commodoredave

I find it even more interesting that SeaDream can communicate about booking groups or promoting future cruises on their blog, but never say a word about losing an engine and what impact it will have on itineraries. It is easy to see what their priority is, and it is clearly not the customer.

Thanks rl,

 

It may help if I mention that we have spent a few days in Boston and we decided that if we had to move from London that might be our first choice.

 

We have not been to Montreal so if we took that cruise we'd probably aim to have a day or so there before boarding - and return to the UK the day we arrived in Boston.

 

Any views on the weather the first week in September?

 

Tony

Montreal is a beautiful city with lots of great restaurants, shopping and things to do -- a mini-Paris. We visit the city every year.

Early September is usually great weather, but the later you go in the fall the better and brighter the colour of the leaves will be. So it's a trade off between warmer weather versus more brilliant fall foliage.

Yes, thanks for letting us know. I do hope they respond to you at some point.

My TA told me yesterday that SD I was in San Juan as we speak to fix the propellor issue. Can anyone confirm/deny this? I am a little skeptical of the info SD corporate is providing to my TA. Thank you.

Stines, your question and your TA's confusion are just two examples of why SD's management needs to get off their derrieres and start communicating. I'm afraid that their continued 'stick head in the sand' attitude is going to do irreparable harm to the reputation of this line and their ability to survive.

I want to be with her as much as I can. Lol

If you both feel that way, it's perfect. What doesn't work is when one person wants to spend every minute with a partner that doesn't feel the same way. Some people need a little space and time of their own, others do not.

I hope SeaDream resolves the engine issue soon and restores complete confidence with the proper communication.

As others have correctly stated, major repairs on an old engine can be difficult and expensive, never mind the ongoing maintenance costs of two 30-year-old ships. Add to this the fact that Byrnstaed's other businesses in Norway have had financial difficulties and Pam Conover recently quit as SD's CEO after just one year, and it is easy to see why some people are having second thoughts about booking with SD.

The longer it takes SD management to communicate, the greater the uncertainty will get and the more business they will lose. Even someone sitting in Norway must realize this.

Sadly, we decided this past weekend to try other cruise lines for the first time in our lives after many trips on SD starting over five years ago all but one of which was spectacular. I have never been on a ship other than SD! We feel like we are letting the SD crew down as many feel like family but we know there is nothing we can do in light of the issues discussed here despite our best efforts and many here on these threads. Strangely, when I informed SD here in the USA by email of the latest and final cancellation they didn't make any attempt to talk us out of it. This means that since we returned from the kids/group-plagued trip to the Black Sea this past August we have over the past few months cancelled all three of our future bookings totaling 31 days/nights worth tens of thousands of dollars in revenue. This is the first time in over five years we aren't holding at least one if not more future bookings. Who knows whether we may come to regret this decision but it is time to see what other options exist and whether we enjoy them. SD is unique but we aren't comfortable having advance deposits and associated travel plans (flights, hotels, etc) hanging in the balance under these conditions.

Sorry to hear it, but your decision is a natural and logical outcome of the current uncertain situation at SeaDream. Unfortunately, you are not alone and others are also making decisions to cancel current bookings or not make future bookings. SD management needs to wake up.

JESI4845, I agree with you completely. The issue here is that SD is NOT communicating in ANY way (direct to customers, on their own website, on CC, to the travel industry, etc), which is why we are all trying to help each other out on CC from our own experience. The other issue is that SD is misleading people. On my cruise a few weeks ago, I was told the SDI engine issue had been fixed, but clearly it was not. The same was apparently said by a SD agent over the phone but was also not true.

As a result, a lot of people who like SD and would book again are holding off doing so for very practical reasons. This is NOT smart management by any measure.

Let me make sure that I understand this. If you are on say a 7 day cruise, your wife is at your side and never alone for the entire 7 days. To me, this is frightening. I would be afraid to ask my wife what she would do to me if I tried this.

 

DON

Good point. If I stuck like fly paper to my wife for the entire cruise she would get violent with me!

I have cut and pasted below a communication from management at Azamara that appeared recently on one of their CC threads responding to criticisms of their Azamazing events. It demonstrates how smart management should respond to issues on CC and is something that SeaDream needs to learn from.

"Hi everyone,

Thank you for your comments, and your patience. As you know, AzAmazing Events are new and unique, so we’re still learning.

We moved the St. Maarten event for a few reasons: The location did not have decent lighting, the surface was uneven, making it dangerous to walk for elderly guests, and the rainfall the past few days had made the ground soggy and not usable.

