LandC

Me too!

Itineraries have to be planned well in advance in order to book the ports, so perhaps Saga leave it until the last minute to decide what price to charge for their cruises.  We are also looking at 2025 itineraries with Regent, Azamara and Silversea but want to see the Saga itineraries before we make a decision.  Some of the offers expire on 29th February, so it’s going to be touch and go!

The balcony cabins have no balconies, and the Junior Suites and Suites are in fact just balcony cabins, with a few canapés provided.

Unless people are prepared to pay for a premier suite they do not get the suite experience.

2 hours ago, owadbucket said:

Can you order a bottle of spirits for your cabin , anyone done this. Instead of someone carrying a night cap every day a bottle would be easiest.

I think it depends on your cabin grade.  For those lucky enough to be in a suite, bottles of your favourite tipples are provided by your butler for your in-suite bar.

We usually order from room service if we want a drink in our cabin.  

We got the free shuttle to Porto when we docked at Leixoes on Spirit of Adventure.  There were road works and it took about 25 minutes.  

We also rate Saga very highly, and are waiting for the summer 2025 itineraries, which we hope be be available to book soon!

We received an ocean cruise brochure today, together with an invite to pre-register for summer 2025 cruises, which are coming “very soon”.  We pre-registered some time ago, and hope we won’t have to wait much longer!

The brochure states that from 2025 the shared chauffeur service will be offered nationwide to everyone on the UK mainland.

You’re right tring, it is a mess.  No smoking on balconies and flexible dining has got to be the way to go.  
We will wait and see what happens now that the new CEO is in post.

This is good news Jazzbeau, thanks for posting.  I see you are on a Silversea cruise at present.  We did that itinerary on Azamara in the opposite direction (Sydney to Auckland), and loved it.  We have yet to try Silversea.

Saga customers have been notified that it wants to enter into partnership arrangements to enable them to offer more cruises to more guests in the future.  Let’s hope these results will enable Saga to forge a successful partnership arrangement.

2 hours ago, Mustang Sally 2 said:

November 8th 2023 onboard Saga Spirit of Discovery 30 night cruise Island hopping in the Caribbean. This cruise was our honeymoon.

Left Portsmpoth for the Azores but diverted to Lisbon. Spent 3 days dockside undergoing repairs. Missed 4  ports of call on the original itinerary. Returned to Portsmouth 1 day early and spent the day dockside in Portsmouth. Fobbed off when we complained and were told there would be no compensation/future cruise discount. Is anyone else as disappointed as we are with Saga's response?

If you were on the same cruise as Windsurfboy (see his comments on this thread), then I think you should put your complaint in writing.  Saga should pay compensation for the missed ports as they were caused by technical problems with the ship.

I hope the remainder of the cruise goes according to plan.

One of the passengers has posted on another site that Captain has announced there is a technical issue with the generator. SofA returning to UK to get it checked out.

When we boarded SofA for the Christmas cruise there were no books in the library.  However, halfway through the cruise they appeared!  The dining rooms also only provided salt and pepper in sachets for the first half of the cruise, then salt and pepper pots appeared. 
We wondered if these were measures taken against the spread of Norovirus.  If so, it worked, because we only heard of a couple of cases on board.

I understand from another social media site that the ship is staying in Portsmouth until Monday morning to avoid an incoming storm.  Shuttles have been provided to visit local attractions.

14 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

Not a huge sum.

I’m pleased that you have had some success Windsurfboy.
I hope others who were on the same cruise will persevere with their complaints.  

57 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Success 

Have you had a response from ABTA?

I phoned Saga about another matter today, and also asked when Summer 2025 itineraries would be sent to people who had pre-registered.

I was informed that an ebrochure will be emailed around the end of February.

16 minutes ago, Charles2108 said:

Yes it was. He was a freelancer. 

Could well be on that cruise (it's pot luck who you get) , but I have to say that the Sky vessels are much better re the zodiac procedures as they are performed by a Philipino crew who know what they are doing so you won't have that specific problem. 

Thanks for your reply Charles2108.  I hope you enjoy your future cruises.

