Medeba

We liked our one Viking Ocean cruise very much (Northern Lights Jan 2019) but we paid more per night for that cruise than we have ever done and that's nearly five years ago!  I would like to cruise with them again but we too are no longer keen on flying (but would do it for a special cruise).  I haven't checked recently but I think Saga's prices are a fair amount less than Viking's, especially if you book at pre registration time.  Saga's entertainment is definitely better and it is 'all inclusive' which Viking isn't.  I do prefer the Viking ships - they are so stylish - but, overall, I think Saga is better value for money. We do miss the international passenger vibe on Saga, though.

On 12/11/2023 at 4:18 AM, Tranquility Base said:

Does anyone have the address for the port / dock which Oceania may use please ?

Something to use for our car service pick up point.

Thanks.

You may find this link useful (but it only goes up to March 2024 at the moment):

https://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/Live_Information/Shipping_Movements_and_Cruise_Ship_Schedule/Cruise_Ship_Schedule/

11 hours ago, JMMKUK said:

We only eat breakfast & dinner so dine early because we are starving by 6:30.

Same here but I may succumb to one of the lovely ice creams in the afternoon 😁.

1 hour ago, LandC said:

We didn’t book any winter cruises.  The Adriatic cruise looked interesting, but we felt that the departure in February was too early for this itinerary.

We have pre-registered for April to December 2025, and look forward to hearing from Saga soon!

I booked a 2024 5 day cruise a couple of days ago (it still had a 35% discount on E deck cabins) and I took the opportunity to ask about when the summer 2025 cruises would be available for those who had pre-registered.  I was told 'probably' January/February.

Looks like Bilbao has been added to SoA's itinerary.  Not sure though where it fits into the revised itinerary - perhaps first stop?

Have just read on other social media about the Adventure's revised itinerary:

Leaving Falmouth today (Saturday 4 November)

A Coruna 6 (evng) & 7 November

Vigo 8 November

Leixoes (Porto) 9 November

Lisbon 10 November (back on original itinerary)

Portsmouth 13 November

As FannyLiz says free shore excursions have been arranged from Falmouth (quite a feat given the circumstances).  Someone also mentioned some form of compensation but had no details.

59 minutes ago, LandC said:

I received an email from Saga this evening stating Winter 2025 cruises are about to go on sale (for those of us who didn’t pre-register).

Yes I too got the email.  The quote below is from that email which, given that it was sent out Thursday evening, only leaves two days for "more news"! 🤔 😂  Perhaps they were referring to news about ALL 2025 cruises 😁.  Who knows!

"Keep your eyes peeled for more news about our 20‌25 cruises later this week"

5 hours ago, NorbertsNiece said:

Feeling teary.

So sorry the end of your lovely cruise has you feeling like this 😢.  Is it because the cruise has ended or the fact that you're cramped in a too small vehicle?  If the latter, I think a word in Saga's ear beckons.

Many thanks for a great blog @NorbertsNiece.  Safe journey home.

22 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

Don’t you dare !  Please make sure he gets her back on time. I have a close neighbour who is off to the Canaries on her next Tuesday.

 

Enjoy the rest of the trip and thank you again for your blog. I swear I’ve put on several pounds just looking at the photos of the food.

We too know a couple due to start their cruise next Tuesday so 🤞🏻there will be no delay!

My thanks to both @Glenndale and @Windsurfboy for the QG v Saga comments.  I've found it all very informative.

I thought Saga had got on top of this problem.. Obviously not.

1 hour ago, Glenndale said:

One reason we have 2 Queen Anne, Queens Grill cruises booked for 2025 for around the cost of a deluxe room on Saga.

This really interests me as I've never cruised with Cunard.  When you make your cost comparison with a deluxe room on Saga, does the overall cost of your Queen Anne cruise in Queen's Grill include all the 'extras' that Saga provide eg transport, gratuities, free drinks, insurance for the same length of cruise?  If so, I think I may be looking at Cunard more closely!

Very enjoyable blog.  I appreciate the time and effort in producing it.  Thanks Linda.

