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Cuba!


knotheadusc
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Just got an email this morning from Sarah, our new "Personal Vacation Consultant" at SeaDream. Must be a new position. Anyway, it seems SeaDream is going to Cuba in 2019. I don't know where we'll be in 2019, but it sure is tempting to explore the previously forbidden. The new itineraries will be offered September 5th to Club Members.

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It does look interesting! Think there still may be a couple of issues to be worked out for US Citizens. Not clear if you can't get your flight to arrive by noon could you spend the night on your own? Same thing on return. Sounds like you must do everything with Sea Dream. Am I understanding this correctly?

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It does look interesting! Think there still may be a couple of issues to be worked out for US Citizens. Not clear if you can't get your flight to arrive by noon could you spend the night on your own? Same thing on return. Sounds like you must do everything with Sea Dream. Am I understanding this correctly?

 

I'm not sure. Our friends who have been to Cuba on organized trips have come home with contact information for their guides, who have told them that they can contact the guide directly and arrange a trip with that guide. I get the impression that all the guides pretty much work for the government. I suppose that one could take the trip with SD and then use one of these guides as a private guide, assuming that the excursions are not already included in the cruise fare with SD. But I don't think you can just bounce around on your own. Personally, we're just going to let SD do it.

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Zimmy, I totally agree with you. I would want SD to do all the excursions and from what I read, to meet all the US Government criteria, they must offer approved excursions each day for US citizens that are educational and culturally related and perhaps even volunteering to help the locals. It sounded like these were mandatory excursions and were part of the cruise fare.

 

My question is what if you can't get a flight in or out the same day of embarkation or debarkation that will meet the time frame SD suggests. Which would mean you had to go in a day early or leave a day later. Vandrefalk has contacted SD about that but no response as yet. Maybe SD will have hotels available for these issues. We will see!

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Whatnot, we have been thinking about those issues, too. At the moment, what we're thinking is to take the first voyage, leaving from San Juan, as a back to back with the second voyage, and avoid all the issues.

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Thankfully it appears this is going to be only on SDII. This would be our 10th SD cruise and we have NO desire to see Cuba. Jamaica (icky) and the DR have no appeal either. The Caribbean ( SXM, PR, BVI, AXA) is where we want to go. No "required" cultural or educational itineraries for us. This is our vacation time, thank you. Beaches and their iconic bars is all we want. (And , of course, the wonderful SDI ship and it's fabulous crew.)

 

 

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Thankfully it appears this is going to be only on SDII. This would be our 10th SD cruise and we have NO desire to see Cuba. Jamaica (icky) and the DR have no appeal either. The Caribbean ( SXM, PR, BVI, AXA) is where we want to go. No "required" cultural or educational itineraries for us. This is our vacation time, thank you. Beaches and their iconic bars is all we want. (And , of course, the wonderful SDI ship and it's fabulous crew.)

 

 

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Ditto Cabosal. Us too.

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I thought I would let those you of who are expressing interest in the 2019 Cuba sailings know what a disappointing experience we had trying to book these voyages. We have been happily sailing with SeaDream since the days it was Sea Goddess, so we keep close watch on what the yachts are doing. Having received Club Member emails about Cuba, there were 5 of us who had our travel agent contact reservations the morning of 9/5, the first day bookings were available. She learned at that point that two voyages were already sold out to charters. She got pricing and cabin availability information on what remained that we might be interested in. When she called back the NEXT DAY, SD had raised the prices by $800 a person. They would not offer us the price quoted the day before, even though it had been on the website earlier that same day. Their rationale was that there was a lot of interest in Cuba, and that they would sell out the sailings, even at the higher price. My travel agent insisted on being bumped up to the top of the administrative structure, and she says she was treated none too kindly.

 

Now I have no doubt that the Cuba voyages will sell out. But it seems to me that the company is being greedy here, and doing so at the risk of creating ill-will with its "regulars" who they count on to come back to the Caribbean year after year. After more that 25 years sailing on these ships, it may be time to move on. They say that all good things must come to an end.

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I thought I would let those you of who are expressing interest in the 2019 Cuba sailings know what a disappointing experience we had trying to book these voyages. We have been happily sailing with SeaDream since the days it was Sea Goddess, so we keep close watch on what the yachts are doing. Having received Club Member emails about Cuba, there were 5 of us who had our travel agent contact reservations the morning of 9/5, the first day bookings were available. She learned at that point that two voyages were already sold out to charters. She got pricing and cabin availability information on what remained that we might be interested in. When she called back the NEXT DAY, SD had raised the prices by $800 a person. They would not offer us the price quoted the day before, even though it had been on the website earlier that same day. Their rationale was that there was a lot of interest in Cuba, and that they would sell out the sailings, even at the higher price. My travel agent insisted on being bumped up to the top of the administrative structure, and she says she was treated none too kindly.

 

 

 

Now I have no doubt that the Cuba voyages will sell out. But it seems to me that the company is being greedy here, and doing so at the risk of creating ill-will with its "regulars" who they count on to come back to the Caribbean year after year. After more that 25 years sailing on these ships, it may be time to move on. They say that all good things must come to an end.

 

 

 

I would like to think if your travel agent sends significant business to seadream they would be able to make a difference, that is really bad form on seadream, particularly for a loyal client. We held a Cuba itinerary day one and called seadream directly as our travel agent said they were overwhelmed by day one demand and were slow responding to their inquiries. Good luck.

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