Saga apologises for holiday cruise ‘Exclusively for Brits’

The Duchess of Cornwall makes a speech next to the Saga Group's cruise ship the Spirit of Discovery. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

The travel and insurance company Saga has apologised after customers received a brochure advertising a holiday cruise which was ‘exclusively for Brits’.

Outraged phonecall from my mother: she was shocked to receive @SagaUK brochure advertising cruises 'exclusively for Brits.' She asked me why they would say this & if it's legal. '?? 

(Also, in terms of grammar pedantry, 'Exclusively Adult Only' + 'For Over 50's' is distressing) pic.twitter.com/3giXg5iybD
— Anthony Bale (@RealMandeville) September 19, 2019

The brochure also described the holiday as “exclusively adult only” and also “exclusively for over 50’s.”

University professor Anthony Bale posted one of the brochures to his Twitter account, and received hundreds of replies calling the advert ‘shameful’ and ‘nonsense’.

His mother, Ruth Bale, 75, had been sent the brochure and reportedly told Anthony she was shocked to receive it.

Bale said: “She asked me why they would say this and if it’s legal.

This is not a Saga brochure. Our partners at https://t.co/cMByEGL4cj are extremely sorry for any offence the inaccuracy in their leaflet may have caused. Saga cruises all depart from the UK but we welcome anybody, of any nationality, over the age of 50 on our cruises.
— Saga (@SagaUK) September 19, 2019

“Also, in terms of grammar and pedantry, ‘Exclusively Adult Only’ and ‘For Over 50’s’ is distressing.”

Saga soon replied to the tweet, claiming the brochure is not from their company but from their partners at cruise.co.uk

A spokesperson for Saga said: “We are extremely sorry for the error in the promotional leaflet that was sent to the database of one of our cruise partners.

“Whilst inside the leaflet it mentions our cruises depart from UK ports only; the wording that was intended to highlight this key benefit on the front cover was interpreted incorrectly and was wholly inaccurate.

“Saga Cruises have a proud heritage of welcoming anybody over the age of 50, of any Nationality, onboard our cruises. The error has been corrected with immediate effect and we would like to apologise for any offence this may have caused.

Speaking to the Guardian, Bale said: “I think it’s a very sad reflection that it’s seen as a marketing point, that you’d want to go on a cruise exclusively composed of one nationality.

“It’s terrible that it’s regarded as an acceptable thing to say. It’s different from the way things were.”

Twitter users were shocked by the tweet. One person said: “They might as well say exclusively for racists”.

Another person added “the idea of spending a holiday with the Saga ‘Brits only’ crew would be my idea of hell.”