My grandparents loved cruises, my grandad used to tell everyone saga stood for "send a granny abroad" lol... They really loved their cruises, and always sang their praises!
This was a 32-night cruise that had originally been scheduled to go to the Black Sea. That wasn't possible, but in a very short time Saga created a superb itinerary that took in Greece, Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. Sadly on the change of itinerary a lot of passengers cancelled, so we had about 525 passengers and 540 crew members. The new Saga ships are extremely spacious anyway, so this low number of passengers did make parts of the ship very quiet at times.
Saga food and service is exceptional - you could pay a lot more with some so-called luxury cruise lines and not do as well. There are three alternative restaurants, available to book without an extra charge. Some drinks are always included, but on this trip all drinks were included, including the sparkling wine served at the classical recitals and at breakfast on special days. We had a standard cabin with balcony (all cabins have a balcony) and that was spacious enough for a month.
Ship entertainment is often not to out taste, but this time there were several acts in the theatre that we enjoys. There were also two classical piano quartets on board, in addition to the resident bands. Much of the music in the theatre is performed live, rather than working with backing tracks.
Saga now includes some excursions, usually a panoramic tour. We did some of those but selected extra charge excursions in a few ports. Most of the tours were good, with good guides, but I could recommend changes to a couple of the paid for trips.
The turnround point for the trip was Canakkale in Turkey, as Istanbul had already been dropped. That gave me the opportunity to visit the Gallipoli peninsula - somewhere that I have want to see for many years. Movingly, as we sailed back through the Dardanelles, heading for the Mediterranean, we sounded our whistle as we passed the British monument at the tip of the peninsula as a mark of respect.
Although a Saga cruise might look expensive on paper, there is an awful lot of extras included that makes it pretty good value.
Related reviews
Great service being chauffeured to the ship, so easy to board and find our comfortable cabin. Lovely caring and such helpful crew members all over the ship. The food was superb every meal. The destinations were beautiful and so clean and everyone was very welcoming. The entertainments were brilliant.
We loved being able to walk everywhere though we did once or twice use the lifts. It was a great first time experience and we do look forward to next year and another trip.
This was mine, and my wife's, first ever cruise so we really did not now what to expect. From the outset, which was being picked up from home by a chauffeur, it went like clockwork. We were delivered at the port of Dover, where our luggage was whisked away, and we were processed at the check-in, which all went extremely smoothly, and then taken to our cabin which was really very, very well laid out, clean, and well lit too. All the information that we could have wanted was to hand in the cabin and indeed accessible on the TV there too, so we felt very well supported and not all left to stumble along alone. All the staff we met were so polite and helpful, and with the signage near the lifts it was fairly easy to sort out where all the restaurants and other places of note were located. We set off exploring the ship, and were amazed by the cleanliness and sparkle of everything we came across. That evening we went for our dinner fairly early on. The food was amazing, the service equally so, and this was so throughout our cruise. During dinner, being sat on a table of four, we learnt a lot from the other couple about the ship, and about the other restaurants and bars throughout the vessel. We made great use of the promenade deck for some fast walks, and indeed the Spa area for the sauna, steam room, and the hydro-pool; each time were were surprised to find very, very few people there - on the promenade deck or indeed in the Spa - normally just another couple or two, we reasoned that perhaps the average age of the passengers was probably responsible for that. However, the bars were well frequented by everyone in the evenings, and the entertainment we found there was very enjoyable. We took four excursions while in dock in Norway, and each disembarkation and re-embarkation was handled superbly by the staff - always going so very smoothly, which was amazing given that some of the passengers were not always that quick on their feet. The trips were excellent, and the ones that we paid for in addition to the others were very good value for money. At the end of the cruise the disembarkation was so well done, with us being matched with out luggage and our chauffeur for the return home within minutes of coming down the gangway! All in all, being treated like honoured guests for a week was a fabulous experience, one which we will definitely repeat as soon as!
This was mine, and my wife's, first ever cruise so we really did not now what to expect. From the outset, which was being picked up from home by a chauffeur, it went like clockwork. We were delivered at the port of Dover, where our luggage was whisked away, and we were processed at the check-in, which all went extremely smoothly, and then taken to our cabin which was really very, very well laid out, clean, and well lit too. All the information that we could have wanted was to hand in the cabin and indeed accessible on the TV there too, so we felt very well supported and not all left to stumble along alone. All the staff we met were so polite and helpful, and with the signage near the lifts it was fairly easy to sort out where all the restaurants and other places of note were located. We set off exploring the ship, and were amazed by the cleanliness and sparkle of everything we came across. That evening we went for our dinner fairly early on. The food was amazing, the service equally so, and this was so throughout our cruise. During dinner, being sat on a table of four, we learnt a lot from the other couple about the ship, and about the other restaurants and bars throughout the vessel. We made great use of the promenade deck for some fast walks, and indeed the Spa area for the sauna, steam room, and the hydro-pool; each time were were surprised to find very, very few people there - on the promenade deck or indeed in the Spa - normally just another couple or two, we reasoned that perhaps the average age of the passengers was probably responsible for that. However, the bars were well frequented by everyone in the evenings, and the entertainment we found there was very enjoyable. We took four excursions while in dock in Norway, and each disembarkation and re-embarkation was handled superbly by the staff - always going so very smoothly, which was amazing given that some of the passengers were not always that quick on their feet. The trips were excellent, and the ones that we paid for in addition to the others were very good value for money. At the end of the cruise the disembarkation was so well done, with us being matched with out luggage and our chauffeur for the return home within minutes of coming down the gangway! All in all, being treated like honoured guests for a week was a fabulous experience, one which we will definitely repeat as soon as!
Fulfilled a long- held wish to see the Dutch bulb fields in all their splendour. The weather was kind and daily trips onshore took us to a variety of interesting and delightful sites. Saga took great care of us. The cabins were comfortable and well cared for, the food plentiful and delicious and other cruisers pleasant. A bad time at the departure airport, with a 9-hour delay, but Saga still rescued us from a different airport, once back in the UK and ferried us home
Enchanted trips with comfort unforgettable memories.
Spirit of Adventure
Spirit of Adventure is a medium ocean ship sailing with Saga Cruises.
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