JMyrtle41

H there

I need a little reassurance please as I think I have made a terrible mistake booking a mini cruise on the Saga Pearl this December.

We are experienced cruisers but have only traveled on Fred Olsen but Saga offered us a mini cruise as a "taster" and we decided to give it a try.

What I had not appreciated when we booked was that the Saga Pearly has no self service option in the evenings.

My husband is an ordinary working man, he worked on building sites all his life and the thought of having to wear a suit , be served by a presumable critical waiter, (as we have seen on "Fred") and not being sure what cutlery to use or what to do with his napkin will cause him so much stress he will not enjoy the break at all.

Saga have told us the only way out of this is to take all our eveing meals as room service in our cabin but obviously we dont want to do that either.

I suppose what I am asking is how "informal" is the informal one of the two restaurants, would the waiting staff understand about a passenger who is genuinely worried about eating formally in public with people he doesnt know and is there any possibility of us being given a quiet table for two in a corner somewhere.

Your reassurances would be most appreciated.:confused:

Thaks Alan

Not really much of a perk when most of what you mention is either included or optional on Fred, or something we would not use.

We would only travel from Dover (fifteen miles up the road) and would expect a fully inclusive drinks package either included or provided at mimimal cost.

For us their is little to gain from a state room style cabin as we prefer to be out and about on the ship and would not do a " formal night" under any circumstances, God forbid.!

That is why I say this new ship seems to be top heavy as you might say with nothing to attract ordinary cruise travellers.

There is definately a gap in the market for a middle of the road cruise ship operating from Dover but this is clearly not it.

Shame.

Hi there

Has anyone seen the brocure for the new Saga ship Discovery?

It looks very nice but there only seem to be balcony rooms and no drinks package which all seems a bit odd.

We cruise regularly with Fred Olsen and spend little time in our cabin preferring to be out and about on the ship so for one cruise on this new ship we would get us three on "Fred" including our drinks.

As this ship will operate from Dover I cannot see there will be many takers from local people at the prices offered :o

This was also the Lido Lounge on The Balmoral, but don't forget we were on there the first week in May when the drinks package changed so they were probably being a little more strict, I must admit that things did seem to get more relaxed as the week went on.

As we got a good deal we went to Norway in March, Hamburg in April and then May after the offer changed, so I kept the on board accounts to compare the two packages.

In March and April I was able to order a coffee latte in the coffee shop at the reduced rate of £1.20 instead of £2.40 and then take it thru to the Morning Light and order a double brandy to go with it.

In May no such luck, not even a double measure of spirits unless our server was in a good mood.

As for the gratuities we always go to the guest services desk and sign the waiver, we then divide the amount we should have paid by three and pay it to the maid, the Head Waiter in The Palms and the manager of what ever bar we use, that way it goes where we want rather that "Fred's" pocket.

If we didn't do that some would go to the waiter in the m.d.r., I'm sure he is very nice but, as we never set foot in the place...

We were told by other guests that the maid is forced to hand over all her tips to her manager on pain of dismissal, I hope that is not the case.

We went to Norway in

Probably the "old boy" on the Balmoral a couple of weeks ago who peeled the cheese stuck to the serving tongs off with his fingers, ate it and put the tongs back on the servery.

And yes we always see appalling behaviour over the lifts when we sail on Balmoral because there are only four for the whole ship and a lot of the over eighties think they have a God given right to be first for everything!

See the Monsters of Rock show on the Balmoral, very good heavy rock, great dancers, music and costumes athough, for me, the music could have been louder (the floor and furniture wasn't vibrating!

I'm in my sixties but can anyone expain to me why an elderly lady, (looked old enough to be my mother) sitting behind us went to a heavy rock concert and then sat there with her fingers in her ears and her eyes closed, very strange!

Just came off the Balmoral after a cruise to Spain

There is a tea and coffee machine in the Palms Cafe on deck 7 which is available all day together with a selection of teas and a hot water option.

This is free of charge but you have to get it yourself, the half price option of "speciality" coffees has been removed and you now pay full price in both the coffee shop and all the bars.

Tins of beer and soft drinks are available in the Palms but draught beers are chargable!!?, I cannot speak for the other restaurants as we do not use them.

For us the price increase from £10.00 to £15.00 has not given us any more than we had before, still no dark rum on offer, and a reduction in choice as speciality coffees are now full price.

We were on one of the first cruises to have the new package and I wonder if the "regular Fredders" got a shock when they rec'd their onboard account at the end of the cruise as staff were not always informing passengers of the price increases and not everybody reads all the gumf in their cabin folder if they think they know what goes on!:rolleyes:

Maybe this is an age thing?

People of my generation born in the 1950s matured into a very different world from those even ten years older.

For us Rosa Park has definately "left the back of the 'bus" and displays such a finger clicking to attract a waitress and other mildly racial or sexist comments directed towards staff, all of which we observed on Braemar, do not sit easily with us.

I don't think the anchor fares are the reason either as if you have no intention of using the MDR your dinner sitting is of no meaning.

Possibly passengers are of two kinds, the travellers who find cruising easy, particularly for those of us in east Kent who have no airport and those who cruise for the cruising experience, with probably a bit of an overlap in the middle.

We will be joining the Balmoral on Saturday to go to Hamburg, no ties or jackets packed for us and The Palms, (or as we heard one passenger on Braemar call it "the greasy spoon transport caff on deck 6") here we come!

And no, because we choose to eat there we do not prefer to have our chips served in newspaper as we overheard another passenger also comment.

Perhaps it is fair to say if you book into the Travel Lodge don't compare it to the Hilton because you will be disappointed. :evilsmile:

Ok lets turn this on its head!

There are actually people who go on cruises to travel to see different places easily without the the hassle of an airport and would not be seen dead in the main dining room or even worse at a formal night.

By all means use the main dining room, Thistle, and Grampian and drink in the Marquee or Observatory, what ever floats your boat but please don't come prancing around the Palms Cafe or Morning Light Bar in your "monkey suit" because your method of dress is as offensive to us as ours obviously is to you.

We choose to wear smart casual in the evening becaus the formal aspects of the cruise do not meet with our preference, we respect the fact that it is an important part of your "experience" although why is completely beyond us so please respect our preferences in return.

Also please be aware that the passenger in the jeans and hawiian shirt (a friend of ours) did wear formal dress in the dining room that night but chose to change before joining us in the Morning Light as he felt he was not dressed appriately for that venue, others should had behaved in the same fashion