Saga reassures customers over newest vessel

Missed ports, power cuts and late return on Sapphire’s early voyages were due to mechanical problems.


Saga Cruises has sought to reassure passengers about the reliability of its newest ship following a series of on-board mechanical problems.

Saga Sapphire, the replacement for the popular Saga Ruby, the last British-built cruise ship in service, which is due to be retired next year, had to curtail its inaugural cruise in April because of engine trouble.

A trip to Norway in June was also hit by complications, and last week another engine fault delayed the ship’s return to Britain from a voyage in the Baltic.

Passengers on board the Norwegian cruise complained after the 31-year-old vessel, which Saga bought from a Brazilian operator and refurbished at the start of the year, missed several ports of call following problems with a bow thruster, and subsequently a generator.

The cruise, billed as a “Voyage to the North Cape”, was unable to visit the North Cape, nor was it able to call at Svolvaer, Honningsvåg, Geiranger or Eidfjord. Arrival at Bergen was also late, leaving passengers little time to visit the town.

Passengers also reported that there were power cuts and problems with the air conditioning – an issue highlighted by Jane Archer, the Telegraph’s cruise correspondent, in her recent, and otherwise positive, review of the ship.

“The whole point of the cruise was to visit the fjords and the North Cape,” said Malcolm Billingsley, 71, a retired teacher from north London. “We missed the North Cape and the three most famous fjords. Many of those on board were loyal fans of Saga – I’ve sailed twice on Ruby and had no such problems.”

Mr Billingsley’s comments are echoed by several other holidaymakers, in emails seen by Telegraph Travel. Some passengers suggested that the problems arose from the ship’s age: it was built in 1981.

Paul Green, Saga’s director of communications, said: “The problems in Norway could not be foreseen and were not due to the ship’s age. Sapphire is a £67  million investment in the future of our fleet, and it is on the way to becoming a firm favourite with our customers.”

Mr Green added that, in a survey of passengers on Sapphire’s most recent cruise to Norway, 99 per cent rated their experience as “excellent” or “good”.

According to Jane Archer, the refurbishment of older ships is not unusual practice in the cruise industry.
“Although it cost Saga millions to overhaul and improve Sapphire, it would have cost many millions more to build a new ship,” she said.

Mr Green said that most problems with the air conditioning had been fixed and the power cuts were caused by work to fix the generator.

All affected passengers have subsequently been offered a refund of 40 per cent by Saga or a 50 per cent discount on a future cruise, but some felt the offer did not go far enough.

Richard West, 66, from Sutton, who was on the June cruise, said: “I understand that problems of this sort do sometimes occur, but Saga has not fulfilled its obligations. The only way for me to see all the places we missed will be to book another voyage to Norway – so I feel entitled to a replacement cruise.”

Saga also confirmed that a “minor” problem occurred on Saga Sapphire during last week’s return from a Baltic cruise, which meant the ship had to sail into Dover using only one engine, but that it was fixed overnight.

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Saga to Retire Ruby

The classic Saga Ruby will be retired in 2014, according to reports.

The 25,000-ton ship is the oldest in the Saga Cruises fleet, recently being joined by the newer Saga Sapphire.

It was also confirmed the line will add the Quest for Adventure back to the Saga brand as the Saga Pearl II.

The 25,000-ton, 655-passenger ship will celebrate its 40th (ruby) anniversary with one final round the world cruise at the start of 2013.

Meanwhile, the line has announced Quest for Adventure will revert back to its former name of Saga Pearl II once its published cruise calendar is complete in 18 months. It will also no longer offer adventure itineraries.

The move means that Saga will be back to a two-ship fleet in 2014, and the line has hinted at plans for a new-build ship, most recently at the European Cruise Council meeting in Brussels.

A U.K. spokesman has confirmed that Saga would like to expand the fleet, but he denied any order had been placed for a new-build.

Robin Shaw, Chief Executive of Saga Shipping said: "Saga Ruby has delighted cruise-goers for some 40 years, but operating a ship of this age to meet the exacting standards we and others set is becoming an increasing challenge. We have therefore decided that she should be gracefully retired in 18 months. Saga Ruby will in her ruby anniversary year visit many of the ports where she been warmly welcomed over the years.

"We believe that Saga cruising has a great deal of potential and we have invested over the last few year well over £100 million on our fleet and we continue to look for opportunities to expand and improve our classic cruise experience."

Saga Ruby was built in 1973 at Jarrow Shipyard on Tyneside, and has sailed under two previous incarnations: Vistafjord and Caronia, when it became part of Cunard's fleet. Saga bought the vessel in 2004 and spent £17 million refurbishing it.

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Two ‘New’ Ships Underway for Saga Cruises

Saga Cruises' Saga Sapphire has finally embarked on a much-delayed maiden voyage –- if it can still be called that -- after two previous attempts at an inaugural cruise had to be scrapped due to engine trouble.

