Cruise ShipsInformation

NEWS: New ships for the Saga cruise fleet

New Ships for the Saga Cruise Fleet

© Saga

© Saga

Consumer cruise spending projected to increase by 43% by 2020
First ship to be delivered in Summer 2019
Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany selected to build new Saga Cruise ships
Customers can register their interest by saga.co.uk/newship or calling 0800 0154310
INTERVIEWS WITH ROBIN SHAW, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF SAGA CRUISES AVAILABLE – 01303 772499


“It’s full steam ahead for Saga Cruises which has today announced plans to update its shipping capacity, with an all-new Saga cruise ship expected to be delivered in Summer 2019 and the option to order a second for delivery in 2021. The ships will be built by the renowned Meyer Werft shipyard – a recognised leader in cruise ship construction.

The new ship will be for fewer than 1,000 passengers and so will retain the intimacy and personal touch for which Saga is renowned, but with some new features including balconies for all cabins.
Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, Saga plc who announced the decision at the company’s half-year results said: “The cruise operation remains at the heart of the Saga brand and demonstrates our commitment to deliver excellence in customer service and outstanding value. This investment will be transformational for the cruise business and for our cruise customers.  The precise details of the new purpose built ship will be finalised over the coming months but will retain the traditional features our customers cherish.”

Robin Shaw, chief executive, Saga Cruises, said: “Our plan for the first of our new modern and elegant cruise liners is sure to delight our existing passengers and we hope it will entice new passengers to cruise with us. We will retain an intimate small-ship feel, for fewer than 1,000 passengers, a high crew to customer ratio, great public spaces and entertainment facilities and dining can be accommodated in a single sitting. The artist impressions have been well received and we will continue to consult with our loyal cruise customers throughout the design and build to ensure they get ships that they have helped to make their own. Above all the new ships will continue to provide the quality and excellent service for which Saga is renowned.”

Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft said: “We are happy and honoured to work with Saga Cruises in bringing their first purpose built new ship to life.”

Plans for the ship will be refined over the coming months but we anticipate her to have some 540 suites and cabins each with a balcony.  Around 15% of cabins will be designed for single occupancy and the maximum capacity for the ship will be fewer than 1,000 passengers.  There will be single sitting dining throughout a range of restaurants as well as a variety of bars, speciality restaurants and al-fresco dining options. There will also be outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a spa, saunas, treatment rooms and beauty salon. The 55,900 GT vessel will be approx. 234 metres long, 30.8 metres wide and with a planned completion date of summer 2019.

Research commissioned by Saga into the UK’s over 50s spending on travel and tourism, found that spending on cruising is expected to increase by 43% to £2.2 billion by 2020. This compares £1.65 billion in 2014 out of a total over 50s spend of £41 billion on travel and tourism.  Nearly a third (32%) of over 50s in work said they were planning to increase their spending on cruises after retirement.

Saga cruises include a UK travel package (including a chauffeur service or car parking at the port) to and from departure point , all meals and entertainment, afternoon tea, 24-hour room service, welcome cocktail party, unlimited tea and coffee in selected venues, free Wi-Fi, all on-board gratuities, porterage, shuttle bus to nearest town centre (whenever possible and when the ship is berthed more than 500 yards away), optional travel insurance and additional cancellation rights, or a discount if passenger has own insurance.

Meyer Werft is a leading global shipbuilder founded in Germany in 1795. The ships will be built at the shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Now in its seventh generation of family ownership, Meyer Werft has become well known for constructing large, modern and sophisticated cruise ships, including 39 luxury ships.”

September 30th 2015

Ships names have yet to be decided.

