Spirit of Discovery

[Glenndale]

Yesterday Spirit of Discovery left the sea lock at Emden to start her sea trials.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Glenndale

[Tigrou]

I keep watching the videos on YouTube.  I'm so excited at the prospect of cruising on a brand new ship that I may well be bouncing around like your avatar Glenndale!  

 

[cinnamon]

I’ll be onboard her on 5th September and hope to do a ‘Live From’ Blog as I have on other lines. Norway is a Roam Free destination so I can use my phone plus I believe the WiFi is included onboard. 

It'll be my first experience with Saga after 43 cruises on other lines. 

 

I’m hoping someone cruising before us will post some reports on this new board though in July or August. 

Corinne

[Scorpio41]

17 hours ago, cinnamon said:

I’ll be onboard her on 5th September and hope to do a ‘Live From’ Blog as I have on other lines. Norway is a Roam Free destination so I can use my phone plus I believe the WiFi is included onboard. 

It'll be my first experience with Saga after 43 cruises on other lines. 

 

I’m hoping someone cruising before us will post some reports on this new board though in July or August. 

Corinne

 

I go on my first Saga cruise too but not till 2020'. I will look forward to reading your upcoming blog

[Ken the cruiser]

Hi all! I was just told about this new ship as having an Ice Class 6 hull strong enough to sail the Arctic and Antarctica waters after the new restrictions go into effect Jan 1, 2022. Once the new Arctic restrictions go into place, the word is cruise lines such as HAL, Celebrity and Princess will no longer be able to send any of their non-certified ships on "sail by" cruises in these waters anymore. Any rumors if Saga plans to introduce future itineraries in these two Arctic areas? Here's the CC thread I was told this this on - 

 

 

[Glenndale]

Saga has in the past sailed to Antarctica so it is highly likely that in the future it will plan to sail there again, otherwise why would they have commissioned these ships with strengthened hulls?

The 2021 itineraries are due out in a couple of months.

 

[shoreham01]

Great that Saga Cruises now has dedicated forum.  Looking forward to our April 2020 cruise

[Glenndale]

For those of you who have booked thru a TA these are the options available from the Concierge service in your personaliser and the sort of pre voyage requests you can make.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[kentchris]

And for anyone who’s not sailed with Saga yet, the Taittinger price is revealing apart from the fact someone in Folkestone can’t spell 🙂. It’s typically £35.00-ish at retail price so by no means greedy compared to some lines. 

[Bell Boy]

On 6/11/2019 at 10:30 PM, shoreham01 said:

Great that Saga Cruises now has dedicated forum.  Looking forward to our April 2020 cruise

I agree with you, I'm about to step out of my 'Cunard/Seabourn comfort zone' and give this new Saga ship a try. I'm booked for a 19 night trip this October 2019. 

Slightly miffed, I was assured 'at the time' of booking ( late 2017)  that it was 'All' inclusive ( drinks wise) however, just been advised the full inclusive Bar will not come in affect until November . Other than that, I'm looking forward to it.  I have friends who swear by Saga and like me with Cunard don't usually step foot out of their comfort zone.    

Edited June 15, 2019 by Bell Boy

[Glenndale]

Sometimes it's good to step out of your comfort zone, to discover that there are many other options for you.

We have always been prepared to try new lines if the itinerary is right.

Have your friends ever tried Cunard and if so what was their verdict?

[Tigrou]

7 hours ago, Glenndale said:

Sometimes it's good to step out of your comfort zone, to discover that there are many other options for you.

We have always been prepared to try new lines if the itinerary is right.

Have your friends ever tried Cunard and if so what was their verdict?

 

Glenndale, I know your question was directed to someone else but I hope you don't mind me butting in.

 

Just wanted to share that I recently tried Cunard for the first time.  Whilst I loved the Queen Mary 2 as a ship, I wasn't overly impressed with the food, the service or the entertainment.  The service in particular wasn't anywhere near as good as on the Disney Cruise Line despite all the 'White Star Service' hype.  I'm fairly low maintenance, not in the least bit demanding, but I dislike a lack of attention to detail and that's what I found on Cunard.

 

I plan to sail with them again but only on QM2 because she's like no other ship and I love the transatlantic crossing, and I'll do it in the knowledge that everything else isn't up to the hype.

 

Given what I've read time and again about the Saga crew, I'm hoping to find the service more as I'm used to on DCL.

 

[Scorpio41]

On 6/2/2019 at 6:22 PM, cinnamon said:

I’ll be onboard her on 5th September and hope to do a ‘Live From’ Blog as I have on other lines. Norway is a Roam Free destination so I can use my phone plus I believe the WiFi is included onboard. 

It'll be my first experience with Saga after 43 cruises on other lines. 

 

I’m hoping someone cruising before us will post some reports on this new board though in July or August. 

Corinne

 

I look forward to this . I don't go until February 2020

[Glenndale]

Hi Tigrou thanks for your input.

We have sailed many times with Cunard and we enjoy the package they offer.

Every line we cruise with have different pros and cons so we know more or less what to expect when we book with them.

