Seadream II - Christmas Cruise, December 22 - December, 29, 2012

[gretchen's mom]

DH and I returned last night from a wonderful Christmas cruise aboard the Seadream II. I will post some day to day observations in a seperate post but wanted to provide an overall view of our experiences now. The trip was fantastic and I can not say enough nice things about the crew and the ship. Embarkation was easy and we made friends in the lounge while waiting to check with whom we later had dinner with several times. This was our second Seadream voyage, the first over a holiday.

 

The food was excellent and the selection very good. I sampled the raw diet three times, once the full four course meal and twice, the salad and dessert selections. Vegetarian, vegan, and allergy food concerns were easily accomodated. I ate fish most days for dinner and loved it all, especially the salmon. We ate outside once by request and twice because the entire ship was eating outside.

 

The ship was in very good condition and the staff was working daily to keep it that way. Our cabin attendant Ederlyn, kept our cabin spotless.

 

A special Seadream moment...I really liked the tuna salad served at lunch on the first full day. On the second day, I inquired if it would be a regular offering but was told no but they would be happy to make it special for me the next day. When I arrived at the luncheon buffet the next day, a special plate of the tuna salad was waiting for me. I realize that this may not be a big deal but it made me feel awfully good about how much the crew cares about their guests. (Now, if only I could duplicate this salad at home!) I never heard the crew say no to any request.

 

As this was Christmas week, we expected that there would be many families traveling with us. There were and there was not a single problem with the children. The children ranged from under one to many in their teens. All ages were represented. They were very well behaved and not disruptive. We did not realize until Day 5 that a family with children were in the cabin across from ours. The Captain even made a point of commenting on how well behaved the children were at the final cocktail party. One family wore their Seadream pajamas to breakfast on Christmas morning and Santa visited on Christmas Eve. For me, it was nice to see children on the Christmas voyage.

 

I realize that many people on the cruise do not celebrate Christmas and others may cruise at Christmas to escape the holidays. Seadream did a nice job of balancing the celebration of the holiday without going too far. There were Christmas trees, gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies, tastefully done and not too many of any. The crew put on a fun holiday show on Christmas Eve. (Someone posted the pictures on Facebook if you want to see them.) The desgustation dinner was held on Christmas Eve. We all received a beautiful set of knives as a holiday present from the owner.

 

We only took one organized tour, a trip to the Ponce Art Museum and then into center Ponce. The museum was beautiful and it was a treat to see works by Warhol, Ruben, and Van Dyck. This was on Christmas Eve Day and Ponce was full of sidewalk vendors selling Christmas toys and other presents. As you can imagine, it was quite busy in town. There is an antique fire house and beautiful catherdral. Carnival is celebrated on Christmas Eve night and we were greeted by Carnival dressed characters at the dock. When we returned from our tour, we received a gift bag with fun mementos.

 

The "Crew Shoreside Casual" hikes were one of the highlights for us. We participated in four which I will detail more later. It was a great way to explore the islands, see views of amazing coves and flora and fauna and get some exercise too. Twice, the Captain led us on the hikes.

 

Disembarking was easy we stood in line no more than ten minutes to clear immigration on the ship. We had breakfast before doing this and enjoyed coffee afterward. No one rushed us off and we stayed until almost 10 am.

 

I will provide more details later on the daily activities and would be happy to answer any questions that anyone has. Now, back to post vacation laundry and dealing with the 18 inches of snow that we returned to!

[Zimmy]

Thank you for posting, Gretchen's mom. It sounds like it was a great voyage, and I'm glad that you had such a wonderful time. I hope that you missed the worst parts of the snow at home, and that at least the streets had been cleaned up by the time you returned.

[knotheadusc]

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for posting! :)

[rickandpat]

Thanks for the report, I'll look forward to reading the promised details.

[gretchen's mom]

Here's are some details from our cruise, to the best of my memory!

 

Pre embarkation - We flew in the day before our trip and checked into the Sheraton, Old San Juan. It is located across from the port and the ship docked the next day less than one block from the front door of the hotel. The location is perfect if you want to avoid traffic in getting to the ship. We simply rolled our luggage across the street. While in OSJ, we enjoyed a visit to the fort at the El Morro Lighthouse, a stroll on the streets to see the Christmas decorations and two visits to our favorite restaurant, Toro Salao (the Salty Bull.) The restaurant has Cuban/Caribbean fusion food and terrific white sangria. We were happy to have arrived a day before our embarkation. Traffic from the airport was heavy due to holiday and weekend activities.

