornes typical 65 , Regent 70, than Cunard 35, P&O 33 and Saga old ship say Sapphire 37.

From an outsiders point of view Saga has evolved from a mid market cruise line, to a mid market  cruise line offering all inclusive,  to now a boutique all inclusive cruise line, with a different market and competition.

Reading the discussions on this forum,  Saga's spirit of discovery food is good but not as wide a choice as it's new competition,  neither are it's all inclusive drinks.  Drinks wise I  theorize Saga was offering the same selection on discovery as old ships. Now it has only two new ships will things change

I ask as I have had 2 very bad experiences getting refunds with another cruise company after cancellation of cruises with them spinning it out to 9 months so am a little reluctant to book again. We did our very first cruise on Quest for Adventure a long time ago but have no cancellation experience with Saga. 

Thank you.

So, I rang the number on the letter - eventually got through to a very polite lady in the Saga holiday department,  who said that the number supplied was incorrect, and she would have to connect me to the cruise department. She was very apologetic,  but she told me that she had received numerous calls already today, and she was having to redirect them all. For goodness sake - sending out letters with the wrong phone number!  Who signs that off?

Anyway, got through to a feisty booking agent - told her what cabin grade I was looking for - I told her which deck,  but she made it clear  that she knew exactly what deck I was looking for. She gave me the price - unbelievable - over £8500 for 16 days in a very average cabin, and that included £900 FCC, plus 30% discount. Sorry, but  that price is just silly. I can get a suite on a main stream line for that price.

Anyway, just thought I'd vent a little! 

My husband and I are first time cruisers.

Could anyone advise how Saga charges fo private transfers when the distance is over 75 miles?

Do they charge the private mileage rate for the excess mileage over the 75 miles, or do they charge for the entire journey (we live around 125 miles from Southampton.

I am sure someone will be able to help on this forum.

Thanks.

This was due to depart on the 29th September 2021.

🙁

I have sailed over 50 times with Cunard since 1993 and thinking of trying SAGA.

Wondering if Americans blend in well.

Wondering if there are deck chairs on the promenade deck such as you find on the Queen Mary 2.

Wondering if  piped in music is pervasive in public rooms.  Is is difficult to find quiet spaces?

Thank you so very much for your help.  

Deck Chair.

I have attached a link, but not sure if it will show in German or English (I was reading in Google translate).

I have no idea how accurate the information is.

The gist is that the Ems transfer that was intended for mid-August has not taken place, no date for the transfer has been set, and this is because Saga themselves have requested a delay - which in view of current FCO advice against cruise ship travel, would make sense.

It must be a total nightmare for all concerned, Cruise lines, agents, ship yards and suppliers.

https://www.kreuzfahrt-aktuelles.de/news/meyer-werft-spirit-of-adventure-verschoben-termin-noch-unbekannt/8522/

250 miles from Dover misses out half of Wales and the West country,  and just takes in Manchester and Liverpool .

250 miles from Southampton takes in all of Wales and the West country and goes all the way up up the South Lakes

These must have been taken from the company interim results published on their corporate website for shareholders.

https://corporate.saga.co.uk/investors/results-reports-presentations/

It is an open website (no need to be a shareholder) and the file dated 10th September, which is the updated interim report from 31st July 2020, gives the clue.

To avoid breaching CC rules about cutting and pasting, I'll just highlight(paraphrasing) the pages of interest.

 Page 2, all protocols are in place ready to resume cruising as soon as they have the green light.

Page 6, they lead the way for the cruise industry with their response.

Page 22, expecting to resume cruise operations November 2020, with the tours operations resuming April 2021. They are also planning for cruises to be suspended again January to May 2021.

Page 26 repeats this.

Page 35 repeats this, with the clarification that another suspension could happen in the event of another lockdown.

Page 57 repeats that cruises are expected to start 2020, with tours April 2021.

And..... I just LOVE the CEO statement on page 6, that Saga have always operated heir cruises in a bubble, with all passengers being picked up from home and transported to the ship, then back home again at the end.

No mention of the fact that this is provided you live within 250 miles, or that some passengers catch trains/flights/coaches to get to and from the ship.

Hey h.

Reading it is quite interesting, but also evident that Saga are none too confident that things will be back to normal any time soon,