SD1 Nov 29 -just disembarked

Just disembarked from SD1 in St Thomas this morning.

What a great trip!

93 passengers, most SD returning, several had sailed 15 or more voyages. (Heard SD2 had 63 on board).

A group of 12 or so from Texas, smaller group from Portland, OR and large group of friends and acquaintances who were with a fellow from Surrey. Several of that group were also staying aboard for a second week and would comprise a group of 36 couples this week who were with the fellow from Surrey

- a/c worked well under sail, not as well when anchored, but had a fan delivered to room. No soot :)

Itinerary was very good

From San Juan went to Culebrita, small uninhibited island in the am and Esperanza, Vieques in the evening for a nighttime "illuminescent bio bay" tour. (Not to be taken if moon is in bright stage, as not much to see unfortunately....)

Day 2 - Saba DWI - unspoilt, very hilly, picturesque and tidy island, 1500 inhabitants. Good diving but no beaches. Docked in St Barth's overnight that night.

Day 3 - in St Barth's was joined by SD2 for the day and could tour that ship too.

Day 4 - Anegada, BVI - 8 mile long flat island with brilliant unspoilt white sand beaches and a few fun beach bars. Huge lobsters thrive around this coral island and each beach bar offered lobster lunch/dinner. I think 400 or so inhabitants. Sand roads, very little commercialism.

Day 5 - Virgin Gorda - The Baths in the morning and as the ship repositioned to North Sound in the afternoon, we took an open air taxi across the peak of the island and were tendered to Bitter End Yacht Club in the afternoon before heading to White Bay, Jost van Dyke BVI. SD2 joined us that night and many crew and passengers from both ships danced the night way at Foxy's where tenders ran from 9pm-1am.

Day 6 - White Bay, Jost van Dyke for the champagne splash in a private beach area next door to One Love bar and Soggy Dollar, great BBQ lunch and paddleboarding, etc

Day 7 - off at St Thomas.

Food was great, staff was great, passenger mix was good with a lot of fun, friendly people. Average age was lower and energy level was much higher than our Regent Seven Seas cruises!

Captain Bjarne S. was around a fair bit and was well liked by the passengers.

Loved meeting Francisco and Gabor, bar tenders. Brian, Tomaslav and Silvio at meals. Garth cruise director and Nick activities director.

If anyone has questions or wants to see pictures let me know!

Just disembarked from SD1 in St Thomas this morning.

What a great trip!

93 passengers, most SD returning, several had sailed 15 or more voyages. (Heard SD2 had 63 on board).

A group of 12 or so from Texas, smaller group from Portland, OR and large group of friends and acquaintances who were with a fellow from Surrey. Several of that group were also staying aboard for a second week and would comprise a group of 36 couples this week who were with the fellow from Surrey

- a/c worked well under sail, not as well when anchored, but had a fan delivered to room. No soot :)

Itinerary was very good

From San Juan went to Culebrita, small uninhibited island in the am and Esperanza, Vieques in the evening for a nighttime "illuminescent bio bay" tour. (Not to be taken if moon is in bright stage, as not much to see unfortunately....)

Day 2 - Saba DWI - unspoilt, very hilly, picturesque and tidy island, 1500 inhabitants. Good diving but no beaches. Docked in St Barth's overnight that night.

Day 3 - in St Barth's was joined by SD2 for the day and could tour that ship too.

Day 4 - Anegada, BVI - 8 mile long flat island with brilliant unspoilt white sand beaches and a few fun beach bars. Huge lobsters thrive around this coral island and each beach bar offered lobster lunch/dinner. I think 400 or so inhabitants. Sand roads, very little commercialism.

Day 5 - Virgin Gorda - The Baths in the morning and as the ship repositioned to North Sound in the afternoon, we took an open air taxi across the peak of the island and were tendered to Bitter End Yacht Club in the afternoon before heading to White Bay, Jost van Dyke BVI. SD2 joined us that night and many crew and passengers from both ships danced the night way at Foxy's where tenders ran from 9pm-1am.

Day 6 - White Bay, Jost van Dyke for the champagne splash in a private beach area next door to One Love bar and Soggy Dollar, great BBQ lunch and paddleboarding, etc

Day 7 - off at St Thomas.

Food was great, staff was great, passenger mix was good with a lot of fun, friendly people. Average age was lower and energy level was much higher than our Regent Seven Seas cruises!

Captain Bjarne S. was around a fair bit and was well liked by the passengers.

