P&O Cruiser does a Saga Cruise

[Dermotsgirl]

45 minutes ago, FatBoy20 said:

The Dining Arrangements are one persons view don't believe everything you read. If you are prepared to do your homework (Book in advance) you can get excellent Tables for Two in the MDR!.

That’s kind of saying I’m not to be believed!
 

However, you have verified what I’ve already said.

 

We didn’t request a fixed table, as we prefer the concept of freedom dining.

 

But we quickly learned that the tables for two that were in a better position were not available to us at dinner,  as they had already been bagged by the people that had requested a fixed table 

 

I contacted Saga a couple of weeks ago, and requested a fixed table for dinner for the cruise we had already booked for next May. As these are limited, we may be too late, but still hope to get a table for dinner that is to our liking for the duration of the cruise.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Dermotsgirl

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

 

It’s not a joke - many if not most tables for 2 were very close together in the MDR  on my cruise last year on SOD.

Much better on Aurora.

 

We did manage to find a decent table eventually but the original one we were allocated was so close to others it was effectively a shared table. 
 

The cabin and service everywhere was excellent , all inclusive and free transport to ship - but despite all this we still prefer p&o Aurora - it has a better atmosphere for us.

 

Perhaps it’s different on SOA.

Thanks for replying to Cynthia, it saved me doing it!
 

Your experience on SOD sounds similar to ours on SOA. We eventually got a dinner table that we liked on our very last visit to the MDR, but it all seemed a bit to late by then.

 

I never felt this was an issue on previous cruises, only with Saga.

 

There was a lot to like on Saga, but like you, I’m a fan of Aurora, have done many happy cruises on her. Once we’ve done our other Saga cruise next May, I suspect we will return to Aurora

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, lancashire_cruisers said:

I still feel a bit too young for a Saga cruise but I’ve found this thread quite interesting to see what you get for the extra money you pay. I can completely understand why some would love it but purely based on the dining arrangements as described it wouldn’t be for us.

 

However, I can’t see anything in the thread that warrants closing it down and it would be a shame if @Dermotsgirl’s hard work disappeared into the ether. If you don’t like something just scroll on by people!

I found that the general passenger profile was similar to a long winter cruise on either Aurora or Arcadia, very much 70+, but still active.

 

I did my first cruise when I was 41 at a time when cruises were considered more the domain of older people, so I’m accustomed to being one of the younger passengers, but it’s strange to still be one of the young ones now that I’m 63! 

[paulatsea]

2 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I found that the general passenger profile was similar to a long winter cruise on either Aurora or Arcadia, very much 70+, but still active.

 

I did my first cruise when I was 41 at a time when cruises were considered more the domain of older people, so I’m accustomed to being one of the younger passengers, but it’s strange to still be one of the young ones now that I’m 63! 

Ditto !!! 

[lancashire_cruisers]

3 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I found that the general passenger profile was similar to a long winter cruise on either Aurora or Arcadia, very much 70+, but still active.

 

I did my first cruise when I was 41 at a time when cruises were considered more the domain of older people, so I’m accustomed to being one of the younger passengers, but it’s strange to still be one of the young ones now that I’m 63! 

We’re mid-50s and did our first cruise when we were 34! 😂

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I found that the general passenger profile was similar to a long winter cruise on either Aurora or Arcadia, very much 70+, but still active.

 

I did my first cruise when I was 41 at a time when cruises were considered more the domain of older people, so I’m accustomed to being one of the younger passengers, but it’s strange to still be one of the young ones now that I’m 63! 

I was 31 when we did our first cruise and we were definitely in the youngest 1% of passengers at the time. Like you I still feel quite young when we go on Aurora!

 

Interesting what you said about the age profile on Saga. Knowing that Aurora was full of pensioners, I had wondered if Saga was where their parents cruise 😂 We prefer the passenger demographic of the adult only ships, although when we took our daughters on Arcadia they described it as a floating nursing home 😂

 

Your brilliant review has certainly made us think. I was really keen to try Saga, but the issues that disappointed you would also frustrate us. A relative has recently done their first Saga cruise and I will be interested to hear what they made of it when I next see them. I don’t suppose you can knock it until you try it, so I’m sure that we will give them a go at some stage, but I still struggle to get my head around their prices - even at the maximum 35% discount and even allowing for the all inclusive aspects.

[Dermotsgirl]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

but I still struggle to get my head around their prices - even at the maximum 35% discount and even allowing for the all inclusive aspects.

