Saga Pearl II

[trams]

Has anyone noticed that Saga Pearl II has disapeared from the SAGA website?

[Saga Ruby]

If you look under the "News" banner on CCritic, there is a fine article about the ownership of Astoria being in financial difficulties, therefore not available to Saga Cruises for a replacement for Saga Rose.

 

Ruby

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

I hate to say this but Transocean Tours deserve to go bankrupt. I feel sorry for the crew loosing thier jobs but they are the main reason I said the statment above. On the 'English' market Marco Polo I latley took an Antarctic cruise and guess what? Nearly none of the crew could speak english. The few who could would swear at the passengers sometimes in English. Like you ask a question 'when are we departing' they answer back 'why the f*** are you intrested in that?". The Dining room staff was incomprahensibly terrible. We got what we orderd three times in eleven nights.... And when we did get it the whole table would errupt in a cheer of relief. Our room stewardess charged us for 18 bottle of waters in one day.... and then refused to take back the charge as she cummunicated in sign language. Had it not been for the fantastic cruise director, awe inspiring destination of the frozen Antarctic, intamcy of the Marco Polo and good standard of the food (however bad the waiters where the food tasted much better than we got in the Norwegian Jewel or even Caribbean Princess).

 

But should the company fail to go out of administration there are a few people my heart aches for. There onbaord we met a group of Indian chef/waiters/room stewards which where oozing with happiness of the salary they where getting. A pizza cook was making $2900 a month and he kept on telling us proudly how happy his family is. For them, I must feel sorry. They where also some of the best if not the best crew members I had ever met. But thats 15 people. The vast majority where nothing short of terrible, rude and untrained. I told the Captain this personaly and he remarked a rather racist remark about the nationalty of the crew before saying he works for Louis Cruise Lines (low budget Greek/Cyprus establishment) and that this line which was supposed to be 'upscale' was much more worse than Louis (he was only on 'loan' to Transocean Tours for 3 months). A company which runs its shpis in the way of Transocean ran the majestic Marco Polo are bound to fail.

 

However for the sake of the few fantastic crew members I met aboard, I wish them the best of luck.