I'm 50, Can Saga Convert Me? SoA Northern Lights

[SaraSailing]

This is my first Saga cruise. I turned 50 last year, so I can make my own booking - although I am travelling with my parents.

 

I'm online after a couple of days of being rather seasick - actually the sea wasn't that rough, but the combination of warm interiors, smelly paper masks, sanitisers everywhere, the odd flush and a genetic vagus nerve anomaly... saw me sleeping most of days 2 and 3. 

 

But here we are in Bergen, without multiple other huge cruise ships, and you can pick your weather. I've had hot sun, hail, rain and brisk freshness already.

 

My big question for the next two weeks is this: Would Saga be a company I'd chose for myself and my active wheelchair-user husband? We've cruised over 150 days on an ultra-luxury line, so we're not newbies. 

I'll comment and share photos as I go. 

[sleepingcat]

25 minutes ago, SaraSailing said:

Would Saga be a company I'd chose for myself

good morning Sarasailing

we disembarked from SoA on Saturday 5 Feb after our first Saga cruise, and are asking ourselves a similar question.  We ve logged about 100 days previously with other lines.  we chose Saga this time (a) because we thought they would do covid security the best (yes, they did) and (b) to find out if  Saga is right for us.  

 

I will post a review in a few days when we have reflected.  In the mean time, have a great time and we hope you all see the northern lights. 

[Vivaldi]

35 minutes ago, sleepin cat said:

I will post a review in a few days when we have reflected.

We're the opposite - we've sailed several times but only with Saga, and are wondering whether we would enjoy cruising as much with another company - so any comparisons with other cruise lines would be very informative and helpful. Look forward to reading your review.

[Harry Peterson]

And, just for good measure, I’m a P&O regular considering switching because of the changes which have occurred over recent years, adversely affecting the quality of the cruises.

 

Good friends of ours have switched from P&O to Saga and won’t go back. Saga’s much more expensive, though, depending on whether you drink, take excursions and use the home to port transfers.

[Vivaldi]

In my last post I should have added that I am very keen,  SaraSailing, to hear what you think of Saga compared to your usual cruise line, and it was a bit rude of me not to mention that. Apologies. Which ultra-luxury line is that, out of interest?

 

I look forward to your comments and photos. Have a great cruise!

 

[Tothesunset]

We will be on SoA in July after a decade of sailing with Silversea. Post-pandemic (nearly) SS has markedly increased its pricing - it was already expensive but is now getting silly. So we thought we'd give Saga a go. For similar itineraries a quick wet-finger-in-the-air calculation show Saga to be about 40% cheaper per diem. 

 

So other passengers' comparisons between Saga and the so-called six star lines (Silversea, Seabourn, Regent) should be very illuminating. 

[lincslady]

Tts - I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the comparison of Saga to Silversea, Seabourn, etc.  Other than rather less exotic included drinks - though the wines are pretty comparable price-wise - the cabins, entertainment, and especially food in the different restaurants should be a revelation.  And the included insurance and especially  door to door transport are a real bonus.  Put your luggage just inside the front door as your driver arrives, and you don't need to touch it again until it appears in your cabin.

 

Just as long as you don't mind pretty well all your travelling companion  being from the UK, of course, and spending a bit of time at sea before getting to your cruising area.

 

  

[Tothesunset]

12 hours ago, lincslady said:

 

.... Just as long as you don't mind pretty well all your travelling companion  being from the UK... 

 

  

Aha - but it's worse for them because I shall spend the entire voyage being the nostalgic Irishman visiting his home country! 

[SaraSailing]

20 hours ago, sleepin cat said:

I will post a review in a few days when we have reflected.  In the mean time, have a great time and we hope you all see the northern lights. 

Hello! Well, we made it into the safety of Bergen, but the itinerary has gone to pot with the storms. We're missing two ports (staying here an extra day), and it looks like 3.5 stormy days at sea to get to Alta, where all the Northern Lights trips are. But, nothing certain in sailing!

