garysarah

Will anyone on the forum be Seadreaming with us on this cruise?  I'm not satisfied with the excursions offered and would like to find someone to split a private tour with, particularly in Capri.  I would like to start touring before the daytrippers arrive. Anyone interested?

The problem with those lists is that Seadream has so many fewer passengers than most of the other ships that they have many more people to vote for them. Having been on several of those lines, to me they don't compare favorably. I do recognize people are looking for different things and it's hard to compare old ships with new ones.  You clearly enjoy many different types of experiences. I admire your breadth of experience. 

Actually...the beds in those suites can't be separated either!!!

Ask the room steward for Bulgari. They may still have a stash! When I smell it I always think of seadream. 

I would recommend at least 2 days in Athens for potential delays. We had people on our cruise delayed twice. Plus..things to do! We stayed at Hera Hotel. Liked the location.  Decent price. 

The snorkeling is OK at the JVD stop but my favorite thing to do their is the crew walk to foxy's before the beach party. I think I've done all the possible excursions on st barths and none are too great. Only thing I can recommend if you've never been there is to rent a car on the pier to explore the island. On Nevis I've done the crew led bike ride, whish is nice but brutal hills.

I had asked the seadream forum in August if anyone had been on emerald and got so responses. I would definitely stick with seadream for the Caribbean. 

PLEASE report back! Since we're booked for December,  there mat be time for us to switch rooms!

We've done Athens to Venice,  which included Dubrovnik,  Hvar, and Rovinj.  We didn't have a chef walk, unfortunately. We did an overnight in Dubrovnik where we could have eaten in town. It is unlikely you will stay late enough to eat out in the evening unless it is an overnight.  We did the Hvar Island discovery tour, which was good. They generally start around 9am.  You will be tendering in. I don't recall swimming on that particular trip.  Enjoy!

Well, this makes me very nervous as we have booked it for next new years. Prior to booking I asked 2 couples about the noise who were staying there and they said they didn't hear a thing.

We're booked for the NYE cruise next year. We wanted to invite some friends to go with us to celebrate my husband's 70th birthday.  I asked my TA to check availability and there is only 1 stateroom on deck 2 left! I knew it would book out early but I didn't think it would be THAT early. There may be people who are booked and will cancel but I wanted to let people know the status!

Yep, hey won't transfer the onboard booking discount.  For future reference,  you might do the 10% open booking instead. F&F for newbie...probably because it's the same room?  The $400 charge makes no sense to me. Should be far enough out that it would be $50 rebooking fee per person.  I also assume they wouldn't give him the booking discount since he wasnt on the trip? (That has also happened to me)  The TA crossing is generally 1/2 the per day price. I will say that for as much as we love the ship and crew and their customer service is fantastic, the customer service from the front office is not of the caliber and their rules are very strict,  as you have found.

1 hour ago, jerseymariner said:

Thanks again for all your advice. Making final payment today and can’t wait for our trip. 
I do have a follow-up question though. Since this will be a repositioning trip to the Med, would you recommend Euros for any individual gratuities as opposed to USD?

If we tip individually we would tip in dollars because many of the crew will be sending money home, which I assume is better in dollars.  We give to the welfare fund, which is paid in dollars. 

Thanks for letting us know. Will definitely check the schedule before booking there before cruise. I IS very convenient. 

Would love to hear about your trip afterwards.  We are going on SD2 next NYE.

Hi Dan! Fellow Tampan here. I wondered whether they ever give solos a break on fare? It doesn't appear they do but I wondered on the TA whether they would since there are so few people. 

The major updates were done 2 years ago so probably a few tweaks recently. If you haven't been on since covid will be all updated. 

I SO want to book B2B for Scotland and Ireland but the timing isn't right for us to plunk down $10k for the deposit. I'm hoping it won't book out too fast but we'll probably end up getting waitlisted.

Totally true! You should know that sea conditions affect many Seadream cruises. They would much rather divert where the weather is better. 

Years ago Seadream used to offer scuba excursions in some locations but I don't think they were well attended.  I'm not a fan of diving in any of the locations we have gone with Seadream.  (6 Caribbean trips). There's no reason you can't book a dive on your own with a private contractor.  Just be sure you know where you will tender into for pickup.  There's plenty of time during the stops to accommodate. 

We've only been to St John's. After the 1st couple times, what your suggesting is exactly what we do. Breakfast,  spa, pool deck and water toys! I would be surprised if they offered an excursion to St John's. Of course you might be able book transport privately.  I heartily recommend staying on the ship.

We've been on the eastern Caribbean trip at the end of March and it was much hotter than I expected.  The southern islands should be even more so. Didn't really want to spend much time in direct sun.

I have been to both but I would say that it is definitely worth the drive to Pompeii. I usually avoid long bus excursions.  My husband and I have both been before separately but we will go to Pompeii again when we are in amalfi next summer.

I also think it's crazy to "go go go" i hope you dont feel compelled to do it all with them!.  I've done the bike ride to the beach in Anguilla and it made for a great day. Also the bike ride in Nevis (very hard ride) if that's on your itinerary.  You might want to post your itinerary to get more ideas. My husband is a fisherman but hasn't done it there because it was just under the category of "too hard". The email for that is sd2-concierge@seadream.com. (or sd1)

I'm a true Seadreamer and not likely to defect to other lines except for new locations.  There haven't been any new discussions for a while and wonder if any Seadreamers have tried the new small ships like Emerald Ocean, Scenic Ocean or Atlas?  I would be interested in comparisons.  Most reviews are from people used to large ship cruising.