SD II, January 2-9, review (ish)

Just returned from SD II round trip San Juan over January 2-9. Got in late last night after a long day traveling and are just starting to feel "normal". I will get into detail tomorrow but for now just wanted to say this was one of the best SD cruises yet. Having the Zimmys, the Vandrefalks, the Ho-Hums, the GanttCs from Cruise Critic fame helped lots. The crew were outstanding, the weather was pretty much perfect, and I gained 6 lbs. Lots of interesting things happened but anyone feel free to chime in here, I am going to bed. More later.:D

Looking forward to more! Wish we could have been there too! Sounds like a great cruise from all reports.

You win, Jim. DH & I only gained 5 lbs each.

I'll write more tomorrow, also.

Finally getting a little caught up and want to share a few thoughts on our SD II voyage. After a long flight home, my 2 Sisters invaded in order to go to the Alabama/Clemson National Championship Game. Alabama won so Roll Tide and kisses to Ho-Hum & Blondie.:eek: The trip was a great one! The flights out and back, well they landed safely but FC on U.S. domestic carriers does not mean "First Class", it merely means Front Cabin. The only downside to cruising these days is the getting to and from the ships. But once there, SeaDream hit the mark very well. Lets get the negatives out of the way first.......The bread products, especially the rolls at dinner, were served room temp and were not very tasty. In the past, I recall warm tasty rolls........That's about it. The highlight of the trip for us was meeting so many of our Cruise Critic pen pals. Ho-Hum and Blondie, GanttC & Ted, the Vandrefalks, the Zimmys made our cruise so much better. The crew, as usual, makes the SeaDream experience and, to a person, did their jobs very well and made us feel special. We tried to get Mr. & Mrs. Ragnar to go on this one but there was some question about "the light". I am still confused about that but Ragnar, you really missed your chance as Mr. Vandrefalk is a retired Tank Driver from the Army. He used to use those big steel things you drove all over Europe to see. You would have really enjoyed being with him as we did. The passenger makeup was not predominantly US this time with only 38 out of 98. There were three kids on board in a family group of Grandparents, Parents, kids. They were a non issue for us as they were too old to be "squealers" and mainly looked bored the few times we saw them. The weather was basically perfect and we had no sea issues at all. Really a good trip and we had our favorite Chef Sudesh on board. It was so nice we left with a booking for December. The islands I will not really go into as each one has its own charms even though we stayed aboard for a few. You probably heard about the soon to be Oscar winning production that was filmed aboard and we had fun with it all. The two BBC crew that were aboard filming H-H & Bs voyage were friendly, non intrusive, and asked permission to use the bits we were in. Not sure what H-H found to talk about for all those hours but he is good at conversation. Again, we really had a blast with our CC buddies and Mrs. Vandrefalk and I actually attended High School together. Small world and we could have never imagined something as nice as SeaDream way back then in Montgomery, Alabama. So, each day went by too fast and about as soon as we got there, they kicked us off. A new, for us, experience in San Juan is that all passengers have to go ashore at 8:30am for Customs & Immigration on the dock. No more doing it in the salon and a lazy departure by 10:00. Why they do this in SJU is anyone's guess but, since we had to leave anyway, was not that much of a deal. Wish we had booked the early flight though. Looking forward to being back aboard in December.

Finally getting a little caught up and want to share a few thoughts on our SD II voyage. After a long flight home, my 2 Sisters invaded in order to go to the Alabama/Clemson National Championship Game. Alabama won so Roll Tide and kisses to Ho-Hum & Blondie.:eek: The trip was a great one! The flights out and back, well they landed safely but FC on U.S. domestic carriers does not mean "First Class", it merely means Front Cabin. The only downside to cruising these days is the getting to and from the ships. But once there, SeaDream hit the mark very well. Lets get the negatives out of the way first.......The bread products, especially the rolls at dinner, were served room temp and were not very tasty. In the past, I recall warm tasty rolls........That's about it. The highlight of the trip for us was meeting so many of our Cruise Critic pen pals. Ho-Hum and Blondie, GanttC & Ted, the Vandrefalks, the Zimmys made our cruise so much better. The crew, as usual, makes the SeaDream experience and, to a person, did their jobs very well and made us feel special. We tried to get Mr. & Mrs. Ragnar to go on this one but there was some question about "the light". I am still confused about that but Ragnar, you really missed your chance as Mr. Vandrefalk is a retired Tank Driver from the Army. He used to use those big steel things you drove all over Europe to see. You would have really enjoyed being with him as we did. The passenger makeup was not predominantly US this time with only 38 out of 98. There were three kids on board in a family group of Grandparents, Parents, kids. They were a non issue for us as they were too old to be "squealers" and mainly looked bored the few times we saw them. The weather was basically perfect and we had no sea issues at all. Really a good trip and we had our favorite Chef Sudesh on board. It was so nice we left with a booking for December. The islands I will not really go into as each one has its own charms even though we stayed aboard for a few. You probably heard about the soon to be Oscar winning production that was filmed aboard and we had fun with it all. The two BBC crew that were aboard filming H-H & Bs voyage were friendly, non intrusive, and asked permission to use the bits we were in. Not sure what H-H found to talk about for all those hours but he is good at conversation. Again, we really had a blast with our CC buddies and Mrs. Vandrefalk and I actually attended High School together. Small world and we could have never imagined something as nice as SeaDream way back then in Montgomery, Alabama. So, each day went by too fast and about as soon as we got there, they kicked us off. A new, for us, experience in San Juan is that all passengers have to go ashore at 8:30am for Customs & Immigration on the dock. No more doing it in the salon and a lazy departure by 10:00. Why they do this in SJU is anyone's guess but, since we had to leave anyway, was not that much of a deal. Wish we had booked the early flight though. Looking forward to being back aboard in December.

