CDreamer

Correct as to making 8-9 knots. The captain gave a very good explanation as to why with the large area of pilot-age at Cartegena it wouldn't work at our present speed.

Fpebbles, Zimmy, and Vandrefalk, thanks for checking in.

How are things going now - have they fixed the engine? Hope everything is back on track and you are on your way again!

Sounds like there are a lot of familiar faces on board: Capt. Bjarne (at least for a little while), Pierre, Silvio, Mikee :D, Doramus (Happy Birthday!), Rutzie, Brian, Jose, Gideon, etc. - please give them all our best!

Glad to hear you are doing well on board, Zimmy, and that you can still lift that champagne glass! ;) I know the crew will take great care of you on this trip!

Vandrefalk, thanks for checking in. Looking fwd to your reports about all these new ports and your experiences on board.

Zimmy, thanks for checking in... Sounds like you are off to a great start!

The correction is noted from the lady who contributed to the posting about the completely in-correct article about the demise of SD and sent us scurrying in panic to check what deposits we have paid !I invite you to see the bigger picture. Oh sweet irony !

Huh?! I merely thanked FT for providing an English based link to the article that she posted. Fail to see where I attempted to make any comment re: the content of that link that would send the masses fleeing from SD! :rolleyes:

Good of you to post this whatnot. Also hope all of SD's crew and their families from this region are safe and out of harm's way from this massive typhoon.

Just making a correction here since Mr. Brynestad's name has come up several times now... His first name is Atle; not 'Artle.'

Why no recent reviews ? We are in mourning. And the spiral down continues.

goRRRdon, keep an eye on the SD1 Barbados-Caldera thread below that was already started by Vandrefalk.

Several CCers will be on that cruise (and the B2B) beginning this Saturday and will report in when they can.

We leave tomorrow morning for Barbados. It has been touch and go for us for the past two days. I broke my wrist Tuesday morning and we almost cancelled. But I was determined and we are going. However, this does settle my inner debate as to whether or not I was going to do a zipline. So we will be easy to recognize. I will be the one with the cast on my arm. Safe travels, all - see you on Saturday.

Zimmy, so very sorry to hear this! Be sure to link up with Vandrefalk.... she has already paved the way for you!!! :eek:

Seriously, I'm glad you decided to go ahead & take the cruise. Even though some activities might need to be curtailed now the crew will take very good care of you -- so go and just enjoy! ;) Please do check in from time to time if you are feeling up to it. Safe travels!

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=no&u=http://www.na24.no/article2960715.ece&prev=/search%3Fq%3Datle%2Bbrynestad%2Bnovember%2B2013%26client%3Dsafari%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D768%26bih%3D928.

 

Maybe this will work And CG holdings USED to be the parent of SD. According to old press articles it was transferred to another company, not one of the 3 now in BK. Fascinating stuff.

 

FT

Thanks for posting this translated link, FT - I tried using Babylon but it was almost as difficult to interpret as the original article and unfortunately my Norwegian is a bit rusty (as in, non-existent)! :eek: ::rolleyes:

Wow, really sorry to hear this. We were impressed with her when we met her in S.C. I really felt she listened to our concerns openly and honestly, without stepping over the line with any immediate false promises or pat answers that - quite honestly - I was expecting to hear.

I wish Ms. Conover the best. She is a class act.

While I have not met FPepples children, I know others who have...

I would be one of those and can honestly attest that FPepples' kids are amazingly well behaved, genuinely polite, and a total joy to be around! And we met them in a restaurant (unfortunately not French Laundry!) after meeting Mr./Ms. FPepples on SD. ;)

Too bad some of the other parents who have elected to bring their kids on board SD only to let them run wild haven't shown this same level of parental responsibility. As I've said, we've been lucky with only a child or two ever on board at one time and no kid issues on any of our 9 SD cruises, but all it takes is one unruly cruise (kids or even out of control adult(s)) to spoil someone's well earned cruise.

