Seadream Yacht Club - Med

I have just purchased a "Med Cruise" on Seadream at a fundraiser auction. Will need to request 2 or 3 itineraries as possibilities. I would welcome feedback on best months and best itineraries - starting in May 05 into October. I have only cruised twice - both times to the Caribbean (Royal Caribbean and Princess) - this will be first for my husband. Any comments will be appreciated. Thank you.:o

you are in for a treat....the Med. is wonderfu. You simple cannot pick a trip that you would not love. The only thing to remember is that the Europeans vacation in the summer...thus it is crowded. The fall is much quieter...so that us our choice. One thing that helps in making a decision...which port is the easiest for you to make airplane reservations!

As part of the auction, I received 100,000 One Pass Miles with Continental, so I will have to fly into Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, or Paris (I am told). I figured we would probably leave out of Rome. There was a Rome/Nice sailing on June 11th which is already booked, but I see there is one September 17th. Possibly that one will not be sold out. Thank you for your comments - I will be comfortable looking into a September date.

We did the Rome/Nice sailing this past July. Had perfect weather although it was hot. I think Sept. sounds divine.

Enjoy and congratulations on a wonderful charity purchase. It's nice to buy something that you will actually use and enjoy.

Thanks, lovetojump, for your comments. I'm very excited about going on Seadream - this will be a surprise Christmas gift for my husband. I had wanted to do some preliminary research so that I could call to book as soon after Christmas as possible.:)

My husband and I went on the Sea Dream when it was the Sea Goddess I = about 3 years ago.

It was the most wonderful, luxurious cruise we have ever been on - 15 cruises in all! The ship is small and you evey night you go to the lounge area where everyone gathers and the bartender gets to know you personally and know your favorite beverage. He will only have to ask once - he'll remember you from then on! The dining experienc was fantastic with open dining, and everyone on board getting to know each other. ttOur room stewardess was delightful - quiet, demure, attentive - and the beds were absolutely heavenly. Great down comforters and comfortable sailing - you sail every night and dock during the day.

We can't wait to go on another cruise on this lovely ship. I hear now that they will set up comfortable chaise lounges so that you can sleep under the stars. Wow! What could be better?

Enjoy!

Good evening Judithst. Glad to see you are considering the Sept 17th cruise out of Rome. My wife and I along with her sister and husband are booked on the Sept 10th Nice to Rome as well as the Sept 17th Rome to Nice back to back cruises. It would be great to know at least another couple on board before getting there. We are planning on flying in and out of Paris, spending a few days there before renting a car for the drive south and hopping a TGV to head back up north at the end of the cruise. This will be our first cruise on Seabourn and are looking forward to it beyond words. Let me know if you finally book the Sept 17th cruise. We'll keep a good stool for you at the Top of the Yacht bar

Judith, I would choose either May or September. July and August are very hot, and you won't have as many people, especially kids these months. October is too late in my opinion to do that itinerary weather wise. We did a RT Barcelona on the Splendour in October of 2003 and had stormy and especially windy and rocky weather. We are looking at doing Rome to Nice as well, possbily in May, but more like September. However, we are going to be on the Silver Whisper.

As far as the airmiles, I am not familiar with Delta, but you can fly open jaw into one city and out of another. They have partner airlines that you can share miles on such as Lufthansa for Delta and British Airways for American. So it may be possible to fly to Rome and come back out of Nice without having to arrange your own travel to one of their hubs. I know that it takes 60K miles per person on American for travel between May 15 and Oct. 15 and only 40K miles per person for travel before and after those dates.

Sounds like a great Christmas present!!!

Thanks to all who have responded. I am so excited and really looking forward to this "dream" trip with my husband. I will post an update after Christmas. ;)

Merry Christmas....and start planning your wardrobe for a dream trip! Sorry to warn you...but you will become addicted!

I second LaPaloma's message. You will not be able to face the big ship experience the same after Sea Dream. Just back from Mayan Riviera and have booked SD I for St. Thomas March 20th. Positively addicted.

Jim Avery.

