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April 20 - Sea Dream I


HotRoot

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In Nevis, we took a private cab around to the other side of the island to an old sugar plantation for lunch - it overlooked the ocean and was just beautiful. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant. We also went all over the countryside by cab looking for the elusive green faced monkey. Our driver finally took us to mans house that had caged green faced monkeys.

 

In Guadelupe we walked to the beach that they recommended. It was a good walk, but the views are really beautiful. The beach was incredible - great protected swimming. Great snorkeling as well. There is a protected lagoon, but you can swim beyond and get to some great waves and a beautiful bluff on the open end of the lagoon.

 

Guardelupe is also a great place for bike riding. There was a pretty big earthquake right before we got there and most of the shops were closed cleaning up shelved that had fallen in the quake. The towns people were very friendly and welcoming.

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Thank you! That is the first positive thing I have heard about Guadelupe. We are thinking about renting a car on St. John and driving the island. We have been there before but always just walked around town. Is there enough to see to justify renting a car?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you! That is the first positive thing I have heard about Guadelupe. We are thinking about renting a car on St. John and driving the island. We have been there before but always just walked around town. Is there enough to see to justify renting a car?

 

We love St. John. As a matter of fact we try to spend a week in a villa on St. John every other year.

 

Renting a car is a wonderful way to see the island ... there are wonderful beaches along the Northshore Road ... Coral Bay is a neat community on the other side of the island.

 

It is a beautiful island!

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  • 2 weeks later...

This posting might be a little late...We enjoyed Guadeloupe. We, like others here, walked to the beach on the other side of the island. SeaDream Tai-chi was offered, although we did not participate. We climbed the little "mountain" that protects the area and were rewarded with a fabulous view. We also snorkeled.

 

Guadeloupe is a photographer's haven. Lots of colorful buildings & weathered, colorful wood, swirly ironwork -- things that aren't necessarily palm trees & aqua water. I enjoyed it!

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Just a few quick comments - I have decided the best thing about Sea Dream is their ability to call at small islands. I would go again if I found an itinerary I liked. The next best thing is meeting all of the wonderful people. The worst thing is the cabins. It is probably impossible but they need to enlarge the bathrooms and make the actual cabins even smaller. We did not use our couch and would not miss it with a larger bathroom. My last comment is, I did not find the service superior, just average for a cruise line. Nine times out of ten we had to approach the bar, order our drinks, and wait 15 - 20 minutes for the bartender to deliver to our table/chair. Waiter table/beach bed/pool chair service was basically nonexistent. Our cabin attendant was no better nor worse than the other 40 cabin attendants we have had on previous cruises. The concierge was the worst I have ever encountered. She never knew the answer and never offered to find it. All ports were tendered and only one tender was used. On some islands it would be an hour from when we arrived on shore at the pick up spot until we were actually standing on the ship. Many repeat cruisers on board expressed the feeling that service was not as good as in the past. Our next cruise is on Seabourn. It will be interesting to compare.

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Hotroot:

I have found the bathrooms comfortable and I am 6' 4" but to be fair, we lived on our boat for 7 years so are used to tiny spaces. Most who come from large ships will agree with you that they would benefit by being a bit larger. We are booked in a suite on HAL in August and probably will be wowed by the bathroom. Reluctantly I must agree with you about the service issues. Compared to our first three SD cruises, the last two in October and December last year showed some slippage of service quality. I especially relate to the bar comments. Used to never wait for anything or have to go "fetch" for yourselves. For some reason there seems to be less staff on board even though the numbers shown are the same. Where are they? Hope they start to trend back in the other direction. More recent sailors can chime in here.

Jim.

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This was our 5th SD on 4/20, and yes, the service was the worst I have seen. However, we did find the bartender was new, as was the wine steward. But the wine steward was horrible. His name is Frank as well, but he is no comparison to the Frank on SDII. I would ask about the wine, and all he did was show me the bottle. Frank from Hungary, on SD II, would seek us out to try a new wine. He looked forward to seeing us, and always had a surprise. This new Frank needs to be fired. Sorry to say this, but it's the way I feel.

 

However, I felt like the food was the best I've ever experienced. Tommaz did amazing things and the sauces and soups were exceptional as was the service from Rico.

