A review of our current SeaDream II experience

[EuropeCruiser73]

Hi,

 

as you might have seen from my other thread, I just have been on a 7 day cruise on SD2 from Venice to Dubrovnik and we had an absolutely fabulous experience. We have been on SD ten years ago but have used other lines in the meantime, mostly because of our kids. This summer, we took the decision to take another Sea Dream cruise and we also took our kids on board (yes, I know).  Both decisions turned out to be absolutely wonderful.

This cruise left from Venice, then down the Adriatic cost ending up in Dubrovnik.

Boarding in Venice
We stayed at the Hilton Molino Stucky prior to the cruise. And last Saturday, I literally woke up to seeing the boat pass by on the canal right in front of our window. SeaDream was using the Marittima terminal in Venice which basically has been build for large cruise ships (which subsequently have been banned from the City proper). We took a water taxi from the hotel and arrived directly at the pier to be welcomed by SD shore representatives who quickly took our luggage and showed us the way to the terminal entrance. We were basically the only people around and it was super relaxed.

In the terminal, they took our temperature and the we proceeded into the medical waiting area, where the ship's doctor and nurse took all of our documentation and then performed a rapid antigen test. I was a bit concerned about this prior to the cruise but it turned out to be a non-issue. The test was performed in the upper nasal area but very softly and also quite quickly. We then had to wait 15 minutes in another waiting area to be cleared to board.

At this time we learned two things about our upcoming cruise:

• First of all, that it was extremly lightly booked. In fact there were a total of 30 guest on board. So we had a crew-to-guest ratio of 3-1. Wow!  (We have learned that the next voyages are better booked. Seemed that we just got lucky.)
• Second, that the Italian government has been very unclear on regulations and therefore it could be the case that no independent disembarkation could be done in the port of Trieste - only group shore excursions organized by the boat. Therefore they decided to replace the port of Trieste with the Slovenian port of Koper, giving us more options to explore on our own. A decision that I really appreciate and that demonstrates the flexibility a small vessel has to react to these circumstances.
  

Well, that was basically the entire boarding process. Just hopping on board, getting our carry on luggage sprayed by a fancy space gun for disinfection, handing over the credit card for charges and then the fun began.

Everyone so far has been extremly friendly, positive and we felt genuinely happy to be on board.

Time to explore our new cabins since the boat is relatively fresh out of dry dock.

-- to be continued ---

[kbwinn]

Thank you for the report, can’t wait for Part II!

 

[EuropeCruiser73]

Time to explore our cabins. For this trip we had two cabins on deck 2. The ship has been in dry dock earlier this year and the cabins have been remodelled. They now feature a modern, clean nordic style with light wood, new carpets and a gray curtain that is separating the sleeping area from the sofa area. I think the new design is really looking fresh and very good.

 

They also solved the issue regarding the lack of power outlets. There are now something like 4 real power outlets in European format, 4 in US format and there are two dedicated USB outlets featuring a USB-A and a USB-C connection each. This means that you can charge your mobile phone directly from the outlet (using your own cable, of course).

 

The TV / entertainment system also has been upgraded and now features what feels like 100+ movies to be streamed on demand. It also can show you the daily program which is not available on paper any more but just on the TV. Not sure I like this paperless version, but the program is largely the same day-over-day so that you don't really need to consult it a lot. 

The bathroom area seemed not to be touched by the remodelling, and it is still looking very good. The only change that I noticed there is that the Bvlgari amenities have been replaced by wall mounted Elm cosmetic dispensers. Elm is a Norwegian vegan cosmetic brand. While it is great to have the vegan, organic and cruelty-free cosmetics option I have to say that even after a 10 year break from SeaDream I still remember the smell of the Bvlgari shower gel and associate it with great vacations. The Elm smell did not evoke the same emotions for me (yet). Let's see where this is going, but our stateroom stewardess told me that they still have some limited Bvlgari cosmetics and she delivered some to our room one day.

So overall, we were really happy with the cabin. Not that we planned to spend a lot of time in it, but if you do, you certainly have a very fresh, modern and cosy place to retire. Ah, and the bed was very good as well.

 

-- to be continued --

[TrapperZimmy]

Just one question about the electrical outlets.  Do they now have one next to the bed?  The only issue I have had with outlets has been having to run an extension cord for my CPAP machine from the nightstand to the other side of the room, and taping it down.

[ronrick1943]

Sounds good so far, SD really is a nice cruise—don’t think you can beat the service-to us that’s what cruising is a about.

[cabosal1]

We are booked on SD for January, but have some questions for you current SD cruisers. Are wearing masks required?  Are you spaced far apart at dinner, in the pool, at the bar?  Are you being Covid tested?  Caviar Splash?  Are all passengers and crew vaccinated? Did you get into all your stops?  Bubble excursions? 

On our June cruise (Windstar) where all passengers had to be vaccinated, we were informed two days before embarkation, that we "probably" would be missing most of our stops due to some crew members being un-vaccinated (we were previously promised that they were).  We missed ALL stops (St.Barts, Anguilla, Antigua, BVI's). Nevertheless, we did go (plane tickets, you know), it was eventually mostly free, but circling the ocean was not our idea of a Caribbean cruise.  Needless to say, we are getting antsy about this January's itinerary.    

[EuropeCruiser73]

Hi,

 

I can share from our recent cruise:

 

The COVID protocols have been followed quite exhaustively: All crew members and all adult passengers had to be vaccinated and tested. For us passengers it meant that upon arrival at the port, they took our temperature, performed a medical screening through a questionnaire and then performed antigen tests on us all. This tests is actually repeated on board, and on top of that the temperature is being checked with a machine basically daily.

On board masks where not required when eating, drinking, swimming or sunbathing. It is really difficult to envision an activity that does not consist of the above four topics, so it felt to me as if we did not have to wear a mask during the day at all. The vessel is large enough and allows enough outdoor spots for all passengers to be comfortably seated outside with sufficient distance. Almost the only time I remember having to wear a mask was in the terminal buildings, during tender operations or while getting the antigen testing performed.

 

"Spacing" in the pool was not really required and neither was it required for swimming in the sea through the marina deck.

We did not miss any of our ports, and all of our stops did allow passengers to disembark independently. In fact we had one stop scheduled in Italy (Trieste) that they replaced with a stop in Slowenia (Koper), because Italy was only allowing bubble group excursions at that time. So SD proactively rerouted us to have better choices of things to do. 

 

In this cruise we visited Italy, Slovenia and Croatia and all three countries do not require masks outside. They do require masks in closed environments such as shops, terminals, etc. 

Hope that helps!