SaraSailing

30 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

Obviously most people quite rightly wouldn’t ask the Captain, the Staff Captain or the Chief Engineer or the Cruise Director and it's obviously pointless asking the Food & Beverage Manager, the Hotel General Manager or the Restaurant Manager... but all clients are informed how to book Speciality Restaurant on the day that they embark.

 

We... and about 900 other cruisers were on the same SAGA cruise... that you posted about a couple of months ago.... "Contrasts of Scandinavia" that left Dover on 21 May 2023. On embarkation day everyone received a copy of "Today" with the clear instruction almost at the top of the first page that...

 

"Booking Speciality Restaurants: The Club (Steakhouse), Coast to Coast (Seafood), and East to West (Asian) can be made between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm by dialling our booking line 6363. Reservations can also be made in the respective restaurants between 9.30 am to 10.30 am and in the evening between 5.30 pm to 6.15 pm in all outlets.

 

The entire system is digital and very sophisticated. For instance when a booking for a speciality restaurant is made and other booking... for instance a fixed table in the Grand Dining Room... is cancelled and the on the evening the reception staff on the Grand Dining Room desks are alerted by the table being flagged on the screen in a different colour... but there's a lot more to it than that.

 

If someone wants a fixed table, it's better to arrange that when booking the cruise or as soon as possible before departure.  Often it might be possible to arrange a fixed table on board by also by dialling 6363 9.00 am and 5.00 pm or in person in the evening between 5.30 pm to 6.15 pm in all outlets.

 

The members of staff on restaurant reception are, in general very well trained, skilled at what they do and we find that it's far better to deal with them rather than to "learn the uniforms" and "try to get the most senior person around."

 

 

I think most people would understand that I mean senior restaurant staff are usually very good at helping deal with queries when they come up. I know on the current SoD cruise that Mandeep (who you'll remember) had been instrumental in helping reorganise tables on a busy ship so that quieter couples didn't have to stay near a rather boisterous larger group. 

Of course it gets much easier to understand and navigate the systems as one gets used to a cruise line. It's one reason for the brand loyalty people develop after their first couple of cruises. 

I did wonder if I was one of the youngest Britannia Club members at 52, when my badge arrived recently!

In terms of getting what you want in any dining room, the single best answer is roll up and ask. Try to get the most senior person around (learn the uniforms) and ask as early in the cruise as you can. There is sometimes a trade off - like we've never had a reserved table, but were promised they'd hold or preferred table for the first 15 minutes or so of dinner service. 

And, some of my best cruise stories have sprung from terrible dinner tables - though I still try to not repeat those experience! 

That's really interesting. I'm not long off SoD, and the funnel silencers were clearly not doing their job. The soot was a bit better than SoA in March, but at least in part because the cleaning and cushion cover changing has been increased. Hopefully they are on a better trajectory now, and these issues will get resolved. 

2 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

In the same context of helping with comparisons. Price wise Saga compares to Cunard,

We've only been on Cunard once, with both sets of parents as a pre-Christmas short trip. Again, accessibility on Victoria meant Princess Grill was the highest available class (though Mary does have accessible Queens Grill too). What we found was a bit of a tale of two cities. The Princess Grill was nice, and the food good, if a bit old-fashioned. It took me four days to get a decent espresso! Being asked to order wine for dinner at breakfast time was off-putting. And our particular trip the service in the grills lounge was appalling, even when relatively quite. Then down in the lower decks it was a bit of a scrum - though my in-laws loved the dance floor. Shore Concierge were the standard of most SS: when we put pressure on them, they provided an accessible-ish taxi van for the six of us, because the shuttle wasn't accessible at all. (SS do have one fantastic shore concierge manager - who was trained by probably the best in the business, and when we sail with him, life is easy - in fact, he also got us a huge discount on a hand carved totem pole!). The thing that was horrendous for us was getting between our cabin and the griils deck. We were on deck 8, and needed to get to 11. There was always a huge queue, and lifts with no space. One lady and I frequently pushed our husbands into lifts going the wrong way, so they could eventually take control and get to the right floor. I think the 'cruise within a cruise' feel of the grills would be massively enhanced by a couple of private lifts.