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This was our 5th SD on 4/20, and yes, the service was the worst I have seen. However, we did find the bartender was new, as was the wine steward. But the wine steward was horrible. His name is Frank as well, but he is no comparison to the Frank on SDII. I would ask about the wine, and all he did was show me the bottle. Frank from Hungary, on SD II, would seek us out to try a new wine. He looked forward to seeing us, and always had a surprise. This new Frank needs to be fired. Sorry to say this, but it's the way I feel.

 

However, I felt like the food was the best I've ever experienced. Tommaz did amazing things and the sauces and soups were exceptional as was the service from Rico.

 

We enjoyed Frank on SD2 as well. He always had a smile & interacted with us. Poured pretty good wine, too. :) I enjoyed trying new wines & couldn't help but add a few new favorites to my list.

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Just returned from the 4/20 sailing. Agree with fellow passengers re. the decline in service.

 

Dinner service was very slow in every aspect, and often non-existent. I could go into specifics, but suffice it to day that there is a noticeable decline in the service on SDI.

 

Ditto re. Frank the Sommelier... no info & no interest.

 

The food was incredibly good. The management tried to keep everyone happy... but it's apparent SD needs to work on restoring the service we have all come to expect and enjoy.

 

We had a group of 20 on our cruise who were quite loud. I took one shore excursion with several from the group who reported that SD Staff had imposed a restriction on the group to dine outside on the back deck away from other passengers.

 

The group were all very pleasant, but I heard many complaints from other passengers about the noise. The group held court around the pool after dinner. One fella was heaving over the side of our tender boat - he apologized and said that he had been up til 4 a.m. drinking tequila and was severely hung over.

 

One gal was carried from dinner to the pool because she was too enebriated to navigate the steps.

 

Soooo......Maybe SD needs to rethink the all inclusive or impose a fee for excessive alcohol consumption!

 

Bryn

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HotRoot, Cburger and Bryn ....

 

Just wondering who the maitre'd and hotel manager were on your SD1 cruise?

 

I was looking at the transatlantic blogs and noticed Gabor, who was our maitre'd on SD in March is now on SD2. Gabor and Christophe gave us OUTSTANDING service on SD1. You can tell that Christophe has really mentored Gabor. Christophe told us that Gabor was a waiter who was promoted to maitre'd.

 

I agree that Chef Tomasz and his crew do a wonderful job!

 

It is really quite sad to see adults acting like teens on their first spring break:eek:

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Gabor was on SD2 during our 4-13 voyage. He was fantastic! Phillipp was our Hotel Manager, and he was just as wonderful.

 

I, unfortunately, have to agree with the others about the decline in service recently. It (the decline) was spotty on our voyage. We'd have moments of perfection, followed by something that'd make us wonder.

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Gabor was on SD2 during our 4-13 voyage. He was fantastic! Phillipp was our Hotel Manager, and he was just as wonderful.

 

I, unfortunately, have to agree with the others about the decline in service recently. It (the decline) was spotty on our voyage. We'd have moments of perfection, followed by something that'd make us wonder.

 

We found Gabor to be excellent. Not familiar with Phillipp as we were fortunate to have Christophe (he really sets the gold standard in terms of service and then it does trickle down to all levels).

 

I know for a FACT that the SD crew as well as those who are land-based for SD read these boards. Hopefully they will take note of the comments on service and make changes as needed.

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Bathrooms - Hug the toilet while you shut the door so you can then open the shower door to take a shower. Husband comes in to shave opening the bathroom door. You are now blocked in the shower and cannot come out until husband finishes and leaves the bathroom once again closing the door so the shower door can open. Now he wants back in the bathroom so you move into the cabin dripping water everywhere and your carpet is still wet at bedtime. I never thought of putting the floor mat in the cabin instead of in the bathroom. Add 20 minutes to your getting ready time because the bathroom can only accommodate one person at a time. It doesn't help that my shower in my master bath at home is larger than the entire Sea Dream bathroom.

 

Dinner Service - Our dinner service was what I expected. I assume it will take most of the evening to consume the meal. We attempted to go to dinner a little late - after the majority of the ship had already eaten their appetizer. Service seemed to be better after the initial crowd attack. The only night we had terrible service was the night our waiter was also assigned to the Tampa group of 20. One waiter for the 20 of them and the 2 of us. And we were not even sitting near them. I do not blame the waiter.