So, we were forced to find an alternative. In the short time we had (72 hours), we had to rearrange the event, and having it directly in front of the ship was the best we could do.

We managed to get some more dancers (3 groups in total), more musicians and more decorations, though. One thing that could definitely have been adjusted better was the seating arrangement. Our MC of the evening did not communicate on time their show agenda, therefore the chairs were not set up for all guests to enjoy it. Unfortunately, it took some time for us to make sure everyone was seated and no one was blocking the view.

Overall it was not our best event, but I can assure you that we all tried to make this as successful as possible. Our tour operations staff are looking into this event very closely, and we will make sure this sort of thing does not happen again.

Thank you,

Signe Bjorndal

Director of Global Marketing

Azamara Club Cruises "

Thanks. Guess I am packed correctly then. We had a few dresses and sport jackets. Now waiting for airports to open!

 

 

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SD is the only cruise I've ever been on where sports jackets seemed out of place. On SB, I've always worn one on a couple of the evenings.

DW and I have spent some 600 days at sea on 61 cruises on most major cruise lines over the last 25 years. For many of those years we also brought our 2 daughters with us. Never once have we experienced or witnessed any violence or assault, or felt insecure in any way. The worst thing that ever happened to us was when I left my nylon shell sitting on a chair in the internet café on the Emerald Princess and when I returned an hour later it was gone. DW said if was totally my own fault for being so forgetful! :o So as far as safety goes, I'd choose a cruise over a land vacation any time.

Sailing on SB was fate. Our flight to Panama that we would have taken to board SD was just canceled, as I am sure many more will be. Hopefully flight to Aruba on Saturday will be good to go. We booked so late we didn't have time to get package from SB so scrambling for information and to make land arrangements on both ends. For the first time ever I was packed early, but now feeling like my SD packing might be too casual for SB??? Any advice on best time to embark? How about advise on dining reservations on the Pride? Appreciate any suggestions and hints for our first trip.

 

 

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SB Caribbean will be just a tad less casual than SD Caribbean. We arrived at 1:00 pm for our SB cruise and they let us on the ship. I prefer the main dining room on the Pride and only dined in the alternative once -- book on the first day and you should have lots of choices for date or time.

The declared "guaranteed" amount probably is around accurate as the US ships use tipping as more of a wage in general than an actual tip.

 

For instance on Celebrity/ RCCL (where tipping is basically enforced anyway) each passenger pays $5 per person per day to the stateroom steward.

 

That's anywhere between $10-20 per day a room and just say they clean 20 rooms that's going to average out around $250 per day in gratuities alone(not including their guaranteed wage). These guys work 7 days a week which if you were to multiply out to a whole years worth is $91000 in gratuities alone, doesn't seem like such a bad gig anymore does it. That's why these guys put so much pressure on to say they were "excellent" so they collect all these tips and get the opportunity to renew their contract.

 

I understand they only work contracts but when you work out how much it is per year it's understandable why they are so eager to renew contracts.

 

Same can be said for dining room waiters at $3.50 per person a night in tips and also bartenders with 15% of every drink in tips.

 

If it were such a bad job where they got paid slave labour rates, you wouldn't be getting such great service.

Sounds like they make more than the pathetic BBC reporter who did the story!

We sailed both SB and SD in the past 3 months, and found a lot more similarities than differences. Also found both have a few advantages over the other. As someone said previously, SD has a better layout outdoors for hot-weather cruises, while the three little SB sisters are better laid out indoors.

I also like the newer SB ships, that while larger (450 pax), offer some extra amenities. Not as intimate as the smaller ships, but still nice.

That might be a good idea but I don't really see it happening even though most of the "hard feelings", for lack of a better term, are due to lack of response/communications from SeaDream. In case they don't know it, the entire cruise industry is already aware of the problems on board. The engine topic is on numerous Cruise Critic boards as well.:eek: Happy New Year to all! And, Roll Tide!

Sadly, the lack of communication is costing SD bookings. Perhaps when it starts to hurt enough they will improve communication. Best wishes to all for a great 2014.

Yes, Chicken Little is alive and well! :) I have three cruises booked in the next two years -- if something happens to the line, I'm confident I'll get my money back (through travel insurance if nothing else). I'm reasonably confident the engine problem will be fixed and drydock should take care of anything else.

 

I truly don't think management is ignoring the concerns expressed here -- even Ms. Conover was aware of the kids thread and I'm sure Bob Lepisto is kept abreast. However, while it may be good PR to find some way to "talk" to us, they are under no obligation to do so. I don't think any other cruise line does it?