I think that we all have a price that we are willing to pay and it varies from person to person.

 

With Saga, assuming we can make the dining experience more to our liking  next time, I think I would be prepared to pay Saga prices from time to time, but I think I will opt for something less expensive in between times.

 

I will be interested to hear what you make of Britannia Club on Cunard.  We very nearly experienced this ourselves, as we had booked for the 19 day Venice cruise on QV in October 2021. This cruise didn't happen, so we moved it to the Round Britain cruise in May 2022, and that didn't happen either, so we decided to have our money back.  I tend to think that the window of opportunity for cruising with Cunard has closed for us, as I perceive it as 'formal' and I don't want to go back to a high level of formality, after everything that has happened over the last few years.

 

Both of the cruises mentioned above were at the upper end of what we're willing to pay, but I think I'd have had a real problem with the prices of drinks, as they seemed very expensive -I don't think I could have brought myself to pay those prices. I'm fairly sure we'd have been alcohol free for the duration of the cruise! 

[Windsurfboy]

I think Saga is better than Queens Grill on Cunard 

[Eddie99]

Thank you for your interesting review and thoughts

I thought we would likely move to Saga if/when we resumed cruising but your experience has made me question that

 

Don’t dismiss Cunard.  It’s much less formal than previously, having adopted open dining (freedom) and having removed the requirement for men to wear jackets every night.  I’ve just booked QM (yes, Queen Mary!) for what feels like a very good price for early 2025.

There are lovely touches - red liveried ‘bus boys’ welcoming you aboard, afternoon tea like it should be done, etc

 

 

 

 

[Denarius]

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

 

Interesting what you said about the age profile on Saga. Knowing that Aurora was full of pensioners, I had wondered if Saga was where their parents cruise 😂 We prefer the passenger demographic of the adult only ships, although when we took our daughters on Arcadia they described it as a floating nursing home 😂

 

 

I have completed three ocean cruises with Saga, all within the last 2 years. In my personal experience the age profile of passengers varies according to the destination and time of year.

Two of my cruises have been Winter cruises to the Canary Islands. Most of my fellow passengers appeared to be of retirement age with many in their 70s and older. As a man in his mid 70s this did not concern me, and the average age was no higher - probably lower in fact - than a similar cruise I took on Oriana a few years ago. Retired people like me after a bit of Winter warmth!

My other cruise was to the Baltic at the height of Summer. On that cruise the average was noticably younger, with more people of working age; working people taking their Summer holidays.

 

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Eddie99 said:

Thank you for your interesting review and thoughts

I thought we would likely move to Saga if/when we resumed cruising but your experience has made me question that

 

Don’t dismiss Cunard.  It’s much less formal than previously, having adopted open dining (freedom) and having removed the requirement for men to wear jackets every night.  I’ve just booked QM (yes, Queen Mary!) for what feels like a very good price for early 2025.

There are lovely touches - red liveried ‘bus boys’ welcoming you aboard, afternoon tea like it should be done, etc

 

 

 

 

In many ways, I’m pleased that I had already booked another Saga cruise. Otherwise I might have chalked it up to experience and moved on. But there was a lot to like about Saga, so I’m looking forward to seeing if we can improve our dining experiences next time.

 

Hopefully, I’ll be able to report favourably next May, so watch this space .

 

Likewise, I’ll be interested to see how you get on when you sail on QM. Who knows, I may yet end up on Cunard ! 

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I was 31 when we did our first cruise and we were definitely in the youngest 1% of passengers at the time. Like you I still feel quite young when we go on Aurora!

 

Interesting what you said about the age profile on Saga. Knowing that Aurora was full of pensioners, I had wondered if Saga was where their parents cruise 😂 We prefer the passenger demographic of the adult only ships, although when we took our daughters on Arcadia they described it as a floating nursing home 😂

 

Your brilliant review has certainly made us think. I was really keen to try Saga, but the issues that disappointed you would also frustrate us. A relative has recently done their first Saga cruise and I will be interested to hear what they made of it when I next see them. I don’t suppose you can knock it until you try it, so I’m sure that we will give them a go at some stage, but I still struggle to get my head around their prices - even at the maximum 35% discount and even allowing for the all inclusive aspects.

I got my company pension at 50 and state at 60. We are not all decrepit. Age is all in the mind. Have met 80 year olds who have more go in them than some 50 something's. 

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I think that we all have a price that we are willing to pay and it varies from person to person.

