SDI - Jan. 11 sailing from San Juan

[Dave Stuart]

I sure hope SD takes this seriously and understands how people who so loved their lines are disappointed and disgusted.

 

Message to SD: Give us hope. Address these concerns.

[travelbysuzanne]

Thanks JNJATSeA for the review. You posted this on the January 11 forum, so by this I am understanding that they offered the advance 35% plus discount for January 4 and 11 sailings as well? I'm curious as to why? Did your sailing also miss ports, is that why the discount? And it sounds like from your "salad spinner" comments that the Jan 11 week was also rough sailing?

 

 

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[JNJATSEA]

Suzanne,

 

We were sent an email [ see JANIEAB post ] on Dec 24th for the expected problems on the Jan 4 - 11th cruise due to "maintenance" - the discount was 35% & 15% on all future SD cruise bookings - we booked 3 but are unsure if we will hold them since the SD mgmt. has not responded to any requests. We left the ship in San Juan. How was the cruise Jan 11 - 18th?

[cabosal]

Now that SD I is back in the Islands and the daily cruises are shorter, lets see how SD copes with there problems on SD I . Lets hope the repairs get done and all us loyal Sea Dreamers can go back and enjoy the cruise's.

I for one understand that with all the great service I've received on the 5 trips we've taken on SD, thats its hard to believe they would risk all the good will they have built up over all the years.

Let's all take a deep breath and enjoy another cup of coffee or whatever tickles your fancy

Please SD cruisers that go on a cruse please give us a shout, I'm on board for March 20-29th cruise

Is the internet not working on board or we have no on board passengers reporting on there cruise

Thanks and lets all relax and wait and see what transpire. :)

[commodoredave]

To all SD lovers,

 

Having sailed SD2 20+ voyages, our first on SD1 and the old and elegant Sea Goddess prior to Cunard destroying them.... we are very familiar to the excellent product SD is capable of.

 

The SD1 voyage was unlike anything we can remember. Fond memories of the original "cross-over" cruise when Mr. Brynstad and his team when they purchased Sea Goddess from Cunard.....we were on that sailing - crew was stressed, food atypically mediocre but the memories of the birth of a new line, the new spa, the absence of the green astroturf on the upper decks, the loss of the sauna wrapped around the funnel, real candles in the dining room, whote gloved service at the jacuzzi at 2am....how decadent, now all but a memory albeit a fine one!

 

As JANIEAB & JES4845 have stated, it is perplexing why management has all but ignored any questions, complaints, compliments etc. It was my understanding that Pamela Connover [ the brainchild of Seabourn ] left after only 9 months with SD. All executive decisions were moved to Oslo and Mr. Bynstad's office. An email to Bob Lepisto, "who was the easiest CEO to talk to and had lightning fast email responses" went unanswered.

 

Now to my cruise review:

 

Ship was lovely and felt as it always has an elegant ship without all the people, changes of fabric or bedding, a little worn here and there, but who was to complain - the crew & officers easily made up for the lack of glitz and glam of bigger ships.

 

Pierre & Ennis worked their magic during the "salad spinner" week we were aboard, the Captain "I forget his name" was courteous, though affected by his need to leave the ship and go home to Spain to work on his sports cars, the new Captain " I forget his name also" all but hid somewhere on the ship, engaging nobody in conversation waiting with baited breath for us all to disembark in San Juan.

 

Any conversation about the "engine issue" with the other officers was returned with an abrubt change is conversation [ full stop ]

 

The best part of SD1: the spa services, the crews eager desire to try to fix the mess of management with good food and an eager desire to please.

 

The middle ground: the seemingly lack of crew in other areas, I even tried to find out if there were indeed 95 crew on the ship ... dining room waiters seemed stretched, housekeepers overworked and bar staff with little or no knowledge of mixology. Asking for a San Pellegrino often was often met with a glass of Pinot Grigio or a Manhattan met with a Gin Martini, a scotch whiskey with a bourbon, all delivered with love and care and a desire to please - language may be an issue and I am certainly patient, I guess this is simply a training issue or my lack of the use of the english language.

 

The opposite end of the spectrum [ at least for me ] was the bottom of the barrel wines and standard liquor on offer. Crane Lake Merlot [ purchased this for my staff party and was $3.50 a bottle at BevMo ] an Albarinho form Spain that was listed as a below 70 point wine for $4.40 a bottle at Vons, Absolute Vodka and Johnny Walker Red Label was the best available, mind you Grey Goose could be had for $10.00 and ounce [ the 4 seasons hotel in NYC for $20.00 throws in a silver platter with enough fixings it could be called a "light lunch" ] SD website calls this "five star offerings" ...

