SaraSailing

2 hours ago, nosapphire said:

Thank you for your report. As a long-time Saga cruiser, I can also tell you that many other long-time Saga passengers are disenchanted with the new ships ...

 

You are far from the only one. I think there are those of us who have a genuine affinity with smaller (300-600) passenger ships - and personally I'd go smaller if not for accessibility. I spoke to several people who spoke very fondly of the gemstone ships. On lady who has sailed with Saga multiple times put it well: "I'd love for them to just admit mistakes, apologise, and move on, not pretend things are perfect when they aren't." 

I'm told by those in the know that SoA has resolved some of the issues with SoD - the Dining Room layout, is one example. You might also want to have a look at what Viking have done with the same basic ship.

Of course my experience was coloured by the problems, and with one unpleasant incident (involving a guest, which Diego of Guest Relations handled MAGNIFICANTLY). I'm still glad I went, and very glad to be home. I had some real highlights with the trip, and the capacity to enjoy almost anything - but I don't feel I have to hide what did go wrong - we're all adults making their own choices. Each cruise line has a personality, and we can find our match - which might be different lines for different trips!

I genuinely hope you find what you want in a cruise for your next trip!

Here's the thing. If you want to cruise, want a balcony (however small the attached cabin), want all-inclusive, want UK ports, want the slightly nanny British attitude - then you will probably love Saga. If you want adventure, exotic flavours, and cosy indoor spaces - you won't. If you are a Saga stalwart, you'll book the day new itineraries are launched and "save" 35%. If you book at any other time, you've paid significantly more for the same cabin/cruise. 

There are things about Saga that are personal taste, and there are things that (for this trip) maybe cross that line. I've still no real understanding of the mask and quarantine policy, because if one were effective, the other would be much less necessary. And as for taking the ship to places it shouldn't go, and temporarily disabling some of the fire safety system in the process? If you love Saga, that's probably okay with you, even though it's not with me.

No cruise line is perfect. They all have bizarre quirks. With a few tweaks, I think Saga could appeal to the younger end of their target market, although I'm still to be convinced by the design of the interior, or the quality of the wifi for those of us at 50 or just under.

All in all, I glad I went, I had a great night at the husky racing lodge, met some lovely crew, walked around four little towns, and I'm super glad to be home - you'd have struggled to pay me enough to stay. But I'm not representative of the Saga crowd, so maybe they never had to woo me.

Well, the cruise is almost over. 

Insider info is we only have 22 covid cases (whether current or since first guy on day 5, I don't know), but so much quarantine that room service was totally overwhelmed. 

What I can say is the one-man-band Guest Relations - Diego - is an absolute star.

As par for this trip, we're coming in several hours late. 

There have been highlights, especially the night off the ship at the husky lodge, the service from the crew, and getting to spend time in a couple of Norwegian towns. And there have been significant lows with some blips in the food, and the way Saga approaches things - if you love Saga you'll not find these an issue - if you love cruising generally you probably won't warm to Saga. 
 

Itinerary and other things.

We're heading slowly towards Kristiansund now. The ships bad luck continues - we've a high chance we won't be able to dock, so will try to anchor, or failing that spend the day on the engines to keep place. Tenders will be used to get people ashore. Saga has a policy that if you can't step over a gap of 30cm unaided, you aren't allowed on a tender. On other lines, the crew have been incredibly skilful at transferring everyone across safely, however infirm, or even in (lightweight) wheelchairs. So I'm not sure I fully understand the requirement. But it will be a chance to see how the process works, with four tours going out, and trying to manage this number of people (75% capacity). It is due to be warmer (around +2c) so hopefully at least we won't have as much trouble with the doors.

If you get a chance to go to the north of Norway in winter, I'd say do it. Bring really good cold weather clothing (we discovered the jackets we were given aren't breathable, so they get very damp inside, especially the arms), and do every proper Nordic activity going. And if you are doing it as a cruise, do it with a ship that can handle the temperatures.

Having missed the two ports I was most looking forward to, I've found myself on a 17 night cruise with only four ports. When this happens, I think you have to REALLY like the ship. And when it's this cold, you have to like the INSIDE of the ship. Of course, with Saga, every cruise begins and ends in the UK, which means normally there are a couple of sea days each end. I think in warmer climes, with everything working and outdoor seating in use, it would be a totally different experience. I think it's also a different experience if you've grown old with Saga over the last 25 years. 

