Saga v RSSC

[SallyRobert]

Just wondering if any Saga cruisers have ever been on a RSSC cruise? And if so, did it compare favourably with Saga? And if not, why not? Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[lincslady]

Hi SallyRobert  - done quite a few on both (though not the new Saga ships) and busy just now; will do a report later  or tomorrow.

[SallyRobert]

48 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Hi SallyRobert  - done quite a few on both (though not the new Saga ships) and busy just now; will do a report later  or tomorrow.

That would be lovely. Thank you x

[lincslady]

I hope this does not get too long. History - we did many cruises on the old Radisson Song of Flower, the only all inclusive at the time.  Then quite a few on Voyager - first on a pre-inaugural few days by invitation .   Tried Silversea, quite liked it but not as much as Seabourn once we had done one there.  Recent years, easier to sail Saga, from home etc. etc., and have done 3 or 4 on Pearl2, then about 6 on Sapphire, finishing last year.  Seabourn is our favourite line, but we are not up to flying any more.  We loved the passenger numbers on Pearl and Sapphire, and of course the new ships are larger and have more passengers than the Regent ships.  

 

We did, just to see how we felt about it, a last cruise on Mariner about 3 years ago, about when the new over hyped Explorer was coming out, just to compare with Seabourn and Saga.  We were disappointed, mainly because the staff were not nearly as helpful, friendly and obliging as those on Seabourn and Saga.  They feel  much like a cohesive 'family' and we noticed some hectoring of junior staff by their immediate bosses on Mariner.  The food in the French type restaurant was excellent on Mariner, but that was the only thing we really liked.  Wine staff on Mariner knew nothing about their offerings, essentially asked 'red or white' at mealtimes, and did not know for instance what country the wines were from.  There was  more choice of specialist restaurants, but  Saga  now more than matches  that on the new ships, and certainly the all balcony cabins look much nicer than the regular ones on Mariner.

 

I admit I was put off Regent watching the TV programme about the 'most expensive ship every built'  Explorer - all a bit blingy and richer-than-you type of stuff.  I think a lot of Brits dislike this short of showing off.  But we gave Mariner one more chance just to see how we felt.  Also, prefer to pay less and do our own excursions - Regent is very pricey IMO, and you can get very tired if you try to do as many as possible as you have paid for them!  

 

I think a lot depends a lot on your own taste.  We do quite like being on a cruise with several other nationalities, not just Brits, but more than this have to admit we do not like cruising when there are many children onboard.  This was another drawback on Regent, rather noisy and not well supervised children around.  And on that particular trip other passengers not as friendly and just generally nice as nearly everyone is on Saga (and Seabourn).

 

I hope you may get more views from others who  have tried both lines, to obtain a different point of view, as none of us has quite the same idea of what is most important on a cruise.

 

Anyway, sadly you have quite a bit of time to decide what you want to book at present!

 

 

[Glenndale]

I’ve never travelled with Regent but their sister line Oceania is my favourite cruise line.

Personally I prefer the pick and mix to the all inclusive, but am getting to the point where flying is not a preferred option.

Saga gives me the same sort of experience as Oceania, but as Lincslady says, it does tend to have a large majority of British cruisers.

I noticed on the Regent board that a respondent likened Saga to P&O.

With experience of both P&O, many years ago, and Saga, more recently, I can say  that IMHO there is no comparison between the 2 lines.

One thing to note, Saga still do formal nights, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

 

 

[SallyRobert]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

I hope this does not get too long. History - we did many cruises on the old Radisson Song of Flower, the only all inclusive at the time.  Then quite a few on Voyager - first on a pre-inaugural few days by invitation .   Tried Silversea, quite liked it but not as much as Seabourn once we had done one there.  Recent years, easier to sail Saga, from home etc. etc., and have done 3 or 4 on Pearl2, then about 6 on Sapphire, finishing last year.  Seabourn is our favourite line, but we are not up to flying any more.  We loved the passenger numbers on Pearl and Sapphire, and of course the new ships are larger and have more passengers than the Regent ships.  

 

We did, just to see how we felt about it, a last cruise on Mariner about 3 years ago, about when the new over hyped Explorer was coming out, just to compare with Seabourn and Saga.  We were disappointed, mainly because the staff were not nearly as helpful, friendly and obliging as those on Seabourn and Saga.  They feel  much like a cohesive 'family' and we noticed some hectoring of junior staff by their immediate bosses on Mariner.  The food in the French type restaurant was excellent on Mariner, but that was the only thing we really liked.  Wine staff on Mariner knew nothing about their offerings, essentially asked 'red or white' at mealtimes, and did not know for instance what country the wines were from.  There was  more choice of specialist restaurants, but  Saga  now more than matches  that on the new ships, and certainly the all balcony cabins look much nicer than the regular ones on Mariner.

