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Is Saga Cruises the best cruise line for your cruise vacation? In this I explore what I think Saga Cruises do better, the same or worse than other premium cruise lines. I also look at who they are and who they are most suited for and why. Saga Cruises is a UK-based line with a different take on a number of areas of cruising, which you will discover...
Note: I travelled as a guest of the cruise line a number of times over the last few years before making this video
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Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises.
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you're about to discover the four things
0:02
you really need to know about Saga
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cruises I'm Gary Bainbridge this is
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another of my tips for travelers I'm
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here on board saga cruises spirit of
0:11
discovery in my cabin and I want to
0:13
share with you things that I think you
0:14
really need to know about saga starting
0:17
with this one
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saga cruises is part of the saga Holding
0:21
Group and they specialize in insurance
0:24
and also regular travel so escorted
0:26
tours particularly they have two ships
0:30
in their fleet very modern fleet you
0:32
have spirit of discovery which I'm on
0:34
now recording this which was launched in
0:36
2019 and spirit of adventure a sister
0:39
ship launched in 2020 it operates in the
0:42
small ship category they have 999 guests
0:46
on these ships ten passenger decks and
0:49
it's all balcony cabins
0:52
Sanga talks about offering the boutique
0:54
small ship cruising and what they mean
0:56
by that is the whole design and look and
0:58
feel of the ship is quite contemporary
1:00
and modern
1:01
inspired a lot by boutique hotels
1:02
particularly in London and small ship
1:04
because it falls within the small ship
1:06
category in the industry by only having
1:09
999 guests secondly one of the critical
1:13
things that I always like to look at
1:15
when reviewing a cruise line is what do
1:17
they do
1:17
unique or different to other cruise
1:19
lines and sonker does a surprising large
1:22
amount in fact there's seven things that
1:23
I think they do differently first of all
1:26
they are an adults-only 50-plus cruise
1:30
line the second thing they do is they
1:33
focus on a very British experience so
1:35
everything on the ship whether it's the
1:37
styling of food the quizzes the
1:39
entertainment the lectures even the
1:42
passengers it's a very very British
1:44
experience and in fact if you want to
1:46
come on a saga cruise the only way you
1:48
can really book it is through UK agents
1:50
or through UK saga saga does offer
1:52
probably one of the most British of all
1:55
experiences that you can get cruising
1:56
out of the UK the other thing that saga
2:00
does and they've won a lot of awards
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every year a travel awards they win
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awards for it which is their
2:05
door-to-door VIP service so they
2:07
basically will come and collect you from
2:10
where you live bring you right down to
2:12
the ship in Dover
2:13
and then when you finish they will take
2:15
you back to your home so it's very much
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a door-to-door service and the guests
2:20
who come on saga cruisers love the fact
2:22
that they get met at the door and
2:23
brought all the way to the ship the
2:25
other thing which I think they cater for
2:28
better than any other cruise line in the
2:30
world is for solo travelers 20 percent
2:34
of the cabins on these new ships the
2:37
spirit discovery and the spirit of
2:39
adventure off solo cabins 109 cabins are
2:42
solo cabins so they cater enormous Li
2:45
for solo travelers and it does mean that
2:48
you don't have then all the big
2:50
surcharges for double occupancy so
2:52
definitely I don't think there's any
2:54
other cruise line that caters on the
2:56
scale as a percentage of their ship for
2:59
solo travelers it's something I think
3:00
they do incredibly well and they have
3:01
lots of meetups and ways of looking
3:03
after solo travelers once they're on
3:05
board the other thing which saga do is
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they provide no fly cruising out of the
3:11
UK all year round
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most of the departures will be out of
3:15
places like Dover they do move to
3:17
