Exeriences with shore excursions on Seadream?

Hi all

I wanted to get some feedback from you all about your experiences with shore excursions on SeaDream.

Do you normally book them before you embark? I've never done that before... worried about things getting cancelled if there are insufficient numbers, etc.

Do you think the excursions offered on SeaDream stack up to other lines? Great experiences and awful ones?

Love to hear what you've all done, loved, hated, and any recommendations or tips.

Thanks

Shaskelly

:)

Seadream's shore experiences are generally different from other lines, in that they are essentially for very active people who enjoy hiking, biking etc. IMO they are expensive. I think the SD equivalent of Cruise Director is an Activities Director; youngish and athletic. If this is what you like, you will enjoy them. However, I have not been on SD for several years; things may have changed.

We've done excursions on SeaDream and have always enjoyed them. I'm lazy on vacation so most of the ones we've chosen have been "non-active" excursions. I think it all depends if you like structure. We usually take an excursion if it sounds really interesting or fun and it doesn't seem like it would be something we could easily do on our own.

I forgot to answer you question about booking online. We've always booked onboard. There have been some times when they've cancelled because of too few participants. But each night during cocktail hours the activity director will usually mention which excursion hasn't hit the limit, and usually has good success in getting others to join up.

Not sure if you can book online. We just book onboard and have never had problems getting the ones we want. They are pricey but the ones we have done were well done and worth it.

While not a paid excursion, one free excursion that can fill quickly in some ports is a bike ride with the captain, there are 10 bikes and first come first served so speak up when you get on board to make sure you have a spot if interested.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Some of the "crew shore side casuals" are more active -- bike rides with the captain, hikes, etc. The "regular" shore excursions are much "quieter". If you look at other up-scale lines (Regent, Silverseas, etc.), they all tend to have the same type of excursions and use the same vendors, although I know SD has certain ones they really like. The only time I've known SD to let you book in advance was about three years ago -- otherwise, it is on board. Yes, some get cancelled because of not enough numbers. And one tour can get different reviews; e.g. on a tour in Croatia last year, two groups did the same tour -- one loved it and the other hated it -- all because of the tour directors on each of the different buses! So - sometimes it's a roll of the dice. But our experiences have generally always been positive and I would rather take most of the SD tours than risk one on my own -- unless we're just going to wander around town. Would rather have it SD's responsibility if we are late -- get lost -- have mechanical trouble, etc.

Hope this helps!

Vandrefalk

We just completed our first Seadream cruise and had the same dilemma regarding pre-booking of side tours. So here's my 'five cents worth'.

Our SD trip was not full so it was more useful to book when on board and see if others were also going on tour and get the all-important 'word of mouth' feedback.

I am sure SD staff would arrange a tour by others if they did not have the numbers to justify one. The concierge staff were full of great information and I would encourage SD management to ensure staff had been ashore to ports prior.

The organised tours are recommended where there was significant or complicated distance to travel from the ship and for several hours. If late, SD staff would ensure all returned safely.

But for a quick around town adventure, we caught local tuk tuks and taxis with by English speaking drivers. They were great; we ended up bumping into SD staff and passengers at various icons but enjoyed the flexibility to see other attractions that we had read about and/or more or less time at sites of our choice.

Thanks all - good info. :D

Shaskelly