[ Open Bar with selected premium brands ]

 

The quandary: 3 half kilograms of Caviar [ at NYC prices a whopping $7,500.00 at the low end ] spooned out over the course of 6 days, lovely and very expensive - perhaps this $$$ could have benefited the bars and menus in a more positive way. I am a fan of caviar and love every spoon, though, times have changed .... move with the groove, buy USA caviar or import perfect smoked salmon, King Crab legs on every lunch buffet, filet/rib steak instead of strip loin....

 

The bottom line: no more room service of anything hot, the lack of the little things that we all loved about SD [ an engaging Captain, an open bridge, an unexpected stop at an unexpected port due to poor weather the day of arrival, a head office that sends more than a chain letter to concerned guests many of whom were the bread and butter of this line in its infancy

 

Indeed, it seems as though and dare I say it, SD is in financial turmoil [ maybe its the caviar ] or being run by an owner who has lost his way?

 

The 15% plus 35% discount on future cruises was a nice offer, however, that discount is now being calculated at 35% and then 15% which is in fact only 43%. SD Club director, a hard working, eager & courteous young fellow named Garreth, had his hands tied trying to get answers from that "black hole" known as head office. Our future cruises we tried to book on-board are still unconfirmed and perpetual requests go unanswered, none the fault of this young man.

 

------

 

It is with a heavy heart that we will bid farewell to Christophe, Pierre, Ennis, Werner and all those other very special people that we have grown to love over our many years with SD 1 & 2. The fond and funny memories like the day we were in NYC on SD and Ivana Trump visited the ship and fell out of the hammock that was once on the "top deck", all that blond hair and makeup face down on the teak decking....a media nightmare but a fond memory for a nobody like myself or Mr. Brynstad engaging guests with his beautiful wife and 2 very well behaved children, asking what SD could do better than what Cunard has so undone. I felt "listened to" if that is the correct grammar?

 

The new Seabourn Sisters, Odyssey, Sojourn, Quest will be our new home at sea....at least until SD figures themselves out and management can step up to the plate & take some responsibility for their companies promises.

 

Having just completed a 14 day Seabourn Legend trip, these little ones have their own issues too [ on the Seabourn forum ]

 

Engines break, things fall apart, management changes... we get that - but this indignant silence is unacceptable.

 

If SD does come to the plate or builds a new hull...we will be back in a nano-second because after all "its the people that make the company and that company the experience"!

 

JNJATSEA

 

Could not have said it better. We too will be sailing elsewhere until Oslo learns not to take its patrons for granted and starts to communicate.

[JES4845]

Agreed. Sadly the long posting above confirmed our concerns. Coming from someone with so many voyages if this doesn't get attention then nothing will do so. Our last deposit has now been refunded following the remaining cancelation so we are in the clear in terms of reducing our financial exposure to zero as we move on.

[Jim Avery]

JNJATSEA,

Thanks for your review. I found it interesting that the officers would not speak to the engine issue. In Costa Rica they were very forthcoming about the issue. Yes one is broken, yes it is the crankshaft, yes we are working on it, and yes it will be fixed. Now that upper management has stifled the heretofore communication by those on board, it lets us here use our collective creative minds to come up with things.:eek::D

[CDreamer]

Yes, thank you JNJATSEA for taking the time to post such a detailed review of your recent experience on board - especially since you obviously have a long, dedicated history of cruising with SD, as many of us have (to some degree) up to this point.

 

A relative of mine, also a SD lover, has a cruise booked on SD1 after the crossing and has tried - through his travel agent - to get some sort of "official" word from Miami re: the engine repair and when it is scheduled to take place... but so far, nothing. :confused:

 

So these first hand reports do help to at least shed some light as to whether anything is being said by staff, addressed (like honoring future booking discounts that were promised in writing), or even fixed (the crankshaft) while passengers are on board.

 

Since Miami doesn't seem to be forthcoming in shedding any light on things this appears to be the only way to get any info right now.

[JNJATSEA]

I am just letting you all know that my letter of late was sent to Thomas Carlson, VP Hotel Operations in Oslo. Will let you know what comes from it

 

J

[commodoredave]

I am just letting you all know that my letter of late was sent to Thomas Carlson, VP Hotel Operations in Oslo. Will let you know what comes from it

 

J

 

Thanks. I look forward to hearing the response.