 

With Saga, assuming we can make the dining experience more to our liking  next time, I think I would be prepared to pay Saga prices from time to time, but I think I will opt for something less expensive in between times.

 

I will be interested to hear what you make of Britannia Club on Cunard.  We very nearly experienced this ourselves, as we had booked for the 19 day Venice cruise on QV in October 2021. This cruise didn't happen, so we moved it to the Round Britain cruise in May 2022, and that didn't happen either, so we decided to have our money back.  I tend to think that the window of opportunity for cruising with Cunard has closed for us, as I perceive it as 'formal' and I don't want to go back to a high level of formality, after everything that has happened over the last few years.

 

Both of the cruises mentioned above were at the upper end of what we're willing to pay, but I think I'd have had a real problem with the prices of drinks, as they seemed very expensive -I don't think I could have brought myself to pay those prices. I'm fairly sure we'd have been alcohol free for the duration of the cruise! 

Like you, I think we will end up with a mix. From all the reviews that we had read about P&O since Covid we thought that our days with them would be numbered, but we were pleasantly surprised with our two recent cruises. Our issues with Iona were due to my wife’s mobility challenges and the different passenger profile being less than accommodating to this. We had none of these issues on Britannia and don’t envisage them on Ventura next month either. MDR food and service were great on both ships (really important for us) and whilst we had some issues with Freedom Dining on Britannia we have switched to Club for our future P&O cruises to avoid similar problems. Most of the widely reported cutbacks didn’t affect us and we have revised the maximum price that we are prepared to pay for a P&O cruise to reflect those things that do. At those prices it’s a great value product and P&O definitely remains in the mix for us. 
 

I shall be happy to let you know how we find Britannia Club on Queen Anne. We like the club concept, as it gives you the best aspects of both Freedom and Club dining. Our QM2 cruise probably wasn’t fully representative of a normal Cunard cruise, but it didn’t feel overly formal. I took a jacket in addition to my dinner suit, which I wouldn’t do on P&O, but that was primarily because we were in Princess Grill. However, I didn’t really need to. They are apparently more relaxed than they used to be and I suspect that will be even more the case on Queen Anne. It was certainly a lot more formal than Iona but probably no more than say Aurora. We didn’t feel that the drinks prices were particularly bad, but the service charges and extra charge tips are a definite negative with Cunard. 
 

We are more than happy to pay top dollar if it’s a top quality product, hence my desire to try Saga, but we don’t need WiFi (as we can get free coverage in ports), we don’t like doing organised excursions, my wife drinks very little alcohol and the shared chauffeur service may not work for us, so I need to be certain that the MDR experience is far superior to warrant the price premium. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Like you, I think we will end up with a mix. From all the reviews that we had read about P&O since Covid we thought that our days with them would be numbered, but we were pleasantly surprised with our two recent cruises. Our issues with Iona were due to my wife’s mobility challenges and the different passenger profile being less than accommodating to this. We had none of these issues on Britannia and don’t envisage them on Ventura next month either. MDR food and service were great on both ships (really important for us) and whilst we had some issues with Freedom Dining on Britannia we have switched to Club for our future P&O cruises to avoid similar problems. Most of the widely reported cutbacks didn’t affect us and we have revised the maximum price that we are prepared to pay for a P&O cruise to reflect those things that do. At those prices it’s a great value product and P&O definitely remains in the mix for us. 
 

I shall be happy to let you know how we find Britannia Club on Queen Anne. We like the club concept, as it gives you the best aspects of both Freedom and Club dining. Our QM2 cruise probably wasn’t fully representative of a normal Cunard cruise, but it didn’t feel overly formal. I took a jacket in addition to my dinner suit, which I wouldn’t do on P&O, but that was primarily because we were in Princess Grill. However, I didn’t really need to. They are apparently more relaxed than they used to be and I suspect that will be even more the case on Queen Anne. It was certainly a lot more formal than Iona but probably no more than say Aurora. We didn’t feel that the drinks prices were particularly bad, but the service charges and extra charge tips are a definite negative with Cunard. 
 

We are more than happy to pay top dollar if it’s a top quality product, hence my desire to try Saga, but we don’t need WiFi (as we can get free coverage in ports), we don’t like doing organised excursions, my wife drinks very little alcohol and the shared chauffeur service may not work for us, so I need to be certain that the MDR experience is far superior to warrant the price premium. 

