Few Posts ?

[escrick]

I have been thinking about the reasons that so few Saga cruisers use Cruise Critic to post questions, reviews, or opinions.  Possible reasons— only two ships; most cruisers are regulars and so know the ropes; and others may not like or use the internet. I would be interested to know if there are other reasons.

[twotravellersLondon]

 We are Saga cruisers, we do know the ropes, and we are internet savvy... our generation invented it. I was fluent in Pascal, Basic & Fortran my wife was at the cutting edge of the digital revolution in the offshore oil and gas exploration industry and in nuclear power stations. So as an ex-entrant in the World Who's Who of Computing etc, etc, etc... the idea that SAGA's demographic may not like the internet...is  not easy to support with evidence. 

 

We came off a SAGA ship just a couple of weeks ago. It was interesting to meet ex Fred Olsen Cruisers, ex P&O cruisers, first-time cruisers and may who has travelled on other lines. So the idea that, "most SAGA cruisers are "regulars" doesn't seem to fit either.

 

May I simply suggest that the number of people who comment on any cruise line  is really tiny compared with the number of people carried by that line. Some lines do have an interesting and sometime witty small group of regulars who use these pages as a safe, pleasant very well-managed social-medial site... so some lines are better represented but try counting the number of unique individuals against the capacity of the line... it won't be 1% and its very unlikely to be even 0.1% or 0.01%.

 

And to be totally honest... other people have other things that they prefer to do.

[Lady Meer]

I think Cruise Critic is more of an ‘American’ thing and not particularly well known in the UK.

[Wacktle]

15 hours ago, Lady Meer said:

I think Cruise Critic is more of an ‘American’ thing and not particularly well known in the UK.

I agree about Cruise Critic and its demographic. When we've had Azamara cruises booked, the Roll Calls have usually been very active and full of info and ideas. In fact, we booked an evening tour of Dubai with an American couple we'd never met before we walked to our taxi for the evening!   Having said that, the Marella group on here is very well used by us Brits.

 

As in #2 above, I'd worked in IT for many years before retirement, so am reasonably techie-savvy.

 

I think Saganauts use FB more; the Saga cruises FB pages contain loads of posts, blogs and photos. 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Wacktle
Marella comment added

[JoJo1947]

I only look now and again if I'm bored 😆

[escrick]

I think Lady Meer is right.  I found cruise critic when I was living in the States, and occasionally sought advice or was able to find helpful tips.   By the way,  I am rarely bored, have returned with my husband to the UK, and have lots of learning ahead.  Thanks for the responses.

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

As one of those who spent my entire life from my student days through my entire career involved with computers and networking from well before the web existed as part of my work as well as private computing, though the primary function of the job was not computing (!), I too am thoroughly experienced in the use of computers from the user level through to detailed admin and software engineering.  It is useful hearing other's views, though with a strong mental information filter applied!   On a cruise I don't spend much time online, but in the run up to one I will see if any snippets of information might inform decisions in various ways. Mostly we rely on our own long experience at sea though.  Of course there are other avenues to connect to other cruise regulars such as the private groups on other social media platforms. It is also useful to gauge the  kind of life aboard when considering a potential switch to a line and particular ship not previously experienced - and as ballroom dancers we regard being able to dance every evening as an essential requirement if we are going to book a cruise, which is why I follow this section of CC concerning the two new ships (SoA and SoD).

[nosapphire]

On 8/13/2022 at 4:27 PM, escrick said:

I have been thinking about the reasons that so few Saga cruisers use Cruise Critic to post questions, reviews, or opinions.  Possible reasons— only two ships; most cruisers are regulars and so know the ropes; and others may not like or use the internet. I would be interested to know if there are other reasons.

I think, like most forums, it comes in flurries. There are periods of intense activity, with questions, answers and comments, then it all goes silent until somebody asks "where is everybody?".

For those who became distressed about the possibility that somebody might possibly regard Saga passengers as not being au-fait with internet use - Saga themselves take this attitude.

I asked their telephone staff last year (after being beaten into submission by the Saga website adamantly refusing to complete the task I asked of it) why their website was so often so frustrating.

Interestingly, she did not deny the website problems, instead said that Saga recognised that the majority of their passengers preferred telephone and post to internet, so they prioritised this over the website.

To be honest, although I use the internet a lot, I think prioritising a live person to speak to is a very good idea, I wish more companies did this.

+++

There have been a lot of recent reviews, many of those are on the "T" website, and I was truly surprised to see so many different reviews (different cruises/dates) for the SoD remarking on how filthy the aft decks were with soot deposits.

We were on her twice in 2019, and there were a few smuts at full speed, but nothing as bad as being commented on now, so something must have changed, maybe poorer quality fuel.

 

[twotravellersLondon]

1 hour ago, nosapphire said:

I think, like most forums, it comes in flurries. There are periods of intense activity, with questions, answers and comments, then it all goes silent until somebody asks "where is everybody?".

For those who became distressed about the possibility that somebody might possibly regard Saga passengers as not being au-fait with internet use - Saga themselves take this attitude.