[SaraSailing]

20 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

We're the opposite - we've sailed several times but only with Saga, and are wondering whether we would enjoy cruising as much with another company

I'm sure there is a cruise line for everyone, and it helps to know what matters most to you.

I've never cruised with so many other Brits before, and only once on a ship this size. I want to compare things on a fair basis - not just what I like and don't like!

[SaraSailing]

19 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Saga’s much more expensive, though, depending on whether you drink, take excursions and use the home to port transfers.

Well, right now, Saga have massively stepped up the "fully inclusive". The shared car from home was individual (covid benefit), and that was included - in fact, only two choices were their taxi or drive yourself and park at terminal (covid, again). Drinks are all included, except for some premium brands. But the wine is perfectly nice. Coffee, on the other hand, ranges from acceptable to terrible - don't believe anyone who tells you it's good. I think the machines have slightly stale coffee in them, and then the water is too hot and scalds it. It was wonderful to get a carefully made, high quality coffee in Bergen! 

Anyway, also included are some tours. Mostly coach trips with brief stops. But the Northern Lights exploration trips are included. Today while we're stuck hiding from the storms, most people are heading off on a free 3-hour catamaran trip up and down the fjords. 

Trying to think what else is included. All the sauna (and infrared sauna), all the covid tests (including your taxi driver), the sports stuff. And then entertainment, as you'd expect. Tips and gratuities included too.

A slightly random list, but I think you'll find Saga have upped their game for 2022 in terms of what is included, and how much the extras cost. 

 

[SaraSailing]

18 hours ago, Vivaldi said:

In my last post I should have added that I am very keen,  SaraSailing, to hear what you think of Saga compared to your usual cruise line, and it was a bit rude of me not to mention that. Apologies. Which ultra-luxury line is that, out of interest?

 

I look forward to your comments and photos. Have a great cruise!

 

Not rude at all! I'm not doing a normal review or blog, I'm just going to compare the things I've noticed. We've cruised for 13 years on Silversea, and once on Cunard, on one of their taster cruises. 

[SaraSailing]

18 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

We will be on SoA in July after a decade of sailing with Silversea. Post-pandemic (nearly) SS has markedly increased its pricing - it was already expensive but is now getting silly. So we thought we'd give Saga a go. For similar itineraries a quick wet-finger-in-the-air calculation show Saga to be about 40% cheaper per diem. 

 

So other passengers' comparisons between Saga and the so-called six star lines (Silversea, Seabourn, Regent) should be very illuminating. 

Well, we've mostly sailed on Silversea (like you for over 10 years), and have so much credit with them from cancellations, we have a few more booked. 

I'm trying to do a proper price comparison, first like-with-like, and then the ranges. Obviously, Saga start cheaper and top out cheaper, but I've a sneaking sense that like-for-like it's damn close. I'll let you know when I've crunched some numbers!

[SaraSailing]

13 hours ago, lincslady said:

And the included insurance and especially  door to door transport are a real bonus.  Put your luggage just inside the front door as your driver arrives, and you don't need to touch it again until it appears in your cabin.

 

  

Interestingly, I'm back to Norway with Silversea in a couple of months, and that is door-to-door included too. Obviously, we'll have flights (Copenhagen out, Hamburg back), but I don't mind that compared to two days in the North Sea each way.

And the included insurance? I think that's great for say my parents (who I'm cruising with). But, as an experiment I refused the included and then immediately asked Saga to quote me for exactly the same cover. The "refund" for refusing the included insurance was £75, and the quote for exactly the same for me was £35. In the grand scheme of a 17 night cruise it's not significant, of course!

[SaraSailing]

First topic: PRICING

 

This is a 17 night cruise, and my solo deluxe cabin cost just shy of £10k. As a solo, Saga seem to charge about 3k more than for sharing, so if I were travelling with my husband we'd expect our individual fares to be more like 7k each. Checking across to our normal line, a 17 night, all-inclusive, door-to-door cruise starts at 8k pp for a window suite, rising to 9.5k for a balcony suite. A suite on a Saga 18 night cruise is currently being offered with 20% off, for £10k pp. The Saga suite is divided with a wall (which therefore requires a tiny bit more floor space), the Silversea with a curtain.

