Saga Spirit of Discovery

[FannyLiz]

24 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Thank you, that's not great.

Hattie:

 

L&C sums it up well ; people just want to be given the full facts in a timely fashion.

 

There were a lot of conspiracy theorists on board and a lot of rumblings. I think many of us felt we were being kept in the dark. I am not the right person to comment on whether this was a good thing or not as I have never had anything to do with running a multi-million pound business and don’t know what the effects of being totally frank would be.

 

I do think however that we should have been given more facts rather than being left to speculate on the reasons for so many decisions.

 

Edit to add; this was my first cruise, with any company and I was solo. From the moment I phoned to book to the moment my suitcases were brought in on arrival home, I loved every minute and Saga looked after every aspect with care, attention to detail and friendliness. The Captain remarked at some point that he felt the ship was a family. That was exactly the feeling I got. If anyone is hesitating about booking a Saga cruise then don’t. It will well exceed your expectations.

Edited December 8, 2023 by FannyLiz

[Banjo an]

Spirit of Discovery has just sailed from Portsmouth. A day late so which port will they miss out on this cruise.

[Windsurfboy]

4 hours ago, Mollag said:

It was because we were pushing on to get ahead of a depression and you were sitting in the middle of a ridge  of high pressure on the way up and also a day ahead of schedule thus avoiding weather ahead and astern of you

 

The Captain announced at noon just before we saw SoA on Tuesday that the low pressure was well ahead of us, so no need to go slow because of weather.

 

 

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Apart from the delay in Lisbon and the early arrival into Portsmouth, what else happened on the Caribbean cruise?

 

3 days in Lisbon,  one when not allowed of ship. Information was drip fed to passengers. 

 

Only 7 islands in  Carribean  not 8 as in intinerary.  No Trinidad,  St Marten instead of St Barts.

 

Didn't get to Azores or Maderia.

 

Arrived in Portsmouth at 2pm after crawling for 25 hours . Suggestion that passengers could have full day in Cherbourg,  Falmouth,  Fowey  once safrly in English channelput  Saga by email  and to Captain over dinner by Lady we met his response was to laugh. No explanation of why not.

[Whiteduck1]

24 minutes ago, Banjo an said:

Spirit of Discovery has just sailed from Portsmouth. A day late so which port will they miss out on this cruise.

According to Marine Radar Sod is going to Lisbon, due 7am on the 11th December... 

[Mollag]

5 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

The Captain announced at noon just before we saw SoA on Tuesday that the low pressure was well ahead of us, so no need to go slow because of weather.

 

 

 

3 days in Lisbon,  one when not allowed of ship. Information was drip fed to passengers. 

 

Only 7 islands in  Carribean  not 8 as in intinerary.  No Trinidad,  St Marten instead of St Barts.

 

Didn't get to Azores or Maderia.

 

Arrived in Portsmouth at 2pm after crawling for 25 hours . Suggestion that passengers could have full day in Cherbourg,  Falmouth,  Fowey  once safrly in English channelput  Saga by email  and to Captain over dinner by Lady we met his response was to laugh. No explanation of why not.

You were a day ahead of schedule so no need to rush,Adventure was trying to get as far South as possible before the next depression ( the one you missed Madeira for because you’d have been going across Biscay that day) arrived

[FannyLiz]

From what I recorded in my diary at the time we were confined to the ship at Lisbon because there was still hope that we could get away at some point in the day. Clearly the crew did not want passengers ashore if that happened. We had free access to shore and 2 excursions for the other 2 days in Lisbon. When SoA was moored there everyone, crew and passengers, we actively encouraged to visit and mingle.

 

As to the slowing down, at the Meet the Captain event he was asked why, if we were going to miss Madeira, we had to sail at 19 knots when this speed was uncomfortable for passengers. One hour later there was a noticeable slowing of speed. Surely not a co- incidence ?

