Spirit of Adventure

by **newmember** » 26 Jun 2020 15:18

The Inaugural cruise is now 5th November, 17 nights Mediterranean.
In order to put corona safety measures in place, the ship will sail at reduced capacity - 800 passengers. Which is a tad over 80%, which is pretty much the standard rate of occupancy.
There will be enhanced health screening at embarkation, including blood oxygen levels (finger device) and temperature checks.
And enhanced cleaning on changeover days - although they will still disembark one lot and get the next lot on on the same day, just sail a bit later.
Freedom dining will still be in place, but no buffet - all meals waiter served (which is logical).
There is - apparently - no planning about how queues will be managed, either when embarking/disembarking or at popular meal times.
Maybe the hope is that the virus will have disappeared by November.
Very strange days, indeed.

by **Camela** » 27 Jun 2020 11:56

All cruise lines are trotting out the same adherence to Disease prevention and public health protocols, reduced capacity, fogging,sanitisation which will be needed. For me though it all adds up to a reduced cruise experience so I don't see us at sea for quite some time. I love my buffets for breakfast and lunch and to have to point out each individual item for a staff member to serve would be no pleasure at all. The same goes for social distancing not enabling me to strike up a conversation with a stranger next to me either at a bar on an excursion.

by **newmember** » 27 Jun 2020 12:43

Camela wrote:All cruise lines are trotting out the same adherence to Disease prevention and public health protocols, reduced capacity, fogging,sanitisation which will be needed. For me though it all adds up to a reduced cruise experience so I don't see us at sea for quite some time. I love my buffets for breakfast and lunch and to have to point out each individual item for a staff member to serve would be no pleasure at all. The same goes for social distancing not enabling me to strike up a conversation with a stranger next to me either at a bar on an excursion.

Totally agree with you.
(Incidentally, I think the buffet will be totally out - it will be menu selection only. And tours will be sightseeing tours only.)

by **judgegeoff** » 27 Jun 2020 12:45

Camela wrote:All cruise lines are trotting out the same adherence to Disease prevention and public health protocols, reduced capacity, fogging,sanitisation which will be needed. For me though it all adds up to a reduced cruise experience so I don't see us at sea for quite some time. I love my buffets for breakfast and lunch and to have to point out each individual item for a staff member to serve would be no pleasure at all. The same goes for social distancing not enabling me to strike up a conversation with a stranger next to me either at a bar on an excursion.

I fully agree Camela. We will not be cruising for some time yet - not until we are satisfied that the virus is history or that an effective and proved vaccine has been made available. The thought of a COVID-19 outbreak on a ship with very limited medical facilities is not something that we will consider. Hopefully a vaccine will be available within 12 months and we can all go back to cruising.

by **Camela** » 27 Jun 2020 20:57

All of us cruise aficionados can't wait to get back but I'm not sure the cruise companies do realise how reticent we are going to be. We go for an experience which is going to be seriously wanting - not their fault but fact.

by **Gillzajoker** » 28 Jun 2020 09:01

Camela wrote:All cruise lines are trotting out the same adherence to Disease prevention and public health protocols, reduced capacity, fogging,sanitisation which will be needed. For me though it all adds up to a reduced cruise experience so I don't see us at sea for quite some time. I love my buffets for breakfast and lunch and to have to point out each individual item for a staff member to serve would be no pleasure at all. The same goes for social distancing not enabling me to strike up a conversation with a stranger next to me either at a bar on an excursion.

Totally agree, Camela. Looks like the end of an era! :cry:

by **ksturman** » 25 Jul 2020 07:32

The Float out of SofA yesterday, can be seen on You Tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9wfYBy1ews

by **grannyM** » 29 Jul 2020 10:51

Thank you for this youtube video ksturman. I have made the link clickable. To post a video from you tube on here you have to highlight the address and click the 'youtube' BBCode above the reply box to bracket it. You then delete everything from the start of address leaving only what comes after the =. Hope this helps for the future.

ksturman wrote:The Float out of SofA yesterday, can be seen on You Tube

by **Neil** » 08 Aug 2020 19:42

Excellent video and thank you for posting. However, it really did bring a lump to the throat. I wish nothing against Saga, and naturally I hope for the best for all cruise lines in these awful times for the industry, but I find it hard to accept that the new ship is called 'Spirit of Adventure'. Whenever a cruise line uses a name from the past, by tradition it is not the same name, as it has a number added to signify the difference. For example, "Queen Mary II", and even in Saga's own case they had a "Saga Pearl" and when they re-used the name with an entirely different ship, they respected what had gone before and called it "Saga Pearl II". We, the crew, officers and passengers, worked so hard on the original "Spirit of Adventure", and it pains me to see that the new ship is not called "Spirit of Adventure II". I know this sounds rather pathetic, but I remember when Saga traded on the "doing things properly" motto, and, to me at least, the proper thing would have been to respect the original and name the new ship accordingly. God bless her, and all who sail in her, and I've no doubt it will be a roaring success, but it just feels slightly wrong.

by **newmember** » 09 Aug 2020 09:30

Neil wrote:Excellent video and thank you for posting. However, it really did bring a lump to the throat. I wish nothing against Saga, and naturally I hope for the best for all cruise lines in these awful times for the industry, but I find it hard to accept that the new ship is called 'Spirit of Adventure'. Whenever a cruise line uses a name from the past, by tradition it is not the same name, as it has a number added to signify the difference. For example, "Queen Mary II", and even in Saga's own case they had a "Saga Pearl" and when they re-used the name with an entirely different ship, they respected what had gone before and called it "Saga Pearl II". We, the crew, officers and passengers, worked so hard on the original "Spirit of Adventure", and it pains me to see that the new ship is not called "Spirit of Adventure II". I know this sounds rather pathetic, but I remember when Saga traded on the "doing things properly" motto, and, to me at least, the proper thing would have been to respect the original and name the new ship accordingly. God bless her, and all who sail in her, and I've no doubt it will be a roaring success, but it just feels slightly wrong.

You are not the only one who is sad, as Saga no longer feel like the Saga of old. Whether this is the new management or whether it is just the effort to attract the next generation of customers, but it feels so much as if they are trading on their reputation without trying to uphold it.