Saga Cruises, which is part of the listed UK based travel to financial services group Saga plc, plans to grow its fleet from the present two ships, Saga Travel CEO Nick Stace has been quoted as saying.

 “I have the ambition that we can become the obvious operator for people who want quality, safe, affordable cruising and I really would like to see us not just with two ships but with many more,” Stace said at the naming ceremony of Spirit of Adventure in Portsmouth on Monday, according to Travel Weekly.

Spirit of Discovery that was delivered by Meyer Werft in 2019 and Spirit of Adventure that was completed last year are both ships of 58,250 gross tons and both can accommodate 999 passengers.  “We have landed on a design which is beautiful, but which is also fitting with the current climate…“Our size is not off-putting to guests, to ports or to local people and so we find ourselves in a happy place where we are much more Covid-safe and pandemic-prepared than others,” he was cited as saying.

 “The challenge is the cost and we have to grow in a sensible way. But our sales are fabulous and if anything, we are struggling to cope with the demand at the moment,” he concluded.

Saga entered the cruise sector in 1996 by purchasing Sagafjord from Cunard and naming the 1965 built ship Saga Rose and until the delivery of Spirit of Discovery, Saga Cruises relied on several second hand ships. The company only sells its cruises and other products to those aged 50 or more.