6 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

Thanks for your frequent reports Sara, and for giving your honest opinion on the SAGA experience.  It's not for us either, at least at this stage in our lives (though we are well into SAGA's targeted demographic, being in our mid 70s).  One and done for us, for the time being.  Whilst we are able to cope with the craziness of airport travel we think there are much better alternatives available - back to Viking for us next month and I cannot wait!  

In mid 70s you are still below the average age of a Saga ocean cruiser! Do enjoy your next cruise. 

1 hour ago, MikeD1000 said:

Sara, thank you for an excellent review. That and the replies were very helpful to us. We are going on SOA in July, a first for us with Saga. We normally sail with Regent or Silversea but like your parents we are fed up of flying so are trying to find no fly cruises. We are just  home from Splendor 

but that seems to have exhausted all the cruises we can do with them, although  we are doing Silver Wind next year so will have to fly for the fun of coming home under Tower Bridge.

Please could you give an honest comparison between SAGA and Silversea and what did you mean by institutionalised?

We don't want the fag of taking DJ or one night.   Are the alternatives OK?

Please anyone else add helpful comments.

Hello! 

We missed out on the Tower Bridge experience because of bad weather, just before the Wind was converted to explorer (wheelchair accessible cabin now doesn't have balcony, husband won't sail without one). We did love the ship though. And I think one-way flights and a UK return are actually a great compromise.

My views are coloured slightly by age (52), and disability requirements for my husband. 

That said, we started sailing with SS in about 2008. By accident because of a bargain end of season Alaska cruise. And we adore SE Alaska for the wildlife. 

Yes, SS are more expensive. Though if you are travelling solo, sometimes the supplement is only 10% on a quiet cruise. (Busy ones up to 100%!). Saga have no official supplement, but single cabins have a 30% uplift, depending on category. Their singles are the same as doubles, but the size of a category down. 

But I did my best price comparison on a SS verandah suite and a similar length saga cruise at the same time. Both door to door (SS private and you pick timing, Saga shared and they tell you when). (SS includes one economy flight). SS cabin just slightly larger than a deluxe twin on Saga, so used that to compare. Both with some included excursions. Price per person per day for two sharing was about £525 Saga and £608 SS. Sorry, doing it from memory with clingy cat on lap. So about £83 a day more on SS. Apart from a teeny bit more space (which is probably mostly walk in wardrobe) and the single flight, SS has all butlers (which I love), a bigger and better included wine selection (though the new pinotage on Saga was good), much better coffee, and usually higher quality (though smaller) lunch buffet. Saga are a bargain on premium wines, selling at wine superstore prices, and we had their malbec at £12 several times. SS I've never felt the need to upgrade wine, and given my husband's drink of choice is champagne, we do well on SS.

What else? I think Saga are getting better at helping people on and off at ports, and the 'step test' for tenders seems to have died a death at last. SS have been brilliant with flipping my husband and chair in and out of tenders (he looks safer when they do it than many people with walking sticks), I think we only missed Santorini (but then, we weren't going to get up the side of the volcano) and the Monaco GP (wild in the bay with so many ships, and I didn't want to join the crowd anyway).

Saga don't have nearly the same mark up on tours as SS, and my best trip ever was probably my night off the ship with the huskies in Alta from SoA last year (especially as the ship struggled in the cold, the sprinkler system sprinkled several cabins, it turned out snow could only be cleared from round the pool by bucket up to deck 13, and the dining room had a freezing gale blowing through). Salon and spa seemed more similar, though I guess Saga is still cheaper. The shop on Ss is way better, especially on my favourite Shadow. Staff passenger ratio on Saga is closer to 1:2 and SS much closer to 1:1. The SS pool decks are much nicer spaces. 

I did way more queuing with Saga. Especially for the grill at busy times. 

Both Ss and Saga will let you go to elsewhere in smart informal for dinner even on formal nights. Saga's Grill mostly serves same as dining room at night as table service, unless there's a themed buffet. Saga insist on formal attire in theatre on formal nights (we had 3 in 14 days). Easy for me, I chuck a dress on over shorts whatever night it is, but dj is harder work (husband does the full Prince charlie with tartan trews, weighs a tonne!). Saga didn't have any premium restaurants, so no extra charges for them. I do love the Khukuri on SoA and East to West on SoD, and the Italian/fish are good too. Ss I love the hot rocks, and cooking my own steak. I also like that SS you can start booking restaurants online (though they are not confirmed until on board). SS will also offer a table "curry night" if you make friends with the F&B director. Last year we had the exec chef make a fantastic prawn dish from his home area, just for 4 of us.

