Bloodaxe

We have a book called Based at Burn, not sure if it is still in print or on the net,it was a special order at the reunion written by one the veterans.

Was Gary's father based in Yorkshire during the war?, we live in the edge of a wartime airfield just South of Selby, about 20 miles from the air museum. The main aircraft that flew from here were Halifaxs, what a pity that the Halifax at Elvington is not airworthy. Our airfield at Burn still has quite a few runways usable and the local gliding club use them. A few years ago the R A F used it for training landings and take off from remote locations. A wartime reunion was held in the 1998 and people came from as far away has Canada and Australia to attend, local villagers were welcome and it was great to talk with the veterans. The flypast was done by the Lancaster has obviously no Halifax was available. A memorial book to 578 squadron is kept in Selby Abbey South of York.

Like you this will our first cruise for 4 years and our first with Saga, most of our previous cruises have been with Azamara and the smaller Celebrity ships. Not like!y to cruise on any of the new mega ships with any line, be interested to hear your thoughts on Saga after your cruise. Ours is not quite the same has yours, round trip Dover calling in Southern Ireland, the Scillys and Northern France. Just a short one to test the water with Saga.

It looks as if you are in the Scilly Isles, the Op was referring to Sicily, Italy. We are on the same cruise as you next month.how is it?

Thanks for your replies, you have confirmed what I thought was the case. If we enjoy the cruise we will book as soon has we return home, I realise we wiil probably not get the cheapest deal. On Azamara we always paid a reduced deposit on-board along with other special offers.

Are there any benefits for booking a future cruise while on the ship?, our first Saga cruiser is in September and we are thinking of booking one for next year but not until we have some experience of the line.

They certainly seem to be much better than Azamara, the included wines and spirits are very poor and the pay for ones are more expensive than Saga.

Dress standards on Azamara have also fallen in recent years, supposed to be smart casual but nothing like as smart as it once was in my opinion.

Not any more, email says that the requirement for proof has been dropped.

We did a ships your to Gallipoli from Canakkale when on Azamara a few years ago, good tour but a bit rushed, would not try it unless through the ship, we were late back due to just missing a ferry but the Ship waited for us.

We have also experienced the above several times, IMO the early years of Azamara were undoubtedly the best.

Heartfelt condolences, same thing happened.to us almost 4 years ago, life goes on but can never be the same.

Booking excursion, I believe we have to book even for the included ones. Will we be notified when they are available book or will we have to keep checking in my Saga?.

Thank you that is reassuring, we had been regulars on Azamara from 2008 until 2019, the Saga cruise in Sept will be our first since then. It is a pity that Azamara never seem to cruise round trip UK or that would still be our first choice, Saga seems to be our best replacement.

The cruise is not until September it will be our first time cruising from a UK port. Booked mainly because we don't wish to fly anymore and it seemed that Saga will be our best option, hopefully that will prove to be the case

I did not intend to start a debate about different types of coffee machine I was just interested to find what to expect onboard. It seems that I will be disappointed with the offerings after my previous cruise experience at a similar price range.

Exactly, should be available somewhere on the ships.at Saga prices.

Thanks for all the replies on Saga coffee, I now have a good idea what we will experience onboard. Our favourite high street coffee is Nero which we also use at home in a cafetiere, never been keen on Costa.

Very true, but it seems that it is a sign that standards have fallen.

That's not good at all, are they trying to kid people, carafe coffee should be freshly brewed. Not getting good impressions before our first Saga cruise, pleased that it's only a short one to try them out.

Thank you, that is what I suspected, looks like we will be disappointed, I would have expected better at Saga prices. ,

I have seen reports that the coffee is not great on Saga, is proper barrister style coffee available on the ships or is it straight out of machines. We are used to a proper coffee shop on Azamara availed all day long, what are the venues like on Saga.

+1

Not quite correct, after Renaissance went out of business in 2001 the 8 R Ships had various owners before Royal Caribbean bought the cruise line that owned Journey and Quest in 2007, they were to be part of Celebrity. We booked our first Celebrity Journey cruise in early 2008 but by the time that we sailed Azamara had been created. Pursuit and Onward were both Princess ships until Azamara bought them recently, the other 4 R Ships are all now owned by Oceana Cruises.

Thank you, that should be fine for us, we have always liked the international people mix on our cruises, it will be a new experience with mostly British.