There's a tendency towards ever bigger ships, and a ship with a passenger capacity under 1000 is considered "boutique". This does not mean what it means on land. I'm not sure what SoA would feel like at capacity, but I suspect it would mean more queuing, especially in The Grill - although again if people can eat on the pool deck, everything changes. I find myself with a strong preference for the smaller ships of maybe 400 passengers. I like crew knowing my name from day one - but giving Kimberley and Anna-Marie (who manage the entrance to The Dining Room and The Grill) credit, they started to get my cabin number by about day four. I like a ship that's big enough you aren't in each other's pockets, but small enough to get to recognise most passengers. I also think that while flying is an option for me, I much prefer it to a UK dock. I'd like my whole cruise to be where I want to go, rather than in the getting there. And, actually I enjoy a mixture of nationalities on board - Saga is not exclusively British, but is predominantly so. 

I've not fallen in love with the ship or the cruise line - though I can see it has it's place in the market for it's own clientele. Time will tell if they will be able to keep recruiting at the younger end of their market, and what changes will be required for that to happen. 

THE AMALFI RESTAURANT

We ate here last night. It's an Italian themed restaurant, with an impressive menu of antipasti, soup, pasta, primo and main courses. The risottos were both impeccable - at the standard of some of the best I've had. And the two spaghetti dishes were equally well prepared.

Other dishes were a bit hit-and-miss: the caprese salad had tomatoes soooo cold that they had zero flavour, the parma ham with melon was four huge wedges of melon draped with two small pieces of ham, and the saltimbocca was great when it wasn't overcooked (but of six pieces across our table, only one wasn't overdone).  

Service was good, as normal, and the atmosphere was nice for a change from the Dining Room. 

The layout of the speciality restaurants means you approach this and the Khukuri down long empty corridors either side of the ship. It feels like an odd use of space.

Here's a photo of the caprese salad. 

21 hours ago, mcloaked said:

Thank you for taking the time to post all those details SaraSailing. It is a shame that there were significant problems with the ship's systems in the sub-zero temperatures. Presumably it is not the first time the ship, or her sister ship, has been in similar weather so perhaps surprising that it was not known ahead of time that it would cause problems. The pictures are valuable too, and I hope that life on board returns to more enjoyable and comfortable sailing very soon.

These things do happen, but there is perhaps more than the usual amount of lack of foresight. 

The ship has warmed up, and we are sailing south. I think most of the drips have been resolved. Some unlucky crew members have been tasked with clearing snow from the pool deck. Because the pool area is fully surrounded, they are having to shovel it into buckets, haul it up to deck 13 on a rope, then chuck it over the side. Which is a long and slow process. We've not been able to cross the pool deck for several days now, but maybe before we get back to Southampton they'll have recovered it. There are still at least two sliding doors stuck open. One from The Grill to the pool (but there is a second door) and one out onto the promenade deck - which fortunately has a bulkhead type door that is closed across it. I'm not sure if SoD's itinerary will change as a result of these problems. 

This morning the Living Room was fairly well divided between the Sage stalwarts who are perfectly happy, those sleeping on the sofas, and a fair amount of uproar: the 88ish people staying on for the Caribbean have been told they will be quarantined for four days from Southampton, but new passengers coming on will not be. I understand some Caribbean islands have close to a zero tolerance policy for covid, however this new policy does seem to punish the wrong people. We don't know how many people (passengers or crew) have tested positive on this segment, other than the first one from our (unplanned) second day in Bergen. 

 

22 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

I did wonder if there was any other cruise ship which had a copy of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English on board!

Well, that would be a treat!

Here's something that I think is unique to our itinerary, but maybe useful to know.

The Spirit of Adventure is designed to "thrive", the Captain says, at temperatures of -10c and above. Unfortunately, the average night time temperatures in Alta (where we stayed 2 nights) is -11c in February, with temperatures below -20c not uncommon. 

