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SeaDream I, January 27 - February 3


gretchen's mom
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DH and I just finished a wonderful cruise on SeaDream I from Antigua to San Juan. We believe that it was our eighth SeaDream cruise but all the others had been on SeaDream II. We were very happy with the ship, staff and food. It was as lovely as we remembered and a wonderful get away from the Northeast US. I'll provide a brief recap of each day for those who are interested. (We did not go on any of the scheduled tours/activities so I can't provide information on them.)

 

Pre-cruise - We flew to Antigua on the day before embarkation from Miami. We easily cleared immigration at the Antigua airport and stayed at the Ocean Point Resort & Spa on Friday night. It is a charming small property with a beach, restaurant, bar and pool. We would stay there again. It is located about fifteen minutes from both the airport and the docks.

 

Saturday, Embarkation in Antigua - As mentioned by others in some previous posts, there was some confusion as to where to drop us off. Our taxi driver to the ship confidently dropped us at the correct harbor but the wrong dock. She pointed down an alleyway and left us. We discovered quickly that our dock was three blocks away. We were able to manage our luggage on wheels but not everyone would be able to do that so I would recommend double checking before releasing your taxi. When we arrived at the ship, our luggage was handled quickly and we went onboard. The immigration officers from Antigua were in the main salon and handled the processing while we enjoyed a glass of champagne. We then moved to the concierge area to process our credit card and obtain our suite cards. It was an easy process and we were happy to get unpacked and up to the pool area. We enjoyed dinner on the 4th. floor deck that evening and learned that we would be going to Nevis the next day, instead of Anguilla as originally planned. It was my birthday and the ship sent a cake to the table with a card and filled our cabin with balloons. (My DH surprised me with an upgrade to a Commodore Suite as my birthday present!)

 

Sunday, Nevis - The beach picnic was held on the island of Nevis at the Chrisi Beach Club. We were supposed to tender to a floating dock at the beach club but the seas were too strong so we tendered to town and the ship arranged taxis for all of us. The buffet was delicious and we enjoyed a couples massage in the open air. I only saw one person in the water as the surf was high. It was nice to walk on the beach. We enjoyed dinner on the 4th. deck again that evening.

 

Monday, St. Kitts - We were supposed to spend this day harbored outside of Gustavia, St. Barts but could not because of weather. The ship repositioned to St Kitts. We chose to spend the day on the ship enjoying a yoga class, Scrabble, reading and the pool. At night, we ate dinner with the new CO and a couple from Sweden.

 

Tuesday, St. Barts - We were able to tender outside of Gustavia, St Barts and spent the morning walking around town and admiring the shops and yachts. We noticed that there were fewer mega yachts than usual in port. Perhaps this is because many of the restaurants have not reopened yet? After dinner in the main dining room, we had fun playing Music Trivia, the first time we have seen this activity on a SeaDream ship.

 

Wednesday, Virgin Gorda - We went on a hike from Spanish Town to Spring Bay National Park. Along the way, we saw the devastation to homes, hotels and infrastructure on the island. You could hear construction activity everywhere. The Park had no facilities open but we enjoyed the rock formations and the beach area. After dinner on the 4th. deck, we had fun playing "Name that Tune" with George in the Piano Bar. (By the way, George was great fun and played "our song" often so that we could dance.)

 

Thursday, Tortola & Jost Van Dyke - We anchored outside of Road Town, Tortola in the morning and DH and I spend some time walking around town. There was so much devastation to see. Boats flipped into buildings, roofs torn off, homes destroyed...very sad. I did talk to a doctor who I met on the street who works at the hospital. He told me that they will be okay. The people are very resillent. At night, everyone dined under the stars and there was a dessert extravaganza and dancing in the pool area. It was great fun! Before dinner, the ship repositioned off of Jost Van Dyke so that those wanting to go to Foxy's bar could. We did not but tenders were available from 9 pm to 1 am for those who wanted to do so.

