A 40th Birthday on SeaDream

Hi all, we will be taking acruise in the Carribean this Fall to celebrate a 40th birthday. As it will be the two of us, any suggestions for something unique and romantic? We are well seasoned Silversea cruisers, but have "jumped ship" to try our first relaxed SeaDream experience. The theme for this birthday is quiet, relaxing, beach time, great food, and outstanding wine! As we will be on board for the birthday, I was just trying to think of something different to celebrate the day that would be remembered for years to come.

Hi all, we will be taking acruise in the Carribean this Fall to celebrate a 40th birthday. As it will be the two of us, any suggestions for something unique and romantic? We are well seasoned Silversea cruisers, but have "jumped ship" to try our first relaxed SeaDream experience. The theme for this birthday is quiet, relaxing, beach time, great food, and outstanding wine! As we will be on board for the birthday, I was just trying to think of something different to celebrate the day that would be remembered for years to come.

Congratulations! I can't think of a better way to mark a milestone (we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on SD in March). You might want to skim my trip report from our March 09 cruise on SD2 ... here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=949045

Here are some ideas:

You can take some decorations and ask the crew to decorate the stateroom on evening.

Order a birthday cake or whatever special dessert the birthday person likes.

Request a special table outside for an al fresco dinner on an evening when dinner is scheduled in the Dining Room.

Schedule a massage on the beach for the day of the Caviar and Champagne splash.

I am sure others will share ideas!

Thank you,I could do al the ideas! Does SeaDream allow you to create a special dinner menu like Silversea?

Thank you,I could do al the ideas! Does SeaDream allow you to create a special dinner menu like Silversea?

oh yes, for DJ & DJ DH's celebration dinner, SD was able to create a wonderful dinner comprised of all DJ's favorites, none of which (except for her beloved Caesar salad) was on the menu for that evening. But contact Miami in advance would be my recommendation.

FT

We were aboard in the Med for Mother in Laws birthday. The Captain and Crew made it very special. Cake, singing, letter from the Captain, and decorated room. She still talks about how nice they were to her. You will have a ball. I second DJ & FT (third?). They are most accomodating as far as food choices go. Just ask, if possible, they will do it for you.

Jim.:D

I just booked for my milestone birthday as well and Santiago made a note on my reservation. My actual b'day will not be until later but it was the best time for me to go . I'm leaving the tux etc. at home this time and traveling light :D I would like a Black Forest Cherry cake with lobster and tenderloin for dinner !!:)

I just booked for my milestone birthday as well and Santiago made a note on my reservation. My actual b'day will not be until later but it was the best time for me to go . I'm leaving the tux etc. at home this time and traveling light :D I would like a Black Forest Cherry cake with lobster and tenderloin for dinner !!:)

Congrats!!!

Sounds like an excellent menu to me!

The included wine on SD is nothing special (varies from bad to just OK). I see you are from Sonoma and mentioned good wine. Either bring some from home, buy some from a liquor place on the way to the ship, or buy off the SD list (fairly high markup). There is about a $12-15 corkage fee. But they do decant the wine and will hold any left-overs (whaaattt???) for the next night.

Ragnar (wine snob, at least while still sober) D.

The included wine on SD is nothing special (varies from bad to just OK). I see you are from Sonoma and mentioned good wine. Either bring some from home, buy some from a liquor place on the way to the ship, or buy off the SD list (fairly high markup). There is about a $12-15 corkage fee. But they do decant the wine and will hold any left-overs (whaaattt???) for the next night.

 

Ragnar (wine snob, at least while still sober) D.

Interesting observation ... and this debate on wine tends to surface not only here on the SD board but on the SB and SS boards as well:p

On our March '09 9-night SD cruise we ordered off the reserve list 4 times ... Pommery Champage (actually between FT and me we cleared out the stock), Jordan Cab, Silver Oak Cabs and a Caymus Cab.

I can tell you that from where we sit the mark up was MUCH less than what we pay in restaurants here on the East Coast of the US. Mind you, we are originally from the Philadelphia area and think nothing of popping up to Manhattan for dinner when we are in the area (one of the many things I miss living here in NC). Talk about mark up:eek: I can dig up our receipts if anyone really wants to know the up charge. All I know is that we didn't blink once ... nor did our dining partners ... when we decided to upgrade the wine.

Let's face it ... wine is not the main reason we cruise on SD. When we want a wine focused vacation we head to Napa/Sonoma or France. We have never gone thirsty on SD:p

I know that on SS borad one of the biggest topics is on wine. SS was always good at remembering what wine you liked and would always try to have it ready for you. We will be bringing a few bottles of our favorite from home. It has been a hassle to travel with wine these days but the new WineSkin product has provided a good solution. We traveled with 4 bottles to India, without one break and no leaks! Here's a link to the products website http://www.ftscontent.com/

We have found, over the last 4 SD cruises, that SD is excellent about remembering our beverage preferences ... for instance I drink diet tonic and Bombay Sapphire. Diet tonic is readily available in our stateroom and at all the bars. Actually I think it is a running joke about how much diet tonic they have to provision when I am on board since I have converted others from tonic to diet tonic. DJ's Dh drinks a specific beer (as do some of our other SD friends) and it is stocked in our stateroom and the bars. On the occasion when they have run out the crew/provision master has been known to go on island to procure it for DJ's DH:p

We aren't wine snobs by any means but we do like a good bottle every now and again. Thanks for the link!

Let me clarify my comment. The SD markup is fairly high for a ship that includes wine. It's not high by restaurant standards.

I did a search a while ago for wine available on SD and Regent, and the Regent markup was lower, I think because Regent's free pours were of a higher grade than SDs. But no big deal either way.