I think Vandrefalk is right: doubtful SD will ever restrict kids entirely (since they never have - even with the "couples" distinction), but since there have been more reports of unruly kids lately SD really needs to adhere to its own words and extend this to any parent who brings a child/children on board then promptly turns a blind eye: <<If anyone behaves in such a way to endanger, annoy, inconvenience (words from the actual yacht contract) other guests, appropriate action must be taken. >> Now SD just needs to define what that "appropriate action" will be and who will be given the authority to enforce it.

Safe travels everyone! :D

We were originally booked on the b2b but needed to cancel, so I will be anxious to hear all about the new excursions that all of you will be taking on this new SD Costa Rica adventure!

Please give our best to the Capt. and crew and we will look forward to traveling along with you on here. :D

Thanks for the update. We remain hopeful. I wonder if they are planning one of these events out here in the Wild West?:eek::D Sure would like an invite. I promise to behave.:D:D

Jim, I don't think so. They are too afraid of you!! :eek::D

Actually, I learned that one had already been held in Los Angeles (first I had heard of this even though I live within driving range of L.A.), then they went on to N.Y., followed by the one we attended in S.C. So it was my understanding that they are done with the West Coast sweep - at least for this year.

I will say that, like Vandrefalk, we did feel our concerns were honestly listened to and not just swept under the rug with pat answers or denials. The conversation with Ms. Conover was open, relaxed, and really quite pleasant. As Vandrefalk says, changes may not happen overnight and may not end up pleasing everyone but they are aware of our concerns and appear to be taking them quite seriously. So, we shall see!

 

<< We as a company have not done a great job responding and interacting on these forums. I hope that will change in the future.... Trust me, the Kids on SeaDream thread has not gone by unnoticed (I will hopefully come back to that topic in a later post). >>

 

Welcome to the board, Andreas. I think THIS is what many posters here have been waiting to hear - that their concerns are, at the very least, being listened to and (hopefully, at some point in the near future) also addressed.

 

SD has always had such a loyal following over the years, and one of the things that has made it stand out from the rest is the warm, personalized, on board experience where each passenger is made to feel special in a very relaxed but pampered way. And that experience is what many here fear is potentially at risk in light of these recent "unruly kid" reports.

 

<< The change you noted on our website, albeit a small one, is a direct result of a post made by CDreamer on August 19th.>>

 

While I appreciate the credit, Andreas, I certainly was not the only one on this board to notice the deletion of "56 Couples" on SD's website! Ironically though, in 2006 the "56 Couples" IS what initially attracted my DH and me to SD in the first place.

 

After our first SD cruise we became loyal passengers and always looked forward to taking that NEXT SD cruise. We have seen a few kids on board over the years but have never experienced the level of disruption that several here have recently reported on this forum. And these posters have also been loyal SD passengers over the years. So that, coupled with the recent change in marketing (deleting the "couples" inference), has actually made us think twice about booking another SD cruise.

 

It is very good to hear that SD's website advertising is once again targeting 'couples' and I for one will be interested to hear more from you about SD's stance on this as time goes on.

 

<<Remi is replacing Johan Dyrnes, who has decided to take another path in his career.>>

 

We have not sailed with Capt. Dyrnes but wish him well in his new venture.

Catch this one! Was just thumbing through the November Travel+Leisure over a quick bite of lunch when I saw several annual surveys including the "2013 Winners For Family Travel." You guessed it, SeaDream was voted #2 under the small-ship cruise category.

JES, just curious: who was rated #1?

Just for fun I added another email that I don't use as much. It will be interesting to see if one gets emails and the other doesn't.

That's a good test, cwaj45. Be sure to report back when/if you receive any SD email updates.

As I said, they don't send a lot of these emails... But some are certainly better than none! :p

I'm not booked and I did not get the email! Don't understand how they put together their email list!

I HAVE been getting these rate reduction/promo emails from SD.... Most likely because several years ago I simply signed up on their website where it says: "Sign Up For Yacht Mail"! ;)

They don't send out a lot of these emails over the course of a year, but I do seem to get the same email notifications that a couple of posters here say they have also received.

