Denarius

I agree totally. I have been cruising for 30 years and have taken over 50 cruises with several different lines, initially with my late partner and more recently as a solo cruiser. When we first started sailing, cruise ships typically carried 600 to 800 passengers. Whilst facilities were few compared with todays mega ships, there was an camaraderie onboard. You felt that you were one of a crowd, not a stranger within it. Then ships got bigger and bigger, entertainment options multiplied, but somewhere along the way that camaraderie was lost. Saga ships have that camaraderie. Passengers actually talk to and socialise with one another rather than just dashing from show to show. And that's what imo makes Saga special.

This thread appears to have been hijacked by coffee afficinados. May I respectfully suggest that the quality of coffee is not a major factor for most people in deciding which cruise line to sail with.

Probably leave the ship at about 2pm arriving at the airport by 3pm, but it could be up to an hour or so earlier depending on other flight timings. If you are on a scheduled flight the check in at the airport usually opens between two and two and a half hours before your flight. If you are on a charter your luggage is taken direct to your flight and you do not see it after putting it outsde your cabin until you pick it up at your destination airport - so don't pack anything in it that you might want to retreive before then!

You have to vacate your cabin at the same time as other passengers but can stay on the ship and use the public facilities including the restaurants, or come and go as you please, until it is time for you to be taken to the airport. There is usually somewhere you can leave your hand luggage safely until it is time to leave, or sometimes as an alternative you can book a day cabin at an extra cost.

The "small print" of Saga's price promise reads "This applies as long as the discounted holiday is the same package offered under the same terms of sale (which means the full terms that apply to your holiday contract, including your cabin grade and whether your cabin is allocated at the time of booking or at embarkation). Ad-hoc services are excluded. In calculating any possible saving due, we’ll take into consideration all offers and discounts that were applied at the time of booking and compare the overall price that you’ve been charged with the current price. We will pass on the value of the saving in the form of a higher-grade cabin, or other added value benefit." The highlighting is mine but is significant. You only get additional benefit if you could have subsequently booked your cabin at a lower price than you are paying, as the purpose of the guarantee is to ensure that you do not lose out by booking early. I am on SU106, sadly not in a suite but in a standard single cabin. I booked early and the price I paid is less than the current price. So I will not get additional benefit, neither would I expect to get any unless the price falls to less than I am paying.

Although I am not personally affected I have been following this thread with interest. IMO opinion your second paragraph hits the nail on the head. It appears to me that there are two separate issues involved which are in danger of being confused. The absence of in flight entertainment and the absence of premium economy seating. As regards in flight entertainment, whilst this is common nowadays it was not always so. And even today it is not offered by budget airlines like Ryanair, Jet2 and Easyjet. I cannot see anything in P&Os literature which says that it will be provided although past experience may have led many to believe that it would. I do not believe that its absence is a reasonable reason for cancellation without penalty. Premium economy seating is IMO a different matter. Passengers paid extra for a facility which they were led to believe would be available, and made their booking on that basis. For some it was just a matter of personal preference, for others it was in their view a physical necessity. Whilst it may be debatable whether in legal terms a breach of contract has occured, in moral terms it undoubtedly has. As you say, only a relatively small number of passengers are affected by this and it would not have been unreasonable for P&O to give them the opportunity to cancel without penalty. Many would not have done so - for them the absence would not have been seen as a deal breaker - but would appreciate having been given the opportunity. Those who did would have been dissappointed to have lost their holiday but gratefull that P&O had dealt with the issue sympathetically. As it is, P&O have had a lot of bad publicity which could have easily been avoided.

I agree. I had a similar situation earlier this year. I had booked a river fly cruise which included only provisional flight details because at the time I booked the flight schedule was yet to be confirmed by the airline. Unfortunately the airline withdrew the service which meant that the river cruise company had to source an alternative flight with another airline. The only flight available was at a very unsociable hour. In informing us of this, they asked us to confirm that we accepted the change and offered cancelation with a full refund of monies paid if we did not. Contractually I am not sure that they were obliged to do this, but I am sure that in customer and public relations terms it was the right thing to do. In the event I understand that most of us accepted the change but the fact that we had the option not to do so meant that the company avoided bad publicity.

Watch and learn!

