Spirit of Discovery

MS Spirit of Discovery cruise ship is the first of two identical polar expedition vessels built for Saga Cruises at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Papenburg Germany. Spirit of Discovery (scheduled delivery in July 2019) has one sister-ship - Spirit of Adventure (scheduled delivery August 2020).

Saga Cruises is an UK company, division of Saga Group. With the purchase of Saga Rose (former NCL ship MS Sagafjord), in 1997 Saga Holidays started passenger shipping operations under the brand name "Saga Cruises". Unlike Saga's current fleet (the operated under charter Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl 2), the new ships are fully owned by Saga Group and will replace the two chartered vessels.

Itinerary

Spirit of Discovery itinerary program offers both cruises leaving roundtrip from UK ports and UK fly-cruise deals. Ship's both homeports are in England (Dover and Southampton). Dover roundtrips visit ports in Baltic Sea (Scandinavia and Russia, Norwegian Fjords, Germany and Belgium). Southampton roundtrips visit ports in Mediterranean Sea (Spain, France, Italy) and Canary Islands with Madeira. The ship also operates on roundtrip UK (Southampton) Transatlantic crossings to Caribbean and USA ports.

The inaugural cruise was scheduled for July 23, 2019 (themed "Channel Island Hop Cruise"). Next voyages were themed "Gourmet Spain" (August 3) and "Natural Scandinavia" (August 17).

Saga Cruises' new ships are operated with all-inclusive package deals. Fares include unlimited (shipboard served) house spirits, beers, wine (by the glass) and soft drinks. Packages also include:

• UK travel package (to/from departure port), Shuttle bus transfer (to the nearest downtown from port)
• Onboard gratuities, Porterage
• Onboard Welcome cocktail party
• All onboard meals, afternoon tea, live entertainment
• Unlimited tea and coffee (selected ship venues)
• Free Wi-Fi
• 24-hour room service
• premium service (2 staff members for 3 passengers)

Cabins

All Saga Discovery ship's 540 staterooms are with private balconies, which also means that the ship has no Inside cabins. Cabin categories include Standard Balcony, Deluxe Balcony, Mid-ship Suites and larger Panorama Suites. More than 100 cabins are specifically designed for solo travellers (can be booked with single occupancy rates), which is approx 20% of the ship's capacity.

Carrying less than 1000 passengers in style, this large expedition ship features all-balcony staterooms, 3 premium restaurants, modern amenities, British-style onboard activities, professional and traditionally attentive service.

Shipboard dining and entertainment options

There is a choice of dining experiences, bars and entertainment venues, including 3 specialty restaurants (one of which Asian, serving complimentary wines), an outdoor Lido Deck (with open-air / alfresco dining space), signature Britannia Lounge, theater lounge, library, a central hub (named "The Living Room").

The ship also features a modern wellness complex and 2 swimming pools (outdoor and indoor). The spa complex consists of beauty salon, hydrotherapy pool, salt-steam room, saunas (one is infrared), 5 treatment rooms (for latest therapies and massages). The Library Lounge offers coffee and cakes alongside one of the best-stocked book collections at sea. The 430-seat Playhouse Theatre features tiered seating and hosts grand-scale evening show productions, cinema screenings, live music performances.

The ship's team of Executive Chefs serves the all 5 onboard restaurants. The Grand Dining Room (main restaurant) serves the best of British-influenced cuisine specialties. The chefs use locally produced food sources (based on cruise itinerary / destination) and create menus of ever-changing dishes. Passengers are able to make a reservation and eat in any of the other 4 restaurants at no extra cost. House wines from the ship's cellar are complimentary and served in every restaurant.

In June 2018, Saga Cruises signed a partnership deal with Jools Holland (English pianist, singer, BBC TV presenter) for "The Club by Jools" steakhouse restaurant. By the 5-year partnership deal (until 2014), at the Jools restaurant will be performed live music and its bar will be designed like a cabaret lounge from the 1950s. The dinner-only restaurant's menu features classic steaks (fillet, T-bone, ribeye, tomahawk steaks), live music performances (by resident and guest musicians) and premium cocktails.

• For the new ship series, Saga employed the designer company SMC Design, which has extensive experience with cruise vessel design. Among SMC Design's customers are also P&O Cruises UK (Sindhu / Indian restaurant), Viking Ocean Cruises (Explorers Lounge), NCL (Mandara Spa).
• Saga Cruises opened bookings for Spirit of Discovery (itineraries 2019 aand 2020) in October 2017.
• The vessel's construction started on February 28, 2018 (steel-cutting ceremony), attended by Lance Batchelor (Sga Group's CEO) and Tim Meyer Meyer Werft's managing director). The boat's hull sections and building blocks were constructed and assembled at Building Dock I (Meyer Werft's Papenburg shipyard).
• On June 28, 2018, was held the keel laying ceremony. Traditionally, a commemorative coin was placed under the hull's first block (the first of all 54 blocks). Ship's delivery was scheduled for June 20, 2019.
• Ship's christening ceremony was scheduled for July 5, 2019, to be held at Port Dover (England), with inaugural cruise on July 10 roundtrip from Dover.

Inaugural cruise itineraries 2019

The following tables show the ship's inaugural cruise itineraries in 2019. Prices shown are indicative, in USD, per person, and based on double-occupancy (Standard Balcony cabin rates).

The 13-days maiden voyage (themed "A British First", British Isles circumnavigation itinerary) is a Dover roundtrip, with prices from USD 4060 pp.

4-days "Inaugural Cruise" from UK (themed "A Channel Island Hop", from USD 890 pp)

7-days Inaugural "Norwegian Fjords" cruise (themed "The Fjords in Focus", from USD 1770 pp)

14 nights / 15 days Inaugural Iberia cruise (themed "Gourmet Spain", from USD 4030 pp)

14-days Inaugural "Scandinavia and Russia" cruise (themed "Myths and Legends of the Baltic", from USD 4000 pp)

18-days Inaugural Mediterranean cruise from UK (themed "The Chic Mediterranean", from USD 4930 pp)

14 nights / 15 days Inaugural Canary Islands cruise from UK (themed "Spanish Islands of the Atlantic", from USD 3020 pp)

35 nights / 36 days Inaugural Transatlantic cruise from UK (themed "Fairy Tale of New York", from USD 9450 pp)

Godspeed to the new ship!