Saga warning

While booking two other cruises with our London travel agent, we asked her to book a cruise on Saga Sapphire to see the Northern Lights. This the agent did through Titan (who apparently take the bookings from travel agents, and are owned by the same holding company as Saga).

Subsequently Sapphire entered service for Saga getting many terrible reviews (bad smells, no heating/airconditioning, bow thrusters not working, etc). When we tried to contact Saga to ask if things were now working, we were told they did not want to speak to us as we had not booked directly with them and they therefore had absolutely no responsibility for us. The woman I spoke to was exceedingly rude (I had to hold the phone away from my ear while she ranted). When I spoke to Titan I was told they did not want to speak to me either and to 'forget it if I wanted a refund' (I did not ask her for one). Our travel agent has tried to get information, but she speaks to Titan who then pass it on to Saga, who send a set reply that everything is fine, at a time when it clearly was not. I see that the Saga Ruby broke down recently and passengers were flown back to the UK - I wonder if they would just have left us on the dock as they say they have no responsibility for us?

We were also surprised and disappointed to find that we were not allowed to access the Saga webpage for our upcoming trip so that we could not see what tours were being offered. Again we were told that this was because we had not booked the cruise with Saga.

I can only imagine that if you book directly with Saga you might get some sort of service and less rudeness, but strongly recommend that you do not book through Titan.

I think you need to book direct with Saga and have a booking reference - we have yet to sail with them (we leave in 3 weeks) and are a bit apprehensive for all sorts of reasons but I must say the people in their reservations department have been without exception helpful and efficient and courteous.

Just off Saphire Colours of the Canaries. Saga are a weird cruise line. There was no security scanning in ports and the conditions aboard were at times bizarre. The pool was mostly out of service because the water emptied on to the deck when we were at sea, doors to outside decks were open during the terrible sea conditions we had after leaving Lisbon and the ship was a wreck because nothing was secured in readiness for the storm. The shops were totalled.The captain blamed the weather forecasters! The ship did not seem to handle the conditions well.

And yes the smells of sewage and fuel were at times choking. But the service and the food was superb.

My conclusion is that Saga need to get a grip, get reliable, customer friendly ships. People are loyal to the brand, but they should not assume this will continue.

And why is the crank shaft on Ruby unserviceable after a recent refit. Why was it not checked. This is basic.

David

I am on the Sapphire right now and even in moderately high seas the ship handles badly and our cabin on Deck 7 has the noise levels of a construction site.

They've moved us to a quieter (and cheaper) cabin. Two nights sleep - utter bliss.

The ship is at full capacity and more, due to an influx of people from the aborted Saga Ruby cruise. Consequently, the Sapphire feels crowded and under pressure during meal times. The food is barely average - and very stodgy with awful steamed veg accompanying every dish. The dress code is laughable, considering the demographic of those on board.

The itinerary is being changed on a daily basis - Guadeloupe was in, then out, now in again. You only find out about the changes by accident. The excursions team is downright useless and their answer to every question is, 'We don't know. Ask head office.'

We are not impressed but still enjoying the trip - we now have six days at sea from Gran Canaria to Antigua.

Last night's dinner went like a well-oiled machine - so the ship seems to have settled down and the waiting staff highly polished. We like the cool contemporary decor of the Sapphire, especially the 11th deck lounge where I am writing this. There were a few 80 year-olds jogging this morning as the Canary Islands vanished into the haze and the open ocean beckons.

Thanks for your posts Fletcher, having left the ship after the previous cruise It'good to hear how yours is progressing. As with you, we found the tours department very lacking.

Glad the trip is settling down now, the ship will be gasping after 6sea days at sea, but you are sailing in to warmer waters each day.

Incidently I am trying to follow the Saphire captain's blog: it is only complete up to the 13 January some days before the "great storm" it will be interesting to read his report on that.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post, much appreciated.

David.

Thanks David and anyone else who may be reading this . . .

The ship is currently cruising across the Atlantic in hazy sunshine, with temperatures in high low 70s. It’s very pleasant and certainly an improvement on the UK.

Last night, we met a woman who was on the previous cruise which ran into that mega-storm. She said the ship sheltered in Vigo mainly to give the crew some rest as they had not had any time off, much less any sleep, for nearly three days. I think it’s a bit of a miracle, really, that we were only one day late leaving Southampton. Almost all passengers are Saga regulars who sing the praises of the company and so far I have no complaints about them at all.

