Portsmouth (England) to Europe - British Isles & Western Cruise Reviews

This was our first cruise and we chose Saga because we wanted to be with people of our own age. We love children but the fact that they are not allowed on Saga ships was for us, a relief. We were picked up from home at the appointed time and taken to Southampton where the embarkation process was faultless. The Spirit of Discovery is a beautiful ship and extremely well designed. Our standard ...

It wasn’t a good start. Communication with Saga was very very difficult. Eventually promised faithfully that labels and pick up time would be advised a minimum of 5 days before departure, but nothing came until 2 days before. They were sent only to my daughter, as ‘Lead’, there was no time for her to post my labels on to me, so I had to set off with unlabelled luggage. On arrival at Southampton my ...

Saga “Celtic Escape” five night cruise aboard the Spirit Of Discovery. Just returned from this cruise. We booked this cruise just to get going again after the pandemic and it called in at Belfast, a place we have never been. It was also well priced considering it was truly all inclusive with door to door pick up/drop off, drinks, tips, speciality restaurants and some excursions. The big plus ...

I went on this weekend cruise with my sister because we always try to go away for a couple of days together each year. We had an absolute blast. The food was better than we could possibly have hoped for. Everything we ate felt like top restaurant quality and came in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Every member of staff we encountered was polite and seemed happy to be doing their job. We had dinner ...

We expected different but I was surprised at what Virgin have done well but perhaps more surprised at what they did badly. First of all the App since your whole experience revolves around it functioning correctly. We were a party of 6 with a mix of IOS and Android phones and so can authoritively say the failings of the app are not down to the operating system of your phone. Everyone of us had ...

As a first time cruise for me, it had many things going for it. It was a short cruise, no children, modern decor, no gratuities. The restaurant food and service was excellent. The cabin, Sea view, was spacious and the cleaning staff very attentive. Poor them though, having to scrape the Black Soap off the hand basin each day. Not quite sure who would be purchasing some of the items on ...

Booked a Suite so expected the rockstar treatment. No VIP check in at Portsmouth and bit more like cattle class. Cabin was very well appointed but would have expected a bottle of champagne on arrival. Mini bar was either spirits or wine not both and you would have had to pay if you wanted both. For the money paid would have expected at least one free day to experience the spa. Overall not the ...

Simply put virgin are putting some impressive and well designed ships into service but they might be holding themselves back with a standard statement of we do things differently. It’s great to break the old ways of cruising and the ships with inclusive all in dining is a good thing. However there are some issues with virgin being virgin: so don’t expect much sailing information or ...

This cruise was an amazing first time experience. The ship is beautiful and there’s fun shows, good self-serve entertainment and a lot of food options. The staff are super friendly and it’s nice to feel like everyone *wants* to be working here! Everyone has a smile and is super welcoming. Zoltan was great, as was Mauricio! I’d say that Virgin needs to specify their target audience, ...

Pros: • Amenities are top class, the indoor pool and included spa were brilliant and was often a highlight of the day. • Lounges and living room area were incredibly comfortable • Included afternoon tea was great • Decor of the ship is stunning • Staff are very friendly (maybe a bit too friendly on the first day but chilled out through the rest of the cruise) • World Table food ...