So, like-for-like, it's pretty much a draw. 

However, Saga obviously have balconies for every cabin, and a small cabin starts at a much lower price. So, if you value external space relative to internal, then you get more with Saga. If you value internal space and butler service, at the lower end of Silversea you are winning. If you want cheapest possible, then Saga have the lowest prices of the two. 

Personally, I like space. This might be because my husband uses a wheelchair, so we use a lot of space. I also like having a butler who deals with everything for me. But we also value private outdoor space, and if we wanted to cut back on costs we could certainly get the balcony in an accessible cabin here for less than Silversea.

 

I've attached a video and photo of a "Deluxe Solo" cabin (using data, not the wifi). It's about 50% wider than standard.

[Glenndale]

Sara,

One thing to bear in mind is the timing of your booking.

The sooner you book after the itineraries are released the cheaper the price, whereas some lines reduce prices closer to sailing.

 

 

[wowzz]

33 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Sara,

One thing to bear in mind is the timing of your booking.

The sooner you book after the itineraries are released the cheaper the price, whereas some lines reduce prices closer to sailing.

 

 

Indeed. 35% discount when Saga cruises first go on sale,  so those are the prices that should be used when comparing to other lines.

[Vivaldi]

To add a little more to the prices discussion, when booked early the cost pppn in a standard twin cabin on the SofA or SofD is in the £200 - £250 range. It will be interesting to see if this changes when the 2023 brochure eventually comes out. Suites and De Luxe cabins are quite a bit more expensive though. 

 

Some other cruise lines offer a chauffeur service to and from the port, but the distance allowed is sometimes linked to the grade of cabin reserved, so it could be limited for those booking a lower grade cabin. A car from where I live (Lincolnshire) to either Southampton or Dover costs about £800 for the return trip - in other words £200 a head when two couples share the car. Over, say, a ten day cruise this accounts for a decent bit of the per diem cost.

 

The included insurance can be a important factor for people who might struggle to obtain cover elsewhere, and, of course, the cost of buying it independently will increase as one becomes more elderly and accumulates more ailments. But as you say, Sara,  this is not a significant amount.

 

Hope you are having an enjoyable trip, and look forward to any comments you might have regarding the food on board.

[SaraSailing]

On 2/9/2022 at 9:46 AM, Glenndale said:

Sara,

One thing to bear in mind is the timing of your booking.

The sooner you book after the itineraries are released the cheaper the price, whereas some lines reduce prices closer to sailing.

 

 

I decided not to get into that, because I think I'd drive myself crazy. I'm just seeing: are the prices comparable, and the answer is yes, on a like-for-like basis. I'm also used to having a price promise, if the price was dropped after booking, I'd benefit from that reduction too.

If cheap is a priority, it's nice to know that on a line like Saga you can get everything someone in a suite gets, except in a smaller cabin, and it will be a lot, lot cheaper. But if luxury is important, to know that for a very similar cost to a suite on Saga, you could sail ultra-luxury and benefit from everything those ships offer. And, of course if money is a top priority, I guess you'd look at an inside cabin on a megaship!

[SaraSailing]

On 2/10/2022 at 2:11 PM, Vivaldi said:

Hope you are having an enjoyable trip, and look forward to any comments you might have regarding the food on board.

FOOD. 

Yes, good point. I think I felt too sick to start there. But reception sorted me out with pills (free, compared to I believe P&O make you buy a packet of 10). Amazing stuff, phenergan. I've been fine since. 

So, there is a main dining room, down on deck 5. I believe it isn't big enough for everyone at once. But the expectation is that enough people will go to the Grill (open seating) or one of three speciality restaurants (booked, but free), or use the included room service.

