This was our first time on any Saga holiday and we both agreed that 'Spirit of Discovery' and the whole Saga experience is impressive. And the voyage was pretty spectacular too. We had a ‘Standard Twin’ cabin which was more than adequate. We didn’t like not being able to switch off the ‘night light’ in the bathroom, or the lack of a settee, but it was very quiet with soft-closing drawers and more than adequate storage space for a 3-week cruise. Our steward was excellent and it was good to have an example of how Saga look after their crews – Rafael’s wife Lyn was working the adjacent section! The in-cabin infotainment system was first class – everything you needed was high quality and easily accessible and for most of the trip we had 53 TV and Radio channels. None of this ‘Out of satellite range’ rubbish seen on some other ships. The WIFI was pretty faultless and, within the streaming limitations, was very good.

We travelled with some friends we'd met on other cruises and, although we only asked on the ship, we were allocated a big round table for four in the corner of the Grand Dining Room without any fuss and which was available whenever we wanted it - with the same waiters of course. We were there every night other than the 6 occasions we were out in one of the excellent (included) speciality restaurants. The Filipino crew were as good as they always are – a very happy and contented bunch who were always up for a laugh. In themselves they made a major contribution to our enjoyment of the cruise.

The entertainment timing was odd to those used to fixed dining ships. Only one show in the theatre at 2130, and that clashed with the one at 2145 show in the Britannia Lounge upstairs. They did get them to run consecutively once! Annoyingly the Britannia Lounge performers did their ‘sound check’ every evening at 1915 which interrupted our pre-dinner drinks. It was sometimes more like a deafening full-blown rehearsal and drove us out most evenings to another, often crowded, bar. But, to be fair, it's not easy to see a time when it could be done easily as most folk dined early. We were unusual in dining after 8pm. Quizzers may be disappointed that there are only two a day on sea days but the pressure to win wasn't there as there were no prizes for the winners! Read more