Spirit of Adventure Inaugural cruise 5th November

[nosapphire]

The Inaugural cruise is now from Southampton departing 5th November 2020, returning Southampton 22nd November, and will be a Mediterranean cruise.

Saga obviously cannot guarantee the intended ports (Gibraltar, Spain, Italy, France) will be open - nobody yet knows whether they will accept cruise ships or not.

Apparently the cruise immediately after the Inaugural will be to the Canaries, so that must mean the Stars of the Canaries, currently scheduled for 1st November will be pushed back to 22nd November.

Saga will be contacting people booked on cruises scheduled to sail September and October when they have finished contacting people booked on the inaugural cruise.

I have no idea what is happening about the Caribbean cruise scheduled for 15th November, as the telephone call today indicated that the Christmas cruise to the Canaries would still be happening.

I do feel sorry for the staff having to contact people, as their management have created a list of Frequently Asked Questions so they can answer questions about how the ship will operate, but alas Management obviously have little awareness of how life really is on their ships.

 

All meals will be water served (no buffet), and it will still be freedom dining.

When I asked how they will control queues for popular times at the restaurants (anyone who has been on the Discovery will know what I am talking about) he had to phone someone.

The answer was that social distancing would be observed, and if a queue got too long then people would be asked to go to another dining room.

Which totally overlooks the fact that at popular times, both restaurants have long queues - and that is when there is no social distancing and the ship is not full.

 

I failed to ask what facilities would be available (library, swimming pools, gym,theatre etc) as I was still visualising the length of the breakfast queue, but I did ask about embarkation and turnaround.

Embarkation will be "staggered in the same way as always" - which means we will all be sitting in the same lounge as always, then herded along the gangway as always.

They will be carrying out medical checks prior to embarking for passengers and crew, which will include temperature and finger oxygen levels, anyone who fails will be denied boarding and will receive a full refund.

They will still be running excursions, but these will be mainly sightseeing tours; they cannot stop people going ashore independently, but this will be "strongly discouraged".

 

They will be sailing at "reduced occupancy - only 800 passengers" (fanfare - this is meant to be a selling point).

They will keep the same number of crew so there will be a higher crew to passenger ratio (another fanfare).

Since both cruises on the Discovery only had around 850 passengers and their were still queues and delays, not sure that this "reduced occupancy" will make much difference.

 

Then I asked about turnaround times - will they still be disembarking one lot and embarking the next lot on the same day?

Yes. But they will sail later so the ship can be thoroughly cleaned.

I was very mean then, and pointed out that their thorough cleaning did not seem to stop the Discovery operating 4 consecutive cruises with serious outbreaks of norovirus on board. (Yes, I know that norovirus is even more contagious than Coronavirus - but the aftermath is not usually so serious).

 

So reading between the lines:

The original Inaugural cruise was well below 800 occupancy just before it was removed from sale, so I expect people on cancelled September and October cruises will be offered the opportunity to switch.

Saga are really, really desperate to sail their ships as full as they possibly can to start getting money to pay the mortgages.

And the new management is making life very hard for their front-line staff, who are really doing their best to keep customers happy.

 

 

 

 

[LandC]

Thanks for this information nosapphire, it’s very helpful.  I can imagine the queues to embark if everyone has to have temperature checks etc, as well as the queues for the restaurants, especially if there are no buffets.  It also occurred to me that sharing transport to the port is not going to be possible if social distancing is still in operation.  It’s not the relaxing cruise experience we are looking for.  

[zjc]

Duplicate

Edited June 27, 2020 by zjc
Duplicate

[zjc]

18 hours ago, nosapphire said:

The Inaugural cruise is now from Southampton departing 5th November 2020, returning Southampton 22nd November, and will be a Mediterranean cruise.

Saga obviously cannot guarantee the intended ports (Gibraltar, Spain, Italy, France) will be open - nobody yet knows whether they will accept cruise ships or not.