Southampton particular the winter season
3:19
but unlike many Cruise Lines who move
3:21
their ships out of the UK and head to
3:24
places like the Caribbean saga will sail
3:27
all year round out of the UK that's one
3:30
thing that I think does make them unique
3:31
and different the whole fleet is based
3:33
in the UK all year round another really
3:36
interesting aspect to what Saga does is
3:39
they will bundle insurance into the fare
3:41
one of the big challenges when you go
3:43
cruising is the cost of insurance and
3:46
getting the making sure that you've got
3:47
the right policy and also because saga
3:49
does attract some older passengers
3:51
Purtill in their 60s 70s and above
3:52
getting travel insurance and cruise
3:54
insurance can be a challenge so within
3:57
their fare you can opt in to have
3:59
insurance to cover your cruise I don't
4:01
know of any other Cruise Line that
4:02
includes it within their fare so it's
4:05
definitely something unique and it's a
4:06
real big plus another thing that they do
4:08
pretty uniquely certainly for the
4:10
category of ships that they operate in
4:12
is their fares have a huge amount of
4:14
inclusions compared to other cruise
4:16
lines of a similar standard so obviously
4:18
your accommodations included all your
4:20
foods included and that includes both
4:22
the standard dining so in the main
4:25
restaurant
4:26
the grill and the veranda which are the
4:28
informal dining but also then in all of
4:30
the speciality restaurants so for
4:33
example onboard the spirit of discovery
4:35
they have the club by Jools Holland
4:38
which is the steakhouse
4:39
they have east to west which is a real
4:41
saga classic which is kind of Asian
4:43
fusion food then they have a seafood
4:45
restaurant called coast to coast on
4:47
spirit of adventure they're tweaking
4:49
their slightly you still have the
4:50
Steakhouse even have a Nepalese and
4:52
you're also going to have an Italian so
4:54
all of your dining is included afternoon
4:56
tea room service is included they used
4:59
to include wine and beer at lunchtime
5:01
but all of your drinks are included in
5:04
all the fairs from 2020 as already
5:07
mentioned you've got the transfer
5:09
service and you've got the insurance
5:10
they also have a shuttle bus which runs
5:13
into the towns if it's not within easy
5:16
walking distance that's included within
5:18
the fare that's kind of a complimentary
5:19
shuttle service other cruise lines will
5:21
often charge you for that other
5:23
inclusions within the fare they include
5:25
Wi-Fi now most cruise lines will charge
5:27
you for Wi-Fi some of the very premium
5:29
ones do to be honest with you I don't
5:31
find the Wi-Fi particularly good onboard
5:33
the times that I've been onboard saga
5:35
but it is definitely included to
5:37
gratuities are included and even if you
5:39
go to the spa I wasn't charged any
5:41
gratuities when I went to the spa so no
5:43
gratuities on top of your fare that's
5:46
included so the key extras that you're
5:48
going to pay for is laundry you're going
5:50
to pay for there you can use the guest
5:51
laundry for nothing obviously if you do
5:53
shopping
5:54
there's no casino onboard if you use
5:56
them in at the Medical Center and then
5:58
excursions they are extras so the fares
6:00
do include pretty much more than many
6:03
other equivalent cruise lines so thirdly
6:06
what do Saga do the same or worse than
6:08
other cruise lines of a similar type
6:10
sort of premium end Cruise Lines
6:13
well first of all they offer a very
6:15
traditional cruising experience you're
6:17
not going to find it particularly
6:18
innovative or different so it's going to
6:19
have formal nights for example where you
6:21
are expected to dress up so gentleman
6:23
and tuxedo or dark suit and tie laylee
6:26
some sort of glamorous gowns the
6:27
activities and events on board are
6:29
pretty traditional as well as you're
6:30
going to have things like your quizzes
6:32
plotting competitions trivia quizzes the
6:36
production shows are very traditional
6:37
stars you're gonna have your
6:40
review Taipa shows I think the shows for
6:43
example are pretty standard to the rest
6:46
of the industry they're not particularly
6:48
innovative and different so they're good
6:49
quality sitting the passengers enjoyed
6:51
them a lot but certainly I found them
6:52
pretty standard to other cruise lines so
6:55
if you like production shows which are
6:56
of the review type so for example they
6:58
had some on board which looked at dance
7:01
and music through the decades they did
7:03
another one focusing on Queen those
7:05
types of shows pretty traditional that's
7:07