[goRRRdon]

I too am appreciative of your posting JANJATSEA.

[janieab]

First thank you for all of those who posted reviews from the Jan 4 2014 sailing, just by reading the reviews it simple to see there were and are problems. Personally I think the "chicken little" is an attempt at intimidation but a stupid one, this is an open forum and "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me" So Chicken Little, run home to Mama.

 

Seadream did not deliver on peoples dreams, NOT everyone on this boat had sailed 19 or 20 times, some had worked and saved very hard to experience all the positive things that were advertised in the brochure and reviewed right here. champagne and caviar in the Ocean blue, bbq on the beach, un chartered ports, movies under the stairs, room service, toys from the back deck etc. Some people were on their last trips, never to repeated. The shame of it, Oslo or Miami knew on NOV 9 (six + weeks) that this boat would not operate as sold, they owed it to their clients to tell the truth. It is pure fraud to wait until all cancellation penalties have passed before say oh, by the way we blew an engine way back when, that is not what the contract says, Yes, the service was good, could of been better, staff was pretty stressed during our boarding in Colon. We will never get these days back, everyone I met made the best of it, well except for the karaoke entrainment from ships doctor..PLEASE they promised a guitar player. I met wonderful people, came with great friends and experienced an adventure I had not bargained for. Its not what I paid for! The fact the the cruise line line reneged on its offer is another fraud by the line, something is not right, the crew knew it, many post know it and who knows may Chicken Little knows it...maybe we need to listen before the big bad wolf comes. We got a second letter apolgizing for the confusion?? it stated that the boat was sea worthy and had been verified by the coast guard in San Juan..of course first time since Nov 9 that we were in San Juan was Jan 11th. Were we sea worthy 1000 mile open sea....I think we were lucky, None met the new Captain but we all remember him saying "port cancelled due to high and dangerous seas.........

[Jim Avery]

First thank you for all of those who posted reviews from the Jan 4 2014 sailing, just by reading the reviews it simple to see there were and are problems. Personally I think the "chicken little" is an attempt at intimidation but a stupid one, this is an open forum and "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me" So Chicken Little, run home to Mama.

 

Seadream did not deliver on peoples dreams, NOT everyone on this boat had sailed 19 or 20 times, some had worked and saved very hard to experience all the positive things that were advertised in the brochure and reviewed right here. champagne and caviar in the Ocean blue, bbq on the beach, un chartered ports, movies under the stairs, room service, toys from the back deck etc. Some people were on their last trips, never to repeated. The shame of it, Oslo or Miami knew on NOV 9 (six + weeks) that this boat would not operate as sold, they owed it to their clients to tell the truth. It is pure fraud to wait until all cancellation penalties have passed before say oh, by the way we blew an engine way back when, that is not what the contract says, Yes, the service was good, could of been better, staff was pretty stressed during our boarding in Colon. We will never get these days back, everyone I met made the best of it, well except for the karaoke entrainment from ships doctor..PLEASE they promised a guitar player. I met wonderful people, came with great friends and experienced an adventure I had not bargained for. Its not what I paid for! The fact the the cruise line line reneged on its offer is another fraud by the line, something is not right, the crew knew it, many post know it and who knows may Chicken Little knows it...maybe we need to listen before the big bad wolf comes. We got a second letter apolgizing for the confusion?? it stated that the boat was sea worthy and had been verified by the coast guard in San Juan..of course first time since Nov 9 that we were in San Juan was Jan 11th. Were we sea worthy 1000 mile open sea....I think we were lucky, None met the new Captain but we all remember him saying "port cancelled due to high and dangerous seas.........

 

janieab, I continue to be amazed at the events of this voyage as recounted here. On my voyages on SD, I have always met a few attorneys. I suspect we have not heard the last of the Panama/San Juan voyage.

[WAO]

Glad to report that we had a great time on the January 11 sailing. The engine problem didn't affect any of the ship's planned stops given the short distance between islands. The only effect was an inability to dine outside as often as we like since the ship had to get underway each evening before dinner to ensure arrival at the scheduled port. The ship's staff did a great job all week. We heard stories about the rough January 4-11 voyage but had none of the negative experiences during our week.

 

Met lots of new friends and the weather was perfect. Thanks SD!

[orchard hill]

I will concur with WAO, the engine problem wasn't an issue on our voyage. We had a wonderful time and were treated to unsurpassed service.