Next time we do SD, we'll pick up a 12-pack of something good before boarding, then provide it for a group table one night for whichever pax are unlucky enough to get stuck with ol' Ragnar for dinner :D

Let me clarify my comment. The SD markup is fairly high for a ship that includes wine. It's not high by restaurant standards.

 

I did a search a while ago for wine available on SD and Regent, and the Regent markup was lower, I think because Regent's free pours were of a higher grade than SDs. But no big deal either way.

 

Next time we do SD, we'll pick up a 12-pack of something good before boarding, then provide it for a group table one night for whichever pax are unlucky enough to get stuck with ol' Ragnar for dinner :D

What the heck, I'll give it a go. When do we eat???

We were aboard in the Med for Mother in Laws birthday. The Captain and Crew made it very special. Cake, singing, letter from the Captain, and decorated room. She still talks about how nice they were to her. You will have a ball. I second DJ & FT (third?). They are most accomodating as far as food choices go. Just ask, if possible, they will do it for you.

Jim.:D

Forgot to mention the only "error" in the entire event. On a Birthday card that SeaDream printed for my Mother in Laws friend, they listed Lois, daughter, Jim, Son in Law and "not present, David, Grandson, and Shelby (M in Ls Jack Russel Terrier) a Jack Daniels Terrier". I'll drink to that.

Jim.

I spent my 50th birthday aboard SeaDream...and it was remarkable! You probably won't need to tell them about the occasion--I didn't--but returned to our room that night to find the room filled with balloons, rose petals and confetti. So don't even bother bringing your own decorations! Definitely do the al fresco dinner!

If the celebration continues and you're in St. Barts, go to La Gaieic(?) at Le Toiney. It's a considerable distance from the ship...but AMAZING.

We use a protective liquid sealed bag for our wines. VERY COOL. These Wineskins can be easily ordered from the So Cal Rep!! He will ship out 5 or 10 packs much cheaper than the online stores! I think he was $30 for a 10 pack shipped anywhere in the US. I found him on eBay but he is not currently on there now. A month ago, his email was dan@boxvendor.com. He shipped me from Torrance, CA.

Once again thank-you for all the suggestions............however, the first leg we were booked on, the one with the actual birtheday, got canceled for a charter! We had a back to back sailing planned. Of course we were very dissappointed, but SeaDream handled themselves in a professional and couretous manner, as they added a leg at the end, and we ended up with a few extra days onboard! I have now devised a plan to issues IOU's, afterall we are from California, for the onboard birthday ideas you have made.

Just how bad isthe wine on SD?? We too are wine lovers. Can you give some examples of their "house" white and red brands for some idea as to what to expect? We have never cruised SD and would be curious to know...thanks!

Good and bad wine is so subjective! House pours on all the all-inclusive lines (SD, Seabourn, Regent etc) have been debated for many years here on CC.

I don't record the house pours when we are on SD so that means as far as my palate is concerned they are just fine. To give you an idea of my wine pedigree ... Jordan is one of my favorite wines. Were the house pour of that quality ... no but they were still very good.

My everyday red wine right now if Liberty School Cab 2007 Paso Robles or Angeline 2006 Merlot. Not expensive wines but good solid wines as far as I am concerned. This is the caliber of wine that I drank with dinner while we were on SD most nights. For special occasions we order off the list (Caymus, Jordan, Silver Oak, Cakebread) and find the cost to be just about at retail ... which is unbelievable when you think about what restaurants and resorts mark up these wines.

Wine isn't the centerpiece of my yachting time on SD. I don't worry about the house pours as I know that I can request another house pour (varietal) or order off the list. You also have the option of transporting wine to the ship yourself as others have suggested. We find that too cumbersome give security regulations as well as the logistics of using precious luggage space for wine not clothes:p

And the debate goes on:D

40cub, here is a post I made on that subject after our Dec 08 trip:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=18065603&highlight=#post18065603

Remember too that the wines are constantly being changed in terms of what is stocked on a particular voyage. While you may find the wines that Ragnar posted after his Dec. '08 cruise I would bet that you probably won't find those wines as it's almost a year since his sailing.

When we sailed in March of this year the wines were definitely a step above Columbia Crest (I just double checked with DJ's DH). I know there was lovely Malbec that I enjoyed in March, but for the life of me I can't remember the name.

Hopefully some of our upcoming sailors (hint hint Jim) will take inventory of the house pours ... but the again knowing Jim maybe not;)

Just how bad isthe wine on SD?? We too are wine lovers. Can you give some examples of their "house" white and red brands for some idea as to what to expect? We have never cruised SD and would be curious to know...thanks!

There is nothing at all bad about the house wines on SD. I have never had a bad wine on board. In act I have never heard anyone on board complain about any of the wines. I guess of course that for some people nothing is ever good enough, but for us mere mortals the SD wines are excellent.

I suspect SD new ol' Ragnar was coming and figured they had to buy 2x the normal amount of wine with the same budget....

Wine is like art, so it's hard to say what is bad and what is good. To me, bad comes from a box, which wine should never come from! I will give a full "vino" report as we will be onboard for two weeks in the very near future.

One of the bright spots of a down economy is the fact that some of the higher quality grape juice makes it to the mid to lower price point wines. And, in our area, it is not uncommon to find some high-end wines relabeled and sold at drastic discounts. :D

I was with Ragnar on the Dec 08 SD I cruise. I can say that the house wines were "more appealing to my palette" (subjective) on our more recent Aug 09 cruise, but I'm not enough of a connoisseur to remember exactly what they were.