New to Saga

[escrick]

My husband and I will take our first Saga cruise in November.  Therefore, I am grateful for any information about Saga cruising.  We will be on Spirit of Adventure, and so can anyone let me know how the ship copes with rough seas. I am thinking of the Bay of Biscay.

[Kohima]

So much depends on wind speed and direction, swell etc as to how the ship copes with the Bay of Biscay. We have been through it on both ships in rough to seriously bad weather and definitely needed Stugeron tablets as well as sea bands. It’s best to be prepared but reception will give you a couple of Stugeron free if you run out. You will know there’s going to be a problem when the cabin steward ties down your balcony furniture, puts your glass water flasks on the floor behind a cushion and the formal night is postponed!

[escrick]

Thanks, Kohima.  I will be prepared.  Wristbands usually help,  but probably need pills. Have been on rough seas before but on bigger ships.

[twotravellersLondon]

The "dreaded Bay of Biscay" was far, far worse in the days of small stay ships with no stabilisers intrepidly making their way from one coaling station to another and through the Suez Canal to all points in the Orient and Pacific in the distant days of Empire.

 

The only time that we were a bit on the green side was over 20 years ago in the mid-Atlantic on the Black Prince in the owner's suite just behind the wheelhouse... no wonder every item of furniture in the cabin was bolted down.... a plate of canapés levitating  was a sight to behold! The ship was "stabilised" but not effectively! On that occasion my wife had an injection and was as right as rain in an hour or two.

 

We've since completed over 40 cruises, experienced a Gale Force Nine in the Bay of Biscay and a Force Ten in the Irish Sea and Hurricane Force winds off the coast of Norway in the midst of winter without any unduly unpleasant effects. We've never experienced any problems on the SAGA fleet... past or present... but that may be a personal thing.

 

The usual advice is... what you have already been given... but a moderate consumption of alcohol and food, remaining hydrated, lots of fresh air, staying warm and keeping busy and occupied really seems to help many people.

 

 

[david05]

If you are at all worried you can take one Stugeron tablet just before you travel and then one each day for the first few days as a preventative measure. It usually works. 

[escrick]

38 minutes ago, david05 said:

If you are at all worried you can take one Stugeron tablet just before you travel and then one each day for the first few days as a preventative measure. It usually works. 

Thanks for the great advice.

[Kohima]

We usually take ginger biscuits on board as ginger is helpful to nibble if feeling queasy. They don’t seem to keep them onboard and since Covid don’t have the bowls of ginger available at the dining entrances.

[david05]

1 hour ago, Kohima said:

We usually take ginger biscuits on board as ginger is helpful to nibble if feeling queasy. They don’t seem to keep them onboard and since Covid don’t have the bowls of ginger available at the dining entrances.

You can, however, ask for the crystallised ginger pieces with the petit fours at dinner (we did on our recent cruise).

[escrick]

 I love crystallised ginger pieces, and sometimes buy them before cruising.

 

We just paid the rest of our cruise fare. Hurrah!  We are using a TA, and so I have more questions.  Will I be able to access a description of shore excursions?  And/or will I have to book anything through the TA.  I am so grateful for any help you can give me.

[arlowood]

4 hours ago, escrick said:

 I love crystallised ginger pieces, and sometimes buy them before cruising.

 

We just paid the rest of our cruise fare. Hurrah!  We are using a TA, and so I have more questions.  Will I be able to access a description of shore excursions?  And/or will I have to book anything through the TA.  I am so grateful for any help you can give me.

We've just returned from our 1st Saga cruise on SoD. 

We used a TA to make the booking and as a result, all communication with Saga must be made via your TA. You are not able to set up a MySaga account ahead of your cruise but we did receive advance notification of the various excursions available with detailed descriptions of what was involved.

 

We ended up making our excursion bookings through the TA, although I believe we could have contacted Saga direct for this part of the process.

 

I think in future if we decide on a Saga cruise, we will probably book directly. On our cruise, we did sign up for the Advanced Notification facility where you can pay a fee to get early access to new seasons itineraries before they are released to the general public.

[escrick]

Thanks for your help, Arlowood.  I’ll be talking to our TA soon.

[Windsurfboy]

Best to check wave heights every night for next day on internet . We found  needed tablets if wave was 3meter or more. On QE didn't need them until  4 meters. 

 

But on other hand on small waves SoA  was smoothest ship ever been on.

 

We use weatheronline for  wave heights. 

[escrick]

17 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Best to check wave heights every night for next day on internet . We found  needed tablets if wave was 3meter or more. On QE didn't need them until  4 meters. 

 

But on other hand on small waves SoA  was smoothest ship ever been on.

 

We use weatheronline for  wave heights. 

More good advice.  My thanks to everyone.  Folk like you are making me more excited, in a good way, about the cruise.

[LondonLad60]

On 7/3/2022 at 7:55 PM, Kohima said:

We usually take ginger biscuits on board as ginger is helpful to nibble if feeling queasy. They don’t seem to keep them onboard and since Covid don’t have the bowls of ginger available at the dining entrances.

Ginger ale helps as well

[JoJo1947]

You can get Ginger and Lemon infuse (tea) on board also Peppermint if anyone has over indulged . Not that any one would 😉