I was just wondering whether Bell Boy's friends enjoyed the Cunard experience being mainly Saga cruisers, maybe as an indication as to whether or not Bell Boy will enjoy his Saga experience.

Of course these new ships will probably be totally different in experience to the older ships Sapphire and Pearl, but no doubt the high standards of service and food will remain.

I am excitedly waiting for the first reviews and blogs from Spirit of Discovery.

We wait with bated breath for Cinnamon's blog 😃

Edited June 21, 2019 by Glenndale

[Tigrou]

11 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I am excitedly waiting for the first reviews and blogs from Spirit of Discovery.

We wait with bated breath for Cinnamon's blog 😃

 

Me too.  But as I'm on the same cruise as Cinnamon, I'm hoping for something before then!

 

I'm surprised how little we have seen, nothing from the inside at all.  Previously when I've been following new builds, I'm sure photos of real cabins (rather than just the renditions) and other inside spaces have been published as the build was still ongoing.   Cabins in particular should be easy to show as they're usually prefabricated off-site and slotted into the hull. 

 

Still, not long now, and hopefully even if 'real' passengers don't blog straight away there will be coverage by the industry media.

 

[hermioneb]

We are newcomers to Saga. Our last five cruises have been with either Oceania or Azamara. We have only recently booked on the Spirit of Discovery cruise Gourmet Spain departing on 3rd August. We are keen to try this new ship, which looks lovely, and hope to write a review when we return. Last time we were on board Oceania Riviera in August we were surprised that several noisy children were being allowed to constantly jump into the swimming pool. We love children, but do like the idea of a more peaceful cruise!

[cinnamon]

Hermione, I love my children and grandchildren to bits but really don’t want to listen or watch other people’s children on a cruise any more, hence travelling on Azamara. Of course children are allowed but not catered for and usually I’ve only seen Officer’s children onboard. 

Saga of course, with the minimum age, should suit us well. 😉

[Glenndale]

On 6/22/2019 at 8:17 AM, hermioneb said:

We are newcomers to Saga. Our last five cruises have been with either Oceania or Azamara. We have only recently booked on the Spirit of Discovery cruise Gourmet Spain departing on 3rd August. We are keen to try this new ship, which looks lovely, and hope to write a review when we return. Last time we were on board Oceania Riviera in August we were surprised that several noisy children were being allowed to constantly jump into the swimming pool. We love children, but do like the idea of a more peaceful cruise!

Sorry to hear about the children on Oceania, we have fortunately never experienced this sort of nuisance on O but we generally avoid travelling during school holidays.

We are on Queen Victoria at the beginning of August this year though, so fingers crossed it won't be too bad.

It looks as though you are the first on these boards to be sailing on Spirit of Discovery, I'm sure we would all appreciate a few pictures and a little insight into your impressions of the ship, food, service etc.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise, it will certainly be child free.

 

P.S. I love children too but I couldn't eat a whole one . 😜

Apologies, but I just couldn't resist.

[hermioneb]

I will take my Ipad and will certainly try and post some first impressions during our first three days at sea.  If anyone has any particular things they want to know about I will try and answer any questions. 

[sweep]

On 6/12/2019 at 10:32 AM, Glenndale said:

For those of you who have booked thru a TA these are the options available from the Concierge service in your personaliser and the sort of pre voyage requests you can make.

 

Hope this is helpful.

This is really helpful.  Thank you.  If you’ve booked through a TA when are you able to access this? We are booked on a cruise departing August 17th

 

 

[Glenndale]

34 minutes ago, sweep said:

This is really helpful.  Thank you.  If you’ve booked through a TA when are you able to access this? We are booked on a cruise departing August 17th

 

 

Hi sweep - this is available on the cruise personaliser from booking but on our last cruise which we booked thru a TA we knew nothing about it!

So if you've booked thru a TA and you need to ask for an extra blanket, get an upgrade or pre order wine then get onto your TA.

It's silly really, how would you know to ask if you can't see your personaliser?

Same with excursions, you'll need to speak to your TA.

We've asked for our in cabin fridge to be supplied with low calorie sodas.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Glenndale

[sweep]

I was wondering how to find out about excursions. Is there a chance some might be fully booked before the cruise? I thought I read somewhere that you are able to access the saga site 6 weeks before your cruise, is this true?

[Glenndale]

43 minutes ago, sweep said:

I was wondering how to find out about excursions. Is there a chance some might be fully booked before the cruise? I thought I read somewhere that you are able to access the saga site 6 weeks before your cruise, is this true?

No we couldn't access it at all.

I would contact your TA and ask them to speak to Saga to send you the excursions brochure directly otherwise it goes to your TA and then they have to pass it on.

If you are cruising in August I would be expecting excursions to be available any time soon so speak to TA.

You will need to book excursions thru your TA we couldn't book directly with Saga - it was a bit of a pain,  that's why we booked subsequent cruises direct. 

 

[sweep]

Thank you. Wish I had known all of this before booking. 

[Glenndale]

It will all be worth it I'm sure 😃