I agree with Bloodaxe. We have done a few Azamara cruises, the last one being in September.  We thought the Azamara Journey was looking very tired and in need of refurbishment.  The Saga bathrooms in the standard cabins are far superior and the ship is much newer and shinier.  We too miss the international mix of passengers on Saga though. We enjoy the entertainment more on Saga and there is a wider choice of alcohol included in the cruise fare. On our last Azamara cruise we thought that the crew didn't seem so happy and there were difficulties with some restaurant staff misunderstanding requests.  Food quality and choice seems to have declined on Azamara but reading comments on CC that seems to be true of many cruise lines. The crew on the Saga ships seem much more attuned to the age of their clientele and go the extra mile to make sure the passengers are well looked after.

So whilst we have enjoyed our Azamara cruises with their great itineraries, it looks like Saga will become our cruise line of choice in the future (although I don't rule out other lines).  It's so much nicer not to have to fly to a cruise and be collected from and delivered back home. 

58 minutes ago, norn iron said:

Excuse the pun, but its a bit like horses for courses

The two golf courses are like chalk and cheese, Royal Portrush is a Links course and Adare Manor parkland.

 

Just shows you what I know about golf!🤣

4 hours ago, manc said:

A staff member is now employed to arrange more Chef's Tables on every cruise. Significantly more opportunities on Intensive Scotland and Intensive Ireland cruises on Journey than previously found. Also a Rice Table. A large number of passengers were b2b so may have booked for Chef's Table before new passengers boarded  

I think you're right about the b2b passengers booking the chef's tables.  There appeared to be quite a few chef's tables planned but by 2pm on embarkation day you could only go on a waiting list: we didn't.

You have to be quick to book the chef's table.  On the recent Ireland Intensive cruise we went straight to the pool deck as soon as we boarded in Dublin at about 2pm and all the chef's tables were booked.

On 9/3/2023 at 7:28 PM, AllisonJames said:

 

One more small Con - Journey is looking a little bit down at the heels, just not as shiny as previously…hopefully she will be spruced up in drydock, she deserves it!

We have just returned from the Ireland Intensive cruise which followed yours.  We agree with your comment about the condition of the ship, especially the furnishings.  We also thought that the crew didn't appear as happy as the crew on the Journey last October.  The senior officers were not very visible.

We did have a problem sorting out our OBC (no OBC showing after a couple of days) and I'm glad I had our Azamara invoice on email, which customer relations asked me to send to them, to confirm that we were due the credit.  I then had to get customer relations to deduct our previously booked excursions (out of OBC) as they initially gave us all of the $1000 credit. All good in the end. 

One thing I didn't know was that you can buy bottles of alcohol onboard which we did to use up some OBC.  I expect we've never thought about this before as we've always had to fly home.  Coming back to Southampton meant taking alcohol off the ship was not an issue (we only bought one bottle of gin!).

1 hour ago, Riocca said:

I will admit I have very little knowledge about golf but is it possible that this was a Perry Golf cruise and if so is there a course near Foynes that would be popular with golfers?

I cannot be 100% sure but I think the Perry Golfers on the Aug/Sept Intensive Ireland cruise went to Adare Manor from Foynes (even better than Portrush in Country Antrim).  We met a couple of golfers and they said it was the best course on the whole trip (the other courses were also very good).  

Here is the list of included drinks on our Discovery cruise in May.  Hope it's helpful.  Apologies for the fuzziness of the text!

Here is the list of charged drinks

18 hours ago, tiggis said:

Can you choose your reserved table or do you have to accept the one that is allocated to you?

On our last cruise we sat next to a couple in the MDR who had booked a specific table pre cruise.

14 hours ago, twotravellersLondon said:

Those who try to cut down on caffeine can experience withdrawal symptoms.

My husband was advised to cut out caffeine for medical reasons and it worked (and luckily without any withdrawal symptoms).  Decaf coffee for him now and I have decaf tea to keep him company😊.

13 hours ago, GerryL13 said:

And here is the view from SoA. Could hear shouting from your side but not from ours/

 

Hi Gerry.  Thanks for posting these photos.  I like to think I can just about see me on the upper aft deck waving at you 🤨😂

I'm SO glad I don't like coffee....🤣