Help me decide?

[Windsurfboy]

With a passenger space ratio of 58, Saga ship are significantly more spacious than Amazara at 40, think for me that outweighs coffee

[Kohima]

The coffee is a very small part of why we have enjoyed Oceania. Our main reason has been the choice of itineraries, with, on balance, many other aspects broadly similar. It’s easy to nitpick the detail and some things are more important to some people than others. However we come back to Saga for something quite special which the old ships had in abundance and the new ships are now developing: the friendly inclusive atmosphere. It can be easy to feel anonymous, however luxurious the surroundings but we never feel like that on a Saga ship.

[arlowood]

We haven't cruised with Oceania or Azamara but we have cruised several times with Viking both on ocean and river cruises.

 

We love the cool Scandi ambience of the Viking ships and the food and service is excellent but, and here it is a big BUT in our view. For a Viking cruise, UK customers will inevitably have to fly, either short or long haul, to join the ship. There are a couple of itineraries that either start or end in London (Greenwich/Tilbury) but the other end/start port for those requires one or more flights.

 

With the current state of play of the airline industry I would much rather avoid the hassle of relying on them to get you to and from your cruise in a timely and stress-free manner.

 

We recently cruised with Viking from Venice to Athens and for us, based in the Midlands, that involved flying out from Birmingham to Venice via Paris on Air France and returning from Athens via Amsterdam on KLM. Of the 4 flights we took 3 were an hour late leaving and the other was 15 mins late. We had reasonable layover times in Paris and Amsterdam but it was still stressful with the uncertainty of knowing if you would make your connecting flight and also whether your luggage would make it also.

 

On our return journey we were up early to vacate our cabin by 8am local time (6am UK time) and did not get home until 10pm that night after a 1hr taxi ride back from Birmingham Airport.

 

On balance, my wife and I have now decided that we would much prefer to sail with Saga and benefit from their UK based itineraries and door-to-ship transfers. At our age, life is too short (and getting shorter) to have the worry and stress of whether we will get to the ship on time.

[Denarius]

5 hours ago, Kohima said:

 However we come back to Saga for something quite special which the old ships had in abundance and the new ships are now developing: the friendly inclusive atmosphere. It can be easy to feel anonymous, however luxurious the surroundings but we never feel like that on a Saga ship.

I agree totally.

I have been cruising for 30 years and have taken over 50 cruises with several different lines, initially with my late partner and more recently as a solo cruiser. When we first started sailing, cruise ships typically carried 600 to 800 passengers.  Whilst facilities were few compared with todays mega ships, there was an camaraderie onboard. You felt that you were one of a crowd, not a stranger within it. Then ships got bigger and bigger, entertainment options multiplied, but somewhere along the way that camaraderie was lost.  Saga ships have that camaraderie. Passengers actually talk to and socialise with one another rather than just dashing from show to show. And that's what imo makes Saga special.

[Banjo an]

Thanks Denarius.

like you, my wife and I have cruised considerably over the years and with most major cruise lines but our next cruise, to the Caribbean will be the first with Saga and for the very reasons you just quoted. 

[GerryL13]

@Denarius You are so right about the camaraderie! My very first evening on SoA, I was hoping to find someone I'd met on Facebook, but her FB photo was so tiny, I really wasn't sure what she looked like. I approached a woman who was sitting alone in the Living Room going through some papers. Was that her? Maybe? I asked, "Is your name by any chance Karen? I'm looking for someone I met on Facebook." She said, "No. My name is Jane. But please join me so we can chat."

[lisiamc]

On 10/3/2023 at 9:20 PM, JMMKUK said:

they are push button machines, like Waitrose free coffee, not like the machine in a Silversea bar. They are much better than the bean to cup machines on Saga's old ships which used powdered milk.

I’m a bit late to this party, and have resurrected this thread to say:

 

Now I’m worried! IMO, Waitrose free coffee is incredibly vile, probably on purpose, so they won’t get many takers. I’m keeping fingers crossed that Saga coffee is at least drinkable. ☺️

 

I’m a horrible coffee snob 😁 who buys freshly roasted beans and grinds them at home to make espresso, because it’s hard to get good coffee in high street coffee shops. Like @Bloodaxe, we’ve always enjoyed the barista-made coffee on Azamara, and feel it is one of their strong points. 
 

Oh well, the coffee won’t make or break our cruise, and I’m sure we will find many other things to enjoy if the coffee falls a bit short. 

Edited January 18 by lisiamc

[JMMKUK]

Since Waitrose changed from their House brand beans to whatever we've stopped bothering to take our cups.

I meant the machine is like the Waitrose machine or like the Costa machine at Premier Inn Breakfast.

You are very lucky to have a proper coffee shop.

I enjoyed the coffee from the machine in the library & that served in the Living Room & Britannia Lounge. Got the Butler to bring machine coffee instead of a pot for our breakfasts.

We have a bean to cup machine at home so not much different for us.

[Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, lisiamc said:

I’m a bit late to this party, and have resurrected this thread to say:

 

Now I’m worried! IMO, Waitrose free coffee is incredibly vile, probably on purpose, so they won’t get many takers. I’m keeping fingers crossed that Saga coffee is at least drinkable. ☺️

 

I’m a horrible coffee snob 😁 who buys freshly roasted beans and grinds them at home to make espresso, because it’s hard to get good coffee in high street coffee shops. Like @Bloodaxe, we’ve always enjoyed the barista-made coffee on Azamara, and feel it is one of their strong points. 
 

Oh well, the coffee won’t make or break our cruise, and I’m sure we will find many other things to enjoy if the coffee falls a bit short. 

 

Unfortunately the coffee was has I had expected but we did enjoy our cruise, now booked again for May

[Kohima]

Don’t have high coffee expectations and you won’t be disappointed. Definitely no barista coffee available.

[lisiamc]

49 minutes ago, Kohima said:

Don’t have high coffee expectations and you won’t be disappointed. Definitely no barista coffee available.

That’s unfortunate, but we will survive, I’m sure. Some of our ports are in Italy, so we have hopes of a few nice coffees along the way. 

[LondonLad60]

13 hours ago, lisiamc said:

That’s unfortunate, but we will survive, I’m sure. Some of our ports are in Italy, so we have hopes of a few nice coffees along the way. 

My favourite coffee in Italy is a Ponce (which thankfully is pronounced ponchay), and it's a speciality of the town of  Livorno. It consists of a small glass of sweet espresso, a shot of rum, a shot of brandy and a slice of lemon. After three of those one lunchtime I was left feeling rather mellow for the rest of the afternoon...

[lisiamc]

24 minutes ago, LondonLad60 said:

My favourite coffee in Italy is a Ponce (which thankfully is pronounced ponchay), and it's a speciality of the town of  Livorno. It consists of a small glass of sweet espresso, a shot of rum, a shot of brandy and a slice of lemon. After three of those one lunchtime I was left feeling rather mellow for the rest of the afternoon...

That sounds a lovely and fun way to pass an afternoon! 

[LondonLad60]

6 hours ago, lisiamc said:

That sounds a lovely and fun way to pass an afternoon! 

If one of your Italian ports is Livorno, I suggest you try it in a restaurant called Il Paradosso - you can find it on google maps. The food there is also very good.