Summer 2025

[Denarius]

22 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I believe they are now out. Those that pre-registered seem to have been securing their bookings recently...

Fred Olsen out but hideously expensive for solos as usual. I'm waiting to see what Ambassador have on offer when they publish next year's itineraries.

Saga cruises for Jan to March 2024 have been on sale for some time. Cruises for April to Dec 2024 are expected to go on sale soon - they are currently working through the registrations. An advance copy of the programme has been posted on the 2024 Brochure thread on the Saga board.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Blimey, I've only just plucked up the courage to book for next year, let alone 2025 !

Rest assured that, with prices now plummeting in the months before sailing, we would book very close to departure were it not for the fact that we need an accessible balcony cabin. I have tried to get on a few of the current cheapies but no accessible cabins available (plenty of normal ones though). 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

I haven't even booked for next year yet - but that's more because none of what's on offer aboard Aurora and Arcadia has really grabbed my interest...

Same here. We’ve booked a Cunard one instead. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Still waiting for Saga for next year !

You didn’t pre-register then? I did, only because you had explained it previously 😂 

 

Had the call on Saturday. We had shortlisted 4 cruises that we might be interested in, but had given ourselves a maximum price that we’d be prepared to pay for the cheapest accessible balcony cabins (there’s only 2 per ship). They were all too expensive. Worked out at between £524 and £680 per night (for the two of us).
 

Whilst we know that Saga are several steps up in quality from P&O, we have said that with the ‘new’ P&O we probably wouldn’t be prepared to pay any more than £200 per night anymore for a balcony cabin. Even allowing for the drinks package and the improved quality, we don’t think we can justify more than £500 a night for Saga. We aren’t bothered about excursions, Wi-Fi or shared transfers from home and Dover is a lot more of a drag to get to (for us) than Southampton. We might have been tempted to go for the cheapest one just to try them (which we are keen to do) but the departure date was only 2 weeks after our first Cunard cruise - and one port is the same! We have rolled the pre registration fee over to Summer 2025!

[Host Sharon]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Still waiting for Saga for next year !

Booked a B2B for next May/June

[tring]

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

This subject was discussed recently here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2913807-summer-2025/#comment-64788355

 

Err, thanks, looks like I answered my own question there.  I had written a more detailed reply but it did not post, presumably because the threads appear to have been merged.  Moley is being very quiet on this, I wonder if they are being delayed from what was originally expected?

 

 

[wowzz]

53 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

You didn’t pre-register then? I did, only because you had explained it previously

Glad to be of use, for once !

No, didn't pre-reguster, as we have no need of an accessible cabin, and, in all honesty, felt that any cruise that we are interested in will be too expensive.

 Judging by the amount of mail we are getting, trying to flog cabins on 2023 cruises,  I do wonder if Saga are running into some difficulties. Possibly a combination of high prices and repeated itineraries may be leading to lack of sales.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Same here. We’ve booked a Cunard one instead. 

Sadly, there really wasn't anything of interest there either for me. Maybe I've done too many ex-uk cruises... One of the big problems with P&O for me is that the two smallest ships are very heavy on itineraries of around 19 nights but going to all the same old ports. I'm happy to do 19 nights but not visiting the same old places time after time.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Rest assured that, with prices now plummeting in the months before sailing, we would book very close to departure were it not for the fact that we need an accessible balcony cabin.

I understand your position. 

I took a gamble on the Azura cruise for next year,  despite saying I would wait until nearer the time. 

£4000 (14 nights) for a balcony cabin plus flights to Malta, and £500 obc seemed too good  to pass.

Zap (?) promptly burst my bubble with his cruise and 3 night hotel stay price, but there is no guarantee that this deal will be available next year.  

[Britboys]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Glad to be of use, for once !

No, didn't pre-reguster, as we have no need of an accessible cabin, and, in all honesty, felt that any cruise that we are interested in will be too expensive.

 Judging by the amount of mail we are getting, trying to flog cabins on 2023 cruises,  I do wonder if Saga are running into some difficulties. Possibly a combination of high prices and repeated itineraries may be leading to lack of sales.

I'm in a Saga group elsewhere and there have been a lot of comments about samey, boring itineraries this year.

[TigerB]

35 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Err, thanks, looks like I answered my own question there.  I had written a more detailed reply but it did not post, presumably because the threads appear to have been merged.  Moley is being very quiet on this, I wonder if they are being delayed from what was originally expected?

