Saga Sapphire vs Spirit of Discovery

[hermioneb]

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Saga cruise on board Spirit of Discovery in August and are looking at other possibilities.  We have also enjoyed cruises with Oceania and Azamara, but they are becoming too expensive for us, unless we spot a last minute deal.  I was just wondering how any of you who have been on Sapphire would compare it with Spirit of Discovery.  I appreciate that it is just about to leave Saga, so would that mean it is getting a bit worn looking? Is the food the same standard? Does it cope with rough seas well?  Is there enough space both on deck and inside? Any views would be much appreciated. 

[Glenndale]

Sapphire is as you say leaving Saga's fleet when Spirit of Adventure is launched.

She is nearly 40 years old and yes, showing her age but has been well looked after and was in dry dock as recently as November 2017.

We have travelled in an inside and an outside cabin and they were both spacious and well appointed. balconies are scarce and from what I can gather are very small unless you pay out for a suite. We were more than happy with our inside for a 4 night cruise and outside for our 15 night cruise.

Food on Sapphire was very good, only 1 speciality East to West and of course the buffet at the top of the ship as well as the Grill area at the back of the deck.

I've noticed that there are some brilliant offers on Sapphire at the moment and if we weren't already booked up with future cruises would grab one in a heartbeat.

Same friendly and helpful staff, although some have moved over to SofD to help train up staff on the new ship.

Never had a problem with space although the only time we were on deck was at night watching the Aurora. Our short cruise was very port intensive so again didn't use the sun deck.

Weather was bad on our Northern Lights trip and ship handled it reasonably well. Captain took us into a fjord to shelter on one particularly bad day.

 

[hermioneb]

Thank you very much, Glendale.  I appreciate your view as I recall that you have sailed on both Oceania and Azamara as well, and therefore will be aware of the sort of thing we like.  We are contemplating a guaranteed cabin on Sapphire and are a bit nervous about it, but your post has reassured me.  I certainly don’t think we will be looking at a suite, unfortunately!

[lincslady]

I can't compare as we have not been on Spirit, but just a slight warning about guarantees.  The ship is smallish, and though she does sail well, if the weather is rough she goes up and down quite a bit at the bow end.  If you are prone to seasickness, I would suggest a cabin as near to midships as possible - the back ones are midships.  The inside cabins are, for those who can bear no window, much cheaper than any outside, and actually a very well designed cabin, and feel quite spacious.  But I would choose my own, near to midships, on any deck - 5 and 6 are fine.  All insides are the same size and design.

 

She is a nice old ship, but though recently refurbed and so on, slightly old fashioned in style if you are used to  ultra-modern.  The East to West restaurant (bookable for evening) is excellent, both for food and service, and the room is attractive.

 

As you should expect,  the staff are lovely, and all now very used to one another, so service is pretty seamless.

[Glenndale]

If you do a dummy booking and select choose your own cabin you will be able to see exactly which cabins are still unallocated.

 

 

 

[lincslady]

True - but I have found that they tend to put the least desirable cabin numbers on the website, and if you phone and say you want to be near midships they just might find something in a better position!

 

Also, be aware that the 'balcony' cabins on deck 8 have the most useless tiny balcony you can barely stand  on, and one on 7 below, with window, is cheaper and better arranged.

[hermioneb]

Thank you very much for the warning about guarantee cabins. I am prone to seasickness, so I think I will take your advice. We had a guarantee cabin on the Spirit of Discovery and all was fine, because all cabins have a balcony and the ship seems very stable. 

[brimary]

5 hours ago, hermioneb said:

Thank you very much for the warning about guarantee cabins. I am prone to seasickness, so I think I will take your advice. We had a guarantee cabin on the Spirit of Discovery and all was fine, because all cabins have a balcony and the ship seems very stable. 

We have just returned from our first cruise on Spirit of Discovery after 22 years stable cruising on Silversea.The ship was the most unstable ship we have ever sailed upon and sickness was a severe problem for a large number of passengers including ourselves.Sadly our first cruise with Saga will also be our last for many other reasons other than stability.