Whilst not being a fan of formal dress I concur with your sentiments. I have always been happy to don black tie onshore on special occasions which demanded it, such as professional dinners. At sea, I am happy to wear it on special occasions like the captain's reception. I cannot however see the point of wearing it where there is nothing to distinguish that evening from any other, just because someone has decided that there must be so many formal evenings during the cruise.

To dress formally or not to dress formally, that is the question. A thorny one, as regulars on the P&O board will attest! When the subject is raised on these boards, formal nights are always defended vociferously. My own personal experience however, is that on the occasions when the topic is raised onboard more people tend to favour smart casual. I was interested therefore to read post #26 which recalls a ballot being held on a Saga ship in which given the choice, a "resounding majority" opted for smart casual.

Or to rephrase, we have stopped building new ships with libraries so we can replace them with revenue raising facilities. Libraries do not raise onboard revenue, which is what modern mass market cruising is all about. So anything which does not make money is replaced by something which does.

Yes. Used to be quite common amongst regular cruisers when I first started cruising in the 1990s. I had one myself. Some men used to take both black and white DJs. Nowadays you still see them occasionally, but most wear black. Not quite sure why.

I used to be in the same situation before the included mileage was increased from 250 to 300. You can opt for a shared car and will be charged a mileage rate (not sure what it is nowadays) in respect of mileage in excess of the included 300 in either direction. ie, if you live 400 miles away you will be charged for 2x(400-300)=200 miles. You can have a sole use car but would pay a higher mileage rate in respect of mileage in excess of 75 each way ie, in the previous example, 2x(400-75)=650 miles which would work out much more expensive. There is also the option to be collected from home and driven to your local airport for an included domestic flight to London, from whence you would be collected and driven to the port. Not sure how this works or whether there are any resrictions as I have never spoken to anyone who has done this - it may be a fairly new option. Perhaps someone who has used it could advise, or you could always ask Saga.

The cutbacks continue!

Cannot say that I am surprised.

Or do like I do and wear a formal bolo tie (pictured below) instead of a bow tie.

I live in Bolton in Greater Manchester and recall being picked up around 8:30

The reason for the high cost of travel insurance is almost certainly the fact that you may require treatment in the USA, Canada or the Caribbean (from whence you could be transported to the USA for treatment). The cost of medical care in the USA is astronomical and this is reflected in the premium. I know this from experience. I used to have an annual policy with worldwide cover but downgraded it to one which excluded these countries as I had no intention of visiting them; my premium nearly halved!

except in the theatre, which for some strange (to me) reason has recently been added to the formal dress only zone. Saga sometimes moves in mysterious ways!

My flier states that "January to April 2025 cruises abard the Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Advenure will go on sale soon" So April is definately now in the Winter/Spring block.

All included. On the first couple of days of the cruise they usually restrict the nunber of bookings anyone can make so that everyone has the chance to make one.

I tend to use complementary wi fi in bars and coffee shops ashore to do things I cannot do onboard. You can get a lot done for the price of the drink you were going to have anyway. Before entering I check on my phone for available wifi networks and make sure that the place I am about to enter is listed.

On my understanding of the EU rules you should be OK. But as others have since posted P&O quote 6 months, probably because many of their cruises visit non EU countries some of which have different rules. So probably best to make them aware of the situation.

This is a bit of a minefield. Portugal, Spain and France are all part of the Schengen area of the EU and the EU's Schengen area rules apply. The link that follows will take you to the relevant page of the EU's website. https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm The relevant section reads "If you are a national from a country outside the EU wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a valid passport and possibly a visa. Your passport should be valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU and it must have been issued within the last 10 years. This means your travel document must have been issued within the previous 10 years the day you enter the EU on condition that is it valid until the end of your stay plus an additional 3 months. " One thing to watch is that the EU no longer recognise any extra months added to a passport because it was issued before the previous one had expired. They consider it to expire 10 years after issue. In your case, this means in Feb 2024 not April 2024.

With limited bandwidth onboard it is not unreasonable for Saga to block video content and sites offering large data downloads, and this could explain the non availability of Whatsapp and the app store. It would not however explain the non availability of Twitter, which is a text only service and takes very little. There could however be another explanation. It is my understanding that Saga uses a filtering system - Net Nanny or similar - which blocks "adult" sites. Not quite sure why as there are no minors onboard. Such filters are notorious for blocking non adult sites as well and Saga's might be blocking Twitter. Just a thought.