Saga Pearl II Embarks on Final Cruise

The Saga Pearl II is now on her final voyage for Saga Cruises, a South African Farewell Adventure, as the ship left earlier this week from the UK following a fireworks sendoff.

The 54-night cruise will stop in St Helena and ports in Madeira, the Canary Islands and Spain before travelling further south and down Africa's west coast en route to Cape Town. Calls are booked into Gambia, Namibia and Mozambique, as well as other African countries.

The ship returns to Portsmouth on April 11.

Before departing the UK, guests were treated to a performance by a 72-piece Welsh male voice choir aboard, fireworks display and champagne. 

This summer, Saga welcomes the new 1,000-guest Spirit of Discovery, the British brand's first ever newbuild. 

Saga's new all-balcony German-made cruise ship

The cruise line will offer an all-balcony 1,000-passenger ship from summer 2019 as the first of two modern vessels to meet demand

An artist's impression of the Veranda area shows the slick design on the new Saga ship, which will be available from 2019 Photo: Saga

Saga Cruises has ordered an all-balcony ship that will be available to holidaymakers from 2019, to accommodate demand on the holiday company's popular sailings.

The new vessel will carry fewer than 1,000 passengers in around 540 suites and cabins, each with a balcony. Around 15 per cent of cabins will be designed for single occupancy and leisure facilities will include outdoor and and beauty salon.

Artist impression, The Veranda

Saga Cruises currently only operates two ships, the 446-passenger Saga Pearl II and the 706-passenger Saga Sapphire, both of which are set for an eventual phase out. Demand for sailings on the ships is extremely high: they carried around 25,000 passengers last year, with a 75 per cent repeat passenger rate.

The new ship is significant as sailings on the two existing vessels sell out far in advance, suggesting that demand from cruisers outstrips what Saga can currently offer.

"There is no expectation that customers will pay more."

Robin Shaw, chief executive of Saga Cruises

The 55,900 grt vessel that will come into service in 2019 will be built by Meyer Werft in Germany. The shipyard recently put the finishing touches to Norwegian Cruise Line's soon-to-launch Norwegian Escape and is building Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas.

A second new vessel may also enter service by 2021.

• Saga sets sail for further cruises

Robin Shaw, chief executive of the cruising division, said that, "There is no expectation that customers will pay more" as a result of the new ships.

Lance Batchelor, Saga chief executive officer, added that cruising remains, "at the heart of the Saga brand".

Feedback from passenger forums indicated that passengers are keen to maintain the friendly, "one ship for everybody" ethos that Saga is known for. Dining can be accommodated in a single sitting and there will be no exclusive areas on board, or restaurants that charge supplements.

Research commissioned by Saga into travel buying patterns of the 50-plus age group found that spending on cruising is expected to increase by 43 per cent to £2.2 billion by 2020. This compares with £1.65 bn in 2014 of £41 bn on travel and tourism as a whole.

Nearly a third (32 per cent) of the over-50s in employment said they were planning to increase their spending on cruises post retirement.

The Saga Pearl II and the Saga Sapphire will visit 14 new ports between them in 2016, including Holy Loch, Scotland; Boulogne-sur-Mer in France; Pyramiden in the Svalbard archipelago; San Remo in Italy and Southwold in Suffolk.