SeaDream are sailing in Norway

[Scspartan76]

They have updated their blog now: 

Seadream Blog

[JES4845]

9 hours ago, Scspartan76 said:

They have updated their blog now: 

Seadream Blog

 

Thanks for sharing as we hadn’t seen this anywhere yet.  Looks like the global web site is starting to be redesigned as the opening banner now references Norwegian voyages, pending government approval (details of specific voyages beyond the dates in the blog post you linked are not yet posted).  This seems like progress.  The kudos to the crew are well deserved.

 

Hopefully SD will go beyond this largely internal blog post you linked and make wider use of broader distribution channels, such as its email blast lists, Twitter feed and other social media.  

 

You might be able to share your thoughts on how successful the Norwegian trips could be - meaning what is the likely level of demand within Scandinavia for the SD-type experience in the summer months on these itineraries?  Any sense when Norway might open to travel from outside the region?  We were not on SD when they last did the fjords many years ago (though we’ve seen their majestic beauty the one and only time we tried another line - Silversea - which we didn’t care for much.)

 

Thanks again for starting this new thread!

 

[Scspartan76]

Travel agencies in Norway are blasting out stuff about these trips. 

 

Ny agent sent me this photo. 

The least expensive trip starts at 1900USD (19000NOK) per person for a week.

 

Norwegian Governments are hoping to open for the Nordic countries June 15. Maybe more of Europe July 20th.

 

The infections level here are good now,  max 100new cases the last two weeks. One death in 7 days now. 

 

Sports are starting, schools are open.  Country almost back open 

[knotheadusc]

And here I am in Germany, itching to travel.

[Scspartan76]

24 minutes ago, knotheadusc said:

And here I am in Germany, itching to travel.

Germany is on the shortlist to be allowed to Norway in July. They are starting the ferry from Oslo to Kiel June 1st but only for Norwegians.  They can not disembark in Kiel, but it is a start

[knotheadusc]

12 minutes ago, Scspartan76 said:

Germany is on the shortlist to be allowed to Norway in July. They are starting the ferry from Oslo to Kiel June 1st but only for Norwegians.  They can not disembark in Kiel, but it is a start

 

Well... I am American and we kind of have different rules because of our status...  but if it turns out we could visit Norway for that price, I would be all over it.  We went to Norway in 2009 on our very first cruise (RCCL) and that was what turned us on to luxury cruising and small ships. I loved Norway and want to see more... plus we cruised with Norwegians and enjoyed them as a whole!

 

We were in Sweden last year to pick up a car and I didn’t like it as much as I did Norway, although we had fun there, too.

[JES4845]

12 minutes ago, knotheadusc said:

 

Well... I am American and we kind of have different rules because of our status...  but if it turns out we could visit Norway for that price, I would be all over it.  We went to Norway in 2009 on our very first cruise (RCCL) and that was what turned us on to luxury cruising and small ships. I loved Norway and want to see more... plus we cruised with Norwegians and enjoyed them as a whole!

 

We were in Sweden last year to pick up a car and I didn’t like it as much as I did Norway, although we had fun there, too.

 

Will be interesting to see how the pricing holds up ... whether these super low bargain basement prices are very capacity controlled, whether there is an exchange rate issue too, or just what.  Seems awfully low IF this is going to be to the superb level SD has consistently provided over the years.  One issue or angle in that regard is the availability of crew both quantity and most importantly those who know the SD way ... any thoughts/insights???

[ExoticDestinations]

15 hours ago, JES4845 said:

 

Will be interesting to see how the pricing holds up ... whether these super low bargain basement prices are very capacity controlled, whether there is an exchange rate issue too, or just what.  Seems awfully low IF this is going to be to the superb level SD has consistently provided over the years.  One issue or angle in that regard is the availability of crew both quantity and most importantly those who know the SD way ... any thoughts/insights???

Exactly... At $1900, that's $270 per day for Deck two.  If you plus that up for Deck 3 & 4 & the Suites, and with 93 days on this schedule, the most they can hope to make is $3M. 

