paulatsea

Do the drivers always contact you before they arrive ? sorry if this has already been mentioned.

Never found any package on any ship that was worth it - we drink prob about a bottle of wine each per day - pre dinner and dinner - perhaps a g&t or margarita. much cheaper to payg. On one ship - I can’t remember which one - the waiter tried to explain the cost / benefit saying if I drank at least 10 pints a day plus a few shorts it would be worth it - so may suit a few people ! I think some just have the package as it’s easier with billing etc and they are not too concerned with cost.

We had cruise insurance with holidayextras - I printed off the insurance document - they just took a very brief look at the document - I think just to check the validity dates and names - didn’t have to go into any details about what the cover was.

Thanks JoJo - that’s good to know - as others here have said as well. very grateful for the upgrade - totally unexpected and a first for us. can’t wait to go - 1 week from tomorrow !!

Same deck (B) as originally booked - but upgraded to a deluxe balcony . I was moved because of the upgrade - it’s just that I was not asked first . Proximity to lifts affect the cabins as there will be more people milling around and walking passed the cabin etc - but the upgrade is enough for me to ignore this and I have been advised here that the lifts are not a problem / noisy etc . hope they don’t “ding” all the time !

Yes - I would have preferred a call first as I selected the original cabin specifically for the location. The upgraded cabin is not in as good a position as it’s near the lifts. Today they said they would have moved me back to my original cabin but that they wanted to double check and reassure me that the lifts won’t be a problem - as others here have said. I think the added persuasion was because my original cabin must have been given to someone else already - so unwinding would be difficult. I think it’s worth taking the upgrade even though the location is not exactly what we wanted - from what people have said here. This is probably a one off for us - due to the cost - but we wanted to experience Saga - we booked 2 years ago ! But it’s been postponed twice. I looked at a typical price difference between a standard and deluxe - it’s big ! thanks again for comments and advice

Thanks everyone - great advice - I have managed to keep kept the upgrade ! Got through to customer service in 5 minutes. 🙂

Thanks for that - waiting to talk to saga - really wished they had asked me first

I had a letter yesterday saying I had been upgraded to a deluxe twin - I had not been asked if I wanted this. the new cabin is in a bad position right next to the lifts. I am trying to get my old cabin back. has anyone else had this ? who is the most senior person I could easily contact ? if my old cabin has gone do you think they will refund me as I will want to cancel ? Very frustrating as it goes in 2 weeks time. thanks

I find the explanation hard to believe - unless they are hosting the refugees for free or at cost only. Perhaps I am being too cynical - but happy that the refugees have somewhere to stay.

I was invited to a meeting in London to discuss our Fred experience - this was about 5 years ago when the prices were competitive. It was suggested that they get some new ships as the fleet was tired - we often used to suffer from fumes coming through the air con for example. Also mentioned was the lack of balconies. Also the fluctuation in prices - although good value at that time people wanted some sort of fixed pricing or variable but consistent like saga where the prices increase towards the sail date and a price guarantee so that they were confident they would not be paying more than someone else for exactly the same cruise. The general feeling was that the staff were excellent and the itineraries especially were very good and different to other lines. Also people liked the fact that several cruises on each of the ships were adults only exclusively (even though not many children usually go with Fred) as many did not want to take any risk of having children on board. One person suggested that they try and appeal to a younger crowd - but everyone else disagreed as one of the things that they liked was the more mature fellow passengers.

I have seen children on Fred - outside of the school holidays - mainly infants - but a few school age - and they ended up next to us - so after that we only chose the adults only itineraries. Hope they bring some back.

Agree with ferretktf - ANKER are excellent - I have one. Powerful and reliable. got mine via Amazon.

And bring back adults only itineraries

Same with me - I phoned up to pay - and to make sure auto payment was removed. All was fine.

That’s a great idea - so you just stay on board.

Thanks - will do.

I’ve thought about this and it looks like a good night out and a chance to see the ship - but it seems it’s only inside cabins and no tables for two - from what I have read ? Otherwise I would def go.

I’ve checked with saga and they say all the drivers are required to be tested before pick up.

Are they required to be tested ? Do you know ? I think I’ll ask saga - if the expectation is that they are tested I would ask for another car if they said they had not been tested - and see what happens.

Was that the one where they reduced the prices massively at the last minute and loads of nasties booked ?

Crazy - I know that’s a Christmas one but still - massive difference.

The fluid pricing is a mystery to me - never been able to work it out and doesn’t always seem to be capacity related. I would love to see any algorithm they have. I’ve just booked Aurora for December 2023 Canaries for 16 nights - select price ,standard balcony, £360pp OBC and car parking for about £1500. When I first saw the price I had to look again - I can’t remember seeing that good a deal before. With the OBC it’s the same price almost as the 7 nights to Portugal/Guernsey on Aurora I had already booked for August 2023.

Yes - be happy to give that a miss.

No - adults only is not just mainly on transfers - Marella explorer 2 is adults only on all its cruises. Anyway in 2023 there is only 1 adults only- to Asia - on discovery 2 - Sri Lanka to Singapore - so assuming Sri Lanka is sorted by then it looks good. !