Apparently the cruise immediately after the Inaugural will be to the Canaries, so that must mean the Stars of the Canaries, currently scheduled for 1st November will be pushed back to 22nd November.

Saga will be contacting people booked on cruises scheduled to sail September and October when they have finished contacting people booked on the inaugural cruise.

I have no idea what is happening about the Caribbean cruise scheduled for 15th November, as the telephone call today indicated that the Christmas cruise to the Canaries would still be happening.

I do feel sorry for the staff having to contact people, as their management have created a list of Frequently Asked Questions so they can answer questions about how the ship will operate, but alas Management obviously have little awareness of how life really is on their ships.

 

All meals will be water served (no buffet), and it will still be freedom dining.

When I asked how they will control queues for popular times at the restaurants (anyone who has been on the Discovery will know what I am talking about) he had to phone someone.

The answer was that social distancing would be observed, and if a queue got too long then people would be asked to go to another dining room.

Which totally overlooks the fact that at popular times, both restaurants have long queues - and that is when there is no social distancing and the ship is not full.

 

I failed to ask what facilities would be available (library, swimming pools, gym,theatre etc) as I was still visualising the length of the breakfast queue, but I did ask about embarkation and turnaround.

Embarkation will be "staggered in the same way as always" - which means we will all be sitting in the same lounge as always, then herded along the gangway as always.

They will be carrying out medical checks prior to embarking for passengers and crew, which will include temperature and finger oxygen levels, anyone who fails will be denied boarding and will receive a full refund.

They will still be running excursions, but these will be mainly sightseeing tours; they cannot stop people going ashore independently, but this will be "strongly discouraged".

 

They will be sailing at "reduced occupancy - only 800 passengers" (fanfare - this is meant to be a selling point).

They will keep the same number of crew so there will be a higher crew to passenger ratio (another fanfare).

Since both cruises on the Discovery only had around 850 passengers and their were still queues and delays, not sure that this "reduced occupancy" will make much difference.

 

Then I asked about turnaround times - will they still be disembarking one lot and embarking the next lot on the same day?

Yes. But they will sail later so the ship can be thoroughly cleaned.

I was very mean then, and pointed out that their thorough cleaning did not seem to stop the Discovery operating 4 consecutive cruises with serious outbreaks of norovirus on board. (Yes, I know that norovirus is even more contagious than Coronavirus - but the aftermath is not usually so serious).

 

So reading between the lines:

The original Inaugural cruise was well below 800 occupancy just before it was removed from sale, so I expect people on cancelled September and October cruises will be offered the opportunity to switch.

Saga are really, really desperate to sail their ships as full as they possibly can to start getting money to pay the mortgages.

And the new management is making life very hard for their front-line staff, who are really doing their best to keep customers happy.

 

 

 

 

Hey

 

was there any mention on the usage of masks for passengers?

[nosapphire]

49 minutes ago, zjc said:

Hey

 

was there any mention on the usage of masks for passengers?

 

Sorry, I forgot this question along with many others I meant to ask, as I was so startled by the fact that Saga management had not even considered how to control queues when they are hoping to run the ships at normal capacity (800 -850 is what they normally run at).

Personally, I feel that either management are not actually expecting the cruise to go ahead, OR they are hoping that "it" will all be over by the time it sails.

 

 

[saintgeorge]

Just a few questions regarding facilities on board -

 

Has anyone considered how many people will be allowed in the lift ?

Is social distancing possible in the theatre?

Will Spa and Hairdressers be open?

 

If the facilities that one pays for on a normal cruise (prior Covid 19) are not available then this is NOT the cruise that we signed up for.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts ?

[nosapphire]

1 hour ago, saintgeorge said:

Just a few questions regarding facilities on board -

 

Has anyone considered how many people will be allowed in the lift ?

Is social distancing possible in the theatre?

Will Spa and Hairdressers be open?

