 | |
 Lifeboat drill onSaga Sapphire | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping,tourism |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Folkestone, England |
| Products | Cruises,holidays |
| Parent | Saga plc |
| Website | travel |
Saga Shipping, also known asSaga Cruises, a division of theSaga plc, is acruise line headquartered inFolkestone, England. Saga Cruises exclusively markets to and operates for people aged 50 and over.[1]
In 1997, Saga Group purchased its first ship,Gripsholm, fromCunard Line, after which it renamed the shipSaga Rose. The vessel was remodeled and arrived inSouthampton on 14 May 1997, commencing operations thereafter.[1][2]Saga Rose was briefly joined bySaga Pearl in the summer of 2003 after Saga chartered her.[3] In November 2004, Saga purchased its second ship,Caronia, from Cunard. After a £17 million refurbishment atMalta Dockyard in 2005 she entered Saga service asSaga Ruby.[3][4]
In 2006, Saga founded a sub-brand, named "Spirit of Adventure," with the ship,Spirit of Adventure.[5] The ship had most recently operated asOrange Melody as a charter for the Russian Metropolis company, and was originally set to be namedSaga Opal following Saga's purchase.[3] In 2010, Saga purchasedAstoria fromTransocean Tours and renamed herSaga Pearl II.[3] In August 2011, it was reported Saga was sellingSpirit of Adventure toGerman tour operator FTI in 2012, upon which she would becomeFTI Berlin.[3][6] In May 2012,Saga Pearl II was transferred to the sub-brand and namedQuest for Adventure.[3] In August 2012, Saga announced the "Spirit of Adventure" sub-brand would be absorbed into its parent brand,[4] and in November 2013,Quest for Adventure rejoined Saga and was renamedSaga Pearl II.[3][5]
In 2009, Saga retiredSaga Rose in 2010, citing the prohibitive repair costs due to the ship's age and the newSOLAS regulations set to become law in 2010.[7] Her farewell cruise was scheduled for 30 October 2009.[7] She was later laid up inGibraltar and later scrapped inChina.[3] In July 2012, Saga announcedSaga Ruby would exit the fleet in early-2014.[4] Due to a failed generator, the ship's final cruise was changed from aCaribbean sailing to aMediterranean sailing.[8] She was sold in January 2014 to become a hotel ship inMyanmar, but those plans dissolved and the ship was scrapped inIndia in 2017.[9]
In 2014, Saga's parent company, Saga Group, wentpublic via aninitial public offering on theLondon Stock Exchange.[10]
In 2015, Saga announced it had signed a memorandum of agreement for its first-ever new-build fromMeyer Werft for a 2019 delivery, with an additional option for a sister ship expected in 2021.[11][12] NamedSpirit of Discovery, the new ship would measure 58,250 GT, becoming the largest ship ever to be operated by Saga.[13] In explaining how Saga intended to modernise the brand, Saga's new-build director, David Pickett, explained that after Saga went public in 2014, the company had expanded access to capital investment, opening up more possibilities to invest in its fleet.[14] The new ship had allowed Saga to expand its offerings not featured before on its older vessels, such as fitness facilities, a large theatre, and specialty dining venues.[14] Saga also partnered withSiemens to install their ships' propulsion and power distribution systems for the two vessels in order to maximise the ships' efficiency and ensure their reliability.[14]
In July 2017, Saga announced it would retireSaga Pearl II in mid-2019 with a 54-night farewell cruise toSouth Africa fromPortsmouth.[15] The following year, Saga revealed plans to retireSaga Sapphire by 2020, with a farewell cruise toNorway.[16] In May 2019, it was reportedSaga Pearl II had been sold to Aqua Explorer Holdings of theBritish Virgin Islands, and the ship would be moved toPerama as a result of the sale.[17] In August 2019,Turkey-based ANEX Tour had reportedly purchasedSaga Sapphire for its first ship to launch its cruise business, with a scheduled debut in mid-2020 fromAntalya.[18] In April 2020, Saga's managing director Nigel Banks said Saga's plans to transferSaga Sapphire to ANEX Tour may be postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,[19] but on 18 June 2020, the sale was completed and it was announced the ship would debut for ANEX Tour in 2021 asBlue Sapphire.[20]