what you're going to get on board other
7:10
activities that they offer include
7:12
dancing to live bands which again is
7:14
very consistent for a lot of Tukey
7:16
british-based
7:17
Cruise Lines they also have craft
7:19
classes that have a dedicated craft
7:21
class they have a library stop with lots
7:24
of books so it is pretty similar from
7:26
many of the other cruise lines of its
7:28
type in terms of the style and type of
7:30
cruising experience it's not a
7:32
particularly different cruise experience
7:34
so if you like traditional cruising you
7:36
certainly will like the saga experience
7:38
the facilities onboard the ship are
7:41
again pretty traditional for cruise
7:44
ships you can find the usual things spa
7:46
fitness center pool a selection of bars
7:50
and lounges although in fact one of the
7:53
lounges which i think is kind of
7:55
different very special is the Britannia
7:56
lounge
7:57
but overall the facilities are pretty
7:58
standard for other cruise ships of its
8:00
type the other thing which I think is
8:03
pretty similar is food the food on board
8:05
is great but of course all premium lines
8:07
tend to have really good food there's
8:09
lots of choice big menus good quality
8:11
food but I would say it's pretty
8:12
consistent with other cruise lines of
8:14
their types if you're paying a sort of a
8:16
premium cruise fare you expect good food
8:18
and you will find it on saga and they
8:21
certainly have the choice because they
8:22
have different speciality restaurants
8:23
but I'd say overall the food certainly
8:25
matches and as good as other premium
8:27
lines like other premium cruise ships or
8:31
many cruise ships there's a wide range
8:32
of accommodation but what's very
8:34
important is they're all balconies so
8:37
it's also a plus but you can get
8:39
everything from Suites down to so low
8:42
balcony cabins so there's a wide range
8:44
of cabin types like there are on other
8:46
cruise ships the thing which they also
8:49
probably do a little bit worse than
8:50
other cruise lines is making it easy for
8:52
international guests to come on
8:54
they're very focused on the British
8:56
Cruiser and it's very easy if you live
8:59
in the UK to book a saga cruise if you
9:01
coming from another country so you're
9:02
Australian or from the US it's a little
9:05
more difficult because they don't
9:07
actually sell those actively in those of
9:09
the country so you need to work with an
9:11
agent which can connect with Sangha in
9:13
the UK they can make all the
9:14
arrangements they can do flights and do
9:16
all the arrangements to get you into the
9:18
UK but if they don't make it that easy
9:20
so you do have to deal with saga or an
9:23
agent in the UK that deals with saga so
9:25
that's one thing they probably make it a
9:27
little bit more difficult because if you
9:28
want to cruise normally on other cruise
9:30
lines you'll find it very easy to make
9:32
bookings online directly with a local
9:34
site so who is saga best for well as I
9:39
mentioned you need to be an adult you
9:41
need to be over 50 or DS one of the
9:42
people in the party needs to be over 50
9:44
to come on us all that Cruise so it's a
9:46
don't only know kids and you do tend to
9:49
find the profile is on the higher side
9:51
and of course it depends a little bit on
9:53
the cruise in the length of cruising
9:54
time of the year so you will find a lot
9:56
of people in their 60s 70s and even in
9:58
their 80s onboard a saga cruise also you
10:02
need to be someone who loves a very
10:04
British experience at life's travelling
10:06
with lots of British travelers it's
10:07
going to be pretty much all British
10:09
cruisers onboard and the experience as
10:11
already discussed it's going to be very
10:13
British from the food the entertainment
10:15
so if you're really craving a looking
10:16
for a great British experience you'll
10:18
find it onboard it's very good if you're
10:20
a solo traveler as I've mentioned they
10:22
also do have cabins for people with
10:24
accessibility needs and are very good at
10:26
dealing with people who have
10:28
accessibility needs on the ship and also
10:30
when it comes to arranging excursions so
10:33
those types of travellers will find saga
10:35
a good option in my view saga is a very
10:39
interesting line it's a small line it's
10:40
a very British focus line and it has
10:43
really big strong loyal following
10:46
hopefully that's given you some insight
10:48
if you'd like many more tips around
10:50
cruising why don't you watch one of my
10:53
other videos I have many many videos all
10:55
about cruising so watch one of them
10:57
right now
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