Edited December 8, 2023 by FannyLiz

[Windsurfboy]

26 minutes ago, Mollag said:

You were a day ahead of schedule so no need to rush,Adventure was trying to get as far South as possible before the next depression ( the one you missed Madeira for because you’d have been going across Biscay that day) arrived

 

No need rush agree , but could go at normal 16 knots. Depends if they thought giving passengers  a full day ashore anywhere was of any value. It seems they didn't .

 

Yes someone asked why go max speed of 18 -19 knots, which the Captain then defended as necessary. SoA and SoD normally cruise at a more comfortable 16 knots, which would have given a full day in a port , even if in Portsmouth. The 12.5 knots is a crawl which meant no useable time in port. The majority improvements in comfort comes from going just that bit slower.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[FannyLiz]

18 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

……, which would have given a full day in a port , even if in Portsmouth.

 

When we got to Portsmouth at 2 pm shuttle buses were laid on to Gunwharf Quay for the Christmas markets. There was no specified all aboard time so people could get a taxi back after the last shuttle. I did get the impression that, on a cold, wet and windy day, this was not a great attraction for the majority.

 

Our speed, after the Meet the Captain, went down to 14 knots which was maintained almost to Portsmouth. We slowed down as we were early to pick up the pilot and presumably, take up our berth. It did make a difference to comfort and, presumably, to fuel consumption.

Edited December 8, 2023 by FannyLiz

[Windsurfboy]

10 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

When we got to Portsmouth at 2 pm shuttle buses were laid on to Gunwharf Quay for the Christmas markets. There was no specified all aboard time so people could get a taxi back after the last shuttle. I did get the impression that, on a cold, wet and windy day, this was not a great attraction for the majority.

 

Our speed, after the Meet the Captain, went down to 14 knots which was maintained almost to Portsmouth. We slowed down as we were early to pick up the pilot and presumably, take up our berth. It did make a difference to comfort and, presumably, to fuel consumption.

 

It was not wet on Wednesday  so people could have had a choice to go ashore if we'd got somewhere earlier. 

 

Our speed dropped to 12.5 knots not 14 knots .I will post pictures of the TV screen later

 

[Windsurfboy]

12.5 knots

[FannyLiz]

I use VesselFinder and Marine Traffic apps and they both showed 14 knots when we first slowed down. They showed that being maintained until we were passing the Isle of Wight when we slowed, I assume because we were slightly earlier than expected. I didn’t look at Cruise Mapper ot the TV. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by FannyLiz

[Mollag]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

No need rush agree , but could go at normal 16 knots. Depends if they thought giving passengers  a full day ashore anywhere was of any value. It seems they didn't .

 

Yes someone asked why go max speed of 18 -19 knots, which the Captain then defended as necessary. SoA and SoD normally cruise at a more comfortable 16 knots, which would have given a full day in a port , even if in Portsmouth. The 12.5 knots is a crawl which meant no useable time in port. The majority improvements in comfort comes from going just that bit slower.

A lot would depend on any berths being available, Portsmouth have a lot of ferries there so not sure about there, in the Channel you have Cherbourg, Le Havre, Falmouth and Portland plus you’d have to be going across Biscay in the worst of the weather which you were trying to avoid I’m afraid you were caught between a rock and a hard place. As for the speculation about problems with the pods if they still existed the MCA would have stopped them sailing or imposed restrictions on them

[Windsurfboy]

9 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

I use VesselFinder and Marine Traffic apps and they both showed 14 knots when we first slowed down. They showed that being maintained until we were passing the Isle of Wight when we slowed, I assume because we were slightly earlier than expected. I didn’t look at Cruise Mapper ot the TV. 

 

This was not cruise mapper but straight from ships navigation system. 

[Windsurfboy]

The reason for all the speculation is simple , we were not told why 

[FannyLiz]

38 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

This was not cruise mapper but straight from ships navigation system. 

I made that clear in my post. I don’t want to disagree. As you say, it’s what we were not told that has lead to all of this speculation and dissatisfaction .  Had we been told why various decisions were taken then I think most of us would have accepted that Saga had our safety uppermost in all the decisions they took. It would even now, do less harm to explain than if they maintain their silence but, it is possible, that the enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the storm accident is sub judice and we cannot be told.

