In lieu of a trip report ...

Ctbjr I was wondering if you would answer some questions about your recent cruise (as I know you don't like to write trip reports:p ).

I saw from you reply to Mary Lou on the shore excursion question that you missed a port or two because of weather.

How did you find the weather in that part of the Med this time of the year?

Was there a lot of "motion in the ocean" as our dear Capt. T would say because of the sea conditions?

How many nights did you have dinner on deck versus in the dining room?

The weather was generally good. Not as hot as I was expecting. It was a bit windy in several spots and the wind is the reason that we missed the 2 ports. The captain was just not able to find a location to anchor where the ship wouldn't be bouncing around and of course that would have been a problem with people getting on and off the tenders also.

We had dinner on deck only once. At least 2 other on deck dinners were moved down to the Dining Room because of the wind. It wasn't so windy that it was uncomfortable to be outside, but was just windy enough to create a problem with serving a 4 course dinner.

There really was not much motion during the week. One night we were bouncing around a bit but otherwise I didn't notice much and didn't hear much in the way of comments from other passengers.

Glad to hear that it wasn't too hot ... and a nice breeze is always welcome while in "the office" at the Top of the Yacht or on a Bali Bed:cool:

Was the watersports marina open and if so at which port(s)? DH missed this on our repositioning cruise last year.

Which champagne was the "house version" this time? Did it meet with Mrs. Ctbjr's approval (as our taste are quite similar)?

Yes, the Office on Deck 6 was, as always, a perfect spot to while away the time between meals and tours.

The Water Sports activity was offered at least 3 or 4 days. I heard no complaints that there wasn't enough opportunity for Water Sports. As to which ports they had Water Sports, I really can't recall as I didn't quite get around to taking advantage of them this trip.

The champagne was indeed well received by Mrs. CTBjr. I don't happen to recall the flavor since that's not my thing (as you well know) and Mrs. CTBjr is sojourning out West as of this morning so I can't easily check with her. I believe it was Piper Heidsieck and will let you know if that is not correct. I do know that a large quantity of champagne was consumed last week and I heard no complaints from anybody about the quality.

Happy Trails to Mrs. Ctbjr!

Dh will be pleased to learn that the marina was available more than once on the Med itinerary (yet another check in the yes column for next year's cruise!).

Was there a Champagne and Caviar Splash? If so was it on an island? In the pool? This is always the highlight of our SD adventures ... something about sand, sun, caviar, champagne ... sigh.

Did you receive slippers this trip:confused: :p

Champagne and caviar were served around the pool at Noon on the last day of the cruise. They seem to have stopped doing it in the pool in the Med. and there are really no quiet islands such as they use for this event in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the essence of the event (champagne and caviar) were readily available and enjoyed by all those who cared to partake.

There were indeed slippers in the closet. I happen to have a few extra pairs and will be happy to bring them for you guys (just in case) next time if you'll remind me.

This is probably a silly question (from moi;) ) but which Caviar and Champagne splash do you prefer ... the Caribbean or Med? And why?

Was there Disco music and dancing after the splash? Did you bring the CD (which you still owe me a copy of as well:p :D :p ). I don't think I will need that CD for our Seabourn Cruise in December but I may have to play it en suite.

How about highlights of the dinner menu? Any special meal that stands out ... say a special creme brulee or osso bucco (where the heck is the "sigh" smilie?). What nationality was the chef?

Greatly prefer Caribbean Beach Party. It's the highlight of the day, if not the trip. In the Med. there's too much else to do that competes with champagne and caviar around the pool.

There was no CD playing as the presentation of champagne and caviar did not cap off a full day of fun in the sun as in the Caribbean. You definitely will not need the CD on Seabourn. I thought that we were going to trade the CD for your photos???

The chef was Dutch. Excellent menus and food as usual. Everything was great from chateaubriand to lobster to osso bucco to dover sole, etc. etc. etc. You know that reminds me that I forgot to pick up a set of menus on the last day. I guess that I was too focused on getting over to SD2 to pay my respects to the new Capt. and some old friends over there.