So, the ship did not thrive. The aircon in cabins went awry first, so the heat was redirected from public areas to cabins. This meant the public areas were extremely cold - dining staff in outdoor clothing. There were random alarms going off in electric cupboards for 24 hours, and water coming through light fittings (the fire sprinkler system pipes burst). The crew couldn't keep up with the snow, so most outdoor decks were closed, though the prom deck was sporadically open. Something bizarre about the aircon system means that in certain temperatures, opening any external door creates this suction/howling gale effect. This makes opening the doors kind of dangerous, and creates this freezing wind through the ship. But as soon as you are actually outside, there's no wind. Our second night in Alta, this was creating problems that even though everything was "fixed" the cold gale got everywhere in the public areas, even though the gangway way down on deck 4, behind a bulkhead door. It's been cold today in Narvik, and the same suction/gale effect made the Living Room only bearable in outdoor wear.

Some guests think it's entertaining that the ship was not designed for the known weather of the places we've visited. Whilst it's been "interesting", I have to admit I don't find it funny.

It's also a shame that the provided "Arctic" jackets are not the Goretex suggested beforehand. The material isn't breathable, so after a short walk the inside of the sleeves particularly is dripping wet. When I removed my jacket today my arms were cold and wet. This explains why we can feel cold, even when well wrapped up. Today in Narvik I bought a lovely shell jacket in the sale, lightweight enough to use at home, big enough to put a mid layer under, and fully waterproof, windproof and breathable. Hopefully I get to try it out in Kristiansund in a couple of days.

This has obviously affected the trip considerably. Sailing is never predictable, but some of this was highly predictable, with a decent risk assessment. 


After this, and storms meaning we missed the two best ports, Saga have offered free excursions in Kristiansund, as a "gesture of goodwill". I'm not a big fan of guided tours, so I'll not be taking up the offer, though many guests were happy to.

On 2/16/2022 at 2:29 PM, Vivaldi said:

Going back to one of your earlier posts about the cost of cabins, I've noticed a quirk in Saga's pricing. There are a number of De Luxe cabins on the S of A, including four for single use, the latter being S007, S507, C025 and D026. There are also a few cabins adapted for wheelchairs, and amongst those are D025 and D526 which are the same size as the De Luxe cabins. But here's the quirk: those two cabins are listed under "Standard Twin Cabins" rather than De Luxe ones. So it seems that, for those two cabins, a guest using a wheelchair and their partner can enjoy a cabin of the same size as the one you currently occupy, but at the standard cabin price, which, booked early, is in the £200 to £250 pppd range. Could anyone confirm this or correct me?

You wouldn't have butler service, though, but it does seem to be a bit of a bargain for those lucky enough to get one of these cabins. 

On 2/13/2022 at 1:30 PM, nosapphire said:

We had a table for two in the main dining room, and had to ask the waiters to slow down the delivery of food, as we like a small gap between courses, not the next course being put down as the previous course was being cleared - felt like a conveyor belt at times.

So then we ended up with cold food, as it still came up from the kitchen at the same time and sat on the side waiting for us.

 

 

On 2/13/2022 at 12:06 PM, mcloaked said:

 

That is disappointing to hear, but I will appreciate any photos of the dance floors - the Saga new ships do look nice, and the experience looks good in general - but we really would miss it if were could not do a reasonable amount of ballroom and Latin dancing every evening (and some in the daytime too, like we have experienced at Cunard's Afternoon Tea Dances in the Queens Room).

PUBLIC ROOMS

This is interesting, because we are on a 987 capacity ship, with about 750 people on it. Over 800 had booked, but 40 cancelled in the last week or so before sailing, and 40 were turned away at the port because they, their partner or their taxi driver tested positive for covid. So we are seeing a ship massively under capacity, but still I'm told the most passengers she's carried so far. And, honestly, it's a bit crowded compared to what I'm used to. Under normal conditions the outside space would be more used, of course. 

The main public spaces (excluding restaurants and theatre) are:
The Living Room
The North Cape Bar
The Britannia Lounge
The Library, Craft Room and Card Room

Because of the layout of the atrium, whatever music is in the Living Room carries up through the bar and the library area. Entertainment is divided between the Britannia Lounge, the Playhouse (theatre), the Living Room and the Supper Club after dinner. The Living Room is always brightly lit and a bit like a waiting room at a posh doctor's office. The bar is always fairly dimly lit, and the Britannia has pretty coloured lights.

I'm going to go back through all my internal photos, and see if I can get them in some kind of order. It's been an "exciting" few days, but more of that in another comment.

I'll also separate out the external photos tomorrow - though these have been largely closed during this voyage.