© Saga  © Saga

© Saga  © Saga

© Saga

February 2017: Further Artist Impressions and details have been released

© Saga  © Saga

© Saga  © Saga

© Saga

http://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/ocean-cruises-with-saga/our-ships/a-brand-new-ship-for-summer-2019.aspx


March 29th 2017:

New Ship For Saga Cruises Will Be Named Spirit Of Discovery

Posted on March 29, 2017 by CruiseMiss

 Saga Cruises has today announced their new cruise ship will be named “Spirit of Discovery”.
The new ship will carry less than 1,000 passengers, retaining the intimacy and personal touch for which Saga is renowned and will have more than 100 cabins for solo travellers, 20% of the ships capacity. The 55,900 GT vessel will be approx. 234 metres long, 30.8 metres wide and with a planned completion date of summer 2019.
Saga’s “Spirit of Discovery” will be delivered in Summer 2019 and will be built by the renowned Meyer Werft shipyard.
Robin Shaw, chief executive, Saga Cruises, said:
“We have great pleasure in announcing our new ship will be named “Spirit of Discovery”.
In September 2015, we announced that we were to build our first cruise ship – we’re still on a high from that news. With the design nearing completion, today’s announcement is the next step on this exciting journey.
“The name “Spirit of Discovery” evokes the adventurous nature and new experiences that cruise customers desire.
Key to the whole design process has been our customer insight. We know they want to experience new things in a luxurious, small ship environment. Our new ship’s itineraries will take customers to fresh, new destinations and will include more overnight stays in key ports.”
This year Saga Cruises celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Today, Saga has two small-sized ships, Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl II, offering itineraries sailing from the UK to Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Caribbean and Canada and offering excellent standards of service, in quality surroundings with inclusive pricing.
To make an Advance Registration now for a fully-refundable payment of just £90 per person please call 0800 015 4310. Customers that register in advance will also receive an additional 5% saving off the usual discounted fare. This offer is limited to the first 10,000 customers only.
I don’t know about you, but I am incredibly excited to meet Spirit of Discovery in 2019! I am a big fan of Saga Cruises.

Cruisemiss.com


September 22nd 2017:  SECOND NEW-BUILD SHIP FOR SAGA CRUISES:

Saga Cruises has today confirmed plans to extend its fleet of new build ships with a second new cruise ship. Spirit of Adventure is expected to be delivered in Summer 2020, joining the Spirit of Discovery which sails in July 2019.

Both ships will be built by the renowned Meyer Werft shipyard – a recognised leader in cruise ship construction.

Spirit of Adventure will be a sister ship to Spirit of Discovery and similar in external design, carrying less than 1,000 passengers, balconies for all cabins and retaining the intimacy and personal touches Saga are renowned for.

Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, Saga plc who announced the decision at the company’s interim results today said:

“Our first new ship, Spirit of Discovery, will be in service in June 2019 and with pre-sales being very strong, this confidence in demand has supported our decision to expand the new build fleet and purchase our second new ship, to be delivered in August 2020.”

Robin Shaw, chief executive, Saga Cruises, said: “Our loyal customers have played a key role in the design process for our first new build ship ‘Spirit of Discovery’. To date almost 7,000 passengers, who had pre-registered to sail on her have already gone on to book one of our new itineraries. This is a phenomenal conversion of over 80%.

Thanks to this strong demand, the desire of Saga members to keep doing the things they love and the forecast growth in the cruise industry, I am absolutely delighted that we are today confirming that we have now agreed to build a second new ship, ‘Spirit of Adventure’ for delivery in Summer 2020. This is an incredibly exciting time for Saga cruises and I am immensely proud of my team, both onboard and ashore, and the customers that will continue to help shape the look and feel of our future fleet.”

Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft said: “We are very happy and honoured to continue to work with Saga Cruises. Their decision to build now two vessels with us makes us very proud.”

The 58,250 GT vessel will be approx. 236 metres long, 31.2 metres wide with a planned completion date of Summer 2020.