TIMING
First, meal time windows are quite short, on average two hours. If you are used to a megaship 24 hour buffet, that might be a shock. I am used to actual meal times, and I like it, although perhaps in good weather there would be a pool deck meal service for a longer lunch. But today there is snow on the pool deck! During restaurant hours you can order the dining room menu in your cabin, and there is a 24 room service menu. Breakfast they do ask you to put the card out the night before. 

ROOM SERVICE
I ordered a room service burger and caesar salad. They took less than 20 minutes to come. The little table in the cabin makes a fine dining table. I unloaded the tray and used the cloth like a table cloth (I guess I'm used to having a table set with, say, SS room service) The burger was perfect, soft, not over-cooked, juicy, and in a bun that melted away. Couldn't fault it. The salad was a bit sad: soggy, flavourless, with fake bac'n bits (which is especially sad, as the breakfast crispy bacon is brilliant). Room service also brought me a whole plateful of Ovaltine packets, to support my habit of a milky drink and movie after dinner. I went for a walk straight after, and the tray was cleared away very quickly. The menu is a lot smaller than SS, but I reckon they'd do pretty much anything you ask, if you allow a bit of time! In the old days SS would bring you dinner course by course, but with the demise of the main dining room on their newer ships, I think that option has gone.

LOCATIONS
Most people eat in the Grill (deck 12)  for breakfast and lunch, when it is a buffet. I believe dinner time is table service, but I could be wrong. The food is basically the same as the Dining Room (deck 5) but the environment is less formal, even in the evening. So the Grill is where people go for a faster meal, and to not dress up in the evening. The layout of the Grill is slightly odd - two very long thin seating areas on the sides, a huge and complicated central food area. The seating areas are tightly packed, and it isn't easy to get up and down, or to pass other people. If you use a wheelchair you'd need to have a reserved table right by one of the entrances to the food area. The food area layout means there is a lot of milling around. Then in the evening, you can also book Amalfi (Italian), Khurkuri (Nepalese), or the Supper Club (all on deck 6).

BREAKFAST
I've only eaten in the Grill for breakfast. There is always a breakfast of the day advertised on the tables, which you can order from a waiter, or from the hot station. Often this is a poached egg/muffin combo of various sorts. But we've also had a kind of shashuka. Today was chick peas, and yesterday a small naan with chilli and avocado. When I've had these, they've always been good, quick, and a small portion so you can eat other things too. On SS, special orders at breakfast can take a significant time to show up. There are all the usual juices, jugs of coffee and tea, and you can order other teas or coffees. The coffee from the machines is not good, so I've kind of given up on coffee during the day. Given SS do excellent coffee, I do miss this. There is also a waiter walking around offering hot toast, which I guess is a British thing. There's a big range of cereals (another British line thing), a small selection of disappointing pastries, a standard hot counter (big choice), porridge, fruit, yoghurt, bircher muesli, fresh to order pancakes (I had a bite out of one, it was a bit claggy in the middle and fairly tasteless, but you can drench them in syrup, I guess) and waffles (not tried these) and I think you can order omlettes. There is also a very small cold meat and cheese section hidden away, but it doesn't look at all tempting - normally I'd have cold meats for breakfast on SS, so I've changed my habits here. Oh, and the usual daily juice and smoothie. In short, breakfast is fine. On the days I fancy the special, it's quite good. I miss nice coffee, though. 