Saga's official bar is dinky, and open to the atrium and the living room bar. If someone is playing the piano downstairs, it's loud. If you head down the side of the living room towards reception it's sometimes a little quieter in terms of music. Then the Britannia lounge is huge - noise depends on what's going on. I'll be interested to see what the Dawn is like. We did sail on the Muse in 2018, but they have tweaked the design a bit since. 

I'd say Saga pack their tables a little tighter in all eating spaces, which can be a bit odd if you don't want to chat to your neighbours. 

Saga have way more solo guests, and they seemed to be well looked after. 

SS we only ever travel in accessible suites, but I've had a few tours of the ships now. My in laws ended up being moved to the Royal suite on the whisper last year (after a mess up by land agents in Copenhagen). That was gorgeous, not least the huge bed. I haven't yet seen the other cabins on Saga ships. We're back in an accessible silver suite on Dawn (other accessible suites no balcony, but same size). And we're looking forward to the Nova and seeing what their suites are like. My parents always take a standard double cabin on Saga. They get very good at taking turns to move around, as the only real space is beyond the bed - though standard SS might not be much better. The standard cabin also has a smallish tight sliding door wardrobe next to the bed. My deluxe single had a huge walk in wardrobe.

I do like having the big drinks fridge stocked to our requirements on SS. Saga's larger cabins have a medium drinks fridge (empty except for milk), most have a tiny one. And, of course Saga give everyone a kettle, teabags and instant coffee. 

Totally random list, but maybe that gives your an idea. 

As to "institutionalised". I think it starts with calling the car to the port "vip", but sharing with a stranger or two. Then there's the queuing and people sleeping in the living room during the day. And the Grill has slight John Lewis restaurant vibes - not at all unpleasant, just a tad canteeny. 

I think Saga definitely offer a good service, and it's certainly more boutique than P&O now (i know someone just came off Iona). And I'm sure you'll have a nice time and find your niche. There's bound to be compromises compared to ultra luxury, but depending on your needs it might be worthwhile. 

If you've got specific questions, just shout!

In summary. Spirit of Discovery:

Nice decor, more classy than SoA. 

Coffee is much much better than on SoA - and captain agrees!

Some great food, some mediocre food. Glad to be home where avoiding gluten-free products is much easier. I made one or two mistakes in the buffet, and did suffer for it. And it wasn't great to frequently miss out on sauces at dinner, despite ordering each morning - SoA handled this better.

Noise level of music goes beyond what is reasonable if you want conversation. 

Theatre is cinema style not lounge style, which is cramped and not so welcoming as many other ships.

In general excellent service, and pretty much always well-meant even when it fell short.

Soot is still an issue. The back terrace and hand rails were very spotted with it.

Maps, information, quality/frequency of shuttle buses all a bit variable. Too many long bus rides, not enough short walks into places. 

Would really like to see restaurant manager and F&B director more engaged with guests on a routine basis. I did have Mandeep constantly seeking me out after the fifth allergy mis-service - but I'd rather not be singled out and see lots of people getting that level of check-in.

Really sad that the cruise director was silenced within a few days - it had been nice to hear his twice daily updates, and have the captain deal with captain-y things. I know it was a decision made, but no idea why.

We had an excellent wine waiter in the dining room, who was super efficient and quietly helped out with whatever needed doing. East to West and Coast to Coast were generally great, The Club wasn't. 

Saga do seem to do well at bringing solo travellers together, which is nice to see.

My cabin was nice, my steward good, and room service were fantastic. 

WiFi was the worst I've ever had in 15 years of cruising. I used a LOT of my data allowance on port days, because things kept failing on WiFi. 

Would I pick Saga if I weren't travelling with my parents? No. Would my parents chose Saga if they weren't avoiding flying? Probably not. Is it a good option if you don't want to fly and don't mind the slightly institutionalised feel? I guess so.

Next cruise with husband in August on the Silver Dawn, Copenhagen to Southampton. 

Dover. Almost home.

