Kohima

It seems that yesterday saw yet another Saga admin omnishambles. Firstly 2025 cruises (with prices) were freely available to view and book online for several hours. Secondly they completely disappeared, again for several hours. Thirdly, around lunchtime, Britannia members received an email saying they now had 24 hours priority booking. The cruises reappeared online but minus the prices. Depending on their postal reliability and delivery times, some Britannia members received the 2025 brochure which included prices. Meanwhile reports have appeared that bookings were being taken from anyone. All of this made a nonsense of the promised Britannia club priority booking window. Yet again the very high standards maintained on the ships are not matched by Head Office.

Guarantee prices usually only appear 3-4 months before the sailing date if a substantial number of cabins are still unsold (even sooner if sales are really poor). However the guarantee price can also vary(up or down), depending on how quickly sales go. We are also on the 3rd July cruise, having booked at a substantial discount when general sales opened. It seems to have sold very well from the outset, possibly due to the 2 day Stockholm stay…?

If you click on the details of a particular cruise when the Saga office is closed (UK times), you will see a button that says ‘request a call back’. Clicking on that will take you to a form to fill in with your details. Saga will then call you back and you can ask any questions you wish. Unless you are UK residents you cannot take the included insurance but you will have the cost of that deducted from your fare. You will be able to arrange the included UK travel service eg from a hotel to the departure point. Some of the river cruises use the Eurostar train from St Pancras.

Windsurfboy, yes many cabins are often for sale at full price, but that is not to say that they are eventually sold at that price. By using the ‘cabin guarantee’ wording these cabins can be subsequently sold at a very substantial discount. In the case of the highest deck cabins this can be even greater than 35%.

You make good points Nosapphire. The system is no longer fit for purpose. Unless people make multiple registrations for several years ahead, the chances of getting a 35% discount on the cheaper cabins are slim on the more popular cruises. However, setting that aside, my comment was equally focussed on the shambolic IT launch of the new season. There is no excuse for that.

This whole situation is something of an omnishambles. A company purporting to offer a luxury ‘boutique’ product has boosted its cash flow by taking in £90 twice yearly registrations at £360 pa per couple, with some people having multiple registrations for years ahead. When the summer 2025 cruise details are released (to those participants of the scheme who have internet access), there is a frenzied meltdown as the IT proves not fit for purpose. No prices are released so it is impossible to make considered choices of cruise, deck and cabin, It is left to resourceful customers on social media to help others make sense of the offerings. Meanwhile those at the head of the queue are being called by Saga (what a lengthy call that must be) to make hasty choices without knowledge of the whole picture. This system obviously works for the few earlybirds (especially solos) who gain access to the few 35% discounted cabins and are happy to book instantly based on the information given over the phone, but for the rest of the customer base it looks like a scheme to pressurize customers into early booking without proper information.

The calls have already started this evening.

It’s always a risk but there are often 80 to 100 cabins still unbooked when guarantees are offered so the chances of getting a good cabin are high. The partially obstructed view E cabins are only obstructed from waist height down (ie when seated). These cabins are often allocated to the entertainers and speakers.

Guarantee cabins can be cheaper than the price at launch if you are allocated the more expensive cabins on the higher decks, which many people are. Sometimes the guarantee price is even further reduced, in which case people who booked at the higher guarantee price are allocated higher level cabins early and told they are being ‘upgraded’. Only cruises which have a substantial number of unsold cabins nearer to sailing time offer guarantee cabins but these are excellent value for people who, for various reasons, don’t want to or can’t book a long way ahead.

When Captain Tanner announced why he would have to be leaving the ship at the next port, everyone was very sympathetic when realising how he had so professionally set aside his own problems while dealing with the demands of his job.

Sadly, JMMKUK, Captain Kim Tanner had to leave our SoA cruise in November to attend his mother’s funeral.

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

Thank you Brummijam. Just to expand on my post……I was merely suggesting that the combination of no cycle path, busy traffic and an unfamiliar side of the road might not be a great experience for some people. Obviously some ports will provide a more relaxing experience than others, especially where there are dedicated cycle paths. Indeed, for various safety reasons, the e bikes cannot be used in certain ports.

They are definitely free and you have to book at reception.

You need a safety briefing, involving watching a video, before taking out an e bike. We booked e bikes in Funchal, having been told by Explore Ashore that there was a cycle path. However, investigating on foot in advance, we couldn’t see clear evidence of a cycle path on either the busy road or pavement, so decided against taking out the bikes. It would be helpful if the ships developed a safe cycling guide to suitable ports. Cycling on busy roads on the “wrong side” of the road doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Try reading a map on your phone in bright sunlight!!

Yes, at any time.

Let’s hope that the meeting and mingling of the 2 ships in Lisbon tomorrow will give the crews a much needed boost. I hope they are given time and opportunity to meet up with relatives and friends on the other ship.

I will look nearer the time. It is quite evident from these sites what is severe. If the cabin balcony furniture is tied down by your steward then you know rough seas are expected!

There are a number of websites such as the Shipping Forecast or Windy which you can consult but of course conditions can change very rapidly.

We are on that cruise too and really looking forward to it, having been on Saga cruises over many years. At any time of the year there can be rough weather at sea, especially in the Bay of Biscay, but it seems that there were a number of unusual and very unfortunate situations which came together to cause the recent frightening, traumatic experience. I would say to anyone about to embark next week that Saga will now be ultra cautious so don’t overthink potential problems. Go and enjoy everything on offer.

Reports coming from SoD in the Bay of Biscay are very concerning, with little prospect of a let up in the weather.

Sorry, even worse, it’s Monday 13th for the next cruise!

Even if they leave on Saturday, that only leaves 8 more clear days until the next cruise on Tuesday 13th. What could the itinerary be?

Falmouth Harbour webcam page is now showing SoA departing at 6.30 am tomorrow morning.