The 706-passenger, 33,819-ton ship left Southampton on Sunday (06/05/12), bound for the Baltic, after emergency repairs had to be carried out in Valencia in April. The original maiden voyage was cut short and passengers flown home when an engine failed, and the revised second itinerary was cancelled when repairs took longer than expected.

The inauguration of Saga Sapphire isn't the only change for the company. The ship that arrived in Southampton at the weekend as the 446-passenger, 18,591-ton Saga Pearl II was rapidly converted into Quest for Adventure, its new name painted onto the ship's dark blue hull before the vessel embarked on Sunday on a round-Britain and Ireland voyage.

Quest for Adventure replaces the old Spirit of Adventure, a smaller, aging ship that, after six years of service for Saga, has been sold to a German company. Both vessels are the side of Saga's cruising product it calls ‘Adventure Cruising' (as opposed to the ‘Classic Cruising' offered by Saga Sapphire and Saga Ruby).

Quest differs slightly from the ‘Classic' ships in that the minimum age for passengers is 21, not 50, and a selection of shore excursions, which varies according to the length of cruise, is included in the price. Many of the crew from Spirit have transferred to Quest, including the captains, cruise director and some hotel staff. But essentially, it's Saga Pearl II with a new name and new itineraries; we haven't heard of any plans for changing the interiors, and in any case, the ship underwent a £14 million refurbishment when Saga acquired it in 2009.

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Allure of the Seas to Depart as Schedule After Engine Fire

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas arrived back in Fort Lauderdale early Sunday morning as scheduled after a short-lived fire broke out at 7:45 Friday evening in the engine room aboard the world's largest cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean tells Cruise Critic that nobody on the 5,400-passenger vessel was injured, and the next sailing will leave on time Sunday evening. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

According to accounts from several passengers on cruise message boards, the ship had to change course briefly on its way from St. Maarten to Fort Lauderdale to keep smoke from blowing back inside the vessel.

One such message had this to say of his first-hand experience: "I am on board The Allure, yes there was a small fire in one of the engine rooms, that caused some smoke smell around the back end of the ship. There was no visible smoke in passenger areas. I was dining at the Chefs Table at the time and we were asked to move from the area for about 20 minutes, whilst the extract fans did their job. There was NO panic around the ship, a couple of youngsters showed concern, and some parents went to meet up with family members."

Whilst another posted the following: "Just got off the Allure and I have to disagree that there was NO panic. The crew were visibly scared as we're many of the passengers. ...The crew were trying very hard to appear in control and they did a good job, but you could see them passing notes to each other and the concern on their faces. We were finished our dinner, but skipped out on desert because I really couldn't eat much after hearing Bravo bravo bravo and water tight doors closing." 

"We could see that there was no power from the engines as it appeared we were drifting - this occurred for at least an hour maybe two," commented another user of the online message boards of the view from the AquaTheater deck. "Auxiliary power was running as at no time did the power, lights, air conditioning or water go out."

This incident is just the latest in a string of recent cruise ship engine problems. Last week, Saga Holidays' Saga Sapphire cut its inaugural cruise short due to engine troubles. Two weeks ago, Plancius, an ice-class vessel operated by the Dutch company Oceanwide Expeditions, suffered a partial engine failure and stranded its 73 passengers and 42 crew on a South Atlantic island. In March, Azamara Quest suffered an engine room fire that injured five crewmembers and left the ship adrift off the southern Philippines coast. In February, an engine fire left Costa Allegra inert in the Indian Ocean. Cunard's flagship, Queen Mary 2, has also been plagued with engine troubles over the past year.

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Delayed Launch for Refurbished Saga Sapphire

Multi-million-pound refurbishments are complicated affairs, and they become even more complex when your workforce goes on strike. To that end, Saga Cruises announced today that the arrival of its newest ship, Saga Sapphire, will be delayed, as will the ship's departure on its inaugural cruise to Venice.

Sapphire, which is en route to Southampton now, faced interruptions during a nearly four-month refurbishment in the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo, Italy, when workers participated in a national strike action.

The ship is expected to arrive in Southampton on Monday (26/03/2012), when it was originally scheduled to depart for Venice and will leave on a shortened cruise a week later (Monday, 2 April). During the weeklong stay in the U.K., the ship “will need to be loaded with provisions, and items such as furniture need to be loaded and installed,”  said a company spokesman.

A 23-night inaugural cruise, which was scheduled to visit Mediterranean ports in Spain, Italy, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Gibraltar and Portugal, has now been shortened to 16 nights. The line has not made clear what stops the revised itinerary includes, saying only, “We have tried to keep as much of the original cruise as possible and minimise the disruption.”

The spokesperson commented that all passengers on the disrupted cruise have been contacted, and offered either a pro-rated refund for the missed portion of the cruise, alternative accommodation on another cruise, or the option to cancel and receive a full refund.

The makeover included the addition of 46 balconies to cabins on Deck 8, new restaurants and a "View From the Top" outdoor cinema. Also, cabins have been updated, several public areas have been redesigned, and the line is introducing iPads and onboard Wi-Fi connectivity.

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