With the exits ofSaga Pearl II andSaga Sapphire, Saga completed its fleet renewal program and hoped to usher in a new era for the company, with the cruise line's first new-build delivered on 24 June 2019.[16][21] But while in anticipation of her delivery, in April 2019, Saga reported it was still encountering significant financial difficulties, with its shares hitting a record low in light of lower profits.[22] Saga blamed its losses onBrexit and the fears surrounding economic uncertainty for driving bookings and commitments to holidays down for the brand.[22] The retirement ofSaga Pearl II, combined with the increase in marketing expenditure for the brand's new ship, was also credited for Saga's declining revenue through late-2019.[23] With the new ships joining the fleet, Saga had aimed to make £40 million in profit per ship per year and intended to strengthen its focus on its cruising and tour businesses.[23] In November 2019, in hopes of capitalizing on the launch ofSpirit of Discovery, Saga announced it had ordered a newriverboat in a new investment toward itsriver cruising business[24] after it had previously chartered riverboats for its river cruise program.[25] The new boat, namedSpirit of the Rhine, would be Saga's first boutique riverboat and be heavily inspired by the design and style ofSpirit of Discovery, as well as include the all-inclusive cruising experience also accommodated on Saga's ocean cruises.[24][26][27] Scheduled to debut in spring 2021, the 190-passenger ship will cruise theRhine,Moselle,Main, andDanube, as well as waterways in theNetherlands.[24][27]
In January 2020, despite losing £4 million following the collapse ofThomas Cook Group in the second half of 2019, Saga Group claimedSpirit of Discovery played a large role in driving part of the company's success and expected the ship to make more than £20 million in her next six months of operation.[28] Later, in April 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Saga noted that, despite a possibility of increasing cancellations, chief executive Euan Sutherland explained Saga was positioned well to weather the economic crisis arising from the pandemic, citing strong forward bookings and available credit facilities.[29][30] But in June 2020, the pandemic led Saga to announce that the debut of its second new-build, namedSpirit of Adventure, would be postponed by several months due to construction delays at Meyer Werft caused by the pandemic.[31][32] Later that month, Saga introduced COVID-19 treatment and repatriation to the travel insurance plans it offers to its cruise guests.[33]Spirit of Adventure was delivered on 29 September 2020, though the pandemic has also resulted in several postponements of her public debut and maiden voyage to May 2021.[34][35]
| Ship name | Built | In Service | Gross tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit of Discovery | 2019 | 2019–present | 58,119 GT[36] |  United Kingdom | First new-build for Saga Cruises[37][38] | .jpg) |
| Spirit of Adventure | 2020 | 2020–present | 58,119 GT[39] | United Kingdom | Sister ship toSpirit of Discovery Delivery and maiden voyage postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic[34][35] | _at_Liverpool_2.jpg) |
| Ship name | Built | In Service | Gross tonnage | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saga Rose | 1965 | 1997–2010 | 24,528 GT | Originally operated byNorwegian America Line asSagafjord. Laid up and scrapped. |  |
| Saga Pearl | 1989 | Summer 2003 | 12,892 GT | Chartered by Saga in summer 2003. Later operated asMinerva forSwan Hellenic. |  |
| Spirit of Adventure | 1981 | 2006–2012 | 9,570 GT | Originally operated byPeter Deilmann Cruises asBerlin. Sold to FTI Group in 2012 for FTI Cruises and renamedFTI Berlin. |  |
| Saga Ruby | 1973 | 2005–2014 | 24,492 GT | Originally operated byNorwegian America Line asVistafjord. Sold to become hotel inMyanmar before being scrapped in India. |  |
| Saga Pearl II | 1981 | 2010–2012 2013–2019 | 18,627 GT | Originally operated byHADAG asAstor. Sold to Aqua Explorer Holdings. Scrapped in 2022. | %2c_S%25C3%25A8te_01.jpg) |
| Saga Sapphire | 1981 | 2012–2020 | 37,049 GT | Originally operated byHapag-Lloyd asEuropa. Sold to ANEX Tour and renamedBlue Sapphire. | .jpg) |
| Ship name | Built | In Service | Gross tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit of the Rhine | 2021[needs update] | 2021[needs update] | TBA | Saga's first boutique riverboat.[26] Constructed by Vahali inSerbia.[26] Keel laid on 11 December 2019.[26] Scheduled to debut in March 2021.[26] Christened on 19 March 2022 inArnhem | ||
| Spirit of Danube | 2022[needs update] | 2022[needs update] | TBA | Constructed by Vahali in Serbia[40] Christened on 19 March 2022 inArnhem[41][42][43] | ||
| Spirit of the Moselle | 2023[needs update] | 2023[needs update] | TBA | Ordered in March 2022 | ||
| Spirit of the Main | 2024[needs update] | 2024[needs update] | TBA | Ordered in March 2022 Constructed by Vahali inSerbia[44] |
| Ship name | Built | In Service | Gross tonnage | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit of the Elbe | 2025 | 2025 | TBA | Ordered in March 2022 Constructed by Vahali inSerbia[44] | |
| Spirit of the Rhône | 2026 | 2026 | TBA | Ordered in March 2022 Constructed by Vahali inSerbia[44] | |
| Amadeus Elegant[45] | 2023[needs update] | TBA |
Media related toSaga Cruises at Wikimedia Commons