Windsurfboy

We always ask for break between courses. One benefit of same table after day 2 our waiter knew this and would wait for ten minutes and ask are you ready for me to put in order for next course. Even in speciality restaurants they got to know us. OK it was a 32 day cruise.

I emailed customer service at cruisepostsales@saga.co.uk they sorted out my request in a day

Don't worry. I know I commented about senior restaurant being a bit superfluous, however generally the food and service was very good. Occasionally it was just good service and nice food , most often both very good, sometimes exceptional . There is always something that can be done better. However we never had poor service or food on Saga, good was as low as it got, and wouldn't be booking a second time for a month if overall it hadn't been very enjoyable.

All I can say is my only cruise so far on a gratuities included ship , Saga , it was an extremely friendly and happy ship, so much so we are going again for a month . I know there's more to a happy crew than gratuities, for example the fact that Saga , supported it's crew through Covid , rather than making them redundant must have played a big part. Haven't been on P&O for years and not since they went gratuities included, but reading CC it's not all plain sailing for them staff wise , so you can't make broad assumptions.

I complely agree, on proviso that it all goes to staff.

We like a fixed table but 7 to 7.30, it's nice to get to know the waiters.

I agree in principle, but for example on our cruise, wine waiter had to go to amalfi to get bottle of Barolo. Seemed to take quite a while, meanwhile no one was being topped up. I did suggest they ensured they had bottles of all premium wine in MDR. But failing this the senior staff should step in .

I see these increase don't apply for QM2 until it gets back to UK on 23 April. So that must be why it wasn't mentioned in my boarding information email for April 7th. See if they tell me before June cruise.

I agree the senior staff in dining room, seemed to be a bit superfluous. They don't spend much time talking to passengers, more time talking to each other. I never in our 4 weeks saw one chipping in , carrying a plate to help out or getting some wine. Lovely people but you wondered what their purpose was when everyone else was so busy. It doesn't detract from the generally god and friendly service on Saga. One place were Saga could up it's game

Do the lessons cover beginners

Loving blog , can't wait to get on SOD in November. Very interesting, in our 32 nights on SOA in May never saw Captain eating in MDR, perhaps that was spill over from the covid protocols.

They assume 1 case each . My advice is always tell them more, they will have to ensure plenty of space.

My one issue is leg room, if I have to sit with legs bent for more than half an hour get real pain. So the issue with face to face is distance apart, and where to put legs and not annoy others.

Completely unacceptable, hope you complained, send this picture to Nigel Blanks. Clearly not the luxury transport described. Makes a lie of their promise "You won’t be cramped though: you’ll always have room to stretch out. Even if you are not considering Saga again , for the sake of others, raise this with Nigel.blanks@saga.co.uk My wife just cannot travel backwards, car sick in ten minutes.

As far as I understand a bus picks up passengers at A goes to B drops them off , picks up passengers at B returns to A , then starts again. So that most sacrosanct of Cunard voyages the transatlantic is actually nearer to a bus journey and a leg on a world cruise is a holiday. As far as I can see they are all just cruises on nice ships. But then I'm not a Cunarder just someone who enjoys the odd cruise or more on cunard

Sorry don't understand what this means.

I know the chauffeur car company saga use in our area, as we use them to go to Heathrow and to Southampton for Cunard. They charge less than £2.50 a mile when we book them privately for just the two of us. So charging this to upgrade is a RIP OFF, they should charge half their normal mileage rate , ie just over £1 per hour , as it's half paid for anyway.

Discounts vary by deck , you might want to read the which is your favourite deck thread , if you haven't done so already.

Some said if you go to bar , (best at quiet time) , you can ask what say the white wines are for the cruise, then test a number, what you fancy. If there is one particular one, they will get it for you every night

Sorry I didn't make it clear premium wine meant paid for. The premium wines are good value, I looked them up on Google whilst on board , they are at the same price you would pay in a wine merchants. So even though you pay extra, for £20 you get a wine that would be £60 in a restaurant or other cruise line

The same wines you have at meals are included ie "free" and will be available at bars. The same premium wine list wines as in restaurants should be available at all bars , but we found (This was for champagne ) sometimes they had to pop to another bar to get it, but they were happy to do this if you didn't mind waiting.

Anyway I'm getting on board in 4 weeks, if they don't tell me before I get on, I will think it pretty unethical. Let's wait and see.

I agree it's negligible, but the principle that you agree to a cost when you book , applies whether it's an extra cent a day or hundred dollars a day.

In UK and most of Europe, the law is different. If service charges/ gratuities were compulsory , then they would have to be included in the up-front price quoted and be part of the contract. If they are not , the must be voluntary. So in UK you have the right to opt out , or to pay whatever you like. But you must make effort to opt out. In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Cunard can only apply service charge if you opt in. For passengers booking in these countries there is a letter in their cabin as they board asking if they want to give something extra to staff and the $×× is suggested. Personally I've always thought gratuities should be incorporated into the price. However under the present system I believe you "agree" to pay the gratuities at the rate quoted when you book. In the same way you agree to the price when you book. That means excluding extras, you know exactly what the cruise will cost when you book, that constitutes a fair contract.

One spill is one two many