LUNCH
Again, only eaten this in the Grill, though the menu is identical in the restaurant. There are the usual range of salads (I had a fennel salad, it was rather good), a big serrano him that is carved when you want some, soup, the hot section for the appetisers and mains, a fresh stir-fry to order or the "always available" steak or fish to order, roast of the day, and a pasta. I saw some sandwiches, and these change daily. There's a cheese board - Saga have a huge variety of good cheeses, something SS could learn from (although SS have massively improved this over the years). And desserts are dainty and pretty - there's a sugar-free option, and you can always order ice cream (vanilla, flavour of the day, and sorbet of the day), plus, of course, the stodgy pudding and custard option. The first Sunday roast lunch was disappointing, the yorkshires were tasteless and chewy. I'd say the quality of produce is not always the best, but what the chefs do with it is usually quite impressive. The people who want fish and chips every day can (slightly soggy batter, nondescript chips), the people who want a little bit more variety can have that too. On SS there is always a sushi station with several choices, and my husband has had that for lunch about 100 times, so he'd be disappointed here. I'd usually go for roast of the day and salad or steamed veg on SS, but after the first Sunday roast I haven't really been tempted. As with any cruise ship, the Asian dishes tend to have the most flavour, and one especially good one was little chicken lollipops with a spicy dipping sauce. It is hard to get enough heat in the curries. Chef told me they make a chilli sauce that I could ask for, but efforts to track it down at lunchtime have proved futile. (On SS they keep a jar of sambal olek on hand for people like me who enjoy chilli heat to their spicy food.) The nature of a buffet means that people are sometimes eating weird and wonderful combinations! Oh, and yesterday I had a lovely Goan fish curry cooked to order (I'm allergic to legumes, but most staff are being very helpful at helping me, one or two aren't - which is quite challenging). The ice cream has been good so far, except the vanilla which is a bit dense and overly sweet, and the mince pie flavour the was bland - otherwise the variety has been good - do I think the ice cream is as good as SS? No, probably not quite, but plenty good enough to enjoy every day. One thing I've come to appreciate with SS is someone carrying my plate for me when we're at sea. The waiters here will intervene if someone looks exceptionally wobbly, but I've seen a few dinners almost poured over guests heads by other guests, and there's a fair amount of needing to stop suddenly given the layout and number of tight corners. There is wine served at lunch, without having to order specially, though I did see two ladies order four glasses of champagne yesterday. 

AFTERNOON TEA
That classic cruise tradition, and I've not had a single one, yet. But I guess I should try once before I leave the ship!

DINNER
Dinner is where Saga shine in many ways. I've mostly eaten in the Dining Room - I like people watching, and the theatre of the main dining room. You can ask in advance for a fixed table/time, or take your chances. You are allocated a table somewhere for the first night, but after that it's up to you. I've found the quality of food at dinner pretty much excellent, and though the menu is short, you can play around with it. Vegetarians, vegans, and those with allergies are encourage to order the night before to make sure you can have something suitable - I don't like this, as part of the fun of dinner for me is sitting with a menu. However, I've tried today to hand my menu in at breakfast, as I think what I liked the look of would need to be changed to handle my pea allergy. The ordering system the waiters have seems clunky compared to the SS system, and on SS my allergy would show up for the waiter so they could check. There is a slight leaning towards a lot of creamy sauces, though not every day. Over the years I've learnt the art of menu wrangling, and I don't often get it wrong. The soups are fine, and bit bland, but fine. I've found having a second appetiser a better choice, or a vegetarian main course without the potatoes. I've also found vegetarian main courses with extra protein from somewhere else on the menu is a good option. There is always sorbet, and you can go classic and have this before the main. The food is cooked and presented well, the portions are small, so you can have multiple courses without feeling sick. They are always happy to add extra veg, or make things bigger or smaller. There have certainly been dishes to rival the best on SS, and there have been one or two that are more nursery food like. The cheese boards at dinner have plenty of choice, and change regularly. The service is exemplary, and the wine waiters are attentive. There are a selection of included digestifs to have with dessert. The one time of day the coffee is pleasant is after dinner. The double espresso is nice, not great, but decent. The petit fours look like an afterthought. They are mostly things that can be made in big trays and then diced into portions. They don't look great, and I've not had any that were memorable so far. 