 

Day 1 (San Juan, P.R.) - We rolled our suitcases upto the dock gates just before 2 pm. Our names were checked off the list at the entry point and we immediately entered the terminal. Our bags were put through the security screening machines and then taken to the ship. We passed through security and were immediately taken onto the ship, greeted by the Captain and senior staff, and escorted to the Main Salon. From the time we arrived at the gates until we were in the Main Salon was less than ten minutes. We were offered food and drink and asked to have a seat until a few others finished their registration. We chatted with others waiting and within fifteen minutes were escorted to registration where our pictures were taken and our credit card swiped. We were then escorted to our cabin where we found our bags waiting for us. We were in our cabin with our bags within twenty-five minutes of boarding the ship. After unpacking and reacquainting outselves with the layout of the ship, we relaxed a bit and went to an overview of land adventures presentation and to the lifeboat drill. Both were handled quickly. We had cocktails in the Main Salon and enjoyed a dinner in the Dining Salon. The ship left port after dinner. (The ship was parked next to the World, a residential cruise ship. It was interesting to see the ship.)

 

Day 2 (Fajardo Bay, P.R.) - We decided to spend the day relaxing on the ship and did not disembark. DH had a massage and I enjoyed the gym facilities. We read and played board games. It was a nice way to begin the cruise. We enjoyed a nice romantic dinner for two outside.

 

Day 3 (Ponce & Caja de Muertos, P.R.) - This was Christmas Eve. We disembarked twice this day. In the morning, we went on a Land Adventure to the Ponce Art Museum where we saw artwork by Warhol, Van Dyck, Ruben and others. The new museum is beautiful and we were offered a choice of guided or self guided tours. We went to the museum in a large van with about a dozen other people. After visiting the museum, we went to downtown Ponce where we visited an antique fire house and a beautiful Catholic Church preparing for Christmas Eve mass. The streets were very busy with toy vendors and Christmas shoppers. Festivale was to be celebrated that night. We were met at the ship by characters dressed in Festivale costumes. On our return, we were given swag bags from the local tourism board with small souveniers. After lunch and repositioning to Caja de Muertos, we went on a "Crew Shoreside Casual" event where a local guide had been hired to take us on a hike to the Lighthouse. The hike was terrific and we had great views from the Lighthouse. After the hike, there was a chance to swim at the private beach on the island. The island translate to "Coffin Island" and legand has it that if pirates kill your lover on the island, the lover can be buried there. A delicious and many course degustation dinner was served in the evening with many special foods. After dinner, the crew put on a wonderful Crew Christmas Show in the Main Salon. There were dances, singing and special presentations. Everyone laughed and cheered for the crew. There are many pictures of the Crew Christmas Show on Facebook if you would like to see them.

 

I will post the other days under a seperate post.

[gretchen's mom]

Day 4 (St. John) - This was Christmas Day. After breakfast, we went on the "Crew Shoreside Casual" hike to Honeymoon Bay and Caneel Bay Resort. We started with the group and decided to go off on our own as the trails were very well marked. We took the lower Lind Point Trail to the beach and the upper Lind Point Trail back. The upper trail is a bit more difficult but doable for a moderate hiker. The turnaround point was the Caneel Bay resort where we stopped for a brief rest and enjoyed the facilities. It was decorated for the holidays and full of people. Seadreamers could use the beach there. We enjoyed dinner in the Dining Salon and watched some of the movie "White Christmas" which was playing in the Main Salon.

 

Day 5 (St. Bart's) - When we opened our curtains, we could tell that we were anchored off of St. Bart's. The yachts were bigger than any of the other ports and it was quite busy. We disembarked and enjoyed a self guided hike to the Fort Karl Ruins and then browsed in the shops in Gustavia. We've been to St. Bart's on previous cruises so we did not feel the need to tour the island again, especially in the holiday traffic. We did have a celebrity sighting of one of the stars of "Modern Family" and Larry Ellison's yacht was parked near Seadream II. Seadream I visited the port that afternoon and some guests went over to see crew members on the sister ship. Visits were easily arranged. We swam off the Marina Platform and enjoyed the warm seas. That evening, an outdoor cocktail party and fashion show was held around the pool. Everyone enjoyed the speciality Caribbean drinks and cheered on the crew members who modeled. Dinner was at the Topside for everyone and after dinner a Dessert Extravaganza was prepared by the pool. There was a full moon and dancing on the deck. Even a little rain could not damper the spirits of the happy guests. We simply moved a little under the covers and kept dancing!