The Living Room goes right across the ship, and sits between the fore and aft stairs/lifts. On the other side of the aft stairs is the Dining Room. The open corridor from the living room to the dining room has the reception desk on one side and guest relations & shore excursions the other. Sometimes the gangway opens off the Living Room. Both shops are in corners of this space too. At the moment there is also a temperature scanner, which measures everyone who walks past. Formal night photos (if you like that kind of thing) are taken here too. There is a grand staircase to nowhere, with a piano underneath. The bar serves different snacks at different times of day, and you can get fresh ice cream too. This area is generally pretty busy, and it's a massive thoroughfare. There are lots of different seating options, with some people spending hours here with their crosswords and quiz sheets.

The Britannia Lounge also goes right across the ship at the front. Except the band stage takes the very middle front, so it's not like a traditional observation lounge. Again, Saga have tried to break up the large expanse with lots of different types of furniture - some more successful than others. Some of the nicer areas are at the sides in the corridor sections, like downstairs.

The Library goes on for ever. Occasionally you'll find someone snoring in a corner, but it's pretty dead. Not quiet, because the piano in the Living Room is loud, and the sound travels up through the Atrium. At the moment there are only fake books, because covid? 

We wanted coffee today. But downstairs was freezing everywhere, and there was a loud quiz in Britannia. So we retreated to cabins. It feels the ship is really missing some cozy spaces and a good observation lounge...

The Craft Room is only used on sea days, and occupies a prime space on the atrium balcony.

And yes, there is hand sanitiser EVERYWHERE!

PHOTOS

All in crazy order, despite best efforts...

Library coffee machine.

 Britannia Lounge dance floor, view out of window

Living Room, from one corridor across.

Corner of Living Room, open to corridor to reception, shore excursions, Dining Room and aft stairs

Living Room central bar

The atrium and staircase that would be lovely if it went anywhere...

Art in the Library, and the long corridor...
.

Craft Room - the curtained side has windows out to the lifeboats, the balcony looks down two floors to the Living Room.

14 hours ago, mcloaked said:

 

I would certainly like to know more detail about ballroom dancing times and opportunities. 

I just spoke to my parents, and they reported that @norbertsniece (Linda) who is also on board asked the cruise director. As @wacktle says, the ballroom dancing is only 45 minutes a day, straight before dinner.

I think you'd find that very disappointing, especially compared to what Cunard offer. Silversea have two small dance floors, and my in-laws were happy enough with that. This ship has a different focus. 

I will take some photos of the public rooms, as you might see opportunites. But my sense is this is a fairly sedentary ship, compared to what I'm used to. As I'm still rehabbing a back injury, that is not so bothersome for me. 

THE GRILL - LUNCH

I did a tour of most of the Grill and took photos today. They should all be fairly obvious, even though working around the safety screens isn't easy. Some of the photos are loading upside down, but I can't fix it!!!

But I did have the stir fry today (cooked to order), and asked for an extra hot sauce. It had enough chilli tingle to please me!

Also dinner tonight I again had a vegetarian main with a meat protein, and they cooked my a special fried rice without peas. 

2 hours ago, Louby-Lou said:

We were on SoA's last cruise in a suite - sorry, I didn't realise the coffee machines were only in suites.  The afternoon tea 'tea' is just as bad but much better if you ask for a pot.

 

Regarding wheelchair users, we did see 2 or 3 on the last cruise.  We witnessed members of the crew helping one gentleman down the gangway.  I am sure some of the 'included' excursions catered for wheelchairs as we saw a lady on a mechanical lift getting into a bus.  Her wheelchair went underneath along with a selection of walking frames.  

 

Brenda

 

That's all good info, thank you! 

3 hours ago, mcloaked said:

However I would greatly value it if anyone on this forum and thread, who is also a ballroom dancer, could post some information about when it is possible to dance in the Britannia Lounge on SoA/SoD? 

Good questions. My in-laws love dancing, and that is one of the things they liked about Silversea, and loved the Cunard dance floor. 

There is a ballroom dancing time of 6pm in the BL, which doesn't really clash with dinner, as dinner is usually 6:30-8:30pm. My programme says there is also dancing after 10:30pm in the BL, though I don't know if this is ballroom. I'll try and ask at reception next time I pass.

There is live music in the "Living Room" every evening. The Living Room itself is kind of soulless, but you could go up onto deck 6, around the atrium, and enjoy the music in a slightly more relaxed way. The Supper Club also has music after dinner, and I'm sure there is space for people who didn't eat there, or just outside that space in the bar. 