 

If the facilities that one pays for on a normal cruise (prior Covid 19) are not available then this is NOT the cruise that we signed up for.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts ?

 

My thoughts are that a company that has not bothered to consider how they will manage queues, either on board or during embarkation/disembarkation, is very unlikely to have thought about anything else.

 

 

[wowzz]

Given the information below, plus the ban in Portugal on cruise ships, the inaugural cruise is likely to have a lot of sea days!

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1301949/Spain-coronavirus-holidays-travel-covid-cruise-cruises-news?fbclid=IwAR3MJr-Fusalkm4aaTygcdVqorKKCGDUCUDyRnFbg0jewKGVPgkafJG7g6g

[nosapphire]

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

Given the information below, plus the ban in Portugal on cruise ships, the inaugural cruise is likely to have a lot of sea days!

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1301949/Spain-coronavirus-holidays-travel-covid-cruise-cruises-news?fbclid=IwAR3MJr-Fusalkm4aaTygcdVqorKKCGDUCUDyRnFbg0jewKGVPgkafJG7g6g

 

In my opinion, the majority of cruise lines (including Saga) are not really expecting to run any sailings this year, but need to keep selling in the hopes that as the cruises get cancelled or delayed at least some passengers will opt to take a credit rather than a refund.

I'm certainly not planning to be on board any time soon, but I have kept my booking in the hopes that it will keep getting delayed until I am ready to cruise again.

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, nosapphire said:

 

In my opinion, the majority of cruise lines (including Saga) are not really expecting to run any sailings this year, but need to keep selling in the hopes that as the cruises get cancelled or delayed at least some passengers will opt to take a credit rather than a refund.

I'm certainly not planning to be on board any time soon, but I have kept my booking in the hopes that it will keep getting delayed until I am ready to cruise again.

Sadly, I must agree. I cannot see cruising recommencing whilst social distancing is still required.

[Host Sharon]

On 6/27/2020 at 8:24 AM, zjc said:

Hey

 

was there any mention on the usage of masks for passengers?

I asked today when I switched my cruise from 10 October (cancelled) to the new Inaugural cruise and as told - no masks required.

[nosapphire]

3 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

I asked today when I switched my cruise from 10 October (cancelled) to the new Inaugural cruise and as told - no masks required.

And if they manage to reach a capacity of 800 passengers, not much social distancing either.

 

[Kohima]

Cruise Mapper reports that the shipyard building the new Spirit of Adventure has suspended operations until August 30th so that must mean that the delivery of the ship in time for a November inaugural cruise is in doubt.

[nosapphire]

1 hour ago, Kohima said:

Cruise Mapper reports that the shipyard building the new Spirit of Adventure has suspended operations until August 30th so that must mean that the delivery of the ship in time for a November inaugural cruise is in doubt.

According to the link attached, the Spirit of Adventure build will continue. The propellers have been assembled as reported 17th July, and we'll soon find out if the float-out and funnel fitting scheduled for 24th July goes ahead.

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Papenburg-Meyer-Werft-steht-sechs-Wochen-still,aktuelloldenburg5252.html

Just in case the link does not carry over the Google Translation, here it is below:

QUOTE:

The Meyer shipyard shuts down its production almost completely on Friday. As NDR 1 Lower Saxony reports, Papenburg is almost at a standstill for six weeks. The shipyard is reacting to the lull in the cruise industry caused by the Corona crisis . As a rule, the yard takes up to three weeks off in summer - this is now doubled. The remaining employees prepare the cruise ship "Spirit of Adventure" for the Ems passage planned for mid-August.END QUOTE.

 

 

[Host Sharon]

Float out on schedule

https://newsroom.saga.co.uk/news/sagas-spirit-of-adventure-floats-out-ahead-of-sea-trials#:~:text=The%20latest%20addition%20to%20Saga's,in%20Papenburg%2C%20Germany%20this%20morning.&text=This%20comes%20a%20year%20after,of%20Discovery%2C%20in%20May%202019.