 

But they'll be discounting the hell out of it to try to get passengers and having to give away cabins to any who had credits. Yet in their best years, their average occupancy was around 75% and these 12 day voyages will have an even lower daily rate.  So $2.5M is maybe the most realistic number? Then pull out operating cost of what, 60%?  Now you are down to $1.15M? 

 

AND they now have to cancel the remaining Med through September. PLUS they have SD2 sitting idle, generating only cost, no income. THEN canceling the much needed drydock/refurbs to reposition both yachts back to the Caribbean only to have half the passengers waiving their 150% credits at them? 

 

No matter how gracious you are with the math, there will be no where near enough to cover all the refund requests payable from February through September. Especially with the Miami office shut down, so no one selling or supporting new bookings or charters in their #1 market.  We can only hope the Owner is pumping money into SD until all the refunds bleed down so they can re-hire sales and refurb both yachts.

[Scspartan76]

4 hours ago, ExoticDestinations said:

Exactly... At $1900, that's $270 per day for Deck two.  If you plus that up for Deck 3 & 4 & the Suites, and with 93 days on this schedule, the most they can hope to make is $3M. 

 

But they'll be discounting the hell out of it to try to get passengers and having to give away cabins to any who had credits. Yet in their best years, their average occupancy was around 75% and these 12 day voyages will have an even lower daily rate.  So $2.5M is maybe the most realistic number? Then pull out operating cost of what, 60%?  Now you are down to $1.15M? 

 

AND they now have to cancel the remaining Med through September. PLUS they have SD2 sitting idle, generating only cost, no income. THEN canceling the much needed drydock/refurbs to reposition both yachts back to the Caribbean only to have half the passengers waiving their 150% credits at them? 

 

No matter how gracious you are with the math, there will be no where near enough to cover all the refund requests payable from February through September. Especially with the Miami office shut down, so no one selling or supporting new bookings or charters in their #1 market.  We can only hope the Owner is pumping money into SD until all the refunds bleed down so they can re-hire sales and refurb both yachts.

I called them today. It is only one voyage that start at 1900usd.  The 12 night sailings start at 3900USD per person. And goes up to 10000usd for the owner suite.  

 

 

The first sailing from Bergen to Oslo is almost sold out according to my TA.  And it is open for sale for Danish as well. 

[ExoticDestinations]

18 hours ago, Scspartan76 said:

I called them today. It is only one voyage that start at 1900usd.  The 12 night sailings start at 3900USD per person. And goes up to 10000usd for the owner suite.  

 

 

The first sailing from Bergen to Oslo is almost sold out according to my TA.  And it is open for sale for Danish as well. 

 

Good Intel! 

 

Should be interesting to see the level of service at this price. Given all the international travel restrictions, are they bringing back the Thai Spa, Philippians or Club staff from the UK or South Africa? 

 

$3900 is a little better.  But 93 days of one ship at perfect 100% full-paying occupancy is still less than $3.4M gross revenue.  And they won't get close to that level of paid occupancy in Norway without more discounting.  So the math still doesn't work out for them unless they get a loan or investors or government protection. 

[JES4845]

1 hour ago, ExoticDestinations said:

 

Good Intel! 

 

Should be interesting to see the level of service at this price. Given all the international travel restrictions, are they bringing back the Thai Spa, Philippians or Club staff from the UK or South Africa? 

 

$3900 is a little better.  But 93 days of one ship at perfect 100% full-paying occupancy is still less than $3.4M gross revenue.  And they won't get close to that level of paid occupancy in Norway without more discounting.  So the math still doesn't work out for them unless they get a loan or investors or government protection. 

 

All good points and questions.  While I’ve been as critical as many here about the lack of communication and slow refunds, I do think owner and company are trying to make the best of a very bad situation not of their making.  Some revenue is better than none, provided of course the cash flow is net positive.  Thankfully the ships didn’t have debt on them before the pandemic - who knows now.

 

Reports are that many of the Filipino waitstaff have been stuck on SD1 and SD2 for months now - since others left from the Caribbean before the crossings - away from their families, not able to leave the ship in port even to take a walk on solid ground, many of whom have friends and family in difficult situations back in the Philippines.  The best of the best in Christophe and Chef Tomasz are or were on SD1.  Apparently if as may be happening the bookings on SD1 for Norway are pretty solid, and demand holds up, SD2 could end up in Norway as well.