 

Day 6 (Soper's Hole, Tortolla & Norman Island, BVI) - We disembarked at Sopher's Hole, Tortolla and explored the local shops. Many people went on a dolphin adventure or diving in this port. After lunch and repositioning, we joined Captain Willassen on a hike to Norman Island. The Captain was very informative and provided a lot of history of the island. It was nice to be able to chat with him casually. Dinner was again served outside to everyone in the Topside Restaurant. After dinner, guests were given the option to go by tender to the famous Foxy's Bar in Jost Van Dyke. Many did and parties with many of the crew members. The tender to Foxy's was a special surprise arranged for by the Captain.

 

Day 7 (Virgin Gorda) - The yacht anchored off the North Sound to allow guests off to visit the Baths. It then repositioned to Gorda Peak where guests could tender to Bitter End Yacht Club if they chose to. We joined the Captain and Club Director Jeff Fithian for another hike. The hike began at the Bitten End Yacht Club and wound its way around several other resorts and through beautiful trails. We saw many hidden coves and flowering bushes. Of all the hikes, it was my favorite for diversity of the scenery. After returning to the ship to get our bathing suits, we went to the Beach BBQ at Prickley Pear. It was a beautiful sunny day for the event. The food and drink were delicious and the guests loved the Cavier and Champagne Splash. Many people were still on the beach at 4:30 pm when the last tender returned to the ship. I left a bit earlier to enjoy a facial in the spa. After packing our suitcases, we enjoyed a Farewell Reception and dinner in the Dining Room.

 

Day 8 (St. Thomas) - Everyone had to be up early for immigration clearing. We had an early breakfast and went to the Main Salon around 8 am for our clearance. The immigration inspector was a friendly man who made the process very easy. There were only about three parties ahead of us and we received our passports and cleared immigration in about ten minutes. We then removed our few remaining things from our cabin so our stewardess could start cleaning it and enjoyed coffee on the top deck for another hour or so. Just before 10 am, we thanked the Captain who was at the top of the gangway and disembarked. Our flight home was not until 3 pm so we hired a taxi driver to give us a tour of St. Thomas and take us to a restaurant for lunch. We were able to see the the entire island, have lunch and arrive at the airport by 1 pm. Check in and clearing immigration and customs was easily accomplished with the help of a porter and we were to the security line within fifteen minutes of our arrival at the airport. Security took another fifteen minutes but moved along nicely. The St. Thomas airport was very crowded with holiday travelers. None of the big cruise ships were disembarking in St. Thomas that day. I can't imagine what that would have done to the volume of people at the airport!

 

We had a very relaxing vacation. Since we did not participate in many of the tours, I can not provide any details on those. We mostly enjoy the ship facilities and the hikes. If you can hike, I highly recommend doing these. You see parts of the islands that you would not otherwise. The breezes were always present making exercising in the heat comfortable.

 

I would not hesitate to take a cruise with Seadream again.

[gretchen's mom]

The pictures for Days 4 - 8 did not post with my previous post. Here they are...

[WAO]

Thanks for the great post and glad you had fun. We sail on SDII in three weeks -- cannot wait -- it is our 4th time on SD. We love the ship and crew.

[frequent traveler]

Another thanks for posting. We had a wonderful Christmas on SD 2 last year and agree that the hikes are wonderful. Norman island is one of my favorites, especially if it's "butterfly season". Were the butterflies out in full force yet?

 

FT

[gretchen's mom]

Hi FT...The butterflies were not out in full force but we did see a few. They were very pretty. One butterfly even made its way to the ship and we were very surprised to see it flying around. We heard from another guest that when the butterflies are really in abundance, it is quite the site to see!

[piratelooksat45]

Thanks for the review. We're on SeaDream II in a few weeks...glad to hear the service is as fabulous as we remember.