Watched the approach to the cliffs in brilliant sunshine. Looked like a good day for the beach,

Then several hours in the lounge (photo before it got busy) waiting to be allowed off at our allocated time. 

Then a swift taxi home - this time just the three of us, so no detours. Now to see how my little cat colony are coping without boss cat Pip, hopefully meet the rescue feral kit soon, and time to get washing done and get back to work.

Last Day - at sea.

The north sea was flat as flat, with almost no discernible movement. The sun shone. If it hadn't been for the soot on the back terraces - still a significant mess, despite any hopeful words, and the noise of the funnel on the pool deck, I might have spent more time outside. Instead I went to a craft class and made some fairly successful paper boxes and a fairly unsuccessful resin bookmark. I could have had a nap in the living room, I guess, it seemed a popular spot for a snooze.

Went to East to West for dinner. The resolution to the allergy discussion seemed to be that I'd get individual attention, which feels like overkill. But the food there is lovely - the prawn dish even includes a head, which we all know is the tastiest bit.

Final sunset at sea, bags packed and ready to go home.

Skagen. Last port before home, and always a great place to visit. Lovely sunrise.

There was a shuttle bus for the approximately 1km through the post and into town, it was running back and forth every 10 minutes or so, and there was even a sign at the drop off point. If it had been accessible, they'd have won the shuttle bus prize.

I just had a short walk around town, a bit of shopping and back to the ship. Too much walking and too long sitting in chairs with my feet down had pushed my ankle beyond what it was ready to do. 

I love watching everyone sprinting back for lunch, and equally the final push away.

Haggis for dinner (starter), with actual turnip instead of the more normal neeps. But good McSween haggis, that really didn't need a gravy. Followed by beef wellington - pleasant flavour that made up for it being over-cooked and a tad soggy.

And a glorious sunset as we headed into the north sea.

On 6/3/2023 at 4:31 AM, lincslady said:

Watches?

Unfortunately not this time! Walking sandals and some gifts.

7 minutes ago, nosapphire said:

Thank you for these lovely photos, interesting posts, and informative and well balanced comments.

I still love your user name!

Now we've left Skagen, and just got the North Sea to go. My parents are back in just 3 weeks time for a trip up to Greenland, without me. I'll be over on Silversea in August, just pootling around Norway. 

Will try and download photos from Skagen if wifi allows. Though (having been before) I mostly went on a shopping spree!

Thursday in Copenhagen.

Much rebuilding going on, so we were docked at the new "big ship" cruise port, about 7km out of the city centre. So another 20ish minute coach ride in.

There is so much to see and do here, and it's impossible to do everything. But we had a stroll around, went to the palace square, and bought liquorice. 

A bottle of champagne from the F&B Director arrived in my cabin while I was at lunch. We drank it while watching the seagulls.

There was a "viking" themed buffet up in the Grill, I'm told with fancy dress and battle cries. We were given a copy of the menu, and someone had clearly done their research for good generic scandi dishes.

We passed Hamlet's castle, and my seat in the Dining Room was in prime position for photos - so I spent a bit of time standing up to let everyone take a turn to have a look.

Wednesday. Warnemunde. A small seaside holiday town just north of Rostock.

A reminder to check outside your window before flinging the curtains open...

Conversation with chef and restaurant manager about why people keep giving me food I'm allergic to. Both agreed I'd fully informed them and kept reporting issues - but escalation process doesn't always seem to work. It's a bit embarrassing to have to sit down with two of the busiest people on the ship, just to ask for the agreed preferences to be met, so that I don't get sick. But there you have it. At least I didn't cry, but it was close. 

Oh, and Ecclefechan tart for dinner...

Sea, sand, sand art, nice coffee and cake, currywurst, basket chairs, interesting art, very tidy train station, huge barn of a cruise terminal...

Day at sea. Much rest. Sunsets and some cabin snippets.

Monday was Helsinki. And goodness, I'm bored of shuttle buses. The balance is just off on this cruise, too many industrial docks, not enough hop into town. To be fair, if I weren't nursing two injuries, the mile or so into town wouldn't matter. But as it is, buses every 30 minutes in most places makes it feel more regimented than I'd choose.