 

 

 

Sorry, I realised after posting, that you had already contributed to that previous thread.

[tring]

5 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

Sorry, I realised after posting, that you had already contributed to that previous thread.

 

Ah, but I am old and forgot all about partaking in the previous thread.  Early February seems a long time ago to me as lots has been happening at home.  I was expecting at least dates to have been announced by now though, given what I was told on Aurora in November.

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

6 hours ago, Selbourne said:

You didn’t pre-register then? I did, only because you had explained it previously 😂 

 

Had the call on Saturday. We had shortlisted 4 cruises that we might be interested in, but had given ourselves a maximum price that we’d be prepared to pay for the cheapest accessible balcony cabins (there’s only 2 per ship). They were all too expensive. Worked out at between £524 and £680 per night (for the two of us).
 

Whilst we know that Saga are several steps up in quality from P&O, we have said that with the ‘new’ P&O we probably wouldn’t be prepared to pay any more than £200 per night anymore for a balcony cabin. Even allowing for the drinks package and the improved quality, we don’t think we can justify more than £500 a night for Saga. We aren’t bothered about excursions, Wi-Fi or shared transfers from home and Dover is a lot more of a drag to get to (for us) than Southampton. We might have been tempted to go for the cheapest one just to try them (which we are keen to do) but the departure date was only 2 weeks after our first Cunard cruise - and one port is the same! We have rolled the pre registration fee over to Summer 2025!

I’m not keen on the Saga preregistration system. 
 

I don’t like the idea of getting an email with no prices on, then waiting for them to call me at a time that may be inconvenient, finding out the price during the call and then having to make what would feel like a snap decision on an expensive holiday. I tend to give cruises some considerable thought and mull over the price for a while before I make a final decision. However, the Saga faithful seem to like the system, and I’ve read elsewhere that some of them pay out several hundred pounds to register years in advance.

 

We’ve got an 11 night British Isles cruise booked for this summer with Saga, and I am looking forward to it. We are paying slightly over £500 per day for the cruise, but that was booked after the initial booking period, so we don’t have the biggest  discount. I’ve seen next years cruises, and in theory, there’s a cruise that I would be interested in, a longer one that includes Egypt. However, I don’t feel like an avid cruiser anymore, and I’m sure that the total price would be far too much than what I would want to pay. Going forward, I think we will do an occasional cruise every few years and do other things in the U.K. my desire for overseas travel seems to have abated in this new era. 

[Selbourne]

17 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I’m not keen on the Saga preregistration system. 
 

I don’t like the idea of getting an email with no prices on, then waiting for them to call me at a time that may be inconvenient, finding out the price during the call and then having to make what would feel like a snap decision on an expensive holiday. I tend to give cruises some considerable thought and mull over the price for a while before I make a final decision. However, the Saga faithful seem to like the system, and I’ve read elsewhere that some of them pay out several hundred pounds to register years in advance.

 

We’ve got an 11 night British Isles cruise booked for this summer with Saga, and I am looking forward to it. We are paying slightly over £500 per day for the cruise, but that was booked after the initial booking period, so we don’t have the biggest  discount. I’ve seen next years cruises, and in theory, there’s a cruise that I would be interested in, a longer one that includes Egypt. However, I don’t feel like an avid cruiser anymore, and I’m sure that the total price would be far too much than what I would want to pay. Going forward, I think we will do an occasional cruise every few years and do other things in the U.K. my desire for overseas travel seems to have abated in this new era. 

I don’t like the Saga system either. First time we’ve used it, but I agree with your comments. We looked through all the itineraries and dates, settled on 4 possible cruises and then agreed a maximum price that we would be prepared to pay. Because of the way that it works, most of the maximum 35% discounts had already gone by the time we were called (we only pre registered around a month before). The maximum was 30% on one and the Egypt one (which we also liked) had been selling really well and was already only a small discount. The two standard accessible balcony cabins had already sold, but I asked out of interest what the price would have been and it was £16,980. That’s £679 a night. No thanks!

[wowzz]

Just now, Selbourne said:

That’s £679 a night. No thanks!

Blimey! 

[zap99]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

I understand your position. 

I took a gamble on the Azura cruise for next year,  despite saying I would wait until nearer the time. 

