Saga v Viking

[Dave W 10]

Long term Viking cruiser considering Saga Midnight Sun cruise in June 23 because the itinerary is just right. How do the two lines compare? They look very similar but am I in for any surprises?

[Glenndale]

I wrote the following for someone who had recently booked Viking and wanted a comparison with Saga. Some of it may not apply now with reference to Covid. Hope this helps a little. Both very good lines. Mostly British passengers and age range higher on Saga. 

 

Crew on both lines mainly Indonesian and Filipino, happy to help, excellent service, cannot praise them enough
Cannot fault Viking’s Covid protocols, PCR and temperature tests every day along with a daily health questionnaire. All Viking ships have had Labs added for testing.
Everywhere kept scrupulously clean
Excursions included but have to stay in bubble and wear masks on coaches.
Masks to be warn traversing ship indoors but not when seated.
Cabins very similar at Verandah level and Deluxe Verandah equates to Penthouse Verandah on Viking Heated bathroom floor none on Saga.
Ships are all Verandah
Food in main restaurant very good but personally prefer the speciality restaurants on Saga
Buffet in evening very good, seafood such as prawns, crab legs and sushi always available
Living room area on both ships with bar / coffee bar and snacks Coffees and teas included.
Preferred the layout of Viking’s Explorer lounge to Saga’s Britannia lounge
Beautiful Winter Garden on pool deck and large screen for watching movies and a retractable roof IMO a huge plus for Viking
Spa similar to Saga with the addition of a snow room
Entertainment during day mainly lectures with singers in evening, quite low key but in the main very good
No craft classes, a trivia session on a sea day and didn’t see any organised bridge etc.
No formal nights but no jeans allowed in evening, people very smartly dressed
Gentlemen generally didn’t wear jackets and ties but many ladies wouldn’t have looked out of place on a Saga formal night.
Flights are included
Unfortunately Viking rarely run cruises from / to UK
Gratuities included and wine etc with meals. Possible to purchase drinks package for $19.95 per day, both people in cabin have to purchase. Package gave access to a wider range of wines and cocktails.
Cannot help with how solos are treated but I'm pretty sure you'll have a great time 😃
 

[arlowood]

2 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I wrote the following for someone who had recently booked Viking and wanted a comparison with Saga. Some of it may not apply now with reference to Covid. Hope this helps a little. Both very good lines. Mostly British passengers and age range higher on Saga. 

 

Crew on both lines mainly Indonesian and Filipino, happy to help, excellent service, cannot praise them enough
Cannot fault Viking’s Covid protocols, PCR and temperature tests every day along with a daily health questionnaire. All Viking ships have had Labs added for testing.
Everywhere kept scrupulously clean
Excursions included but have to stay in bubble and wear masks on coaches.
Masks to be warn traversing ship indoors but not when seated.
Cabins very similar at Verandah level and Deluxe Verandah equates to Penthouse Verandah on Viking Heated bathroom floor none on Saga.
Ships are all Verandah
Food in main restaurant very good but personally prefer the speciality restaurants on Saga
Buffet in evening very good, seafood such as prawns, crab legs and sushi always available
Living room area on both ships with bar / coffee bar and snacks Coffees and teas included.
Preferred the layout of Viking’s Explorer lounge to Saga’s Britannia lounge
Beautiful Winter Garden on pool deck and large screen for watching movies and a retractable roof IMO a huge plus for Viking
Spa similar to Saga with the addition of a snow room
Entertainment during day mainly lectures with singers in evening, quite low key but in the main very good
No craft classes, a trivia session on a sea day and didn’t see any organised bridge etc.
No formal nights but no jeans allowed in evening, people very smartly dressed
Gentlemen generally didn’t wear jackets and ties but many ladies wouldn’t have looked out of place on a Saga formal night.
Flights are included
Unfortunately Viking rarely run cruises from / to UK
Gratuities included and wine etc with meals. Possible to purchase drinks package for $19.95 per day, both people in cabin have to purchase. Package gave access to a wider range of wines and cocktails.
Cannot help with how solos are treated but I'm pretty sure you'll have a great time 😃
 

A useful summary by Glenndale but a little out of date since Viking have modified their Covid protocols and now no longer do daily testing and there will be other changes so it's worth checking both cruise lines website to see where there safety protocols are. Clearly they could both change significantly between now and June 2023.