Based on your last paragraph I think Epicurean on P and O lots of nights would be the clever choice to meet your needs

 

As I think you already do

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Based on your last paragraph I think Epicurean on P and O lots of nights would be the clever choice to meet your needs

 

As I think you already do

 

Yes, we do. We dined there 4 out of 14 nights on Britannia and 3 out of 7 nights on Iona. 6 of the 7 meals were excellent, the best being the Norwegian Taster menu on Iona. Couldn’t dine there every night though as the menu is a bit too restrictive. 

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Like you, I think we will end up with a mix. From all the reviews that we had read about P&O since Covid we thought that our days with them would be numbered, but we were pleasantly surprised with our two recent cruises. Our issues with Iona were due to my wife’s mobility challenges and the different passenger profile being less than accommodating to this. We had none of these issues on Britannia and don’t envisage them on Ventura next month either. MDR food and service were great on both ships (really important for us) and whilst we had some issues with Freedom Dining on Britannia we have switched to Club for our future P&O cruises to avoid similar problems. Most of the widely reported cutbacks didn’t affect us and we have revised the maximum price that we are prepared to pay for a P&O cruise to reflect those things that do. At those prices it’s a great value product and P&O definitely remains in the mix for us. 
 

I shall be happy to let you know how we find Britannia Club on Queen Anne. We like the club concept, as it gives you the best aspects of both Freedom and Club dining. Our QM2 cruise probably wasn’t fully representative of a normal Cunard cruise, but it didn’t feel overly formal. I took a jacket in addition to my dinner suit, which I wouldn’t do on P&O, but that was primarily because we were in Princess Grill. However, I didn’t really need to. They are apparently more relaxed than they used to be and I suspect that will be even more the case on Queen Anne. It was certainly a lot more formal than Iona but probably no more than say Aurora. We didn’t feel that the drinks prices were particularly bad, but the service charges and extra charge tips are a definite negative with Cunard. 
 

We are more than happy to pay top dollar if it’s a top quality product, hence my desire to try Saga, but we don’t need WiFi (as we can get free coverage in ports), we don’t like doing organised excursions, my wife drinks very little alcohol and the shared chauffeur service may not work for us, so I need to be certain that the MDR experience is far superior to warrant the price premium. 

It's funny how a lot of our tastes and expectations are changing. 

We have always felt P&O was a good fit for us and it still do to an extent, we have 2 more cruises booked on Britannia. 

On your recommendation Selborne, we have also booked our first Cunard cruise on QM2 as we crave the slightly more formal atmosphere that Dermotsgirl is trying to get away from. 

We don't mind paying a bit more for a bit of a better experience. 

It might be too posh for us, but we won't know until we try... 

Andy 

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

It's funny how a lot of our tastes and expectations are changing. 

We have always felt P&O was a good fit for us and it still do to an extent, we have 2 more cruises booked on Britannia. 

On your recommendation Selborne, we have also booked our first Cunard cruise on QM2 as we crave the slightly more formal atmosphere that Dermotsgirl is trying to get away from. 

We don't mind paying a bit more for a bit of a better experience. 

It might be too posh for us, but we won't know until we try... 

Andy 

Good for you Andy. We’ve only tried Princess Grill so far, but good friends of ours use both Cunard and P&O, both standard balcony cabins, and whilst they like both lines their view is that Cunard is far better. The afternoon tea in the ballroom is a lovely touch and ten times better than the one that P&O used to do in the MDR. Even if you don’t eat much it’s a nice experience. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

16 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Good for you Andy. We’ve only tried Princess Grill so far, but good friends of ours use both Cunard and P&O, both standard balcony cabins, and whilst they like both lines their view is that Cunard is far better. The afternoon tea in the ballroom is a lovely touch and ten times better than the one that P&O used to do in the MDR. Even if you don’t eat much it’s a nice experience. 

What meal do you sacrifice in order to want afternoon tea though?

[Eddie99]

The theatres are beautiful (grab a box for free on non-gala nights); the “flown in” entertainers are top class.  Afternoon tea, with waiters in white gloves offering real tea from a real teapot, whilst a harpist or string quartet plays unobtrusively from a corner of the Queen's Room.  An on board orchestra.  Pub.  International guests.  Lovely, spacious *buffet*, with staff on hand who insist on carrying trays, fetching beverages etc.  And more.  A different world, really
I think P&O is seeking a different demographic now.  Good luck to them.  There’s no way we could have considered cruising when we were much younger (and less well off).  Good that P&O make cruising a possibility for many more

 

Andy - which QM/25?

