Saga anyone?

I'll let you all know how it goes. It was my friends idea for her husband's 60th. (A mere baby.) I hate cold but would love to see the Northern Lights. Can't do one without the other! The ferry is more of a cruise ship now but calls in at ports and villages all the way north so we're not out of sight of land and it should be sheltered sailing. No dressing for dinner either which suits me and plenty going on - even if it is dark much of the time.

It's nice to have a window though nfk. Good luck in January. I'm not a brilliant sailor so I don't suppose we'll ever go far enough to see the northern lights. DH fancies a cruise to the frozen north but not me!

Next June ... You've time to save for some of those optional excursions then! We've just booked to go on the Hurtigruten ferry cruise up the coast of Norway next January with friends. Paid extra for an outside cabin before it dawned on us it'll be dark most of the time! High hopes for the Northern Lights.

There are better and cheaper ones out there. Shop around. I have been on many cruises. My favourite line at the moment is Norwegian Cruise Lines. If you are not interested in formal dressing and Captain's evenings, this is a great line. Very relaxing, good entertainment and a good mix of people of all ages, creeds, from all around the world.

Booked for June next year. A long way off but it's good to have something fixed in the calendar to look forward to (and save up for!)

We've done a lot of cruises. Never on Saga but on cruise forums they have a fan base. I understand that for those having problems with insurance due to notifiable medical conditions they are pretty good with insurance cover when you book their cruises/holidays.

Brilliant Jane, where are you going? We've only done river cruises and I enjoy them very much. Will look at Viking as an option.

Well I've been and gone and done it! Booked Viking ocean cruise. Excursions, silver drinks package and gratuities included. Should be absolutely no extras! No photographers pestering us and no casino or noisy entertainment. Sounds great. Just have to start saving to pay for it!

On Riviera (river cruises and land based holidays) all excursions are included. The guides are very knowledgeable. The only extras are drinks and any meals as specified in the brochure.

Aslemma we too try to do things on our own as excursions often seem overpriced. On a cruise last year we took the bus into town which cost 1$ each. The price for the onboard excursion into town was £40 pp. Unsure how this disparity can be explained. Basically, it cant!

We've been looking at the Saga brochure for our next land trip and it's very noticeable that since they've been taken over by Titan there are far more optional excursions. The holidays would be very boring now if you didn't do any of them, but there's no indication of how much they cost. I think it's where they make the money now but it's very annoying!

Talking of the price of excursions, they were offering a trip into Tunis from the port of La Goulette for which they were charging about £30. As I know Tunisia fairly well a group of us said we would do it by ourselves. There were the expected expressions of horror from the person bookimg the tour, and a warning that it would br very expensive but we pressed ahead. I had some Tunisian dinars from a previous trip so we warded off the taxi drivers, asked the way to the station and it cost the equivalent of just over £3.50 return into Tunis, for 5 of us. We wandered round the Medina, did some shoppimg, had a drink and caught the train back.

We have the money for cruises but my DH does not fancy them at all. I have had a big enough problem getting him to take the ferry from Santander to Portsmouth return this summer. And that is only a 24 hour trip. I would like to take one of the river cruises up the Douro but I haven't managed to persuade him yet.

We have been on saga cruises since 2011. We go on one every year with one year doing two.
It is true that they seem expensive but you get what you pay for.
We like them because there are no children aboard and being a retired teacher I appreciate That!
We like everything about the cruises from the cabin to the food,the entertainment and of course the crew who give of their best all the time. You do not need to go on the trips which can seem expensive but there is always a free shuttle bus at every port which will take you to the centre of town where you can explore for yourself.

I like Viking too. Not having to think about extra pay for drinks and excursions was a bonus as that cost a lot on an MSC cruise we went on.
Not only that, but the advertised 'discounts' were actually valid, whereas when I looked at Emerald Waterways today and phoned to discuss a potential booking I was told " the discounts have changed on selected sailings" (the one I wanted, naturally!) which meant that whilst on the phone, the cost went up by £200 pp, despite the fact that the brochure had arrived that morning AND it said discounts applied til July 31st. Needless to say, we didn't book.

I like Viking. Drinks and excursions are included. There are less than 200 people on the rivers and 900 on the seas. The price is good. The staff are lovely.