We'll have to exchange the photo CD (which is actually sitting on my desk here waiting to be presented) when we actually are in the same city AT THE SAME TIME:p :D :p

What deck was your cabin on this trip? Did you have a Commodore or a Yacht or the Owner's?

Was there a stand-out moment for this trip ... that said to you and Mrs. "This is why we sail SD?" or "This is why we chose the Med?"

How did Mrs. find the spa treatments this trip? Oh how I miss those wonderful Thai women and their magic!

Was you voucher for spa credit as a repeat sailor in your documents or suite this trip?

We were in a Deck 2 Yacht Club this trip and very happy with it. The Owner, of all people, occupied the Owner's Suite, by the way.

There were many standout moments. One of the first was being presented with a cold bottle of Red Stripe beer upon boarding in Istanbul. I know that's not most people's cup of tea but that was no easy feat for SD and it told me that they are willing to go the extra mile (or 4,000 miles to be more precise) to do something special for a guest. Another series of special moments was seeing the smiling faces of so many of our friends on the crew welcoming us back to SeaDream from the Capt. to Sean the Hotel Director (who actually came and rescued us from the hot Istanbul port terminal a bit before 2 PM) to Linda the Activities Director to our new friend Konrad who manned the Top of the Yacht Bar to waiters extraordinaire Jose and Teddy to a certain Provision Master named Fabian, and so on, etc.

I understood from all that the spa treatments were excellent as always. Lo and behold our cruise documents did include the discount coupons this time and we did not have to beg for them. I then proceeded to forget about them until the last day when I took a brief respite from relaxing and delivered them to the Spa.

The Owners were actually in THEIR suite!!

Did you get an opportunity to ask the owners about the Sunday departures and, more importantly, the limited room service menu (perhaps Mrs. Ctbjr took care of this as she and I share the same views.)? Were the owner's children with them this trip?

Were there children on this voyage?

Any better selection of television programming this trip? I know there was talk of a better sat downlink on our last voyage. DH must have his US based CNN (guess it is all those hours of CNN Europe that make him a little cranky:p )

What an outstanding moment! A Red Stripe in the Med!! Dh, if he were here instead on a delayed flight out of BOS to ATL to hopefully GSO, would say ... You da man!! And "Only on SD!"

I do hope you gave our regards to Fabian. He was a waiter extradonaire on our first SD voyage! So wonderful that SD promotes from within.

I had about a 10 minute discussion with the Owner and neither of the topics that you mention came up. We had a very nice and generally broad discussion about SeaDream and certain aspects of the company, ships, personnel, etc. but I just didn't think that the opportunity was there to raise those topics during that initial conversation. I was hoping to have a more detailed discussion with him later in the week but that never happened.

There were children on the ship. The youngest was the Owner's daughter who is 8 or so. The rest were at least several years older and most were teens. All were extremely well behaved and their presence on the trip was a total non-issue.

There were a few more TV stations available but I have to admit to not watching them. All were European stations (MTV Europe, Sky News, Sky Sport, CNN International, etc.) and sadly none carried the British Open which was being contested at the end of the week.

Indeed I did pass your regards along to Fabian. You're correct that SD does promote from within. He was a waiter on our very first Sea Goddess cruise in 1995, later became Sommelier and is now Provision Maser and it has been fun for us to see him in these different capacities year after year.

You know, with all these questions we're getting close to a full fledged review here, aren't we?

All my years in the newspaper/public relations industry have paid off ... an albeit different format, but a trip review nonetheless:p

We'll have to put this interview on hold until tomorrow as I am off to dreamland while DH is stranded in ATL:eek:

Hopefully more SeaDreamers will have questions for you as well:D

This is great!! I'm really enjoying the banter between the two of you about SD. I can't wait to take my first cruise aboard the II. I'm making a list of questions and will be shortly joining in.