Send FT the info about December, maybe we can join you :)

Done Philip. It would be great to sail with Y'all again.:D

Where are the promised comments from the Zimmys? The Vandrefalks? The GanttCs? Well, Gantt almost never writes anything. He is a stick in the mud.:eek::D

OK, OK, I'm here. Finally coming up for air after getting Christmas decorations down, house put back together, bills paid, laundry done, refrigerator fixed, etc. Why can't I live on Sea Dream full time???

Jim has covered the cruise quite well -- definitely one of our best, but did miss some of our best friends (you know who you are!). Weather was gorgeous -- only a bit of liquid sunshine, low humidity, nice breeze. If you stood in the direct sun, you got hot quite quickly but otherwise, no problem (and I don't do heat well.) We CCers spent a good bit of time together and it was nice to get to know Zimmy and her DH better. There are no words to describe spending time with HH and Blondie!! Quite the pair and, of course, soon to star in a major motion something or other. Jim and I have been corresponding for a number of years now, but to finally meet him after so many years was a absolutely delightful -- our very own high school reunion! And Lois is a doll! Did not see much of Gantt as they were with other family members, but waved in passing.

Passenger mix was very good -- except for the guy who got upset because just maybe the BBC crew just might, maybe, possibly gotten a shot of the back of his head -- and was rude to Frud and wanted a refund! And, I think, he was a first (and hopefully last) time cruiser on SD.

The crew was, as always, first rate. It was a pleasure to see Goran again and I got a real kick when Jerry asked if I remembered him as it's been awhile since we've been on II.

Agree with Jim about the rolls -- well, I didn't eat them, but the breadsticks at night were fabulous! Whatnot would have loved them! I couldn't stay away from them --but they were not made on board. The bigger breadsticks they had at lunch were marginal at best -- don't think they liked the humidity, such as it was. Food was fabulous and Suddesh and I came to a closer agreement on what a "small" portion is. Will have to keep working on that!

So suffering withdrawal, but looking forward to the crossing in October and a southern Caribbean cruise next February -- anyone want to join us?

Vandrefalk

southern Caribbean cruise next February -- anyone want to join us?

Yes.

Has it been a week already since we were kicked off SeaDream???:eek:

Has it been a week already since we were kicked off SeaDream???:eek:

No, Jim, I think it's been a month. It certainly feels like it. I have been working 10 hours a day because I came home to tax season in full force. DH had four flights this week. It has definitely been a month.

The voyage was, in a word, fantastic! Wonderful crew, fabulous weather, and best of all the opportunity to meet and/or get to know better our Cruise Critic friends. We so enjoyed spending time with the Averys, Vanderfalks and Hums. Jim, now when I read your posts I can picture your face - it's so much nicer this way! And what fun to watch the filming of Ho Hum & Blondie's documentary. We are so looking forward to seeing it.

DH and I did very little on this voyage (i.e. we vegged) as opposed to our usual daily snorkeling trips. We spent much more time than usual on the boat, and the days just flew by. We did get off in St Barts, and there I suffered a shopping injury. I was so involved in looking in a store window that I missed a stair and fell flat on my face, or rather my eye. What can I say - I'm a clutz. Luckily for me I didn't break anything but I did walk around with a black eye for the second half of the week. But all was not lost; I still managed to get all my planned St Bart's shopping done, injury or not. Priorities are priorities after all.

The food was terrific. It is always wonderful but when Sudesh is on board, it is superb. DH and I are in the process of attempting to lose the five lbs each of us gained. Typical SD trip.

I don't have much more to add that the others haven't mentioned, but I think we all agree that it was a fabulous week. As has been said before, when things on SD go right (i.e. no kid problems), there is nothing else like it. This was only our second voyage on the II, this winter and last. Our ten previous voyages were on the I. A year ago we felt like strangers on the II because we didn't know most of the fabulous crew, but now after 2 voyages SD II also feels like home. But our next two voyages are back on the I. Now we can look at it as having two homes away from home.

We can't wait to get back onboard in May.

Zimmy

And how is that shiner doing anyway? We surely enjoyed sailing with you and Mr. Zimmy. :D

Sounds like you all had a fabulous time! Glad to hear it!

You've made me that much more excited for our voyage in July! 😄

Kathy.

And how is that shiner doing anyway? We surely enjoyed sailing with you and Mr. Zimmy. :D

And we certainly did enjoy sailing with you and Lois. Hope to meet up on SD again some day. For now we'll just be penpals.

The shiner? I had hoped that it would be gone when I returned to the office on Monday, but noooooo. So questions, questions, questions. The damn thing took 10 days to go away. And that included the first three days where it just kept getting worse. Who knew? But as of yesterday, it is gone, thank God.

On the other hand, I did save a lot of time not having to put on eye make-up, because it wouldn't have covered it anyway. Not that I'm suggesting a black eye as a timesaver. Just one of those unintended consequences.

Yes.

Please do! Feb 18 Barbados-Barbados!

Vandrefalk

Please do! Feb 18 Barbados-Barbados!

Will be on board in 39 days; that gives us a rebooking goal!

vandrefalk--

Just saw in the SD newsletter that Feb 18 is a Club Voyage. Now we HAVE to do it. ;)

vandrefalk--

 

Just saw in the SD newsletter that Feb 18 is a Club Voyage. Now we HAVE to do it. ;)

What does that mean (CLUB VOYAGE) ?

What does that mean (CLUB VOYAGE) ?

Extra $500 discount per cabin. Not in the UK? You should have a word with A about that..