 

Fingers crossed that this all works out for the best, especially for the crew and our ability to once again enjoy the SeaDream experience.

 

[Jim Avery]

Just received an attractive email from SD touting the upcoming Norwegian cruises.  Nice pictures and description.....Except nowhere in the email does it mention being restricted to Norwegians.  I guess the intent is to get me to call in and maybe buy some other future speculation.🍸

[ExoticDestinations]

9 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Just received an attractive email from SD touting the upcoming Norwegian cruises.  Nice pictures and description.....Except nowhere in the email does it mention being restricted to Norwegians.  I guess the intent is to get me to call in and maybe buy some other future speculation.🍸

 

Well of course they don't mention that most anyone flying to/from Norway will have to quarantine on both ends of their trip. Not when they might get someone to drop a deposit that they don't have to refund for three to six month.  😞 

 

And check this out: 

• The Norwegian microsite shows SD1 in Norway until 21 September (https://www.seadream.no/). 
• Then look at the global website at:  https://seadream.com/voyages/search/destinations/caribbean-mediterranean/months/9-10-11-12/years/2020/options/none/yachts/seadream1-seadream2. 
  • Shows SD2 accepting online bookings from Venice on 5 September for a "25 day voyage" through Valletta, Nice & Rome through the start of October. 25 days?  Interesting how it is "wait-listed"?
  • And SD1 missing in action until it magically teleports to Marigot on November 7th. 

They obviously can/do update the website.  So why not put the Norwegian voyages on the main site? Just weird. 

 

it all seems like just more of their shenanigans to get/keep money with no sensible communication.  Like in March when they were forcing people to fly to San Juan only to cancel hours before sailing, email blasting about Champagne & Caviar then changing the itinerary, giving crazy discounts to "stay on board" to those already there, and trying to get people to show up in Barbados even if their flights were canceled.  Meanwhile, every other cruise line was adhering to the pandemic guidelines.

[kla203]

Our TA mailed us this offer and with the current exchange rate it's a VERY good price offer. And the 12 days trip is amazing. Danes are now allowed to travel to/from Norway - so it makes sense that this offer now also are in Denmark. 

[JES4845]

6 hours ago, kla203 said:

Our TA mailed us this offer and with the current exchange rate it's a VERY good price offer. And the 12 days trip is amazing. Danes are now allowed to travel to/from Norway - so it makes sense that this offer now also are in Denmark. 

 

Fresh intel this AM ... sales for the new Norwegian voyages must be going well, which is good for all concerned ... SD2 likely to depart Lisbon in a few days, heading to join SD1 in Norway, will also do voyages there starting later in July ... also fresh reports today of refunds being processed to those who elected that option over future credits, which is everyone’s own individual choice based on their circumstances ... fingers crossed for additional positive developments in days and weeks to come ... for SD and all of us for that matter.

 

[JES4845]

UPDATE - SD2 DEPARTED LISBON ABOUT 8 AM EDT USA TIME FOR ROTTERDAM THEN TO NORWAY (source: Marine Traffic app).

[Scspartan76]

Sent  a booking request for Norway sailing yesterday.  Was advised they hade a backlog of  bookings due to extreme demands on the Norway sailings.  One 7 night(20 june) is sold out and 1 of the 12 night is almost full

[JES4845]

15 hours ago, Scspartan76 said:

Sent  a booking request for Norway sailing yesterday.  Was advised they hade a backlog of  bookings due to extreme demands on the Norway sailings.  One 7 night(20 june) is sold out and 1 of the 12 night is almost full

 

Glad to hear about high demand in Norway ... good for refunds to the rest of us and also for the future of SD beyond this summer.  The website now says that SD2 will start Norwegian voyages on June 27, not in July as I had read (misread?) somewhere else.  As I posted on another thread, SD2 left Lisbon yesterday (June 6) and after a technical stop in Rotterdam is due to arrive in Norway on June 11.