The harbour area was lovely, with a market selling nicer souvenirs, and a street food market too. Two of the cathedrals have a lot lot of steps up to the front door. We didn't make it across to the rock cathedral, though the photos online look rather cool. I was pretty pleased that my slow study of Japanese helped me read the front of a coach for Japanese tourists.

Loved the security cameras!

Handmade bracelet from the market

We went to the Coast to Coast (seafood) restaurant for dinner. Apart from the usual confusion of being given gluten-free bread because they misread my allergy information, it was very pleasant. Service was certainly attentive, and a much more relaxed environment than the big dining rooms. I was starting to get bored of the routine mistakes of giving me food I'm allergic to, but I'm pretty alert to it now.

Stopped off in the South Cape bar for a drink afterwards. What I like is that it looks fresh and open. But the living room piano (which sounds like it might need tuning) is so loud, it's hard to hear anything. And the service was lacking in lustre. Possibly if we'd been drinking there since the start of the cruise, we'd be finding the waiting style ironic and entertaining.

I did find the major print clash of the chaise in the corner of the library...

And another view of the library

More gorgeous sunset skies, that make everything else worthwhile. 

Sunday in Kotka. Originally we were meant to dock in the old town area, and this showed up on cruise port websites until pretty late. Shipboard "Today" also came out a bit late as well. Captain did say something about wanting to leave later, rather than going slowly to Helsinki, but don't think the proximity of Helsinki was a surprise. So not sure if it was money. pilot or mechanical reasons for move to a neighbouring island which is 50% industrial port, 11km out of Kotka old town. I was disappointed, as I really wanted a brief mooch, and not 20 or so minutes on a shuttle bus each way. It also meant formal dinner was in the industrial dock, rather than sailing between islands.

I'm told the gardens of Kotka are beautiful, and saw a few photos which were nice.

We were greeted by a troupe of pompom wavers and an accordion.

Of course, the kitchen will make me sauces without the gluten-free flour, if I ask well in advance. And I do this with dinner (not that it always works). But I struggle to plan ahead with lunch, and we don't always know what time we'll get to the buffet. So, I really missed out on gravy at lunchtime. 

Formal dinner. One thing about formals: if you are near an officer hosted table, all the service will be focused on that. And this means less for the remaining tables. Even with our intrepid wine waiter pitching in, more mistakes were made. The big one being my parents sitting with starters in front of them for about 20 minutes until mine made it out of the kitchen. Mistakes do happen, and it's how they are handled that matters. But no one seemed to be bothered at all, and no senior staff noticed these uneaten meals in all that time - and our waiter didn't escalate it. He's great when everything is working right, but I don't think he knew how to handle the situation, so he acted like it hadn't gone wrong.

Nice sunset though.

37 minutes ago, LondonLad60 said:

I've been to Tallinn three times, and I've never seen it as quiet as it looks in your photos. On one occasion there were eight (yes, EIGHT!) cruise ships in, and the city was absolutely heaving. The reason was, in 2018 Trump and Putin held a summit in Helsinki. We were supposed to stop in Helsinki but that clashed with the summit, so ships that should have gone to Helsinki went to Tallinn instead.

Oh goodness. We were the only cruise ship, apart from an old Aida? one that is apparently being sold and is docked there for now. I think it was going to get busier later on in the day, but not to the level of all those ships avoiding the summit.

Saturday we hopped over to Estonia to visit Tallinn.

Good news today was the shuttle bus was a low level bus with wheelchair space (as was Stockholm, I'm told). Make a fantastic difference in terms of how safe many of the guests are getting on and off. To city centre is very cobbled, and I did find my body got quite sore (recovering from spinal surgery). Still nice to have a quick look around - and I'm sure I'd have spent more time here if I hadn't been in pain. (An afternoon lying flat helped a lot!)

Bad news, Explore Ashore handed out maps with completely the wrong terminal marked as where the shuttle would return to. We decided to walk from town based on the map, and ended up with an extra 10 minutes navigating car parks to get back. (I had dropped a pin on my map with the correct place, but everyone trusted Explore Ashore more than me and Google!)  The cruise terminal itself was a work of art, with intriguing toilet signs.

Here's a quick view of my cabin from the pier

And a view across the dining room before dinner

There are a couple of free laundrettes on the ship. There's usually a crowd, because the dryers take 2 hours and the washers 30 minutes. But I did manage to wash some t-shirts ready for week two.