 

[twotravellersLondon]

38 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

This was not cruise mapper but straight from ships navigation system. 

 

Yes and no.

 

What appears on the plasma screen in the cabins and public areas is from Openstreetmap... a Wiki product used under licence. There is no direct link between the ship's navigation systems and the Plasma Screens

 

There is an indirect link. Openstreetmap uses AIS information but it there is often a bit of a difference between the Saga Plasma screens and more advanced sites... we often have our laptop up and running when we're cruising and we can often see a difference between what's on the plasma and what's on different tracking sites.

 

But what's a difference of one and a half knots between friends who share some of the same interests and chose to use the same cruise line?

[FannyLiz]

2 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

 

 

What appears on the plasma screen in the cabins and public areas is from Openstreetmap... a Wiki product used under licence. 

 

 

Thank you ! You have explained something that was really puzzling me. One afternoon I turned on the ship’s navigation map to find a large scale road map of the Ruhr, a long way from either the Caribbean or the sea.

[Windsurfboy]

The map is from an open source mapping system , however the longitude and latitude and speed are from ships navigation system . SoD doesn't have to ask someone else where it is or what speed it is going. It puts these numbers directly on the info bar below the map. Then plots it on map for our convience . Yes it only updates about every 5 minutes so is not real time as on bridge

[Windsurfboy]

Changing the subject completely,  looks like its going to be a bit bumpy for SoD tomorrow in BoB.

 

Met office shipping forecast

 

Shipping forecast and gale warnings map

Loading map…

 

 

 

 

 

 

+−

© MapTiler | © OpenStreetMap contributors

 

iShipping forecast and gale warnings explained

Biscay

GALE WARNING

Issued: 09:51 (UTC) on Fri 8 Dec 2023

Gale now ceased, but southwesterly gale force 8 later

WIND

West or southwest 4 to 6, increasing 7 or gale 8 for a time.

SEA STATE

Rough or very rough.

WEATHER

Rain.

VISIBILITY

Moderate or good.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Windsurfboy

[FannyLiz]

1 minute ago, Windsurfboy said:

Changing the subject completely,  looks like its going to be a bit bumpy for SoD tomorrow in BoB.

I was just looking at Windy and thinking the same. Must be confident they have everything sorted if they are going to sail through that.

[Windsurfboy]

3 minutes ago, FannyLiz said:

I was just looking at Windy and thinking the same. Must be confident they have everything sorted if they are going to sail through that.

 

This looks just as bad as the weather we dodged.

[middlehaitch]

Got a text off my sister at about 6pm Thursday 07/12 saying that the itinerary had changed because of heavy wind and rain in the Channel and Bay of Biscay so they would be staying in Portsmouth. 

No updates from her today, and none expected. If I hear anything of interest I will pass the info along. 

 

Cheers, h.

[twotravellersLondon]

56 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

The map is from an open source mapping system , however the longitude and latitude and speed are from ships navigation system . SoD doesn't have to ask someone else where it is or what speed it is going. It puts these numbers directly on the info bar below the map. Then plots it on map for our convience . Yes it only updates about every 5 minutes so is not real time as on bridge

 

What is used on the navigational bridge is different from what appears on the plasma screens in the cabins and public areas. Look at different AIS feds of the ship, or indeed any ship, and there are significant differences. The Plasma screens are fed with second hand data that originates from the ships AIS system but is then processed by a third party... Wiki in this case. 

 

It will give approximate info.There are unlikely to be any really significant disparities in the longer term but on the shorter time scale there are differences. In our opinion that's what the two of you have found.  

[Windsurfboy]

The speed on TV always matched what the captain announced. 

 

Back to weather, what they are approaching/dealing with now is similiar to that weather they dodged on previous cruise and lost us a port and a day.  The cynical amongst us might hypothesize that something has been fixed , recalibrated in Portsmouth.  One will certainly never know

 

[Banjo an]

You’re right. Weather looks nasty out there. Cynical I may be, but missing four ports, being stuck in Lisbon for three days and losing a day at the end is not what we booked or paid for.