Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 22, 2018 #1 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Hi All, sorry this review is so late work has been nonstop since the cruise. Here is a review of our Cruise, I hope you enjoy it. For a little background on us, The Dread Pilot Roberts family are mid 40’s, 2 kids, 2 dogs, live in central Florida, we have friends who live in the northeast and couldn’t wait to get away from the cold and joined us for the trip. We have cruised extensively on the big ships Diamond on RCCL and have traveled all over the world. We try to take 1 big trip every other year without the kids so we get some time together. I had been looking to take a trip on SD for some time and happened to come across a round trip San Juan Itinerary that coincided with my vacation time from work, so we jumped on it. The only down side pre departure was that there were several Itinerary changes. The final Itinerary ended up looking like this. Day 1 Depart San Juan Day 2 Morning Crown Bay, St Thomas Afternoon Honeymoon Beach, Water Island Day 3 Morning Saba Afternoon Gustavia, St. Barts Day 4 All Day Gustavia Day 5 All Day Sandy Ground, Anguilla Day 6 All Day Chrishi Beach, Nevis Day 7 Morning Spanish Town Virgin Gorda Afternoon White Bay, Jost Van Dyke Day 8 Arrive San Juan We Left Florida the day before the cruise, and flew from Orlando to San Juan on jetBlue the flight was on time and the typical comfortable jetBlue flight. We then spent the night in the Water Beach Club Hotel; it is beach front on Isla Verde Beach about a 5 min cab ride from the airport with tip @$12 for 2 people and bags. I would recommend this as a pre cruise hotel to stay in. The price was reasonable at $200 per night a good deal considering the Intercontinental down the street wanted over $500 for a road side room. The hotel was clean, quiet, comfortable, and VERY BLUE, they also had a great roof top bar the food looked good too. For breakfast the next morning we went to El Alambique beach front bar and grill, they were great, good food, reasonable prices, open air, and as the name says beach front. Check them out on yelp. Later we hoped in a cab for the ride to the terminal. Due to pier construction on the piers by old San Juan, the ship was leaving from the Pan American Pier, The cabs all run on a fixed zone system 4 people and bags from the airport zone to ship was $26. The terminal is set up for the larger ships that home port in San Juan and there is nowhere to sit except the floor if you get there early. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 22, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Day 1 Boarding started at exactly 2:00pm, cold towels and champagne to welcome us aboard. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the bubbly being poured. Most of the time a non-vintage Jacquart that retails for $40 at my local Total Wine, other times the cheap stuff was being served at things like the splash or pool side Mimosas, this was Gerard Bertrand, Cuvee Thomas Jefferson 2015 retails for $18. Both were very drinkable although the Jacquart was defiantly better. Eric the sommelier kept everyone’s glasses full while we waited to check in. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 22, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted May 22, 2018 After the most civilized check-in I have ever had on a ship, we checked out our room. It was very nice, plenty of storage, a huge shower by ship standards although the rest of the bathroom was very tight. After the welcome aboard reception the ship departed for the start of what turned out to be one of the roughest cruises if have ever been on since we were on RCCL Majesty of the seas in Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The wind had been blowing at 20-30kts for the last week and the ocean was really whipped up for the first 3 days we had 12 to 15 ft. seas and this being a yacht not a cruise ship, you really felt it you would feel like you were airborne when the yacht would crest a swell and come down the other side. Dinner that night was held in the downstairs dining room the meal was one of a spectacular week of meals by Chef Thomaz. After dinner we and our friends went to the piano bar for a fun night of karaoke with head bartender Gareth taking good care of us. After a few hours we retired to our room to find our SeaDream PJs waiting for us. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 22, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctbjr1309 Posted May 22, 2018 #5 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Thanks in advance for what looks to be a fantastic review. Can't wait to enjoy the rest of your week! Do you recall the name of the waiter pouring the Champagne in the photo? Looks like Eric who left a few years ago. Would be great news if he has returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 22, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Yup, it was Eric, great sommelier. Never had an empty glass when he was around [emoji3] Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctbjr1309 Posted May 22, 2018 #7 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Yup, it was Eric, great sommelier. Never had an empty glass when he was around [emoji3] Sent from my iPad using Forums Great news. Glad he's back. Thanks for confirming. As a waiter during his original tenure on board, he was well known for answering any request with: "Anything is possible on SeaDream!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 2 We arrived in St Thomas early the next morning and while our friends took the sailing and snorkeling excursion (they said it was great) while I and Mrs. DPR stayed on board for a relaxing breakfast and a bike ride around Crown Bay, unfortunately this being Sunday all the shops were closed. After lunch the captain let us know that we would be staying in Crown Bay for the day and not going to Water Island due to the sea conditions preventing any tender operations. He also let us know that unless the sea conditions improved dramatically over night we would be unable to tender at Saba and instead would go straight to St. Barts where we would spend 2 full Days the second day being carnival. So to pass the evening SD had a Caviar happy hour by the pool. If you have everything seen the movie “Gone in 60 seconds “ then as fast as they could Hotwire a car is how fast this tin of caviar was cleaned out. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Dinner that night was probably the best of the entire voyage. The lamb (second pic) was truly spectacular. