2022 Itineraries

[Glenndale]

We've had a look at the 2022 brochure and feel that the itineraries are pretty unispiring but

quite fancy one of the Canary Isle cruises just for a winter sunshine break.

Which ones do you like the look of?

We are fortunate that we've visited most of the ports of call so cruising for us is not necessarily to discover pastures new 🙂

Edited August 29, 2020 by Glenndale

[LandC]

I agree with you that the itineraries are rather uninspiring - pretty much the same as 2021.  I would like to have seen a few more cruises round the UK.  The Black Sea cruise on Adventure has an interesting itinerary, but we don’t want to be on a ship for 32 nights!  
I wish Saga would introduce a few fly cruises.  They say that their customers don’t want them, but I think they could easily offer an on-line survey to find out.

 

We are still pondering which cruise to book.  We looked at the 17 night Corsica and Sardinia cruise, but there are too many sea days for us.  We haven’t been on a Canaries cruise - crossing the Bay of Biscay In winter has put us off up till now!  How do you find it?

[Wacktle]

I also wish that Saga would add some fly cruises. We only booked a Canaries cruise with Saga when they split the cruise, resulting in sailing outbound and flying back from Lanzarote. The seas were very rough but I've no idea whether that weather was abnormal, because the only other Canaries cruise we did was a fly-cruise with Marella. Similarly we will only do Med or Caribbean cruises by flying, as we don't want to be away from home (and our cat!) for much longer than a week. It drastically reduces our choices with Saga.

[Kohima]

I haven’t yet seen the 2022 itineraries but am very disappointed to hear they are much the same as before. Having twice experienced 3 miserable days getting there and back each way to the Med/Canaries, it’s not an experience I wish to repeat. Now that there will be 2 Saga ships, surely it is time to offer some difference between them. One ship could continue to offer no fly cruises for those who don’t mind restricted itineraries or long voyages from the UK, while the other could offer fly cruises, at least for part of the year. That would also help Saga to broaden its customer base as it will need to do in order to fill 2 larger ships. Due to the ongoing virus situation it may be that some of their older clients ( who don’t wish to fly) will no longer be cruising anyway. Surely they need to be more forward thinking while still catering for their existing customers.

Come on Saga, be more imaginative, attract a wider customer base, let the new Spirit of Adventure provide the wonderful itineraries and experience of her old namesake from 2006-2012!

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, LandC said:

...We are still pondering which cruise to book.  We looked at the 17 night Corsica and Sardinia cruise, but there are too many sea days for us.  We haven’t been on a Canaries cruise - crossing the Bay of Biscay In winter has put us off up till now!  How do you find it?

The Bay of Biscay is unpredictable all year round. Could be calm, could be rough. What also needs to be borne in mind is that a passage to the Canary Islands entails sailing in the North Atlantic, which can also be rough - especially in winter...

[wowzz]

Have experienced some really bad weather in the BoB, but only on larger ships,  (Arcadia and Oceana). Had no problems with the rocking and rolling, but having a shower was interesting! 

I must admit I'm wondering how smaller ships like SoD and SoA will cope with a Force 10.

[Kohima]

Sadly the Spirit of Discovery rolled around a lot in a force 9 gale in the B of B. Plates were smashing in the dining areas, outside areas were closed off and many people felt unwell. It was the same out and back but at least there were free seasickness pills at reception!

 

[nosapphire]

20 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Have experienced some really bad weather in the BoB, but only on larger ships,  (Arcadia and Oceana). Had no problems with the rocking and rolling, but having a shower was interesting! 

I must admit I'm wondering how smaller ships like SoD and SoA will cope with a Force 10.

 

Small ships can cope very well.

We crossed the Atlantic more than once in some very rough weather on the Saga Pearl 2, which at 18.5 thou. tons was considerably smaller than the new ships (by about 40,000 tons) and no problems at all.

We failed to convince American passengers off the NCL ships that we really had crossed the pond "in that little thing" - tied up alongside, she looked like one of their lifeboats.

The Pearl 2 was built in traditional liner style, with a deep draught, which helped stability.

And we were in a force 12 for a while in the North Sea when on the Ocean Majesty, which is just under 10.5 thousand tons, and flat bottomed!.

She certainly bounced along with enthusiasm, but we never felt unsafe.

We talked to passengers off the QE2 in Bergen, who had been in the same seas at the same time, and seems we were no more uncomfortable than they were.

I think much depends on what direction the swell is from, rather than just the storm force - and ships with a lot of balconies are probably going to always sway more than traditional liners.

 

 

 

 

 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, nosapphire said:

 

Small ships can cope very well.