Loved meeting Francisco and Gabor, bar tenders. Brian, Tomaslav and Silvio at meals. Garth cruise director and Nick activities director.

If anyone has questions or wants to see pictures let me know!

Pictures, pictures, yes !

Thanks soooooo much for report....a lot of people will be very happy.

Great stuff.

Well done SD.

So glad that you had a great trip. Sounds like the way SD is suppose to do the Caribbean is what you got! So glad to hear the air conditioning was mostly fixed and there was no soot! Would love pictures too! Thanks for your report!

popper: Thank you for posting so quickly! Very glad to hear you had a great time and the ship sounds to be in good form.

We sail on SD I Jan. 17, visiting several of the same islands. Any pictures would be very welcome, and highlights of any particular meals or activities on the ship would be much appreciated.

popper: Thank you for posting so quickly! Very glad to hear you had a great time and the ship sounds to be in good form.

 

We sail on SD I Jan. 17, visiting several of the same islands. Any pictures would be very welcome, and highlights of any particular meals or activities on the ship would be much appreciated.

Happy to share our activities. Which islands do we have in common?

POPPER

Like Cortesefam, my wife and I are also sailing on SD1 on the 17th of Jan and it is our first cruise on Seadream.

Any tips, pics and info would be most welcome.

Islands in common - Saba, St Barts and Virgin Gorda

Is it typical now to find large groups of affiliated passengers on the cruises?

Is it typical now to find large groups of affiliated passengers on the cruises?

My take: Typical - No; Unusual - No. Of course, this depends on how one defines "large" but assuming you mean a group larger than 3-4 couples traveling together that's my reaction to your question.

Link below to 40+ pics of Nov 29 SD1 cruise.... You will need to login to Snapfish to view

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/fe/l=en_US/p/Organizer/AlbumID=8665371015/a=7342393_7342393/s_c=3/s_mvm=NAP/s_ev20=comcast_migrated_acct/s_se=FDR/s_pt=REP,PRE/s_cmpg=comcast_migrated_acct#state=%7B%22pl%22%3A%7B%22uc%22%3A2%2C%22aid%22%3A8665371015%2C%22vp%22%3A%22g%22%2C%22sb%22%3A5%7D%2C%22ovm%22%3A%7B%22v%22%3A%22s%22%7D%7D

popper: Thank you for posting pictures! I tried the link and logged on to Snapfish (we use it to make Christmas cards and calendars) but was unable to access your photos--is there a specific file name or further link on the site?

Thanks

popper: Thank you for posting pictures! I tried the link and logged on to Snapfish (we use it to make Christmas cards and calendars) but was unable to access your photos--is there a specific file name or further link on the site?

 

Thanks

try this link instead:

http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/shareereg/p=3845171418858733907/l=13608681015/g=7342393/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/retusr=true/pns/snapfish/share/p=3845171418858733907/l=13608681015/g=7342393/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/retusr=true

popper: The link worked perfectly--really enjoyed the pictures. Looks like you had good weather and lots of chances to get into the water.

Did you take any of the ship sponsored excursions for snorkeling? While we mostly will be happy to hang out in the sun, we hope to snorkel at a couple of stops.

Any advice most welcome--we're counting the days till we fly to St. Thomas--29 to go!

Thanks

try this link instead:

http://www.snapfish.com/snapfish/shareereg/p=3845171418858733907/l=13608681015/g=7342393/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/retusr=true/pns/snapfish/share/p=3845171418858733907/l=13608681015/g=7342393/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER/retusr=true

Great job popper !

Maybe you have inspired others to post their photos......let's hope so.

popper: The link worked perfectly--really enjoyed the pictures. Looks like you had good weather and lots of chances to get into the water.

 

Did you take any of the ship sponsored excursions for snorkeling? While we mostly will be happy to hang out in the sun, we hope to snorkel at a couple of stops.

 

Any advice most welcome--we're counting the days till we fly to St. Thomas--29 to go!

 

Thanks

We snorkeled right off the beach at Culabreta, equipment was available from the ship on most days. Others used it in Anegada, The Baths and White Bay. We didn't pay for a snorkeling excursion, but those that did The Dogs excursion in Jost van Dyke said it was very good. Heard from others that the Blue Cat excursion in St Barth's was a very big disappointment as they did not get the catamaran described, but a small Zodiac that was cramped with 7 people aboard and went to a site not far from where we were anchored. They asked for their money back. (We actually saw the Blue Cat leave with a full capacity group of Thomson Celebration passengers, so must of been a booking mix up) .