1/10/2010: Our 1st SeaDream Yacht Adventure on SeaDream II

Hello All!

My husband and I are new to SeaDream and will embark on our first yacht adventure on SeaDream II on January 10 out of San Juan. We are so excited! Anyone else on CC sailing with us?

One of our favorite cruise lines is American Safari Cruises (small yachts sailing Alaska's Inside Passage, Mexico's Sea of Cortez, and rivers of the Pacific Northwest). SeaDream seems to have a similar vibe and looks to be all the things we love: small ship, excellent service, gourmet food/wine, a marina, and interesting ports of call.

Many people have recommended SeaDream to us over the years and we're finally going to try it out. We're reading everything we can about SeaDream and are making our list of must-dos. We definitely want to sleep under the stars on one of the Sun Beds!

Anything else you can recommend to a newbie? Who are your favorite bartenders and waitstaff? Any signature dishes we should try during meals? Any must-do shore excursions?

We'd love to hear your thoughts. Internet permitting, we'll blog during our cruise and upload photos (videos may have to wait until we get home).

Last summer we sailed on bigger ships (Seabourn Odyssey and Celebrity Equinox) so this will be a bit of a departure! We're looking forward to it!

Andrea

Welcome to CC and SD!

Here is a link to my review with pictures from our March 09 cruise on SD2.

highlight=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=949045&highlight=

Zqvol and FT sailed earlier this month on SD2 with some of our favorites ... Captain Tysse, Executive Hotel Manager Christophe, Bartenders Zoltan and Chad, Waiter June as well as may others who have made our time on SD so special. We have found that the staff and crew really are happy and really want to make your time on board special!

Hi AndreaRH! Welcome to the SD board on CC! Congrats on your first SD cruise. :) You'll love it!

For sleeping under the stars, I suggest the forward bed. Make sure you reserve it on embarkation day.

zqvol - thanks for the blog plug! :)

Thanks zqvol, DisneyJen, and Cammiem!

We've been reading everything and anything about SeaDream and are looking forward to getting onboard next Saturday! Everyone's reviews are really helpful and we'll be sure to write one up for CC upon our return.

It's 20 degrees and windy here today, so we're REALLY looking forward to getting somewhere warm! ;)

Cammiem, you've got a great blog and my husband spent some time reading it last night. Thanks for all the info!

DisneyJen, my husband and I got married at Walt Disney World's Yacht Club in 1994. My brother and sister-in-law got married in Epcot's American Pavilion in 2001. We haven't been to Disney in many years now, but we have a lot of good memories of WDW!

Thanks zqvol, DisneyJen, and Cammiem!

 

We've been reading everything and anything about SeaDream and are looking forward to getting onboard next Saturday! Everyone's reviews are really helpful and we'll be sure to write one up for CC upon our return.

 

It's 20 degrees and windy here today, so we're REALLY looking forward to getting somewhere warm! ;)

 

Cammiem, you've got a great blog and my husband spent some time reading it last night. Thanks for all the info!

 

DisneyJen, my husband and I got married at Walt Disney World's Yacht Club in 1994. My brother and sister-in-law got married in Epcot's American Pavilion in 2001. We haven't been to Disney in many years now, but we have a lot of good memories of WDW!

I know you will have a wonderful time on SD2 next week!

There is something special about WDW for sure:D Talk about a small world;)

Thanks zqvol, DisneyJen, and Cammiem!

 

Cammiem, you've got a great blog and my husband spent some time reading it last night. Thanks for all the info!

 

You're most welcome! :)

Have a fabulous time onboard. It's 7 degrees here in Ohio. There's snow out my window. It's bloody cold. You'll have to have a glass of champagne in the warm Caribbean sun for me. ;):D

Hi Everyone!

We boarded SeaDream II in San Juan Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon and I can't believe it's already Friday! Time certainly flies when you're enjoying a cruise!

I've been blogging about this itinerary (mainly posting pictures...lots of food pics) at http://luxurycruisebible.blogspot.com

When we return home, I'll post a full review here and will let you know how SeaDream compares to the other cruise lines we've traveled with.

So far, we're really loving the experience. The crew is one of the best we've ever sailed with and service is excellent throughout the ship.

The food is amazing! It's probably the best cuisine we've had on a ship (though Seabourn Odyssey and Celebrity Equinox were very good this past summer too).

The complimentary wines are very good (according to my husband; I don't drink) but he says Seabourn Odyssey had a slightly better selection in the Med this summer. (It could simply be that provisioning wine in the Caribbean is more limited.)

We're in a basic stateroom and I do really miss having a veranda. The room service menu is also limited. But, if you can get over those two things, there are so many other areas where SeaDream excels.

We're in St. Barths today and will head to Jost van Dyke tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone who talked with us about SeaDream. You were right... it's an amazing experience. We won't want to disembark on Sunday!

Andrea

Hey AndreaRH

Thanks for your info on the cruise.

We will be on seadream2 jan31 and with everything I read I get more excited. our first aswell.

Kathyanddanny

Hi SeaDreamers,

I uploaded my review of our recent San Juan to St. Thomas itinerary aboard SeaDream II. You can read it here: http://luxurycruisebible.blogspot.com/2010/02/seadream-ii-review-san-juan-to-st.html

The entire experience was wonderful and we hope to sail with SeaDream again in the future.

Andrea

That was a great review you posted -- particularly helpful were the photos and menus. The room service menu just had a few snacks--no meals. Is there no real room service?

Thanks for the review/blog Andrea!