However, I continue to have mixed feelings about the 32 year-old Sapphire. It’s packed with passengers and seems crowded, especially around the pool where the acres of flesh in various stages of decomposition is not a pretty sight. By far the most pleasant place to wile away a sea day is at the stern on Deck 9 where there are some comfy outdoor sofas. Unfortunately, you and your ‘leisure wear’ can occasionally get peppered with greasy smuts from the ship’s funnel so you change into rags or go elsewhere. To Saga’s credit, they will launder any smutty clothes free of charge.

Then there are the lifts, one of which is permanently out of order because it suffered damage in the storm. You can see people visibly aging as they wait for a lift and when one finally arrives it’s usually full of staff with room service trays and laundry bags, so you walk up five floors anyway. Because of this we have become incredibly fit. I’ve seen men running up the stairs carrying their zimmer frames, sometimes their wives.

We admire the design and decor (if not the food) at the two main restaurants. The more casual Veranda is a glorified coffee shop which has plenty of tables for two. The more traditional restaurant, Pole to Pole, is brilliantly designed into discrete sections, disguising what is in fact one large cavernous room. The two bars, Cooper’s and Aviators, are ridiculously small for the size of the ship. While we love the 11th deck lounge and impressively stocked library, we dislike the Britannia Lounge which has all the charm of a care home. This is where the Captain’s drinks party, lectures and musical shows are held and we tend to avoid all those entertainment things.

I might add that this is by far the largest ship we have ever been on - seven times larger in fact. It is also the first ship we have been on with a dress code, though we are about to test how ruthlessly they enforce it. We were attracted by the wonderful itinerary, the time of year and so on but the ship is well out of our comfort zone so we may not be typical Saga clients. Nevertheless, it’s been fun so far and a fascinating experience.

Thanks for your postings Fletcher.We are following you on board at the end of February so have read your updates with interest, although our trip to the Arctic Circle is likely to be a somewhat different experience. Have never sailed with Saga before, and going with an open mind. Hope you enjoy your cruise and the chance of some respite from the weather here.

Forgot to ask, please would you report on the dress code?

I'll be writing about the dress code tomorrow. Tonight (Friday) is what the ship calls 'Formal' and I won't be wearing a tie. We'll see if I get keelhauled.

Today I’m talking about my fellow passengers. We chose this cruise on the Saga Sapphire for one reason only: the itinerary. We fancied five weeks away from the British winter and we fancied ‘mopping up’ a lot of places we’ve never been to - notably Madeira, the Canaries, the Azores as well as a few Caribbean islands, such as Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique. We are completists as far as countries are concerned.

Saga have fiddled around a bit with the itinerary. First off, Isla Margarita (part of Venezuela) was abandoned in favour of Trinidad. Then Tenerife was exchanged for Gran Canaria. Because we left a day late there had to be a day’s saving somewhere and Saga gave Guadeloupe the chop. Apparently many people on board complained so Guadeloupe has been reinstated at the expense of one of our two scheduled stops in the Azores. To my mind they have cancelled the wrong Azore (the one with the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Agro de Heirismo) but it was explained that landing there is tricky for a big ship like this. If so, why put it on the itinerary? Then I learned the real reason. There is one (maybe two or three) people on board was booked on the aborted Saga Ruby World Cruise. This person opted to go on our trip and hook up with the Ruby later on with Saga flying him out from the Azores. Which is why we are going to Ponta Delgado - it has an airport.

Anyway, back to the passengers. Our perception of Saga wasn’t exactly conducive: wasn’t this the domain of the elderly, the infirm, the zimmer set, the stroke victims, the dribblers and the dementia brigade? The image is appalling: mention you are on a Saga cruise and people look at you and think, poor dear, he’s almost dead.

We are in our mid-60s, fairly fit and do not require assistance or a separate case for our medications. We think we may be among the youngest on the ship - we’ve spotted a couple who could be in their late 50s - and we have learned that one passenger has reached the age of 99. One Saga regular told us a chilling rumour - on a world cruise of, say, 100 days, Saga reckons on natural wastage of about a dozen bodies in the ship’s morgue being transported back to Southampton. These days, burial at sea isn’t an excursion anyone can legally offer.