 

We have sailed 3 times on Viking Ocean but only once on Saga (June this year). While the Saga ship (Spirit of Discovery) was impressive we preferred the more relaxed "Scandi" styling of the Viking ships. This is down to personal preference and is not really a significant difference. You won't be disappointed by the decor and appointments on either line. The food on both is excellent and the free specialty restaurants are very good. Saga has 3 specialty restaurants while Viking only has two and one of those (Manfredi's) is extremely popular and can sometimes be difficult to book. On Viking only the wine/beer at lunch and dinner is included unless you but the Silver Spirits package. Saga is all inclusive and for 2023 they are including premium wines and spirits in the offering.

 

No formal nights on Viking - dress code is smart casual in all eating venues (no shorts or jeans and collared shirts in the restaurants but the rules are more relaxed in the World Cafe buffet restaurant.) Saga has usually 2 formal nights on a cruise up to 10 days and 4 or more on longer cruises. Dinner suit, Tuxedo or dress suit for men and dresses or smart separates for ladies. Main restaurants enforce the dress code but the buffet is available if you don't fancy the formality schtick.

 

As said above you almost always have to fly from UK to join a Viking cruise. There are  a couple of itineraries where they start or finish in London but you still have to fly out or home at the beginning or end of the cruise. Saga cruises all leave from the UK and offer chauffer driven exclusive or shared transport to the port. This is free up to 250miles from the departure port (Dover, Southampton or Portsmouth). If you live outside the 250miles you will have a surcharge per mile over that limit.

 

All-in-all we would be happy to cruise with either line again (we have an Adriatic cruise already booked for August 2023 with Viking - a carry over from a pandemic cancelled cruise in 2021). For us that will entail flights from Birmingham to Venice and returning from Athens. So no direct flights (Viking only use the main scheduled carriers) and probably connecting flights through Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Not a prospect we are relishing but hopefully air travel may have got its act together by then.

 

On balance we might lean slightly towards Saga in the future - mainly for the lack of hassle getting to and from the ship. However if Viking ever start up round trip itineraries from a UK port then we will be biting their hands off.

Edited October 1, 2022 by arlowood

[wine-wine-wine]

Note that gratuities are not included in Viking prices for those booking from the United States. Not a big deal but a bit of annoyance. 

[Vivaldi]

9 minutes ago, arlowood said:

Saga is all inclusive and for 2023 they are including premium wines and spirits in the offering.

 

Although premium spirits will be included in 2023, I believe the wines which are included will be the same sort as in previous years, which, while generally drinkable, could not be called "premium".

[Dave W 10]

Thanks all for the very helpful replies. We are a UK couple so gratuities not an issue.

Sailing from and back to UK port (Dover in this case) certainly appeals having missed 2 days of a river cruise this summer due to BA flight cancellation. Do I recall correctly that you have the option of free parking at the port rather than the chauffeur?

[arlowood]

1 hour ago, Dave W 10 said:

Thanks all for the very helpful replies. We are a UK couple so gratuities not an issue.

Sailing from and back to UK port (Dover in this case) certainly appeals having missed 2 days of a river cruise this summer due to BA flight cancellation. Do I recall correctly that you have the option of free parking at the port rather than the chauffeur?

Yes - you can opt for free parking at the port if you don't want the chauffer driven service.

 

Only observation I have on that was that on our cruise in June we were supposed to embark at Dover but the SoD was delayed at its final port of Cadiz and left there 17hrs late. It meant that there was no way to make it back to Dover for the turn-around so the embarkation port was changed to Southampton. Caused a few issues for those with their own cars as they had to be bussed from Portsmouth back to Dover to pick up their cars.

I accept that these were exceptional circumstances but the change of port did not affect those with the chauffer service

[Denarius]

Saga is a lot better for solo travellers. Viking ocean cruise ships have no single cabins and a single supplement of 100% applies for sole occupancy of a twin. This makes them very expensive. The Saga ships each have 108 (?) single cabins at an effective single supplement of 40% - 50% compared with the equivalent twin. Much more single friendly!

[Denarius]

On 10/15/2022 at 6:58 PM, Denarius said:

Saga is a lot better for solo travellers. Viking ocean cruise ships have no single cabins and a single supplement of 100% applies for sole occupancy of a twin. This makes them very expensive. The Saga ships each have 108 (?) single cabins at an effective single supplement of 40% - 50% compared with the equivalent twin. Much more single friendly!

Off topic I know, but I understand that Oceania have introduced single cabins on some of their ships - see Oceania board. Maybe Viking and others will eventually follow suite.