Saga Cruises has confirmed plans to extend its fleet with a second new cruise ship, the Spirit of Adventure, which will be built by Germany’s Meyer Werft.
The latest fleet addition is expected to be delivered in summer 2020, joining the Spirit of Discovery which is scheduled to embark on its first cruise in July 2019.
Spirit of Adventure will be a sister ship to Spirit of Discovery and similar in external design, carrying less than 1,000 passengers.
At the beginning of 2016, the British cruise line company signed a contract to build a 55,900gt cruise ship at German shipyard Meyer Werft , the first newbuilding for the company.
The contract included an option for an additional vessel, which has now been exercised.
“Our first new ship, Spirit of Discovery, will be in service in June 2019 and with pre-sales being very strong, this confidence in demand has supported our decision to expand the new build fleet and purchase our second new ship, to be delivered in August 2020,” Lance Batchelor, CEO of Saga plc , announced the decision at the company’s interim results today.
“Our customers have played a key role in the design process for our first new build ship ‘Spirit of Discovery’. To date, almost 7,000 passengers, who had pre-registered to sail on her have already gone on to book one of our new itineraries. This is a phenomenal conversion of over 80%, ” Robin Shaw, Chief Executive of Saga Cruises , said.
The 58,250 GT vessel will be approx. 236 meters long and 31.2 meters wide.
Saga specializes in services for people over the age of 50. The company currently has two ships in its fleet, namely, Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl II.