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #10 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 3 As the Captain had warned us, the sea conditions did not improve so we bypassed Saba. We arrived mid morning in St. Barts. The seas barely calm enough for tender operations. After we made it ashore we all walked over to shell beach and spent the morning swimming and sunning before returning to the ship for a late lunch. That evening the girls wanted to do some shopping so we went back ashore, I did not really like this idea but when Mrs. DPR wants to go shopping Mrs. DPR goes shopping. So our friends went with us He and I went to try and limit the pain. The girls went to the boutique Mascara on the corner of Rue De La France and Rue De La General De Gaulle. This is a nice little shop the owner was great and the price for a dress ranged from 150 to 1200 euro. I believe HH and Blondie are regulars here. After a relatively speaking “painless” evening of shopping it was back to the yacht. This night I must of had a little to much fun during happy hour and forgot to get any dinner pictures. Tender operations ran very smooth with snacks and a shaded area to wait. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #11 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 4 We got an early start in St. Barts for the ATV island tour. The tour was a lot of fun and a great way to see the whole island. It was $200 for 2 people and was about 3.5 hours. That afternoon we watched the carnival parade. I think the entire island came for it, and we were the only people not dressed in costume. After dinner SD had the Dessert buffet on deck. A beautiful evening watching the sunset from the pool deck and looking at the other mega yachts anchored in the bay, with SD II being one of the smallest yachts. Lunchtime Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #12 Share Posted May 23, 2018 No menu tonight but another great meal. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 5 We arrived mid morning and tendered in to Sandy Ground cabs were readily available and we jumped in one to Shoal Bay it was $6 per person the cab driver took us to what was left of Uncle Ernie’s which had been closed for a year but lots of other Places were around and ranged from expensive sit down to cheap BBQ to go, 2 beach chairs and umbrella $10 the beach was beautiful but the water was too cold to swim. When we were ready to head back to the yacht the guy we rented the beach chairs from called our driver and with in 5 min we were on our way back. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #14 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 6 Today was our beach party, originally was to be at Jost Van Dyke SD moved it to Chrishi Beach, Beach Club on Nevis because Jost’s facilities had not been rebuild yet after the storm. In the morning Mrs. DPR and our friends went on the Nevis mountain hike excursion. They had a great time, but it was super muddy, if you ever do this don’t wear nice shoes they will be ruined. The food at the BBQ was great, drinks flowed, and the weather other than a passing rain shower was perfect. I was very impressed with the facilities and the fact that SD had rented the entire club for our stay. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #16 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Mrs. DPR’s NY steak of the signature selections, she said it was better than the steak at Chops Grill on Royal Caribbean. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #17 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 7 We stopped at Virgin Gorda for the obligatory Baths tours. The DPR’s did not go since we have done the Baths before, but our friends did and had a great time. The big advantage to SD is since the yacht tenders directly into Spanish town you get to the baths before it is overrun by the tourist coming in from Tortola on the ferry. It was sad but Spanish Town was still in very bad shape from the storms last year. The tour returned to the Yacht for lunch while we positioned to Jost Van Dyke. The funny thing on this trip was today during lunch we all felt like a glass or 3 of rose. However there was a group of Norwegians onboard who had only been drinking rose and had cleaned the yacht out the last bottle being finished minutes before. We only had about 3 hours on Jost which I thought was strange because even though the last zodiac was at 5 the yacht stayed anchored until @ 10 that night before we made our way back to San Juan. That being said, We all had a Great time at Jost. The island was a wreck but the beach was in good shape and Soggy Dollar Bar was up and running along with a few others. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #18 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #19 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Day 8 Debarkation was wonderfully easy, just walk off collect your luggage and passport from the CBP officer and we were on our way, total time from the ship to cab was @ 3 min. The cab price from the port to airport for 4 people and luggage was $26. Our afternoon flight back to Orlando on JetBlue was again on time with the great typical JetBlue service. Liquor selection complementary was very acceptable. You could always upgrade to premium brands. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them. Overall we had an outstanding trip and would not hesitate to sail with SeaDream again. First picture is complimentary second is upgrades. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richb21 Posted May 23, 2018 #20 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Thanks for posting, it has been a long time since such a comprehensive review, and makes me look even more forward to our 3rd SD cruise 9 months from now. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 23, 2018 Author #21 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Thanks for the kind words. It was so hard to find info on SD before our trip i thought people would enjoy it. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimmy Posted May 23, 2018 #22 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Thank you so much, DPR, for your most comprehensive review, and for the wonderful photos. It makes me so anxious to be onboard again, but it is still three months away for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Avery Posted May 23, 2018 #23 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Great review DPR. Loved the pix. Zimmy, I know you and Trapper feel our pain, we have absolutely nothing booked at this time. Must be a SeaDream in there somewhere......:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richb21 Posted May 24, 2018 #24 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Thanks for the kind words. It was so hard to find info on SD before our trip i thought people would enjoy it. Sent from my iPad using Forums I will try to follow your example when we return from Cuba Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dred pilot Roberts Posted May 24, 2018 Author #25 Share Posted May 24, 2018 That will be a great one to review. DPR Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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