And, just because in this modern world we're so connected... after the death of my lovely cat earlier in the week, my friend found a lost feral kitten in her garden. We've been trying to capture and rehome the colony, but it's not easy. This teeny lady is about 7 weeks old, and the spitting image (other than her mother's nose) of her not yet 4 year old grandfather (who is now off the baby making market and living with me for the last 18 months). As my friend has also lost a young cat this year (this one's uncle, as best we can tell), the little one is a breathe of fresh energy. When I get back we will try to find the other two kits that we've heard of, and then trap mum and dad too. There's a rescue willing to take them, so they all have a chance of a much better life.

Friday was Stockholm. I've been here a few times, so decided to mostly rest my dodgy ankle. 

Pleased to finally suss how to get a crema from my new portable espresso maker. (Yes, I know there is coffee on the ship, but it's not the best.) 

Eventually the tiny gazebo on the cliff above the skip was too enticing. It's only a stiff 10 minute vertical climb and a slightly longer wind down the other side back to the ship.

It's a long run out of Stockholm with the ship moving at speed between tiny islands.

Dinner was East to West. A lovely meal, some real spice, and a well run restaurant. Slight mistake with me being served green beans (which I'm pretty allergic to), but luckily I spotted it and no harm done. Everyone was very apologetic, and apparently that dish never normally has beans in it.

Gorgeous sunset and night sky. I watched the pilot wave goodbye. I love listening to the sound of the water as it gets dark.

There may be some duplicate photos below here, CC automatically adds any uploaded but not used.

So, Thursday evening we went the "The Club". For those that don't know, both of the Saga ships have three bookable (but free) speciality restaurants. These are slightly different between ships. SoD has The Club (steakhouse) wrapped around the atrium of the Dining Room, plus East to West (mixed asian) and Coast to Coast (fish).

The Club. Spotted this super cute sparrow sculpture on the light fitting over the dining room. The pretzel bread rolls were extra tasty. The steak was really overcooked, but this was the same on SoA, and on other cruise ships (probably why I love Silversea's "hot rocks", where I can cook my own). The chips were more like half roasted potatoes, with no crunch. I could have been less ambitious with what I ordered, I guess. 

Evening slightly soured by a guest being incredibly rude to a member of waiting staff, then pretty rude to a fellow guest who intervened. The (one-sided) argument continued for quite some time, with a lot of finger pointing and hand waving (by the guest) that occasionally turned into jabbing. How the staff member stayed calm and pleasant, I don't know, It really doesn't matter what had gone wrong, it's unacceptable to be that personally rude to anyone. I hope guest relations were able to have a word with the gentleman and help him find a more civilised way of interacting.

16 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Thanks for picture of books in Library. 😁😁😁😁😁

 

Visby is our perfect port ,nice walk into town , it may not be grand but is beautiful 

If you go back on a sunny day, I can recommend the Langska föreningen, just 3 minutes from the pier, and a lovely garden to sit in while you enjoy fika.

2 hours ago, lincslady said:

That was a LOT of photos, but they were lovely.

And you got the edited highlights! It reminded me a bit of Skagen in Denmark. Looking forward to going there on our way home.

Visby. What a lovely place. I think I could live here. 

Toooooooooo many photos:

And someone singing from an open window...

Back for a quick burger on the Verandah. Sideways cos I got my camera the wrong way up.

Then we hopped over the road to the little local museum and art gallery (mostly shut for renovations), with a little cafe run by volunteers. They only took payment in swish (the swedish rapid transfer system) or cash. Luckily they were happy with my euros. We had a couple of very tasty chocolate truffle balls and lots of swedish coffee, sitting in a sunny garden.

Back on the ship, the view of the grand staircase from deck 7, the view into the dining room from the club, and some random cabin photos and views from the balcony...

Wednesday we were at sea. I didn't do much during the day, as I heard that my little cat had a massive blot clot and had to be put to sleep. Not nice to be so far from home without even voice calls. But I know she got all the love and care that was appropriate. 

Here's the flyer for the 10k:

Had ice cream up at the Lido. The funnel was loud.

We had a "premium" Malbec (£12) in honour of my wine-taster cat. The snails were excellent (the risotto wasn't).

Random sea/sunset photos