Normally on Silversea I'd go to the bar before and after dinner, but here I've been less tempted by the spaces. Maybe because they are thoroughfares, or the lighting, or something. 

2 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

I suspect that you will not choose Saga instead of Silversea in the future, but if you are still undecided, and given the fact that your husband is a wheelchair user, have you looked at the thread "Warning to wheelchair users" on this Saga Forum site? The original poster expressed disquiet about Saga's official position on the matter, although it appears that in practice a decent amount of assistance is given. If there are wheelchair users on your current cruise it might be useful to ask them how helpful the crew have been and whether they have encountered any problems. 

 

I've not seen any full time wheelchair users, who are the people I'd want to ask. I've already had a strong conversation about the wording, and the line I was given is "if you talk to us before you go, we can give you confidence". So, it would certainly be something that would need attention. Interestingly, the wording pretty much mirrors Seabourn's, one reason we've never sailed with them!

Silversea have been largely brilliant in terms of assistance, other than when it would genuinely be dangerous (like getting into a tender in very choppy water). Then there is a question of accessible excursions, where Silversea are terrible, as are Saga. If the cruise lines don't press local firms to provide coaches with access, it will never change. And whilst it's for a very small percentage of cruisers, I think many people are impressed when they see a line caring. With Silversea I've worked out what is possible when it really matters, as I hate going into battle with shore concierge. But I will, and once I managed to get an accessible coach for a tour, and then told the other wheelchair user - he was so excited, the first thing he did was buy the driver a coffee!

3 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

Sara - can you get a decent coffee from the machine in your room? I’m not a coffee drinker and found that the tea in the dining room and grill was awful - it was stewed and had a definite coffee tang. I asked for a pot of tea which was much better as it was fresh. Maybe the coffee would be better in a pot.

 

Brenda

It is a bit stewed, true! But I guess we each have our limits, and I prefer bad tea to bad coffee. It made me appreciate the little cafe in Bergen even more. I guess the thermal jugs get used for tea and coffee, so they will always slightly tang of the other?

My cabin is "deluxe", so I get the kettle and packets of instant coffee, tea and fresh milk in the fridge. I believe the suites get a pod machine. I did get room service to bring me packets of Ovaltine, and I think they'd happily bring you any of the other teabags available. My parents are getting pots of green tea, which is made fresh and is good. And I've not tried the afternoon tea teas - I've no idea if they are fresh and interesting. 

1 hour ago, LandC said:

Thanks for the review of the food Sara.  I agree that coffee served in the restaurants is not great.  I found the coffee  the Living Room to be better.  Have you tried the Amalfi restaurant yet?

 

We've booked that near the end of the cruise. I'll write more

On 2/10/2022 at 2:11 PM, Vivaldi said:

Hope you are having an enjoyable trip, and look forward to any comments you might have regarding the food on board.

FOOD. 

Yes, good point. I think I felt too sick to start there. But reception sorted me out with pills (free, compared to I believe P&O make you buy a packet of 10). Amazing stuff, phenergan. I've been fine since. 

So, there is a main dining room, down on deck 5. I believe it isn't big enough for everyone at once. But the expectation is that enough people will go to the Grill (open seating) or one of three speciality restaurants (booked, but free), or use the included room service.

TIMING
First, meal time windows are quite short, on average two hours. If you are used to a megaship 24 hour buffet, that might be a shock. I am used to actual meal times, and I like it, although perhaps in good weather there would be a pool deck meal service for a longer lunch. But today there is snow on the pool deck! During restaurant hours you can order the dining room menu in your cabin, and there is a 24 room service menu. Breakfast they do ask you to put the card out the night before. 

ROOM SERVICE
I ordered a room service burger and caesar salad. They took less than 20 minutes to come. The little table in the cabin makes a fine dining table. I unloaded the tray and used the cloth like a table cloth (I guess I'm used to having a table set with, say, SS room service) The burger was perfect, soft, not over-cooked, juicy, and in a bun that melted away. Couldn't fault it. The salad was a bit sad: soggy, flavourless, with fake bac'n bits (which is especially sad, as the breakfast crispy bacon is brilliant). Room service also brought me a whole plateful of Ovaltine packets, to support my habit of a milky drink and movie after dinner. I went for a walk straight after, and the tray was cleared away very quickly. The menu is a lot smaller than SS, but I reckon they'd do pretty much anything you ask, if you allow a bit of time! In the old days SS would bring you dinner course by course, but with the demise of the main dining room on their newer ships, I think that option has gone.