The thing is, Saga attracts these people because everyone else denies them travel insurance. One of Saga’s biggest selling points is that they will insure anyone, even that 99-year-old or that woman in a wheelchair who also needs head and neck supports and is fed by a carer. On this ship of 700 souls, maybe 30 or 40 have serious mobility problems and who knows what other invisible ailments are attacking the rest. And the care these people receive from the staff is incredible. I would have thought that living among these fragile crinklies would be a depressing life for the young, mainly Filipino staff, but if it is they never show it.

Consequently, this cruise is a weird mix of the depressing and the reaffirming.

Tomorrow, it’s formal night and that dress code thing.

Thanks Fletcher. Keep it coming! BTW I am 'only' in my 50s so looking forward to looking young! Perhaps you would be able to report on bar prices for me, and whether there is a duty free shop? Happy Cruising!

As far as I know, there is only one hotel in the UK which still requires a jacket and tie for men at dinner and that is Inverlochy Castle in Scotland. London hotels such as the Connaught and Claridge’s gave up the fight several years ago in the face of the (mainly) American onslaught of smart casual.

Much like my own ensemble last night of Ralph Lauren dark blue linen suit, open neck pale blue Eton shirt and a fabulous pair of 25 year-old black Ferragamo loafers. I was perhaps the smartest man on the ship and the only man not wearing a tie. Or a tux.

This is now the tropics. I paid for this trip. I wear what I want to wear. And, in the face of such elegance, no one batted an eyelid. And my wife, in a beautiful vintage Jean Muir cocktail dress and jacket, looked every inch the part.

There are three dress codes on this ship: Casual, Informal and Ridiculous. Casual means trousers and open-necked shirt. Many men on this ship wear ties on casual nights. Informal means trousers, shirt and jacket with tie optional. Ridiculous (also known as Formal) means the full dinner jacket thing or perhaps a dark suit and tie.

What’s crazy about all this is how old-fashioned it is. And also the fact that the Formal nights are chosen arbitrarily and yet are held in the same two restaurants - the smart Pole to Pole and the canteen-like Veranda.

The last time I wore evening dress (a rather fetching blue velvet number by Yves Saint Laurent) it was for a dinner with Prince Charles and Orson Welles in 1983, held at Guildhall in London. So you will forgive me if I find dinner on the Saga Sapphire a rather nondescript and unworthy occasion, attended by retired by plumbers and postmen. I prefer to call their Formal night Fancy Dress Night. You don’t need to conform. Go your own way.

Next stop: would you dine with someone being fed intravenously?

Can anyone tell me if it is possible on Saga Sapphire to carry on spirits at embarkation to be able to have a nightcap and enjoy a drink in cabin while getting ready for dinner?

Now that's what I call name-dropping Fletcher!

Anyway I'm glad to hear that the vast majority of Saga passengers are observing the time honoured tradition of black tie on formal nights. As you say, sadly, it has largely fallen out of use elsewhere than at sea.

By the way I believe The Ritz still requires jacket and tie doesn't it.

It was Antigua today, the first of ten Caribbean islands we are scheduled to visit. We rented a car from Mr Hertz and visited two hotels we stayed in more than 25 years ago - Half Moon Bay, which is now a sad ruin and the victim of a decade-long property dispute, and Curtain Bluff, for years the island’s finest hotel. We swam from the public section of the latter’s beautiful beach and then went along the coast to Darkwood Beach, a lovely stretch of sand with a grandstand view of Montserrat. Driving here is an absolute doddle, though places like English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard have become overly commercialised.

A few more things about the Sapphire: we believe taking your own drinks aboard is an absolute no-no and they have X-ray machines to detect them. This cruise is all-inclusive, including bar drinks, and if you buy a premium drink, such as my favourite tipple Jack Daniel’s, it’s only £1.50 a shot. Having your own supply in your cabin is something we do on our usual cruise line, where we have a large balcony, but on this ship I don’t think it’s necessary.

The lifts are infuriating - everyone says so and remember many people cannot climb stairs. We continue to dislike the food - recent menus have included luxury ingredients such as osso bucco, veal kidneys, pigeon, confit de canard . . . and they don’t know how to cook them. I love veal kidneys, they are quite hard to find, and these were awfully rubbery. Breakfasts are OK and we can graze for the rest of the day without any problem.