 

Happy New Year to all!

Vandrefalk

Frank Del Rio, the head honcho at Regent/Oceania, has posted a number of times on those boards. It has helped keep people informed, confident and loyal. Perhaps SD should do one of the CC Q&A sessions that most of the major lines have been doing with their execs.

We did Seabourn Pride around the UK in September, and just got off SeaDream I 10 days ago in Costa Rica.

Both rate top notch in my book, but given the engine and some other issues on SD at this time, I would take the Pride over SD for the foreseeable future.

As an aside, we purchased an open-booking reservation with SB on our last cruise, but decided not to do so with SD given the current issues.

Upper management seems to have no transition plan or any plan at all. While we had a great time on board, I do see some serious problems with management/finance forming. For this and the other non addressed issues previously discussed, we will not be booking SD in advance. Last minute bookings will be for us for the forseeable future.

Jim, I am in 100% agreement. While our group of 8 enjoyed our first SD cruise this month, none of us feel confident enough in SD's current situation and lack of plan to address it to rebook far out in advance. So if we do return, and I hope we do, it will be booked last minute.

1. The video compares crew wages to the minimum wage in the UK. Yet most cruise line crew are from poor countries where wages (if you can find a job) are much, much lower.

2. Most crew choose to work on cruise ships because they can earn more money than in their home countries and therefore can provide a better life for themselves and their families.

3. If passengers tip the recommended amounts or more, crew can earn a decent wage and sometimes a handsome wage if they have served long enough to get the best assignments.

4. If you truly care about crew, tip more than the recommended amounts and make a donation to the crew welfare fund.

5. What do you think they pay hotel and restaurant staff in the countries where most of the crew come from? If it was less on cruise ships, no one would take the jobs.

6. Cruise ships provide much needed jobs for tens of thousands of people who would be much worse off without them.

7. Why is media in the West so arrogant that they think they know what is best for everyone else in the world?

Thank you, Dave, for your review with photos!

You are most welcome.

I guess I missed something?? I have been waiting for action and Answers from Andreas for weeks? I haven't heard anything from him about engine problem and internet, I know he can't control the way it works, but being charged for nothing?

Just being sarcastic as SD seems to divert our attention away from one issue by creating another. :(

Great review Dave. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Hope to see you on board somewhere, some day. :D

Thanks, Jim. Look forward to meeting you on board one day as well -- assuming the other engine is working!

Look at the bright side. The damaged engine, non working toilets, missed stops, etc. has made the ongoing discussion about kids and large groups on board go away.:eek::D

I guess this means that Andreas took action after all! :eek:

Conclusion

Our cruise on SeaDream 1 to Costa Rica was lovely. We found the ship, crew and fellow passengers delightful. And we love the small size of the ship, which makes it easy to get around, find places, meet people and enjoy.

Food was very good, but not as consistently good as we have had on Crystal, Regent and Seabourn. But the dining room service was the best we’ve seen afloat.

The relaxed dress and casual atmosphere aboard SD is wonderful. Officers and crew were extremely friendly, and got to know our names from the first day. We felt at home, relaxed and having fun faster than on any other cruise ship.

The itinerary – Costa Rica – was very good, but not great. The rainforests and beaches are lovely, but CR did not have the charm or infrastructure of the Caribbean. After a few national park visits, we were wishing there was more to do. And absolutely no shopping.

This is yachting, not cruising, and it’s on an older ship. So it a broken toilet or two, a few hours of no water, a steep gangway to the tender, frequent changes in plans, etc. bother you, then SD is not your best choice. However, if you want to really relax and won’t get uptight if the occasional thing breaks or goes wrong, you’ll love SD. The crew have a way of quickly making everything right, and making everyone feel good.

By the same token, SD is more yacht than cruise ship, and delivers an intimate and special experience that is not available elsewhere. This really is a lovely small ship that stands out as special.

The bottom line: would we sail with SD again? Yes, but we have concerns about the age of these ships and the financial capability of SD to properly maintain them and eventually build a new ship. For several weeks now, SD1 has been functioning on only one engine (of 2), and broken toilets, water stoppages, etc. seem to be a regular occurrence. And there seems to be a lack of communication from management about the current situation and future plans.

So while we hope to sail with SD again, we will probably take a wait and see attitude in the hopes that management will give us reason to be more confident in the condition of current ships, and the cruise line’s longer-term future.