£4000 (14 nights) for a balcony cabin plus flights to Malta, and £500 obc seemed too good  to pass.

Zap (?) promptly burst my bubble with his cruise and 3 night hotel stay price, but there is no guarantee that this deal will be available next year.  

I don't expect that deal to be available next year, but will leave a gap..just in case.

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Blimey! 

What’s the cheapest price per night you’ve seen Saga cruises? I think I’d probably struggle to justify spending more than £450 a night.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

What’s the cheapest price per night you’ve seen Saga cruises? I think I’d probably struggle to justify spending more than £450 a night.

I think we saw £250pppd, but that was just before Covid.  

I'm seeing prices now on Oceania and Azmara that are cheaper than Saga, although flying is involved,  which I know is out of the question for you. 

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I think I’d probably struggle to justify spending more than £450 a night.

 

For us, that less another £200!

#Yorkshire!😉

 

Seriously though, pre-covid we would do a long RV holiday in the US or Canada each year; we were just about to start one when Trump closed the borders. Now that things are getting back to as they once were, we have been looking at completing that planned trip. RV hire now has almost tripled, and with other increases over there such as food, fuel, site fees, together with the poor exchange rate, such a trip would now cost us about £370+ a day; that includes all expenses, the flights too.

So, paying £250 per day or less for a cruise, and getting OBC too, is a no-brainer for us. We will continue with cruising for quite a while, and the land based holidays we used to enjoy could be some way in the future.

[Host Sharon]

10 hours ago, Selbourne said:

What’s the cheapest price per night you’ve seen Saga cruises? I think I’d probably struggle to justify spending more than £450 a night.

I've paid £175 pp pn all inclusive, but only by pre-registering. You don't have to make a snap decision as they will hold a cabin overnight - important for me as I have to discuss with my friend with whom I share. Also, even if you go ahead and book, there is a 14 day cooling off period when you ask for a full refund. Don't forget Oceania and Azamara may be a similar standard but do not include everything. Saga is the only line I have walked off with a £0 bill.

 

[Denarius]

10 hours ago, Selbourne said:

25 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

I've paid £175 pp pn all inclusive, but only by pre-registering. You don't have to make a snap decision as they will hold a cabin overnight - important for me as I have to discuss with my friend with whom I share. Also, even if you go ahead and book, there is a 14 day cooling off period when you ask for a full refund. Don't forget Oceania and Azamara may be a similar standard but do not include everything. Saga is the only line I have walked off with a £0 bill.

 

I have just booked a 14 night cruise to Scandinavia in July 2024 at £4636 for a single balcony cabin; that's £331 per night all inclusive including transfers between Bolton to Dover.

 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Host Sharon said:

I've paid £175 pp pn all inclusive, but only by pre-registering. You don't have to make a snap decision as they will hold a cabin overnight - important for me as I have to discuss with my friend with whom I share. Also, even if you go ahead and book, there is a 14 day cooling off period when you ask for a full refund. Don't forget Oceania and Azamara may be a similar standard but do not include everything. Saga is the only line I have walked off with a £0 bill.

 

I walked off Iona this month leaving P&O with £0.58 unspent OBC.

[Dermotsgirl]

14 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I don’t like the Saga system either. First time we’ve used it, but I agree with your comments. We looked through all the itineraries and dates, settled on 4 possible cruises and then agreed a maximum price that we would be prepared to pay. Because of the way that it works, most of the maximum 35% discounts had already gone by the time we were called (we only pre registered around a month before). The maximum was 30% on one and the Egypt one (which we also liked) had been selling really well and was already only a small discount. The two standard accessible balcony cabins had already sold, but I asked out of interest what the price would have been and it was £16,980. That’s £679 a night. No thanks!

That's steep !  At this point, I can't imagine spending that much on a cruise 

[gsmt47471015]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I walked off Iona this month leaving P&O with £0.58 unspent OBC.

We came off a 65 night cruise last week on Aurora with £2.25 unspent OBC , we also came off a HAL cruise and they owed us $100 , to our amazement they paid it back into our bank account !!!! Never have been able to work that one out?

[zap99]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I walked off Iona this month leaving P&O with £0.58 unspent OBC.

On Azura in February, we left behind about £3. Next month we are back on with no OBC. No doubt P&O will have my £3 waiting on my account. They won't forget will they ?