Understood, Jane 10. I'm fortunate enough to have three ports of departure within two hours which is why it works for me. The initial connection is very important for the short notice gambling I try.

Devon girl I m with you, I haven't enough money to go on cruises I have a friend who goes at least twice a year on four or five week cruises and assures me she 'only has a pension ' haha ... she goes on Saga cruises and it wouldn't appeal to me she says the wheelchairs and mobility scooters line up and it really sounds like an old people's home from how she describes it She said she used to get a knock on her cabin from the 90 year old gent in the next cabin to help him get dressed .........but she loves it

That would be so good Kim but unfortunately we'd always have a problem with connecting flights/long drive.
Having continued my research it looks like Viking ocean cruises might suit us better. Depending on when we book they'd even include a complete drinks package and tours are included as are tips. No extras to find and open dining has just about clinched it for us.

To all cruisers who are retired or have a 'fluid' diary and who live near a port of departure I would recommend trying for a last minute deal. My friends and I have had great success with this method. Obviously you would have to live with the disappointment if the earmarked vessel was full. This has not happened to us yet. Once confirmed and paid for online all we had to do was arrange insurance - again online - and bingo!

I haven't cruised with Saga, but have been on several cruises with Celebrity. They have on avarage a more mature cliental. There are some younger couples and a small number of children, but they run a very comprehensive programme for kids, so they are rarely seen. Saga seem to charge much more for equivalent cruises than do Celebrity, so I can see no reason to cruise with then yet. Celebrity, and all of the other major cruise lines have an excellent reputation for providing support to elderly and disabled passengers. I have witnessed excellent care given by Celebrity staff. They also assist single passengers in meeting other singles if a passenger requests that.

Jane10.You have ticked all the boxes in what you personally require on a cruise but ask is it worth it.?
I however question do you wish to be among like minded persons as yourself? Do you need wheel chair assistance and other commodities a Saga cruise offers.?
Then Saga fits the bill.
Other than that and yes people do bring children on a cruise and they are well catered for but there are no go areas where children are not allowed. I have yet, having been on three cruises,to meet rowdy young people.I have met rowdy elderly people as not all elderly want to be in bed with their hot drink by 10pm.
Being picked up by car straight to the ship can be had by most taxi services
The only difference is with Saga you pay for this within the cost of the holiday.
ALL cruises have medical facilities with qualified medical staff.
Go for the best and you will want for nothing.
I have observed an ill person being airlifted off one cruise.No waiting until the ship got to port.

I have never fancied a Saga holiday,of any ,kind, despite traveling solo for many years. Although I am quite ancient now I like to mix with people of all ages and have the feeling that though their adverts show younger and spritelier people the reality would be somewhat different.

I did one cruise with MSC (won with the Daily Express, does anybody remember that £10 fiasco?) Those who had won cruises posted on another site giving our dates.and name of ship, so we many of us 'knew' one another before we sailed. We all had our evening meal together but did our own thing during the day, sometimes joining up for thevexcursions and sometimes not.

HiJane10,

We've not yet tried Saga for a cruise, nor for any other type of holiday,but have been on similar, adult only cruises with Cruise & Maritime and Fred Olsen. All have been great fun, comfortable and relatively entertaining. You only need to do as much or as little as you want to, there is no pressure to 'take part'. We have been perfectly satisfied with the food offered and are not put off by there not being 'free' drinks with meals. No great loss to us as we don't drink alcohol at all and it is possible to buy a drinks package if you do want access to 'drinks' at all times. Tea & coffee suit us and these are free.
Excursions do cost extra as with Saga but don't have to be arranged through the ship always. Some are good value others less so.
We tend to book an inside cabin (suite!) as my sealegs are rather untrustworthy but it doesn't put me off sailing to see 'far-away places with strange-sounding names' and beats the h* out of hanging around in airports with limited luggage allowance. We have only sailed out of Britain not done any fly/cruise trips.
Check round the cheaper companies as well as Saga (we may yet get to try them ourselves in later life) and see what a terrific range of holidays/prices are available these days.
Happy Cruising.

We have only done their Douro river cruise and can't rate it highly enough. All the excursions were included as were all alcoholic drinks unless you wanted certain brands or vintage ports. The saga rep was probably the only downside as she really only seemed along for a jolly rather than working! The boat staff more than made up for her lack of interest though and looked after us exceptionally well.