I asked their telephone staff last year (after being beaten into submission by the Saga website adamantly refusing to complete the task I asked of it) why their website was so often so frustrating.

Interestingly, she did not deny the website problems, instead said that Saga recognised that the majority of their passengers preferred telephone and post to internet, so they prioritised this over the website.

To be honest, although I use the internet a lot, I think prioritising a live person to speak to is a very good idea, I wish more companies did this.

+++

There have been a lot of recent reviews, many of those are on the "T" website, and I was truly surprised to see so many different reviews (different cruises/dates) for the SoD remarking on how filthy the aft decks were with soot deposits.

We were on her twice in 2019, and there were a few smuts at full speed, but nothing as bad as being commented on now, so something must have changed, maybe poorer quality fuel.

 

 

There is a major difference between "not like or use the internet" and one rep who "did not deny the website problems." 

 

SAGA's demographic in age, education and background are very well able (and indeed more able than some other demographic groups) to be able to hold constructive, effective conversations in exactly the same way as they do and have done for years in their professional and social lives. Far more can, in the right circumstances, be achieved in a short friendly call than over the internet.

 

We're always really delighted to have fascinating conversation on SAGA with bright. confident, knowledge people who really do enhance our cruises... not only by their sociability but also by their humour, insight and their ability to share relevant understanding in an friendly accessible manner which often increases our enjoyment of the areas that we're cruising in.

 

On a recent cruise, in the last month, we were delighted to be adjacent to a retired Royal Naval officer who was immensely knowledgeable and was really up on the very latest marine technology and digital control systems. A husband-and-wife team, both university research biologists, helped us to identify rare orchids and to understand better the very specific micro-climate that allow them to flourish in small patches. Others we met were a geologist. a glacial geomorphologist, a metallurgist and a meteorologist and a marine biologist all of whom were delightful to chat to over drinks and  meals and who generously shared their ideas and insights.

 

From their conservations, many of the people that we met had a high level of technological and scientific skills that were central to their career, business and to their outside interests... or had been before they retired.

 

It may well be the case, that many SAGA cruisers chose personal contact rather that apps and internet. That's not because they can't use the internet. It's because they understand the limitations of many of these things and have the confidence and the ability to adopt a far more effective and efficient personal approach.

 

Like many of our friends and associates, we do not tweet, twitter, Instagram, tic-toc or "follow"... that's not because we can't... it's because our "friends" are real people that we know, meet, join for meals, have enjoyable evenings with and support (as they support us) if and when the need arises. 

 

As an aside...

 

Our recent cruise was on the Spirit of Discovery. One chap also told us these horror stories that the aft decks were "filthy" with soot deposits (he may have read the same reviews)... so we went to look... "spot the smut.

 

 

This is what we saw... Not a smut in sight... so we had a loverly lunch on the Terrace!

 

 

[nosapphire]

Your photo matches our experience back in 2019, which is why I said I was so surprised about the recent reviews mentioning how bad the smut was.

++++++

The OP wondered IF others MAY not like or use the internet.

I still wonder what was so upsetting about the question - maybe I am too thick to see it as an insult, but to me it seemed a simple "where is everybody" question.

 

 

[lincslady]

Could be that the 'smutty' reviews were from people who had been Crystal  cruisers - since the demise of Crystal many of the 'devoted to Crystal' people have been on other lines and generally found a great deal wrong with them.

 

Luckily for those of us who like Saga, Seabourn and Silversea their beloved line is going to rise again like a  phoenix from the ashes.  

[snoopy4]

We were on the same cruise and we can only assume from TTL's  comments that they must have followed the cleaners, who were much in evidence.

Whilst using the sun loungers on the rear of deck 9 we were initially forced to use the supplied towels to avoid soot damage to our clothes, then had to ask one of the cleaning crew to wipe them down.

We then decided to leave as soot had settled on our clothes.

We often found the soles of our shoes heavily marked with soot.

[twotravellersLondon]

2 hours ago, nosapphire said:

Your photo matches our experience back in 2019, which is why I said I was so surprised about the recent reviews mentioning how bad the smut was.

++++++

The OP wondered IF others MAY not like or use the internet.

I still wonder what was so upsetting about the question - maybe I am too thick to see it as an insult, but to me it seemed a simple "where is everybody" question.

 

 

 

There are very few Cruise Critic reviews posted for any cruise line compared with that line's capacity/loading.

 

For instance, on this site 17 SAGA review in the last 6 months when SAGA's recent financial report indicates that over 20,000 have people have been carried is an insignificant sample of about 0.0009%. That not unusual... a comparable figure for P&O is less... about 0.0006% and for FOCLs it is even less... about 0.0002%. But it could show (no statistician would accept it though) that SAGA is better represented than other lines... the original question might then be "why so many "SAGA cruisers" post and one might wonder if "SAGA cruisers" like to use the internet more than cruisers on other lines.