Judith, I just checked Deltas site and it is 50,000 Skymiles each for coach, 90,000 for business and 100,000 for first class. You can use those miles on any of their Skyteam, which includes KLM, Alitalia, and Air France in Europe. So that should just about cover any embarkation and disembarkation point that you choose. For example, you should be able to fly Delta to Paris and then Air France or Alitalia to Rome. On the return you would fly from Nice on Air France to Paris and the on Delta from Paris back home. You should even be able to layover in Paris for a few days, either on your way there or way back. All while using the air miles.

Don

I have booked our voyage - SeaDream II on June 4-11, Rome-Rome. We are so excited. My husband has never cruised and I have only cruised a couple of time out of Galveston to Cozumel. As we will be in the Rome-Sorrento-Positano-Capri-Corsica-Sardinia-Rome area, would anyone have a comment on the seas - will we need have a patch or medication for seasickness? How is the weather early in June? Any comments also on the SeaDream voyage/ports of call would be appreciated. Thanks.

My husband and I have never had a problem...but..you want to enjoy..so far better you are safe than sorry...get the patch from your doc..or a wrist band. You probabley won't need them. We have done your itinery several times...you are in for a wonderful treat.

Hello, anyone out there going on the Seadream II, June 4th out of Rome? As this is our first Seadream cruise, could you comment on dress for dinner for both my husband and I. We are excited about it being "casual", but don't want to be too casual at dinner. Also, how would the water be in the Med at that time (for water sports)? Thanks for your help.

We won't be with you on June 4, unfortunately. Have to wait until our July 23 voyage from Venice to Athens.

My experience in the Med. on SD is that most men will wear sport coats with no ties. On a typical 7 night SD cruise in the Med. I'll generally wear a sport coat 4-5 nights. I'll bring a tie but usually don't wear it. A couple of nights (first and last, usually) I won't wear a sport coat. I'm always very much in sync with the rest of the male passengers when dressing that way.

As for ladies, a nice dress or pants suit (or anything else that you would wear when your husband is wearing a sport coat with or without a tie) works just fine.

I can't comment on the water temp. in early June. All my visits to the Med. have been in July or later.

Have a great trip.

Judith -

Hope you enjoy your cruise - please post a review of your ports when you get back. We've only sailed Sea Dream in the Caribbean but want to hit Europe next (hopefully on an all adults sailing).

I've sailed with a number of people who use the patch and don't suffer a moment. I can definitely recommend -- my husband can't handle the Star Tour ride at Disney World without getting sick had no problem on both Sea Dream sailings with the patch.

We booked Sea Dream precisely because there was no "formal night" -- a few gentlemen wore blazers without ties but a number just wore collared short sleeve shirts and pants. On the nights you eat topside in the open air, several gentlemen even wore nice walking shorts. Alternatively, especially in the extremely young or the extremely experience, some women were glammed to the hilt --The great thing about Sea Dream staff (and they are the best in the world -- no doubt -- even beating the Four Seasons) you will be welcomed and treated with the utmost consideration and service - regardless of what you are wearing and/or ordering.

Have fun.

I concur with frequent traveler's assessment of SD dress in the Caribbean. However, one thing I would note is that dress tends to be ever so slightly less casual in the Med. than in the Caribbean. What I mean by that is that you will see more sport coats in the Med and fewer, if any, shorts topside at dinner.

I am glad to hear that people might not dress as casual in the MED. We were on SD 1 in Mar and I was a bit disapointed in what passed for Resort Casual. On any given night in the dining room, there were jeans, sandles, and even some t-shirts. Casual was taken to an extreme. It was much different than what we had expericanced in the past.

I had talked to some of the staff regarding this subject and they said the crowd tended to dress up a bit more than in the Car.

They also noted that there were less "groups" on board in the Med. and more couples who had cruised on SD before.

I found just the opposite: more sport coats in the Caribbbean (virtual all the men) than the Med. But both these cruises were during SeaDream's first year when we had 29 and 47 passengers.

That would have been nice. With the quality of service, the food and the superb ambiance of the Dining Room, jackets for men seem appropriate, although collared shirts would be fine. I would dress the same for an equally fine establishment in any city. Eating outside for the dinners under the stars was rightfully different, that dining room called for appropriate.

On a previous cruise, when it was still the Sea Goddess, all the men wore jackets so we assumed it would be the same.

A friend of ours sailed the week prior to us, also with a large group on board, and he described some of his fellow passengers as "slobs."