If you are relatively youthful and fit, you do sometimes get seated next to people with major health issues - a major stroke, someone with an oxygen tank, someone being drip-fed - and we find these occasions extremely difficult and not one expects from a holiday. That’s part of the Saga experience and we know this will be a one-off.

Tomorrow it’s St Kitts and a car from Mr Avis.

 

A few more things about the Sapphire: we believe taking your own drinks aboard is an absolute no-no and they have X-ray machines to detect them. .

I don't believe the x ray scans are there to detect illicit booze, more b....ms. Are you finding that scans are done as you return in the ports? We were surprised that we were allowed to board at all our stops in the Canaries and North Africa without any checks at all and we were not even checked off the ship in Southampton.

A lot of damage was done in the "great storm" which probably was not sorted out overnight in Southampton, so I think you will have to endure the lift situation for the duration.

David.

St Kitts was utterly wonderful. We borrowed a car from Mr Avis and drove up from Basseterre to Brimstone Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This castle, built from 1789 to 18-something, was wonderful in itself but also enjoyed Cineramic views of St Kitts as well as neighbouring islands such as St Eustatius, St Martin and St Barts. We were up there first and had the place to ourselves for half an hour before the tourist hordes arrived. We then drove around the entire island and fell down to a beach and a lace called Carambola which served us a great lobster salad and gave us a swim before returning the car to Mr Avis. This was a great day and the proof-perfect for taking a cruise like this - St Kitts is rather badly off for hotels, so this is the ideal way to see it.

There’s an amusing ritual which takes place every night on the ship. Up on Deck 11 in the so-called Drawing Room, a pianist and violinist serenade the drinkers while two men on the staff dance with three of four single women who are usually dressed up to the nines. These women report that these men would inspire some especially bitchy remarks from Craig Revel Horwood. Saga calls these two men ‘Gentlemen Hosts.’ I call the nightly ritual ‘Widows and Gigolos.’

The lifts are still infuriating, the food was quite good tonight - a big beefy, wintry stew in the steaming heat of the Caribbean.

Tomorrow it’s Dominica and a pause in my random bloggings.

I have been reading the captain's blog (just search for Saga blog) and finally it has been updated, well not quite. The last entry was on 18 January when we were in Lisbon. We then sailed into very rough sea conditions and I don't think anyone had much sleep that night, We spent the night holding on to the side of the bed to avoid falling out. Surprisingly there did not seem to have been any precautions taken to protect the ship and a lot of damage was done: the shops were wrecked, shower doors in cabins shattered and everyone had room service as it was unsafe, really to leave the cabin. We then took shelter in Vigo, leaving next morning into another storm and as we know arrived back in Southampton a day late.

So what does the blog say, er nothing, Lisbon to Southampton has bee erased and we pick up the story in the present Caribbean cruise with reports from Funchal and Las Palma by ship cadets.

David.

The Azores today. As the song goes . . .

'When the Saga ship docks

and unloads its old crocks

That's Azores!'

(to be sung in the style of Dean Martin)

On Barbados, we docked alongside the AidaLuna and one of its passengers asked me what our ship was called.

'The Saga Sapphire,' I said.

'What sort of ship is it?' he said.

'A cruise ship, just like yours,' I said.

'Oh,' he said, 'I thought it was some sort of hospital ship.'

This is nearly my last posting here. In about 2-3 weeks time I'll have posted up a long review of the ship and an account of the cruise and excursions. I'll post up a link to that and there will also be a gallery of about 100 pictures.

I can't fault Saga in any way - OK, the food has been poor and the dress code risible but this has been a great trip.

Can't remember when I've read more pompous, patronising and pretentious postings about fellow passengers.

Fletcher, I see you have another member of your fan club. Look forward to your review. Glad you came to love Saga and had a great cruise.

David.

My photos of the recent Saga Sapphire cruise to the Caribbean are now available to see. There are 193 of them, arranged in order, with every one captioned. They are designed to be seen as a SLIDESHOW so, if you like, just click on that button. Here's the link:

My photos of the recent Saga Sapphire cruise to the Caribbean are now available to see. There are 193 of them, arranged in order, with every one captioned. They are designed to be seen as a SLIDESHOW so, if you like, just click on that button. Here's the link:

 

Good photographs, I hope all these passengers know & gave permission for you to post their photographs taken while they were innocently on holiday.