 

Friday, Norman Island - We had not been to Norman Island before. No people live on the island, only goats! The famous bar, Willie T's is closed but we enjoyed beverages at Pirate's Bight and also enjoyed swimming there after a hike in the hills. The concierge gave us a map with hiking trails. We returned to the ship in the early afternoon. Things got interesting around 3 pm! The captain announced that all passengers must immediately come to the Main Salon for an importnant announcement. Any longtime SeaDreamers know that afternoon announcements are very rare. Everyone gathered and the captain told us that due to regulation and administrative issues, the ship would not be able to dock in San Juan the next day. We were told that the cruise company had arranged for us all to be flown on three jets from Tortola to San Juan on Saturday morning and that we would be sent in the order needed for flights, plans, etc. We filled out paperwork about our arrangements, luggage, etc. Captain Bjarne Smorawski stood and answered every questions and addressed every concern that people had. We were impressed by how they handled the situation and provided solutions along with an explanation of the problems. He planned to take the ship to Tortola overnight. One hour later, another announcement from the captain that the issues were resolved and we would be disembarking in San Juan the next day! Problem averted but again, handled well!! We enjoyed a very special dinner on the 5th. deck that evening. Winds were strong and we had to hold onto our wine glasses but we were treated to a very beautiful view of the Blue Moon as we sailed by St. John. It came up over a mountain and shone on the sea. Those lucky enough to be dining outside that evening experienced something very special.

 

Saturday, San Juan - Disembarkation started at 8:30 am and was handled very well. We waited in line in the terminal less than ten minutes to clear immigration. The ship docked at the main terminal, not the terminal across from the Sheraton in Old San Juan. (We had always docked there on previous voyages.) Our luggage was waiting for us. It was short cabride to the airport from the terminal.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and look forward to more in the future!

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Thank you for your wonderfully comprehensive review. I'm glad you had a great time. We have only been off the ship for less than a month, but I'm ready to go back (not happening soon). How weird what happened regarding San Juan immigration; I think that's a first. I'd love to know the back story behind that one. Glad it all worked out.

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I’d love to know the back story behind that one.
Smart, but “immigration” was not the reason given in the report, it was “Regulation and administrative issues” (a useful, non-specific term. If it were immigration, why didn’t the Captain just say that ?)

Isn’t the real reason pretty obvious ?

Worryingly, there has been a growing list of recent issues and events that casts doubt on some of what we are told by the company and the way it is being run. So, always use a TA.

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Smart, but “immigration” was not the reason given in the report, it was “Regulation and administrative issues” (a useful, non-specific term. If it were immigration, why didn’t the Captain just say that ?)

 

Isn’t the real reason pretty obvious ?

 

Worryingly, there has been a growing list of recent issues and events that casts doubt on some of what we are told by the company and the way it is being run. So, always use a TA.

 

 

 

I guess I'm being dense so please tell me what the"real reason" for the SJ situation was. What with jets flying people to or from Tortola, etc. it sounded pretty chaotic to me.

I agree that SD seems to be having problems recently that can't all be blamed on hurricanes. Our recent 9 day cruise itinerary was changed only days prior to departure, entirely eliminating the BVIs. The only explanation I received was that those islands "weren't ready yet", however previous AND preceding cruises went there.

Also, when checking out 2019 cruises with Gareth some of those we were interested in had new itineraries. We were told to "check the website for accurate info." Apparently if you've booked or already paid for a future trip you'll need to "check the website" to see if your trip has had any changes as SD will not be notifying you. Pretty poor customer service I'd say, especially bad for long time SDreamers.

(I'd like to stress that this criticism applies to management only, as all of the staff and crew on our recent cruise were exemplary, as always).

Note to SD: This problem needs fixing ASAP!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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I wonder if the San Juan issues might not have been due to the yacht not being in the United Sates for the past couple of years. They were picking up a charter from San Juan. They have to go through US inspections, not sure when all that takes place.

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Hello!

 

OP of this thread is my DW and a I just wanted to wade in and say that I really think SD did the best they could by us. The BVI and USVI are a wreck (really sad to see) and the weather on our cruise was not helping (big swells actually washing over the boardwalk at some ports, etc.).

 

I think that on many occasions the representatives on the various islands were a bit too optimistic and it only became apparent that itineraries needed to change at the last minute leaving the on-board crew scrambling. That being said they made it a SD experience despite all those balls being in the air.

 

My take on the San Juan situation is that it is nothing more or less that a bunch or red tape by US authorities and SD being given the run-around getting everything in order. We all know that bureaucracies are frustratingly intractable and that officials don't give two hoots about your time pressures or schedules. The crew was between a rock and a hard place and did their best by us.

 

Just my two cents.

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Hello!

 

OP of this thread is my DW and a I just wanted to wade in and say that I really think SD did the best they could by us. The BVI and USVI are a wreck (really sad to see) and the weather on our cruise was not helping (big swells actually washing over the boardwalk at some ports, etc.).