 

[Scspartan76]

The way I read Marinetraffic it states Rotterdam June 11. Sd advised me that the funds we paid for Norway sailing is on a secure account until after the voyage departs in case  the virus spikes again

[kla203]

21 hours ago, JES4845 said:

 

Glad to hear about high demand in Norway ... good for refunds to the rest of us and also for the future of SD beyond this summer.  The website now says that SD2 will start Norwegian voyages on June 27, not in July as I had read (misread?) somewhere else.  As I posted on another thread, SD2 left Lisbon yesterday (June 6) and after a technical stop in Rotterdam is due to arrive in Norway on June 11.

 

We booked the 12 days cruise from July 21. Just talked with our TA. There is a run for this offer and 7 days too and TA expect all planned trips to be sold out quickly. Let's hope they are right. 

[JES4845]

On 6/7/2020 at 9:57 AM, Scspartan76 said:

The way I read Marinetraffic it states Rotterdam June 11. Sd advised me that the funds we paid for Norway sailing is on a secure account until after the voyage departs in case  the virus spikes again

 

Yes indeed - thanks for the correction as to the dates.  Marine Traffic does in fact show arrival in Rotterdam on June 11, I mistakenly wrote arrival Norway by then.  Assume Norway several days later.  All good.  Will be interesting to see how many crew will be recalled to work on both ships given demand for the new voyages.  There may be logistical issues getting them to Norway.,  There are also rumors about lower staffing levels, perhaps due to those logistical limits as many SD regular crew are home far away from Norway at present.  We all look forward to reports from those of you closer to the upcoming voyages once they commence.

 

[ExoticDestinations]

On 6/8/2020 at 5:50 AM, kla203 said:

We booked the 12 days cruise from July 21. Just talked with our TA. There is a run for this offer and 7 days too and TA expect all planned trips to be sold out quickly. Let's hope they are right. 

 

I'd have to imagine that a good portion of this Norwegian "demand" are really people cashing in their free voyage.

 

SD has no choice but to throw any voyage possible together to bleed down their 6-7 month backlog of free credits where people didn't ask for a refund. Probably 25%-30% of the cabins will be credits/non-revenue, with the (rest at these highly discounted price).  And that percentage will only go higher once American's and Brit's can travel and the yachts are in more desirable/accessible ports. 

 

Let's hope the Owner make an announcement soon that addresses their long-term viability,  the dry-docks, crew updates, Miami office status, etc.

[JES4845]

30 minutes ago, ExoticDestinations said:

 

I'd have to imagine that a good portion of this Norwegian "demand" are really people cashing in their free voyage.

 

SD has no choice but to throw any voyage possible together to bleed down their 6-7 month backlog of free credits where people didn't ask for a refund. Probably 25%-30% of the cabins will be credits/non-revenue, with the (rest at these highly discounted price).  And that percentage will only go higher once American's and Brit's can travel and the yachts are in more desirable/accessible ports. 

 

Let's hope the Owner make an announcement soon that addresses their long-term viability,  the dry-docks, crew updates, Miami office status, etc.

 

Totally agree as has been said many times by many people over recent months that the owner should have long ago been more forthcoming about those issues you identified above.  The lack of communication and departure of those we had been dealing with in the Miami office pushed us toward refunds over credits.  For the most time since 2008 we now have no future voyages booked when once we had 2-3 per year going two years out.  SD was to be a central part of the retirement travel plan we started only last summer.

 

As to the Norwegian voyages this summer, I tend to doubt many of those going are using up credits.  Only those who reside in Norway and Denmark can get on them, for now anyway, and the voyages booked up fast as they like the rest of us are eager for a vacation.  While we’ve had past SD voyages with good folks from Norway and Denmark, the numbers were very low.  It seems highly unlikely that a lot of the credits SD issued for cancelled voyages due to the virus went to folks in those two countries.  Jealous they now get to sail.  The real question is what kind of SD experience will be offered.  Based on intel that all the usual crew are not being recalled to work, it seems for now like voyages will have far fewer crew to take care of guests.

 

[JES4845]

Nice to see SD1 and SD2 together today in Oslo ...

 

[Jim Avery]

Looks like they had great weather.  Good for SeaDream.  

 

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