Saga Cruises Cuts Steel for New Spirit of Discovery Ship, Shares Cabin Details, Talks Future Plans

March 1st 2018 (4:45 p.m. GMT) — Amid frigid conditions Wednesday at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, Saga Cruises officially began construction of its first new-build, Spirit of Discovery, which will launch next year.
“Today is an incredibly important day for us,” said Lance Batchelor, CEO of Saga Group, which operates Saga Cruises. “Four years ago, we decided we were going to build our own purpose-built ships. We spent about … two and a half years doing design, but it’s mostly been in a computer. Today is the day we go from being in a computer to cutting steel, and a real ship starts to appear in front of us.”
Joined by Tim Meyer, managing director of the Meyer Werft shipyard, Batchelor pushed a big red button to cut the first piece of steel for the ship.
What is a cruise ship steel cutting ceremony?
During a pre-steel-cutting visit to the shipyard’s cabin manufacturer, Cruise Critic was able to grab a sneak peek of the vessel’s stateroom models, which indicate the accommodations’ color palette will consist of jewel-toned gold and teal accents.
Cruisers will be spread across 540 staterooms, all of which have balconies. Of those 540, 100 will be dedicated to solo travellers.
Saga Cruises New Build Director David Pickett said the ship will have a “British contemporary classic” feel, reminiscent of that found in a “high-quality British hotel” — a concept reflected in the cabin models.
Pickett also said feedback from both customers and crew was taken into account when planning stateroom storage, which is plentiful. Additional tweaks — like wall-mounted phones — have allowed for more efficient use of space. “In any cabin, the space to set things down is at a premium,” Pickett said, adding that there will also be plenty of charging points, including USB sockets.
“We designed a ship which is absolutely spot on for our customers,” said Robin Shaw, CEO of Saga tour operations and cruise. “And … there are no [other] ships of this size being built for the UK market. [At this time,] if you want to go on a new cruise ship with the amenities that new cruise ships have, you have to go on a large vessel … so it’s a real alternative, which doesn’t exist currently in the marketplace.”
As is the case with all of Saga’s ships, Spirit of Discovery will offer an all-inclusive experience. The vessel, set to debut in July 2019, will carry 999 passengers — aged 50 and older — and feature a main dining room and lounge, two speciality restaurants, two swimming pools, a theatre, a library, and a spa and salon.
New to the line, Explore Ashore excursions — which can be tailored to and planned for each passenger’s individual tastes — will be available on the vessel, which will sail Channel Islands, Norwegian Fjords, Baltic and Mediterranean itineraries.
Expected in August 2020 is the line’s second new-build, Spirit of Adventure, which Shaw said will be “not a twin, but a sister”. Saga Cruises also has the option to build a third new ship, but Shaw said it “will be dependent on the level of demand we manage to create [for Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure].”
–By Ashley Kosciolek, Editor

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=8439


🆕Saga Cruises’ New Ships to Be All-Inclusive in 2020

September 13, 2018

(10:45 a.m. BST) — Saga Cruises has announced its first new-build ship Spirit of Discovery will be all-inclusive from January 2020.

It means all house spirits, wine, beer and soft drinks will be included in the cruise price — as well as tips, transfers and Wi-Fi.

Saga confirmed sister ship Spirit of Adventure will also be all-inclusive when it joins the fleet in August 2020.

Chief operating office Nigel Blanks said: “The decision to go all-inclusive in 2020 had been made to reaffirm our position as a niche luxury cruise operator.

“Spirit of Discovery” and  “Spirit of Adventure” are the only boutique small ships being built with British market in mind. I firmly believe that our decision to move to all-inclusive cruising will not only sit well alongside our Boutique Cruising proposition.”

The first of two new-build 999-passenger ships, Spirit of Discovery will have 540 all-balcony cabins and suites, 100 of which will be specifically designed for solo passengers. Other features include: Two specialty restaurants; a main dining room and a Britannia Lounge; two swimming pools; a theatre; a library, spa and beauty salon.

Spirit of Discovery will replace Saga Pearl II in 2019; Spirit of Adventure will replace Saga Sapphire the following year.

–by Adam Coulter, Managing Editor, U.K.

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=8864

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