 

But this sort-of assumes that life is simple and there's an identifiable, stereotypical group of "Saga Cruisers." But in reality, it's difficult to pigeonhole reviewers to one line or another because many people use a range of different cruise lines... and 99.999% of cruisers don't post online reviews anyway. Those that do, often post vastly different reviews of the same experience on exactly the same cruise.

 

For instance, our last cruise and our next cruise will be on SAGA. Should we be pigeonholed as SAGA cruisers? 

 

If so, what about the 30 cruises that we done with FOCLs... are we FOCL's cruisers? Or as we've used several P&O ships, should we be thought of as P&O cruisers? Should we then ignore CMV, Princess, Oceanwide, Poseidon, Cunard and what about the other lines that we've used as well? 

 

If the question is "Where is everybody?" and to wonder why there are so few posts about different cruise-lines, the question on SAGA is based on a rather dodgy premise and this is probably not the best place to start.

[twotravellersLondon]

13 hours ago, snoopy4 said:

We were on the same cruise

 

This is a bit of an aside really but... we're not sure that we were on the same cruise... we didn't identify it in our original post. 

 

From what you describe, your experience seems to be totally different from ours. We're ardent whale, dolphin and bird watchers and were out and about around the upper decks for about three to five hours most sea days. We certainly didn't see any noticeable soot: the aft decks looked very clean to us and there's no evidence on the decks, equipment, like umbrellas, or the ship structure in the photos that we took over the course of several weeks. 

 

Neither was there any sign of soot on our footwear, our jackets or the bulky camera equipment that we cleaned down at the end of each day to remove any traces of sea-salt. That's not to say that the was never a hint of a smut in the weeks that we were on board but, there was nothing significant that we noticed. 

 

However we do sympathise with your experience and hope that you enjoyed your cruise overall.

 

On our cruise most people seemed to be enjoying the aft decks in good weather, the terrace restaurant was always fullish on bright days, the loungers were well used and lots of people used the Lido... just below the funnel.

 

So that's a very good excuse for a few more nice pics showing some of the joys of cruising!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[escrick]

My husband and I will be on our first Saga cruise this November.  Reading the posts above, I am more excited about being on Riviera.  No doubt the other cruisers will be interesting and friendly, and that is somewhat important on smaller ships.  The ship looks beautiful, too.

[lincslady]

Riveria, escrick?   Are you talking about the destination, or a ship.  If the ship, it is not a Saga one.

 

 

[Glenndale]

Riviera is an Oceania ship. One of my favourites 🙃

 

 

[snoopy4]

We were on ' Natural Greenland ' 10/7/22 to 31/7/22 cruise that I believed you mentioned in an earlier posting.

We have also been on SoD in September 2019 and there was no soot problem.

This year we were on SoD 'Northern Lights ' in March, we didn't notice any problems until disembarkation day, when due to late arrival into Southampton I was up on deck 13 when I noticed my cream jacket was marked with smuts, I was not the only person to comment on this.

 

On the July cruise, we repeatedly noticed smuts on all of the upper aft decks to such an extent that we couldn't use the handrails as they left your hands filthy.

To obviate any doubt as to the source, this includes sea days with no other shipping in the vicinity.

 

The cleaning crew said the smuts were a daily problem, indeed as some of your photos show of the decks drying from recent washing.

 

[lincslady]

I didn't get the reference to Riviera as there was no context.  As this is the Saga forum I naturally imagined it referred to things Saga.

 

It is a pity we don't get more reports and queries on here; I presume there is a group on  F******* for these?  As I don't get involved in it (only internet activity other than emails and ordering stuff is here) I don't get to read them.  It is far too easy to be drawn into being online all day if you are not careful.  Well, for me it would be.

[twotravellersLondon]

2 hours ago, lincslady said:

It is a pity we don't get more reports and queries on here; I presume there is a group on  F******* for these?  As I don't get involved in it (only internet activity other than emails and ordering stuff is here) I don't get to read them.  It is far too easy to be drawn into being online all day if you are not careful.  Well, for me it would be.

 

Cruise Critic is one of the very few sites that we browse on occasions to glean ideas about making our cruising more enjoyable and more affordable. 

 

We've never been interested or involved in sites where people often try to talk up or talk down things and try to create a viral spin based on very personal opinions and undefined motives.

 

Cruise Critic also puts all manner of things into a wider perspective and allows folk, like us, to use what are often very contradictory comments on other review sites as a starting point for our own research. Then we can come to a more balanced view and judge better what's right for us. It's about sharing a mutual interest: the joy, exhilaration and excitement of cruising! Long may that continue.

 

Our feelings are that, after the last couple of years, there is a real need to be able to sit back, relax and take advantage of every joy that life and what the world can offer can offer. The views and opinions of anyone who can help us do that are always much appreciated.

[escrick]

So sorry for using the wrong ship name.  We will be on Spirit of Adventure this year and on R next.   Both lines are new to us.  Living in the UK we are favouring no-fly cruises.  We do not mind flying, but have found airports too chaotic.  Thanks, again for your posts.