The latest addition to Saga’s ocean fleet, Spirit of Adventure, floated out of its dock on Friday morning, ready for sea trials ahead of its first sailing in November.
The over-50s specialist expects to take delivery of Spirit of Adventure – its second boutique cruise ship – in the autumn, ahead of its inaugural sailing.
Now it has floated out of its covered dock at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, the ship will undergo sea trials and the interiors will be fully prepared to welcome passengers.
Spirit of Adventure has 554 all-balcony cabins and can accommodate 999 passengers.
The inaugural voyage will depart from Southampton on November 5 for the Mediterranean. The details of the naming ceremony will be provided nearer to the date of the first cruise.
Nigel Blanks, managing director of Saga Cruises, said: “This is a very exciting day as it brings us another step closer to being able to welcome Spirit of Adventure to our fleet.
“Over the past 18 months, we have been focused on creating a British boutique cruising experience for our guests that is not available elsewhere on the market.
“The arrival of Spirit of Discovery last year was the first milestone in this plan and the ship has been extremely well received by our guests.
“I’m confident that Spirit of Adventure will see an equally warm welcome and I cannot wait for guests to join us onboard and enjoy all she has to offer.”
Saga has been working closely with government departments and industry trade body Clia to ensure the ships have stringent Covid-19 health and safety measures in place ahead of a change of Foreign Office advice on ocean cruises.
Sister ship, Spirit of Discovery, was floated out of the Meyer Werft shipyard in May 2019 and named by the Duchess of Cornwall in June 2019.