We crossed the Atlantic more than once in some very rough weather on the Saga Pearl 2, which at 18.5 thou. tons was considerably smaller than the new ships (by about 40,000 tons) and no problems at all.

We failed to convince American passengers off the NCL ships that we really had crossed the pond "in that little thing" - tied up alongside, she looked like one of their lifeboats.

The Pearl 2 was built in traditional liner style, with a deep draught, which helped stability.

And we were in a force 12 for a while in the North Sea when on the Ocean Majesty, which is just under 10.5 thousand tons, and flat bottomed!.

She certainly bounced along with enthusiasm, but we never felt unsafe.

We talked to passengers off the QE2 in Bergen, who had been in the same seas at the same time, and seems we were no more uncomfortable than they were.

I think much depends on what direction the swell is from, rather than just the storm force - and ships with a lot of balconies are probably going to always sway more than traditional liners.

 

 

 

 

 

Fair point.  Sailing in a multistorey block of flats is probably worse than being in a smaller ship. 

Hopefully we'll find out in March on SoA.

[nosapphire]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Fair point.  Sailing in a multistorey block of flats is probably worse than being in a smaller ship. 

Hopefully we'll find out in March on SoA.

I'm sure you'll be fine - both the Discovery and the Adventure are built as polar class expedition vessels, designed for all seas.

We did notice that the Discovery has a very interesting movement, as she feels as if she has a very gentle sway even in dead flat seas. Get to rougher seas and then a creak and a wiggle is added with a slightly stronger sway, but we had some rough weather and big swells in her and thought she was very smooth and stable.

Edited September 1, 2020 by nosapphire

[Glenndale]

Saga_Holidays_2022_Cruises.pdf

Hope you can open this and get an idea of what's on offer.

Edited September 1, 2020 by Glenndale

[Glenndale]

I've crossed the BoB many times and whilst it can be a little rough at other times can be calm.

The worst passage I have experienced was in the Irish Sea, from Southampton to Cobh, new cruisers were disembarking and flying home.

On our one trip on Discovery up to Norway I felt she handled the seas well although my s-i-l, a first time cruiser, did feel a little queasy. We went to customer services and they handed her a full box of Stugeron which helped her enormously. No charge.

[Threeleggedtoad]

Thank you Glenndale for a copy of Saga Cruises 2022. Much appreciated

[Glenndale]

We booked Corsica and Sardinia on Discovery and a November Canaries cruise on Adventure.

Such a long time to wait, but almost paid in full for due to our credits.

[brimary]

Done many UK/UK cruises on Silver Wind and Silver Cloud starting and finishing at Tower Bridge.Never felt the Bay of Biscay rough seas thank goodness plus plenty of varied itineraries to Med and Scandinavia etc provide variety.The ships mentioned only take 292 passengers and are the smallest in the SS fleet.Small may be better than large in rough sea areas.

[Host Sharon]

I thought the 2022 itineraries intersting. Have booked two - the Black Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. I really wanted to go back to the BAltic but not back to St Petersburg again.

[Glenndale]

Saga website has started to be updated with 2022 itineraries.

Only 3 cruises showing so far for April and May, all still offering 35% discount.

[silversurf]

Found 2 cruises for April/May 2022 last week, but they have now disappeared from the website.

[Glenndale]

Yes I noticed that the 3 I found had disappeared.

 

[Glenndale]

All 2022 itineraries now on website.

 

[Onelung]

I like the sound of the Western France and Cape Verde for 2022. Never sailed Saga so looking for an tips on here🙂

[wowzz]

Finally persuaded my wife that we should do a Baltic cruise. Hope she doesn't change her mind before September 2022!

[lindylooellalouise]

Hi we are contemplating Croatia and cities of central med on 24 April on SoA never sailed with Saga usually with Cunard and P& O but looking forward to trying a smaller ship and some tips and advice would be great.

[Glenndale]

Best tip book early as the discounts decrease as more cabins are sold.

However, Saga will offer guarantee cabins closer to sailing if you’re not too fussy about where your cabin is.

 

[Wacktle]

13 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Best tip book early as the discounts decrease as more cabins are sold.

However, Saga will offer guarantee cabins closer to sailing if you’re not too fussy about where your cabin is.

 

We paid to pre-register for 2022.  There was no advantage in doing so for the cruise we booked. The cabins still have a 35% discount, and the ones both sides of our booked one are still available. Also, we didn't get the extra 5% discount for pre-registering that we got last year. We have pre-registered for early 2023, but I'm not sure I'd bother again. I would, however, book as early as possible. Friends who have recently booked the same 2021 cruise as us are paying about £900 more. 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Wacktle
grammar correction!