 

[AndyMichelle]

14 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

What meal do you sacrifice in order to want afternoon tea though?

You obviously don't know me... 

There won't be any sacrifices, thank you... 😂

 

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

What meal do you sacrifice in order to want afternoon tea though?

Even if you only have a cup of tea and a finger sandwich the experience is one of the best at sea, and then there's the tea dance st least once a cruise with the orchestra.  

 

Next year I currently have Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Anne booked.  I'm looking long and hard at Queen Elizabeth to get the full set for the first time in a very long time.  Basically returning "home" after a few years of P&O and Celebrity - I found out in May just what has been missing in my cruises for quite a while.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Megabear2

[Selbourne]

26 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

What meal do you sacrifice in order to want afternoon tea though?

I’m in Andy’s camp. No sacrifice for me either 😂 Did we need it? No. Was it a lovely experience? Absolutely.

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Like you, I think we will end up with a mix. From all the reviews that we had read about P&O since Covid we thought that our days with them would be numbered, but we were pleasantly surprised with our two recent cruises. Our issues with Iona were due to my wife’s mobility challenges and the different passenger profile being less than accommodating to this. We had none of these issues on Britannia and don’t envisage them on Ventura next month either. MDR food and service were great on both ships (really important for us) and whilst we had some issues with Freedom Dining on Britannia we have switched to Club for our future P&O cruises to avoid similar problems. Most of the widely reported cutbacks didn’t affect us and we have revised the maximum price that we are prepared to pay for a P&O cruise to reflect those things that do. At those prices it’s a great value product and P&O definitely remains in the mix for us. 
 

I shall be happy to let you know how we find Britannia Club on Queen Anne. We like the club concept, as it gives you the best aspects of both Freedom and Club dining. Our QM2 cruise probably wasn’t fully representative of a normal Cunard cruise, but it didn’t feel overly formal. I took a jacket in addition to my dinner suit, which I wouldn’t do on P&O, but that was primarily because we were in Princess Grill. However, I didn’t really need to. They are apparently more relaxed than they used to be and I suspect that will be even more the case on Queen Anne. It was certainly a lot more formal than Iona but probably no more than say Aurora. We didn’t feel that the drinks prices were particularly bad, but the service charges and extra charge tips are a definite negative with Cunard. 
 

We are more than happy to pay top dollar if it’s a top quality product, hence my desire to try Saga, but we don’t need WiFi (as we can get free coverage in ports), we don’t like doing organised excursions, my wife drinks very little alcohol and the shared chauffeur service may not work for us, so I need to be certain that the MDR experience is far superior to warrant the price premium. 

After 2020, it took a long time for me to consider a cruise again. By the time I eventually felt like booking a cruise again, my general feeling was that P&O had changed a lot, on all of their ships, and I didn’t know if P&O were a good fit for me anymore. But the older ships seem to have returned to more of a pre-2020 way of doing things, so it makes me want to consider them again. But I’m not regretting my Saga adventure - in 2019 we were beginning to branch out into other cruiselines.

 

I only went on Ventura twice, on Caribbean fly cruises in 2008 and 2012. I really liked her, but after that the itineraries we wanted were on other ships. If things had been different, we’d have probably done one of the 35 night USA / Caribbean  cruises on Ventura. 
 

I have a friend who now cruises exclusively on Cunard, in standard Britannia. She really likes the formal aspect. She and her husband had formal nights in lockdown, whereas I sold most of my formal gear on eBay!  They are on Queen Anne next year, and, like you, I think QA will be a bit different 

[nosapphire]

Woo.

Advert in the paper today makes me wonder if Saga is reading this thread..

"The only thing we squeeze are the lemons"

"Both our boutique cruise ships offer a choice of spacious speciality restaurants"

With a picture showing tables yards apart.

(Shared tables, though, so maybe not).

 

[Windsurfboy]

All I can say is I've an Arvia suite booked , and thanks to  people on here , will stay up and hope to book speciality restaurants and entertainment  for every night , fingers crossed! in advance as soon as it opens. If it all works out will be a great cruise and great value. If can't get speciality restaurants booked then not so great.

 

Just booked a 30 day Carribean on Saga suite this afternoon, on  impulse , much more expensive ,  but don't have  to worry about availability 0f restaurants and shows.

 

I'm looking forward to both. It's not an either or.