LOCATIONS
Most people eat in the Grill (deck 12)  for breakfast and lunch, when it is a buffet. I believe dinner time is table service, but I could be wrong. The food is basically the same as the Dining Room (deck 5) but the environment is less formal, even in the evening. So the Grill is where people go for a faster meal, and to not dress up in the evening. The layout of the Grill is slightly odd - two very long thin seating areas on the sides, a huge and complicated central food area. The seating areas are tightly packed, and it isn't easy to get up and down, or to pass other people. If you use a wheelchair you'd need to have a reserved table right by one of the entrances to the food area. The food area layout means there is a lot of milling around. Then in the evening, you can also book Amalfi (Italian), Khurkuri (Nepalese), or the Supper Club (all on deck 6).

BREAKFAST
I've only eaten in the Grill for breakfast. There is always a breakfast of the day advertised on the tables, which you can order from a waiter, or from the hot station. Often this is a poached egg/muffin combo of various sorts. But we've also had a kind of shashuka. Today was chick peas, and yesterday a small naan with chilli and avocado. When I've had these, they've always been good, quick, and a small portion so you can eat other things too. On SS, special orders at breakfast can take a significant time to show up. There are all the usual juices, jugs of coffee and tea, and you can order other teas or coffees. The coffee from the machines is not good, so I've kind of given up on coffee during the day. Given SS do excellent coffee, I do miss this. There is also a waiter walking around offering hot toast, which I guess is a British thing. There's a big range of cereals (another British line thing), a small selection of disappointing pastries, a standard hot counter (big choice), porridge, fruit, yoghurt, bircher muesli, fresh to order pancakes (I had a bite out of one, it was a bit claggy in the middle and fairly tasteless, but you can drench them in syrup, I guess) and waffles (not tried these) and I think you can order omlettes. There is also a very small cold meat and cheese section hidden away, but it doesn't look at all tempting - normally I'd have cold meats for breakfast on SS, so I've changed my habits here. Oh, and the usual daily juice and smoothie. In short, breakfast is fine. On the days I fancy the special, it's quite good. I miss nice coffee, though. 

LUNCH
Again, only eaten this in the Grill, though the menu is identical in the restaurant. There are the usual range of salads (I had a fennel salad, it was rather good), a big serrano him that is carved when you want some, soup, the hot section for the appetisers and mains, a fresh stir-fry to order or the "always available" steak or fish to order, roast of the day, and a pasta. I saw some sandwiches, and these change daily. There's a cheese board - Saga have a huge variety of good cheeses, something SS could learn from (although SS have massively improved this over the years). And desserts are dainty and pretty - there's a sugar-free option, and you can always order ice cream (vanilla, flavour of the day, and sorbet of the day), plus, of course, the stodgy pudding and custard option. The first Sunday roast lunch was disappointing, the yorkshires were tasteless and chewy. I'd say the quality of produce is not always the best, but what the chefs do with it is usually quite impressive. The people who want fish and chips every day can (slightly soggy batter, nondescript chips), the people who want a little bit more variety can have that too. On SS there is always a sushi station with several choices, and my husband has had that for lunch about 100 times, so he'd be disappointed here. I'd usually go for roast of the day and salad or steamed veg on SS, but after the first Sunday roast I haven't really been tempted. As with any cruise ship, the Asian dishes tend to have the most flavour, and one especially good one was little chicken lollipops with a spicy dipping sauce. It is hard to get enough heat in the curries. Chef told me they make a chilli sauce that I could ask for, but efforts to track it down at lunchtime have proved futile. (On SS they keep a jar of sambal olek on hand for people like me who enjoy chilli heat to their spicy food.) The nature of a buffet means that people are sometimes eating weird and wonderful combinations! Oh, and yesterday I had a lovely Goan fish curry cooked to order (I'm allergic to legumes, but most staff are being very helpful at helping me, one or two aren't - which is quite challenging). The ice cream has been good so far, except the vanilla which is a bit dense and overly sweet, and the mince pie flavour the was bland - otherwise the variety has been good - do I think the ice cream is as good as SS? No, probably not quite, but plenty good enough to enjoy every day. One thing I've come to appreciate with SS is someone carrying my plate for me when we're at sea. The waiters here will intervene if someone looks exceptionally wobbly, but I've seen a few dinners almost poured over guests heads by other guests, and there's a fair amount of needing to stop suddenly given the layout and number of tight corners. There is wine served at lunch, without having to order specially, though I did see two ladies order four glasses of champagne yesterday. 

