Micro Review Sea Dream 1 - June 4th to June 18th '05

Hi. Well, here is my (lazy) attempt at a review. I'm much more apt to respond to questions than submit a full on review. Therefore, my psuedo review is in the form of a group email we sent out to new friends made on the Sea Dream in the first week of our back to back.

Hi Everyone - Well, here we are, back in the land of the working. This trip was a hard one to come home from. We had a most excellent time, particularly the first week. We really enjoyed your company. The second week saw more family groups, including one of twenty eight people. They were very well behaved, but they kept to themselves mostly. Even though we were still around good people, the ship had a completely different dynamic to it. Our week together was certainly more social. The crew were still talking about how much fun it was to the new passengers. The following week we actually watched DVDs and relaxed most evenings. Unlike the first week, the Top of the Yacht Bar was very quiet after most dinners. At least it provided us some rest. I managed to gain a couple of pounds with even all the walking we did, but they never did get the vegetarian thing right for Laurie. The waiters were still concerned, but Jimmy and the chef seemed to shy away from the situation after a couple of half hearted attempts. Next time, Laurie's bringing along some of her own food for them to cook. The Italian ports we visited were something else. Lots of beauty and color. We met a couple from Massachusetts who took a shining to us and invited us on a private excursion up the Amalfi coast out of Positano. That was spectacular. Overall, a terrific vacation with awesome people. We plan on doing a similiar trip sometime in 2007. Hopefully in the Croatia and Greece area. 2006 will see us in Barbados and Santa Barbara. Who knows, maybe some of you will be interested as well. Until then, take care and please keep in touch - Gary & Laurie

P.S. - Thanks Mair for your aftercruise taxi advise. We called a cab off the ship and it only cost us 23 euros to the Village of Eze. Had we booked it through Sea Dream, it would have cost 220 euros. Go figure.

It's been brought to my attention that I should have thanked Mr Helenlilhaynes for the taxi tip. Thanks Vinny.

Thanks for the review P55.

To what, other than the group of 28, do you attribute the difference in the "vibe" between the two weeks?

Hi DisneyJen - It wasn't only the large group that influenced the "vibe". You add in the other family groups, and they account for almost half of the passengers. The first week were mostly comprised of couples with a median age in the forties. They were a much more interactive group. Before we even left Nice, we had already begun to establish several friendships. Upon departing Civitavecchia, people were much more clustered in their groups, be it couples or larger. And that dynamic prevailed through out the week. I'm not saying that there wasn't any interaction happening, just on a much smaller scale. The only public area that saw an increase in personal was the main lounge when they showed the movies. They certainly weren't at the Top of the Yacht bar most evenings. I'm sure Helenlilhaynes and Vance would agree with me on this. We did have an oppurtunity to get to know them better the second week which was a positive aspect socially on this leg. Overall, it was two completely different weeks. We had a good time the second week, but the best memories will be of the first one. Would we sail Sea Dream again knowing the variables when it comes to passenger makeup...yes. Would we sail on her more if we knew that the client base were more inline with their marketing....at least twice as much.

Interesting observations P55.

We found on our December 04 cruise that folks were clustered more by nationalities ... We had an interesting mix of Swedes/Norwegians, Australians, South American and American. We enjoyed meeting them all and tended to spend time with our new Swede/Norwegian and Australian friends.

Age-wise I would say our cruise saw a median age in the 50s, but all of them were young at heart.

Would we sail Sea Dream again knowing the variables when it comes to passenger makeup...yes. Would we sail on her more if we knew that the client base were more inline with their marketing....at least twice as much.

I agree with you 100 percent! I am going into our November 05 cruise with a different set of expectations than I did the first time.

Well P55 you spent two weeks with me on SD1 and you think I am a Mr!?!....(see above)...I will assume it was a typo....if not you're in big trouble...

Anyway I agree about the two weeks being so different...the first week was much more lively and interactive and the two disco parties on top deck were great...and as you said everyone met at the top of the yacht bar after dinner for coffee and liqueurs and good conversation....we were lucky to get to bed by 2.00pm and we left others still up there...

The second week the mix was different..yes the group did effect the dynamics ..but those in the group that did mix were great and explained about the family get together...I also think they would have liked to mix more but as it was a family occasion they felt they had to stay together....also I think there were less nationalities the second week...we lost the european contingent apart from us brits who stayed on for the 2nd week...6 of us....and a lot of the americans were in groups of 4... so again had no real need to join others for company...consequently there were daily greetings and light conversations but not the interchange of people meeting up for lunch and dinner that had happened the week before...on the plus side however it was more restful and I did catch up on my beauty sleep..in bed by 11.00pm most nights as the top bar was deserted...and I did get to know P55 and Laurie better.

This trip was special as we wanted to see as much of the French and Italian Riviera's as possible...but on the whole I think in future we will cruise for just one week and take the other week on a beach either before or after...the hardest thing was saying goodbye to new friends after the first week and then having to start the process all over again in the second week...we were lucky that 8 of us from the first week stayed on board so it made it easier and of course we knew the crew really well by then...but there wasn't that excitement of meeting your fellow guests for the first time...

xxH

I think hh and p55 described the second week perfectly, the vast majority of cruisers came aboard as a small group of 4 or 6...we were with our best friends in the world who we've known for twenty years but only get to see once or twice a year so we spent most of our time with them, and especially all of our off ship time and evening dining....but I think the two weeks exhibit the best in cruising, you never really know what will happen and especially on a small ship like sd anything can happen from j avery's kids from hell trip to hh and p55 all out fun first week to the relative staid second week, that adds an element to crusing that you really can not get from any other vacation, our five cruises have all been different...but we have enjoyed them all....I know that hh and p55 will never have a bad cruise, they made the best of the second week after what sounded like a rousing first week

and they just happen to be the type of people that are warm and everyone would like on any cruise

...we met some people a little different from that and they may not have enjoyed themselves as much as they should...reap what you sow, I think they say

Anyway I will say that boards like this are fun, connecting passengers beforehand...it was great knowing that hh was going to be there warmiing the ship up for us and knowing p55 was a nash/suns fan added to that build up that I always enjoy....

Hi Helen...you know, Mr Helenlilhaynes...that cheeky chap that was hanging around you.