 

I admit I was put off Regent watching the TV programme about the 'most expensive ship every built'  Explorer - all a bit blingy and richer-than-you type of stuff.  I think a lot of Brits dislike this short of showing off.  But we gave Mariner one more chance just to see how we felt.  Also, prefer to pay less and do our own excursions - Regent is very pricey IMO, and you can get very tired if you try to do as many as possible as you have paid for them!  

 

I think a lot depends a lot on your own taste.  We do quite like being on a cruise with several other nationalities, not just Brits, but more than this have to admit we do not like cruising when there are many children onboard.  This was another drawback on Regent, rather noisy and not well supervised children around.  And on that particular trip other passengers not as friendly and just generally nice as nearly everyone is on Saga (and Seabourn).

 

I hope you may get more views from others who  have tried both lines, to obtain a different point of view, as none of us has quite the same idea of what is most important on a cruise.

 

Anyway, sadly you have quite a bit of time to decide what you want to book at present!

 

 

Lincslady - Thank you so much for taking the time for such a comprehensive reply. We have taken the bull by the horns and booked. It’s not until December 2022 after all and hopefully this Covid nonsense will be over by then. TBH, I think the only things we won’t have with Saga will be a) butler, which we didn’t utilise anyway. b) in room bar set up, we can take our own gin and pop in the fridge and c) a walk-in wardrobe. And yes if we booked a superior cabin we could have one but I don’t think it’s worth nearly £4000 😎

[SallyRobert]

42 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

I’ve never travelled with Regent but their sister line Oceania is my favourite cruise line.

Personally I prefer the pick and mix to the all inclusive, but am getting to the point where flying is not a preferred option.

Saga gives me the same sort of experience as Oceania, but as Lincslady says, it does tend to have a large majority of British cruisers.

I noticed on the Regent board that a respondent likened Saga to P&O.

With experience of both P&O, many years ago, and Saga, more recently, I can say  that IMHO there is no comparison between the 2 lines.

One thing to note, Saga still do formal nights, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

 

 

Glenndale - Formal nights are part of the attraction for us. Really love to get dressed up and DH loves the James Bond bit! As I just said to Lincslady We have taken the bull by the horns and booked. It’s not until December 2022 after all and hopefully this Covid nonsense will be over by then. I’m on the lookout for a secondhand steamer trunk now! 😂😂 only joking!!

[ARDXXX]

We took our first trip on Regent last year, went from Amsterdam to New York, over the top visiting Iceland and Greenland on the way, really enjoyed it although ( for us ) it was expensive - not for the millionaire's on board though!  We met a couple of Americans who had done a thousand nights with Regent!The food was excellent, you can have fillet seak and lobster every night if you want, champagne and high end spirits, even a bottle of champagne in your suite when you arrive. The suites are very plush with walk in wardrobes and there is a large choice of included excursions all included.  We have booked another three cruises with them as we really enjoyed the experience - No kids on our cruise that we could see. Dress code is smart casual, no formal evenings - meaning you do not have to wear a suit.

Never been with SAGA yet although we have taken a bit of a chance and booked the Christmas Cruise to The Caribbean for 2022 on the yet to be launched new ship.

I say a bit of a chance as we do not like the formal evenings but will have to put up with them or go to the buffet, and after booking I read that "dancing" is a popular pastime with dancing instructers for the elderly ladies, hope there is a decent bar we can retreat to!! and something a little livelier than ballroom! on the activity list.

I think that SAGA will be a cut above Fred Olsen but more mid range than luxury. It looks to me that they seem to be trying to be in the same market as Viking with what they are offering, nothing the matter with that as we have enjoyed a few Viking Cruises. Hope this helps, cheers and happy sailing.

[Wacktle]

10 hours ago, ARDXXX said:

...I say a bit of a chance as we do not like the formal evenings but will have to put up with them or go to the buffet.....

Unless Saga changes its rules, formal dress is required everywhere outside of your cabin after 6pm.

[SallyRobert]

23 hours ago, ARDXXX said:

Never been with SAGA yet although we have taken a bit of a chance and booked the Christmas Cruise to The Caribbean for 2022 on the yet to be launched new ship.

 

We took our first cruise with Regent last year as well. We did the Panama Canal and it was really amazing. We have booked the 35 night Caribbean cruise. I’m sure it will be fine. It is what you make it. I love the formal nights but I’m sad. 

[wowzz]

On 10/4/2020 at 10:00 PM, ARDXXX said:

The Caribbean for 2022 on the yet to be launched new ship.

Do you mean Spirit of Adventure? Not only is it launched,  but it has already been handed over to Saga. Lots of interior  pictures available. It is ready and waiting to start cruising, but obviously that is not going to happen anytime in the next 6 months.