On 11/20/2023 at 6:42 PM, Charles2108 said:

We are possibly one of Noble Caledonia's most loyal customers. At the time of taking our last cruise on MV Elixir we had four more already booked and this was our 39th trip with them. The have had over £600,000 of our money over the years and yet with no explanation they have decided that our custom is no longer required... 

We suspect that the reason for this is that the cruise director was completely useless. Specifically the Zodiac procedures on this whip were, in my opinion, dangerous. Despite a safety briefing lasting less than 5 minutes, the crew made no attempt to follow their own procedures. 

On the first return to the ship, the zodiac was not secured to the ship, there was nobody on the landing platform, the two crew on the zodiac were holding onto the landing stage, no two handed grips were used - you get the picture. The cruise director was at the top of the ladder and when I tried to tell him about the potential dangers, he completely blanked me. 

I tackled his later over lunch. He was dismissive and said he had no control over the procedures as these were down to the ship. When I pressed him, he accused me of shouting at him and said that he deserved respect. I was not shouting at him and walked away to get a drink to defuse the situation. When I returned he said he would arrange for me to speak to the captain. It never happened. 

At Delos the crew of the zodiac were literally hanging on by their fingertips to the tread of the old tyres on the dock. They overloaded the zodiac. I did remark that it felt like a cross channel migrant crossing. 

Again when we returned to the ship, it was not secured. I was the first passenger off and refused to move until the zodiac was secured, one member of crew and got onto the landing platform, and the proper two handed safety grips were used. 

I tackled the cruise director again at a briefing meeting. He said he was talk to me separately afterwards. It never happened. 

So I wrote a long letter of complaint to Noble Caledonia. Rather than a response, I received a cursory letter from Noble informing me that they had received reports of rude and abusive behaviour (after 39 trips this was never commented on previously?) and that they had decided to cancelled all future bookings. 

I suspect that knowing that I was going to complain about the completely useless cruise director, he'd managed to put the boot in first. Needless to say I don't expect they'll be bothering to read my complaint letter. 

This is an appalling way to treat loyal and long standing repeat customers. No discussion. No attempt to establish my viewpoint. 

There are plenty of other cruise companies offering the same trips, especially bearing in mind that Noble have only 2 ships of their own. I've already re-booked two of my banned journeys with other companies. 

My advise - don't use them. They don't care about you. 
 

Charles2108 I have just found your post in the Roll Call section of this website, and was very concerned to read it, as we have a cruise booked on one of the Sky vessels.  Was your cruise on MV Elysium?  
I haven’t been on that vessel, and wondered whether the Cruise Director is employed by NC, or by the ship?  I would hate to think that he might be on our cruise later this year!

I agree entirely nosapphire and FatBoy20.  Passengers are invited to

pre-register on board, but are obviously going to ask when they are likely to be able to book.  Saga World Rep replies that they haven’t been told, and don’t know when they will be told.  
 

Very frustrating all round, and Saga HQ need to address this.
 

We’re currently on board Adventure for the Canarian Christmas cruise.  I asked the Saga World rep. when people who had pre-registered would receive the Summer 2025 itineraries.  She didn’t know.  Not very helpful, sorry!

We’re interested in trying Viking (while we are still prepared to fly).

We like the decor, and the retractable roof over the pool is a bonus.
How does Viking compare in terms of quality of food, service, lecturers and entertainment? 
I hope you don’t mind me asking the question on this thread- it is going off topic somewhat!

The Incident to which you refer occurred on the Canary Island Quintet Cruise on SoD, which returned to Portsmouth on 7th November.  Our friends were on this cruise, where over 100 people were injured, and, sadly a passenger passed away two days after docking.  The MAIB has launched an investigation.  
There are some interesting comments about what may have gone wrong on this thread.
 

9 minutes ago, JoJo1947 said:

People are so naive. If you book to travel in the winter no good going on about safety delays . 

I don’t think people are going on about safety delays.  They just want to be given the full facts in a timely fashion. 

We have always found that shirts come back from the laundry beautifully washed and ironed.

Thanks for this!