SallyRobert

Please can anyone tell us what beers, both draft and bottled are onboard?

hopefully someone might have a drinks list. Thanks in advance.

Overall, we managed to find a space for everything, although I did like the look of the walk-in wardrobes in the Deluxe cabins ... 
 

we had a walk-in wardrobe on Regent Navigator and it was great. I can’t justify the extra money for a deluxe just for a walk-in.

Thank you so much for taking the time with these posts for us. Very informative. It’s been so difficult trying to get information out of Saga. Which deck is your cabin on?

On 2/21/2021 at 12:06 PM, wowzz said:

What is a "block party"? 

It’s when everyone on your deck stands outside their room with a glass and the captain and officers come round with drinks and you get to know your neighbours. I wasn’t sure if this is only something that happens on Regent ships as we have only sailed with them before

Hi,

I have a couple of questions, sorry if they have been asked before. I have gone back a really long way and can’t see that they have.

We are booked on the Caribbean Christmas 2022 and are just wondering, does Saga Cruises have block parties? And do they have organised deck games with the entertainment team?

Once again, sorry if this has been asked before.

Thanks in advance

Sally

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. 

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!!

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 😎

3 hours ago, swansong said:

I have never been on a Saga cruise but know people who have. I don’t believe that you can compare the two. One is luxury ( Regent) and one (Saga) is very much lower mid market more like P&O. Just compare the pricing!

Thanks Swansong. I was only asking as Saga have now gone all inclusive and seem to be “upping their game” with the new ships. Excursions included etc. I find the idea of departing from Southampton quite attractive but not sure of the compromise.

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

Just wondering if any RSSC cruisers have ever been on a Saga cruise? And if so, did it compare favourably with RSSC? And if not, why not? We have seen what we think looks like a good offer for Dec 2022, but generally, if something looks too good to be true, it generally is! Looking forward to your thoughts.

On 8/29/2020 at 1:08 PM, Glenndale said:

We've had a look at the 2022 brochure and feel that the itineraries are pretty unispiring but

quite fancy one of the Canary Isle cruises just for a winter sunshine break.

Which ones do you like the look of?

We are fortunate that we've visited most of the ports of call so cruising for us is not necessarily to discover pastures new 🙂

We’ve just booked Grand Caribbean Christmas. Only 797 days to go! Whoop! 😎

12 hours ago, Glenndale said:

It is included 🙂

Thank you so much for the reply. DH will be beside himself! 😂😂😂

Hi Everyone,

Please can anyone tell me, on the SoA, is the self service laundry included or if not, how much is it?

Is it token? Do you charge it to your cabin? Just interested as when we go RSSC it’s all included.

Thank you all in advance. It’s certainly not a deal breaker - just interested.

14 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

In your previous post, you mentioned that you switched your cruise from Zanzibar to La Palma.  Is that also in November?  

Hi TC, Sorry, I think I mislead you. We were due to stay in the Riu hotel in Zanzibar in November and we have moved it to a hotel on La Palma. If, God forbid, either of us did get ill, it would be a much shorter transit time to get home.
Last year was our first ever cruise. I wasn’t really sure it would be for us, as DH has always said he’s not old enough to cruise yet. It was an outstanding success and we can’t wait to book another. Must be with regent though.

On 6/5/2020 at 11:22 PM, cerise638 said:

Very early days but CIO of AstraZeneca has announced they will commence manufacturing of the Vaccine they are developing with Oxford University BEFORE knowing effectivity. With input from a couple of charities including one backed by Bill Gates they are hoping for a billion doses before the end of 2020.  

 

He and others are quite open about the fact that the vaccine may not end up being effective and it is a big risk.  They will not know until August. 

 

There is agreement to supply the US with 300 million doses (TC2 no need to fly across the pond 😊) and the UK 100 million doses as early as September and also a commitment to supply the poorest nations

 

We can only hope that it does turn out to be effective and that other vaccines under development are too 

 

 

I applied to take part in the Oxford University trials but unfortunately at 55 I was deemed too old!

On 5/26/2020 at 7:09 PM, Travelcat2 said:

For those of you not cruising this year, what type of vacation will you be taking?  For us, if we do not cruise in November, we may find a cave somewhere and hibernate until this is over with.

We were booked to go to Zanzibar in November. We have just managed to change to La Palma. Hopefully it will go ahead, but if not, we will turn up the heating and look at the photos and videos of our Panama Canal trip last year.

18 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

211 days for us and I can't stop planning and looking at the ports, etc.  Oh yeah, and an occasional "youtube tour" of the ship just because....   😎

That’s me, most weekends. I only have 5 days at work now, it’s getting real. 🤪

Only 10 more sleeps before we leave home. Only 12 till we embark on Navigator. I am absolutely beyond excited 😊 

Thank you so much Carol. I have been in touch with them and have prices. I just need to fill out the booking forms. Please can you tell me, do Regent embark/disembark from San Pedro terminal or Long Beach? I don’t want to book pick up from the wrong location 😘😘

1 hour ago, JPR said:

Hospitals will have you towed if you’re parked in the visitors lot for several days.

And we have to pay for hospital parking in the UK! It’s more expensive than at the local shopping centre (mall)

Could anyone please recommend a good driver in LA area? After we disembark we need to get to Redondo Beach which will be our base for 3 nights before returning to the UK. Not sure if we should just get an Uber? I really prefer to pre book and not leave anything to chance.

Hi guys.

I used the email address to contact Antje regarding a request for our upcoming cruise on Navigator in November. I was absolutely gobsmacked a) to receive a reply within 10 minutes and b) confirmation that housekeeping have our request and it will be sorted. I am just stunned at the level of customer service.

I just hope that I won’t appear too overawed by everything. 

5 weeks to go and my excitement levels are through the roof!!!

We have just been watching a Channel 5 programme about the RSSC Explorer. On the programme on Friday, there was a block party. Does this just happen on the explorer or all RSSC ships? Only asking cos it looks great fun. Thank you in advance