So, unless someone here has found this not to be the case, not receiving these emails from SD has nothing to do with who has complained too much, booked the highest number of SD cruises in a year, consumed the most Painkillers during the Splash, or anything else! You just need to sign up on their website and get on their mailing list. :D

Amen to the last several posts. On our recent Black Sea misadventure the privileged kids were actually being encouraged or at least not stopped by their "parents/friends" in the large group mini-charter they were part of from DIVING from the wood deck around the pool into the pool.

Great. No liability there. :rolleyes:

Of course I've heard Jim Avery plans to execute several cannonballs in a row after jumping off Deck 4 into the jacuzzi tub, so maybe that isn't quite as dangerous as it sounds. :p

Interesting thread, as there seems to be more of a shift towards making SD more 'kid friendly' now in order to fill more cabins.

We have been cruising with SD since 2006, and in our 10 or so (have lost count now) cruises we have primarily traveled off season (if there is such a time anymore!). So, we've been pretty fortunate re: having any real "kids issues" on board, compared to some of the other posters here. The few times that we did have a child or two on board with us they were well looked after by their parents so we rarely were even aware of their presence. But there's the rub - not all parents feel it is *their* responsibility to supervise their children once they get on board...and THAT then becomes a problem for the crew, who must pull away from their usual duties and routines to intervene, and paying passengers who had anticipated an all adult cruise.

So don't know whether these negative accounts with kids on board stem more from a timing issue (vacations, when kids are out of school) or if this is becoming more of a trend on SD -- but I HAVE noticed a recent shift in SD's marketing where they mention: '112 guests' as opposed to '56 couples', which is interesting.

Unfortunately, not all adult passengers have the luxury of traveling "off season", and with too many kids on board at one time SD is apt to lose some of its loyal and returning passenger base. At the same time, if the owner of SD feels that catering to large groups (w/families) brings in more revenue by filling up otherwise empty cabins we may just see a real shift in its overall passenger mix. And, unfortunately, that will be our cue to look elsewhere.

Hello Stines, we were on SD's Hamburg-Bergen Norway cruise which came right on the heels of a dry dock sprucing up and all went very well! No delays or hiccups whatsoever.

As with any cruise there can be the occasional large group on board, yes, but I know for a fact that you won't be the only lone couple on that particular cruise. :)

Hope you enjoy your cruise...you will be spoiled by the SD crew while on board and treated to some very beautiful scenery!

Good one.:D And as soon as you get all sparkly, you head to the TOY Bar and start browining all over again with an Espresso Martini.:eek:

LOL Jim! And of course we all know red wine doesn't help the situation either. Thank goodness for the bubbly - helps to erase all that bad, self conscious behavior. :eek:

I am of the same opinion, a bit bizarre to offer such on SeaDream (or any other ship).:eek: But then, after most cruises I could use a medical procedure----liposuction!.

LOL - no kidding. Maybe you should slip that into the suggestion box next time you're on board, Jim! :D

I dunno.... Not to make a judgement here but I can't imagine getting my teeth whitened while ON the ship. I mean, wouldn't people notice?

"Wow... Your teeth looked so discolored when I met you up at the drill this afternoon but tonight they look so bright and sparkly!" :confused:

You know you're addicted when... You tell your spouse:

"Honey, we really need to book another SD cruise so we can both get our teeth whitened!" :D

(And no, I am not kidding - read the back of their recent snail mail Fall newsletter: "The SD Spa offers Teeth Whitening"!).

CDreamer and Vandrefalk: When are you leaving???:D

Ugh... in the throws of packing now. LOVE to travel; hate the prep. :rolleyes:

But who's complaining - we leave on Wednesday, will meet up with Vandrefalks in Rome on Thursday, then we all board SDII on Saturday! :D

You know you're addicted to SD when....

You keep coming back to this CC board, hoping *someone* has posted about their recent SD cruise. C'mon people, help out those of us who are dying for some recent SD news and reviews! :eek:

We'll be on SD fairly soon and I personally nominate Vandrefalk to give the blow by blow accts while on board. ;) I will write my review once we return.

In the meantime, has anyone here been on SD lately??