What's up with SDI?

I keep hearing about cancelled cruises due to SDI's engine problems...Are travelers being compensated? What about flights and hotels that they may need to cancel? Are these last-minute cancellations? And how are the employees managing? Do they get paid? Sent home?

If you have any info please do tell...Some of us are concerned about our future booked travel plans and when calling SD in Miami all you get is "don't worry" and "that's all I can say".

SD seems to succeed on word-of-mouth recommendations and with the lack of information on this matter, coming from their HQ, their reputation is certainly in jeopardy . I think SeaDream has done a VERY POOR job of handling this mess.

At first it seemed like SD was doing a great job taking care of the guests that were taken off the ship and those that had the next cruise. However, since that time, it has been a week to week cancellation. Many of the people were already in Europe when the cancellations happen. Let me be clear, we have never sailed on SD but were looking to sail them after sailing WS about 10 times. One of the reasons we were looking at SD was the way WS handled people during the Star Pride incident. We always plan almost a year ahead due to using miles for our flights. That means that we are not flexible on our flight dates or rebooking. We also normally leave about a week before a cruise and tour around the area so, in the case of the SD cancellations, we would have already been in Europe and spent the flight miles.

This is giving me second thoughts about SD. If they were having problems getting a part, they would have a rough guess when the part could come. You go back to Sept. 7th when they were saying the sailing of the 17th would take place. It is just very strange that you plan to sail in less than 10 days yet about 6 weeks later, you are still not sailing. It is very unfair and inconsiderate to passengers who could have at least planned alternate land travel if they were given time.

I wish SD would put out some information on what the real issue is so that we can all make decisions on SD. Also knowing what type of compensation they are giving would be very helpful to see if SD is really being fair or if they are leaving passengers out to dry.

SeaDream has been very tight about providing information as to cause, damage, repairs. Even on professional websites I have been unable to find any information as to the cause of the fire and the extent of damage. As I mentioned early on, I did not think any fire that resulted in the incapacitation of both main engines was a "quick fix". Loss of both main engines (and the ability to return to port safely) is considered a Major Event in the marine survey/insurance world. I agree this week by week cancellation has been unnecessary stress/inconvenience to many passengers. Nearly two months later we still have no solid information. I am sure this has been very hard on all members of SeaDream.

I can certainly understand your concern.

I have heard that guests are being well compensated for cancellations, and hope that includes airfare and hotel considerations. But I do not know any specifics. I also wonder about the crew, and hope that they are being taken care of. They are on a contract. If they are able to work and the ship isn't capable of taking a voyage, they should be "cared for" and paid in the interim. They are one of the things that makes SD great; and I hope/trust that they are being well cared for.

Other than financial issues, the stress on passengers who booked on upcoming voyages must be overwhelming -- especially those who have voyages planned in the next month or so. We also often book and plan our vacations a year or more in advance. Fortunately, we aren't currently booked on any SDI voyages, but only ones on SDII at this time (only because the trips on SDII better fit our schedule). At a minimum, if they aren't 100% sure that they will make a date, they should give a "caution" message to customers, letting them either "hope" or just cancel now with all compensation and reimbursements (Air, Hotel, etc.) covered. At least then let their customers decide. If the passenger elects to wait, then compensation would be given at that point. Some information is better than no information

Also, some passengers schedule their trips around their work vacation plans. These can sometimes be changed with adequate notice; however, they can't often be changed at the last minute.

Just my thoughts!

If SD really has believed that they would make the next weeks sailing, they would absolutely need to keep the crew close at hand. The real problem for the crew is compensation for tips lost since they are not sailing. This could be a big deal for many of the crew.

As for no information coming out relative to compensation, it is very strange that no passenger has provided that type of information. I just wonder if SD is forcing people to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to them offering any compensation. If so, it just adds to the questions about how open SD management is and how much you can trust them in the future if there is another issue.

Since SD does rely so much on word of mouth advertising, and they charge a significant premium, I believe they do need to be more transparent. Even if the fire was due to negligence, it is better than having people speculate on what happened. Trying to hide things is always worse than the truth.

I hope SD management is reading this thread and seeing the potential damage that they are doing by not being transparent.

Actually, SD crew members don't survive on tips. Although some guests may slip them something or contribute to the crew fund, tipping is neither expected nor required. That's one thing I really like about SD.

We are due to sail on 5 November. my TA says that SD have sent them the E-tickets, so hopefully all will be well.

We too have our tickets for both the 29th and the 5th but I'm guessing that those on the cancelled cruises also had tickets. We head to nice on the 26th so I hope to know the status by then.

Looks like those booked for Saturday, 10/22/16 SDI cruise received a one-day cancellation notice. Has anyone heard what compensation SD is giving those unlucky, non-cruising cruisers? I think the suggestion of a "non-disclosure agreement" given previously must be spot-on, otherwise we'd have heard some vociferous bitchin' by now.

I know that not disclosing what compensation people are receiving is giving us second thoughts on SD. If we were book on a cruise and got a 1 day, or even a 7 day notification, that the cruise was cancelled we would be very upset (unless, of course, it was beyond their control). We plan ahead so a short notification is a very big deal to us. We travel before the cruise and use miles for flights and hotel. The flights you can not change. The hotels you typically can (some are 14 day notice).

We are looking forward to booking a 2018 summer cruise as soon as they are available. Right now it is a choice between two companies that do not seem to care about their passengers when there are problems, WS and SD. It would go a long way with SD if they said what their compensation policies. Since no one has stated what their compensation has been, I assume that there is the non-disclosure program in place that will reward past passengers more than new passengers. I can understand trying to keep old passengers but it is very unfair to people who want to try SD.

Just my thoughts.

The fact that no one is on here complaining likely indicates that the bumped guests got "offers they can't refuse"....

We got bumped once on a lux line, due to a mechanical issue, and as compensation we got a 50% longer cruise and an upgrade from a standard veranda cabin to a large suite. And an offer to pay any out of pocket expences incurred. Our only expenses were small airline change fees to switch to a land trip, which we did not bother submitting to the cruise line. So we were actually glad to have been bumped :D

But for those without somewhat flexible vacation schedules, a canceled cruise could be a real bummer :(

I have heard that guests are being well compensated for cancellations, and hope that includes airfare and hotel considerations. But I do not know any specifics.

I don't know if they're offering different things for different people, and we're SeaDream regulars, so…

For us, they offered a refund or replacement cruise as well as reimbursement for reasonable expenses. The replacement cruise was a 7-day for our 3-day segment (since they normally do 7-day segments), and 2 7-day segments for our 7-day cancellation. Quite generous, I feel. Our itinerary change costs ran us about $2500, about half hotel and half air.