AFTERNOON TEA
That classic cruise tradition, and I've not had a single one, yet. But I guess I should try once before I leave the ship!

DINNER
Dinner is where Saga shine in many ways. I've mostly eaten in the Dining Room - I like people watching, and the theatre of the main dining room. You can ask in advance for a fixed table/time, or take your chances. You are allocated a table somewhere for the first night, but after that it's up to you. I've found the quality of food at dinner pretty much excellent, and though the menu is short, you can play around with it. Vegetarians, vegans, and those with allergies are encourage to order the night before to make sure you can have something suitable - I don't like this, as part of the fun of dinner for me is sitting with a menu. However, I've tried today to hand my menu in at breakfast, as I think what I liked the look of would need to be changed to handle my pea allergy. The ordering system the waiters have seems clunky compared to the SS system, and on SS my allergy would show up for the waiter so they could check. There is a slight leaning towards a lot of creamy sauces, though not every day. Over the years I've learnt the art of menu wrangling, and I don't often get it wrong. The soups are fine, and bit bland, but fine. I've found having a second appetiser a better choice, or a vegetarian main course without the potatoes. I've also found vegetarian main courses with extra protein from somewhere else on the menu is a good option. There is always sorbet, and you can go classic and have this before the main. The food is cooked and presented well, the portions are small, so you can have multiple courses without feeling sick. They are always happy to add extra veg, or make things bigger or smaller. There have certainly been dishes to rival the best on SS, and there have been one or two that are more nursery food like. The cheese boards at dinner have plenty of choice, and change regularly. The service is exemplary, and the wine waiters are attentive. There are a selection of included digestifs to have with dessert. The one time of day the coffee is pleasant is after dinner. The double espresso is nice, not great, but decent. The petit fours look like an afterthought. They are mostly things that can be made in big trays and then diced into portions. They don't look great, and I've not had any that were memorable so far. 

KHUKURI
One of the free speciality restaurants. Apart from one waiter who simply couldn't get his head around my allergy, it was a great experience - and a senior waiter made sure everything served to me was safe. We finally found the special chilli sauce, although it came with a lot of warnings about how hot it was. It wasn't. It was pleasant, it added depth to the food, but definitely pretty tame. The Nepalese menu, the special plates, the service, and the atmosphere were all really good. I had a duck curry, which came with the roast duck pieces arranged on the plate, and little dipping pots of two different sauces (plus I got another of the chilli sauce). Not the absolute best curry I ever had at sea (that honour goes to a Malaysian prawn curry on a galley lunch on SS), but tasty, and a lovely mixed starter platter. 

OVERALL
Although maybe the menu is slightly skewed to more traditional tastes, I think there is something for everyone here. My hunt for spice and good coffee aside, I think with a bit of thought I'll continue to enjoy the next 10 days. Service is almost always brilliant, and the talent in the kitchens is clear. 

IMAGES
A raspberry and choc dessert
The failed sunday roast
Room service burger
My Dad's breakfast
A veggie main with torpedo prawns on the side
And the proper spicy naan brekkie

On 2/9/2022 at 9:46 AM, Glenndale said:

Sara,

One thing to bear in mind is the timing of your booking.

The sooner you book after the itineraries are released the cheaper the price, whereas some lines reduce prices closer to sailing.

 

 

I decided not to get into that, because I think I'd drive myself crazy. I'm just seeing: are the prices comparable, and the answer is yes, on a like-for-like basis. I'm also used to having a price promise, if the price was dropped after booking, I'd benefit from that reduction too.

If cheap is a priority, it's nice to know that on a line like Saga you can get everything someone in a suite gets, except in a smaller cabin, and it will be a lot, lot cheaper. But if luxury is important, to know that for a very similar cost to a suite on Saga, you could sail ultra-luxury and benefit from everything those ships offer. And, of course if money is a top priority, I guess you'd look at an inside cabin on a megaship!