 

Group - I think all ships attract groups. Unfortunately, on Sea Dream it is difficult to get away from a group. Personally, the only time I heard this particular group was on the last night. We moved from TOY to the piano bar to get away from them. Unfortunately half of the group eventually showed up at the piano bar. I was told alot of their alcohol consumption was done ashore which Sea Dream cannot control. Maybe that is the reason you can no longer have a bottle and bar set up in your cabin. Maybe also the reason for such slow bar service.

 

Names - Sorry, I am not a name person. I could recognize these people in a line up but did not attempt to learn their names. One of my favorite people was the gentleman who gave you your boarding card when you disembarked and then welcomed you back. I have no idea what his name was but I enjoyed talking with him while waiting for a tender and also while just hanging out at the pool.

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Hi everyone, I took detailed notes of the crew. The gentleman who took your card on and off the ship was OM. He has been on every SD we have, and I just love his attitude. he epitomizes what every crew member should on SD. And I think he loves his job.

We didn't have any bad encounters with the Tampa group. The last night a blond got really toasted and was standing on the bar stools in the cocktail area and well as the TOY bar. Other than that, I really didn't care.

Our maitre d was Rico, and we loved him. I thought the food this time was outstanding. But Frank (poor Frank), he needs to go. Christophe and the real Frank, would be embarrased.

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I was told alot of their alcohol consumption was done ashore which Sea Dream cannot control

 

Good spin by SD staff.... unfortunately, not what we observed...hmmm.... free drinks on board or pay for drinks at premium prices on shore...... what do you think they did?

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The Tampa group did a lot of drinking at Sunshine's. We heard one of the locals transported one of them in his boat straight back to the ship because the guy was so drunk. They also spent a lot of time at Soggy Dollar. I agree with you, with free drinks on the ship I do my drinking on the ship, but money did not seem to be a concern with that group. And SD did not tell me the group was drinking on shore - members of the group told me that.

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Tell your husband a gentleman arises early and gets ready well before his lady starts her beauty journey to the bath room in the morning

 

He should be on top deck getting you coffee and something to nosh on while you are showering, WHAT A BRUTE...no wonder the divorce rate is so high with thugs like this around, what did his prep school teach him anyway! icon7.gif

 

"Bathrooms - Hug the toilet while you shut the door so you can then open the shower door to take a shower. Husband comes in to shave opening the bathroom door. You are now blocked in the shower and cannot come out until husband finishes and leaves the bathroom once again closing the door so the shower door can open. Now he wants back in the bathroom so you move into the cabin dripping water everywhere and your carpet is still wet at bedtime. I never thought of putting the floor mat in the cabin instead of in the bathroom. Add 20 minutes to your getting ready time because the bathroom can only accommodate one person at a time. It doesn't help that my shower in my master bath at home is larger than the entire Sea Dream bathroom."

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Agree - Carnival seemed more their style... nonetheless, we didn't let them ruin our vacation. And they seemed to have a blast. I'm just pleased our stateroom wasn't on the same floor with the group!

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Tampa didn't cause us any problems either. I guess they weren't on our deck because we heard nothing at night. I think the whole point of discussing them is that people do need to be aware that Sea Dream attracts groups and the group has the potential of "taking over the ship." Our last cruise had an impolite group of yuppies that did bother us as they acted like it was their own private cruise. I'll take the Tampa group over them any day.

 

Sorry, CarlyleCat, I'll keep my husband. We have an agreement that we go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. Which has nothing to do with using the bathroom. We like to do our showering after we return from the beach or pool in the late afternoon. Can't be late for cocktail hour so that makes us rushing to get ready. Again, the whole point is, people need to be aware that these are small bathrooms. Our next cruise is in a 400 square foot cabin with double sinks and a whirlpool bathtub. You can't compare that cabin or bathroom with Sea Dream's. But as long as people do understand the small accommodations, they can choose to live with it or not.

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Agreed, my tongue in cheek point was you do need to plan when using the facilities on Sea Dream

 

The problem with the 400 sq ft suites with large bathrooms is they come on ships with 300 or more people

 

life is a series of trade offs

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