KHUKURI
One of the free speciality restaurants. Apart from one waiter who simply couldn't get his head around my allergy, it was a great experience - and a senior waiter made sure everything served to me was safe. We finally found the special chilli sauce, although it came with a lot of warnings about how hot it was. It wasn't. It was pleasant, it added depth to the food, but definitely pretty tame. The Nepalese menu, the special plates, the service, and the atmosphere were all really good. I had a duck curry, which came with the roast duck pieces arranged on the plate, and little dipping pots of two different sauces (plus I got another of the chilli sauce). Not the absolute best curry I ever had at sea (that honour goes to a Malaysian prawn curry on a galley lunch on SS), but tasty, and a lovely mixed starter platter. 

OVERALL
Although maybe the menu is slightly skewed to more traditional tastes, I think there is something for everyone here. My hunt for spice and good coffee aside, I think with a bit of thought I'll continue to enjoy the next 10 days. Service is almost always brilliant, and the talent in the kitchens is clear. 

IMAGES
A raspberry and choc dessert
The failed sunday roast
Room service burger
My Dad's breakfast
A veggie main with torpedo prawns on the side
And the proper spicy naan brekkie

[LandC]

Thanks for the review of the food Sara.  I agree that coffee served in the restaurants is not great.  I found the coffee  the Living Room to be better.  Have you tried the Amalfi restaurant yet?

 

[SaraSailing]

1 hour ago, LandC said:

Thanks for the review of the food Sara.  I agree that coffee served in the restaurants is not great.  I found the coffee  the Living Room to be better.  Have you tried the Amalfi restaurant yet?

 

We've booked that near the end of the cruise. I'll write more

 

[Lady Meer]

Sara - can you get a decent coffee from the machine in your room? I’m not a coffee drinker and found that the tea in the dining room and grill was awful - it was stewed and had a definite coffee tang. I asked for a pot of tea which was much better as it was fresh. Maybe the coffee would be better in a pot.

 

Brenda

[Vivaldi]

That's an excellent review of the food - many thanks. We've found that they are very accommodating when one wants tweaks made to the food on offer. And once on the Spirit of Discovery when we looked at the dinner menu posted outside the Grand Dining Room one afternoon, my wife didn't fancy any of the main courses, but saw that steak was "always available". However, on being given the menu that evening she saw that the steak had been replaced by pork. She expressed her disappointment to the waiter and said that she had been looking forward to a steak. He excused himself, and came back a moment later and said "We have a steak for you - how would you like it cooked?" That was much appreciated.

 

I suspect that you will not choose Saga instead of Silversea in the future, but if you are still undecided, and given the fact that your husband is a wheelchair user, have you looked at the thread "Warning to wheelchair users" on this Saga Forum site? The original poster expressed disquiet about Saga's official position on the matter, although it appears that in practice a decent amount of assistance is given. If there are wheelchair users on your current cruise it might be useful to ask them how helpful the crew have been and whether they have encountered any problems. 

 

[mcloaked]

I have appreciated the posts in this thread.  We have not done a Saga cruise, and have stayed with one line for some years because the biggest activity in our lives is ballroom dancing, which we have always done most of every evening on cruises.  The reviews of the food, available restaurant choices, chauffeur transport, crew service, and great organisation and handling of shore excursions on Saga, all sound generally excellent. However I would greatly value it if anyone on this forum and thread, who is also a ballroom dancer, could post some information about when it is possible to dance in the Britannia Lounge on SoA/SoD?  I have seen on another thread that recently there was a 45 minute ballroom dance set with live music from 6pm, but it was not clear whether ballroom dancing is possible later in the evening in the same venue, or not, whether to live or recorded music? Of course the evening meal is not too long after or even during that 6pm ballroom dancing period, which would mean having both a meal and enjoying dancing might clash.  So if anyone  can post whether there are periods in the evening when ballroom dancing to recorded or live music is possible, but not at dinner time, it would be appreciated.  Also is there a piano bar other than the Britannia Lounge that allows a quiet late evening drink listening to a pianist/singer with a nice atmosphere (comparing to the Commodore Club on Cunard QE or QV)? So Saga is tempting but the ballroom dancing answers are part and parcel of our decision as to whether to try a cruise with Saga in the next year or so.