[Bell Boy]

23 minutes ago, brimary said:

We have just returned from our first cruise on Spirit of Discovery after 22 years stable cruising on Silversea.The ship was the most unstable ship we have ever sailed upon and sickness was a severe problem for a large number of passengers including ourselves.Sadly our first cruise with Saga will also be our last for many other reasons other than stability.

How interesting, I have to agree with you.  I too found the Discovery the most unstable ship I've ever sailed on . Over 50 cruises with Cunard ( mainly 'Queen Victoria' & the old QE2)  for the very first time in my cruising life  my travel companion and I felt very queasy for a couple of days and had to take to bed for one afternoon. The Bay of Biscay has never  bothered either of us, Sailed across many many times , through all sorts of weather conditions and never had an effect on us.

[hermioneb]

Oh dear, that sounds very worrying. Was the sea particularly rough? 

[brimary]

1 hour ago, hermioneb said:

Oh dear, that sounds very worrying. Was the sea particularly rough? 

Only on two days out of 14.The instability was a noticeable feature throughout the cruise in very good weather around the Canary Islands and coastal Spain.

[hermioneb]

That is extraordinary, because I am very conscious of the ship moving; we had no problem at all when crossing the Bay of Biscay in August, when there was a bit of a swell.

[lincslady]

Yes, it does seem strange that this was not remarked on before - I wonder if something has happened recently?  Saga probably wouldn't admit to anything wrong, the Captains' blogs are always full of sunny news!

 

If it is a real ship problem that is very disappointing.

[hermioneb]

Just wondering if the problem was with the ship pitching or rolling?  It is the rolling I have a problem with, but usually the stabilisers deal with that nowadays.

[Glenndale]

I don't remember any problems with stability either.

My s-i-l did feel a little queasy one night on SoD but a stugeron tablet soon sorted that out.

In fact, I quite enjoy a bit of 'motion of the ocean' when on board.

Coming through the Irish Channel recently on QV in an aft facing cabin was great fun.

[kentchris]

SoD was stable on our Baltic cruise in September - the only thing which a lot of people picked up on was a slightly restless motion which could hardly be characterised as instability, more a low frequency vibration. The second officer who hosted our bridge tour said it was thought to be something to do with the stabilisers in particular seas and was under investigation.

[janecambridge]

We loved the back of Saphirre in warm weather,for lunch.The fresh cooking outside was superb.The sofas were comfortable and great for a quiet hour or two drinking and finger food.Best outside  on any  ship we have been on,

[Mickb]

Visited Sapphire in Southampton for lunch as part of Saga promotion. Nice old ship but marred by a terrible smell of sewage in certain areas of the ship. Chatted to embarking regular passengers who said it is not unusual.

Totally put me off!

[Glenndale]

On 11/27/2019 at 9:53 PM, Mickb said:

Visited Sapphire in Southampton for lunch as part of Saga promotion. Nice old ship but marred by a terrible smell of sewage in certain areas of the ship. Chatted to embarking regular passengers who said it is not unusual.

Totally put me off!

I was on for 15 nights in February and noticed no such smell and I have a very sensitive sense of smell.

The worst sewage smell I ever encountered was on QV after drydock at the beginning of a world cruise. It was particularly bad around by the chart room, which had been set aside for full world cruisers. 🤢

[lincslady]

This is news to me as well.  Have done several longish cruises on Sapphire, twice this year, and never noticed any nasty smells or loos being out of order.

[nosapphire]

On 11/22/2019 at 12:46 PM, kentchris said:

SoD was stable on our Baltic cruise in September - the only thing which a lot of people picked up on was a slightly restless motion which could hardly be characterised as instability, more a low frequency vibration. The second officer who hosted our bridge tour said it was thought to be something to do with the stabilisers in particular seas and was under investigation.

The SoD does have a strange motion, as it sways very gently even in slight seas (we started swaying in the Solent...).

At stronger seas it adds a slight judder, and at even stronger seas it rattles.

The sway does not get any worse, and although in a hig swell with stromg winds it was juddering and rattling like a set of castanets, it actually felt as if it was handling the seas extremely well - no rolling or pitching. Certainly did not feel as if we were travelling as fast as we were (17 knots). We did not notice any movement at all when in bed, and it seems no worse on high decks than it does on low decks.