 

I think that on many occasions the representatives on the various islands were a bit too optimistic and it only became apparent that itineraries needed to change at the last minute leaving the on-board crew scrambling. That being said they made it a SD experience despite all those balls being in the air.

 

My take on the San Juan situation is that it is nothing more or less that a bunch or red tape by US authorities and SD being given the run-around getting everything in order. We all know that bureaucracies are frustratingly intractable and that officials don't give two hoots about your time pressures or schedules. The crew was between a rock and a hard place and did their best by us.

 

Just my two cents.

 

YAY, you, SchnauzerPup!! The voice of reason and I am in total agreement with your assessments! SeaDream always puts their pax first, sometimes you can’t avoid red tape (or high seas) AND we all know, you can’t please certain people and those who continue not to like it should find another line.:cool:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sounds like a lovely trip. We are thinking of first SD next Jan-Mar. Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve a couple of questions. We’ve done 2 Windstar Cruises and loved both. We generally spend our time in St John. How far in advance should we book? Should we use a TA? Have you stayed in lowest level room? if so, is it ok? Any advice, suggestions, etc., are welcome. Thanks!!

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There are different views on that set of questions, here are my two cents. In most cases, the main advantage to booking well in advance relates to how particular one is about where their room is located. In addition, some (but not many) voyages do sell out a few months in advance during high season, and in most cases selection of rooms is more limited. I have stayed on level 2 and 4, the only difference being a picture window on 3 and 4 vs porthole on 2, I would save money and stay on 2, but my companion insists that he was woken up by water splashing on the porthole so we are on level 3 next February. I heard nothing. On the other extreme, during low season you might find discounts a few months before sailing, I do not know if they will extend these discounts to those who have already booked, my hunch is that they may try to upgrade to a higher level if available rather than reduce the price, others on forum may know more than I do here. On other extreme, due to high demand, they actually raised the prices on some of the Cuba voyages a few days after they went on sale but this is an exception not the rule. On balance, I think booking via travel agent better, most should be able to give you a spa credit. Some on the forum have suggested that seadream may extend upgrade offers to those who book direct in advance if Those who booked via travel agent, but I find this of little value. I think if you liked windstar you will love seadream, browse through this forum and it will give you a good sense of things.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Richb21 is right about the rooms being identical except for the windows. And you are not likely to be spending much time in the room. If you have any tendency toward seasickness, I'd recommend deck 2, especially closer to midship. One of the things we try to avoid is having a room that can double to a Commodore. Instead of a solid wall, you have a metal removable wall. It conducts noise a bit more, and also doesn't have the drawer space that the solid wall has. It isn't an issue in the Caribbean, but in Europe we prefer port side if we are going to be docked anywhere. We had one port where the tide was so low we woke up looking at the wall of the dock. Because of the gangplank location, the yacht always docks on the starboard side.

 

We always use a TA. She gets our travel insurance, which saves us that effort. She is also our go-to person if anything goes wrong. SeaDream is great from embarkation to debarkation, but it is nice to have someone working for you getting there and getting home. We do all the selections of cruises we want to take and then book them onboard to get the 15% discount. And then SD passes our booking along to our TA.

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In the Carib it doesn't really matter which side, because you won't likely be at a pier unless you are doing a B2B, in which case I'd opt for port side. Does it matter to you whether your head is fore or aft? I've never noticed a difference, but I don't have a problem with a rear facing airplane seat either. If it matters to you, look at the door location in the room. The head of the bed will be on the opposite side.

 

Where in IL are you? We are NW Chicago burbs.

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Right on, Trapper! Although bed location varies even on one side of the ship. On the crossing, we were deck 4 port and I was next to the window. This trip, we are 3 port and the bed is opposite! Can be disconcerting in the middle of the night :-)

We always use a TA. I haven’t seen prices come down in a long time, but several years ago, we were able to get the reduction. Not sure it happens often now!

Vandrefalk

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In the Carib it doesn't really matter which side, because you won't likely be at a pier unless you are doing a B2B, in which case I'd opt for port side. Does it matter to you whether your head is fore or aft? I've never noticed a difference, but I don't have a problem with a rear facing airplane seat either. If it matters to you, look at the door location in the room. The head of the bed will be on the opposite side.

 

Where in IL are you? We are NW Chicago burbs.

We are from Central IL, close to Peoria.

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