First topic: PRICING

This is a 17 night cruise, and my solo deluxe cabin cost just shy of £10k. As a solo, Saga seem to charge about 3k more than for sharing, so if I were travelling with my husband we'd expect our individual fares to be more like 7k each. Checking across to our normal line, a 17 night, all-inclusive, door-to-door cruise starts at 8k pp for a window suite, rising to 9.5k for a balcony suite. A suite on a Saga 18 night cruise is currently being offered with 20% off, for £10k pp. The Saga suite is divided with a wall (which therefore requires a tiny bit more floor space), the Silversea with a curtain.

So, like-for-like, it's pretty much a draw. 

However, Saga obviously have balconies for every cabin, and a small cabin starts at a much lower price. So, if you value external space relative to internal, then you get more with Saga. If you value internal space and butler service, at the lower end of Silversea you are winning. If you want cheapest possible, then Saga have the lowest prices of the two. 

Personally, I like space. This might be because my husband uses a wheelchair, so we use a lot of space. I also like having a butler who deals with everything for me. But we also value private outdoor space, and if we wanted to cut back on costs we could certainly get the balcony in an accessible cabin here for less than Silversea.

I've attached a video and photo of a "Deluxe Solo" cabin (using data, not the wifi). It's about 50% wider than standard.

13 hours ago, lincslady said:

And the included insurance and especially  door to door transport are a real bonus.  Put your luggage just inside the front door as your driver arrives, and you don't need to touch it again until it appears in your cabin.

 

  

Interestingly, I'm back to Norway with Silversea in a couple of months, and that is door-to-door included too. Obviously, we'll have flights (Copenhagen out, Hamburg back), but I don't mind that compared to two days in the North Sea each way.

And the included insurance? I think that's great for say my parents (who I'm cruising with). But, as an experiment I refused the included and then immediately asked Saga to quote me for exactly the same cover. The "refund" for refusing the included insurance was £75, and the quote for exactly the same for me was £35. In the grand scheme of a 17 night cruise it's not significant, of course!

18 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

We will be on SoA in July after a decade of sailing with Silversea. Post-pandemic (nearly) SS has markedly increased its pricing - it was already expensive but is now getting silly. So we thought we'd give Saga a go. For similar itineraries a quick wet-finger-in-the-air calculation show Saga to be about 40% cheaper per diem. 

 

So other passengers' comparisons between Saga and the so-called six star lines (Silversea, Seabourn, Regent) should be very illuminating. 

Well, we've mostly sailed on Silversea (like you for over 10 years), and have so much credit with them from cancellations, we have a few more booked. 

I'm trying to do a proper price comparison, first like-with-like, and then the ranges. Obviously, Saga start cheaper and top out cheaper, but I've a sneaking sense that like-for-like it's damn close. I'll let you know when I've crunched some numbers!

18 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

In my last post I should have added that I am very keen,  SaraSailing, to hear what you think of Saga compared to your usual cruise line, and it was a bit rude of me not to mention that. Apologies. Which ultra-luxury line is that, out of interest?

 

I look forward to your comments and photos. Have a great cruise!

 

Not rude at all! I'm not doing a normal review or blog, I'm just going to compare the things I've noticed. We've cruised for 13 years on Silversea, and once on Cunard, on one of their taster cruises. 

19 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Saga’s much more expensive, though, depending on whether you drink, take excursions and use the home to port transfers.

Well, right now, Saga have massively stepped up the "fully inclusive". The shared car from home was individual (covid benefit), and that was included - in fact, only two choices were their taxi or drive yourself and park at terminal (covid, again). Drinks are all included, except for some premium brands. But the wine is perfectly nice. Coffee, on the other hand, ranges from acceptable to terrible - don't believe anyone who tells you it's good. I think the machines have slightly stale coffee in them, and then the water is too hot and scalds it. It was wonderful to get a carefully made, high quality coffee in Bergen! 

Anyway, also included are some tours. Mostly coach trips with brief stops. But the Northern Lights exploration trips are included. Today while we're stuck hiding from the storms, most people are heading off on a free 3-hour catamaran trip up and down the fjords. 

Trying to think what else is included. All the sauna (and infrared sauna), all the covid tests (including your taxi driver), the sports stuff. And then entertainment, as you'd expect. Tips and gratuities included too.

A slightly random list, but I think you'll find Saga have upped their game for 2022 in terms of what is included, and how much the extras cost.