Captain Simon Moore is part of our Saga Family

Here he talks about his "Dover DNA" and why he loves our guests...

Who is this gorgeous chap? 

It’s our wonderful Captain Simon Moore, who is very proud to be part of the Saga family. We caught up with him on his most recent cruise:

“I grew up near Dover – I remember being six years old and sitting on the cliffs looking down at the sea and the ships thinking ‘I wouldn’t mind doing that’. It’s Dover DNA to want to work in seafaring. I’ve always loved being near the sea and making the most of living on the coast.

I learned to sail at 12 at the local sailing club and I drove the rescue boats – I became a volunteer with the RNLI in 1994 and really enjoyed being part of such an amazing organisation. After three decades, I’m having a break but giving back to my community is very important to me.

At 14, I had careers advice at school and I wanted to be a police officer, PE teacher or go to sea. I also really loved sport, especially football – I was even selected to play for the County of Kent. But after my A-levels, I realised my dream of becoming a professional footballer might not become reality! So I chose the sea and embarked on a cadetship.

After my cadetship, I joined Hoverspeed as flight engineer and was then promoted to navigator on the large hovercraft. I next joined P&O Stena Line as Second Officer and after this returned to Hoverspeed as Chief Officer and the Captain on the high-speed catamarans. After working as duty harbour master and pilot at the Port of Dover, I returned to sea as Master with P&O Ferries.

I knew I wanted to work for Saga when I was a pilot in Dover. I could tell even then that Saga had a different ethos: Smaller ships, better service. I’m now a fervent brand ambassador and I spend a lot of time out and about talking to the guests who are all so interested and discerning - you have to be genuine or they’ll catch you out, they’re so smart! They know what good looks like and I want to keep that customer excellence going.

I’m so happy at Saga. I have three children and it works really well to have four to eight weeks away and to then be back home. I find I can really enjoy being with my children and focussing on them. My children have always known what I do and been part of my life on board.

I run my ships to a high standard and the work is intense. I operate at a high level but it’s still fun. I really like mixing with the crew. My guiding principle is that I’m no more important than other crew members. If the senior leadership look after the crew then the crew can look after the guests better.

I also like how Saga looks after its crew with the welfare fund and with support. When the crew feel valued and supported, they can do a better job because they’re not worrying about other things. I take time to know and help the crew because without them I’m nothing.

As this picture shows, I’ve known from a young age that I wanted to look after passengers!”