Mary Lou

You will love SD Mary Lou! When do you cruise?

Glad you enjoyed the unofficial trip report:D

Ctbjr has a lof of info on SD ... so ask away.

Disney Jen & ctbjr,

My first Sea Dream cruise is coming up in October and I'd like to begin throwing out questions to you two experts. Noticed you mentioned something about skimpy room service menus... could you elaborate on that? Are there specific times for room service or is it available 24/7?

This is a great thread, lets keep it going!

alita

Hope we are and can be of some help Alita! You are in for a treat in October:)

Rooms service is an interesting concept on SD, at least in my opinion. We have ordered shrimp off the room service menu while sitting on the Bali beds, caviar (which there is now a charge for) and club sandwiches at The Top of The Yacht bar. I know Ctbjr has ordered pop corn late at night.

We also have had wonderful cocktail parties in the Owners Suite and in the Captain's Quarters that included caviar, shrimp/prawns, gazpacho shooters.

Needless to say we did not go hungry ... But notice a trend? No hot items ... or at least none that I can remember:eek:

Best I know you can't have a course-by-course dinner in your stateroom a la Seabourn and RSSC/Regent you can have course by course meals in your suite/cabin.

There is always food available ... 24/7 ... anywhere. It is truly a "light" menu as SD describes it in its marketing info.

I am sure Ctbjr will add to my comments.

I'll give this a shot. Way, way back in the old days (before SeaDream) while the ships were under different ownership, it was possible to order for room service basically anything served in the Restaurant. If you didn't feel like getting dressed and going for dinner one night, you could have anything on the menu that evening served course by course in your room. The same was true for breakfast and lunch.

For a variety of reasons, SeaDream doesn't offer this feature. Room service is still available 24 hours a day but only for limited items. For example, in the morning you can get coffee, fruit, an individual quiche, muffins, etc. The rest of the day you can get shrimp cocktail, club sandwich, popcorn (for watching a DVD in your room) and I'm sure other things too. Since I'm not really a user of room service I'm sure that I'm not listing everything. Perhaps DJ or somebody else can chime in with other selections from the room service menu.

The bottom line is that room service is available 24/7 but at a different level than in prior days and than offered by SD's competition such as Seabourn and Silversea.

Hope that helps.

Sometimes we scare me Ctbjr:rolleyes: Looks like we posted about the same time:eek:

One of the things that we really did enjoy on SD was having room service on the Bali beds.

The afternoon/evening of the Champagne and Caviar splash, Ctbjr, my Dh and I were having drinks on Deck 5 and watching the festivites poolside while we sailed away from Jost Van Dyke. Martjin majically appeared with some appetizers for us ... now the poolside group definitely need some food since they had enough of the other fuel:p Martjin made sure we didn't miss out. That's the SD difference.

Disney Jen: My husband and I are cruising on the Sept 2007 Med cruise, Istanbul to Rome. It can't come soon enough for me! I chose this cruise because it does a little bit of Turkey, Greece and Italy. It is the only time this cruise is offered and now all I have to worry aboutfor 13 months is that it will be chartered out.

Mary Lou

The afternoon/evening of the Champagne and Caviar splash, Ctbjr, my Dh and I were having drinks on Deck 5 and watching the festivites poolside while we sailed away from Jost Van Dyke.

I guess you COULD call it "festivities" but don't you think that's really stretching it, DJ?

I agree, of course, with your comments. I'd also like to say that if taken out of context "limited room service menu" can sound like a negative. However, when put in the proper context as Disney Jen does below, the fact of the matter is that on SD one can get great food served in their room, on deck or in the Restaurant at any time. During our last cruise, I heard nobody (other than Mrs. CTBjr) commenting on the limited room service menu. The comments from Mrs. CTBjr were actually positive. She was quite pleased that it is now possible to get individual (hot) quiches in the room for breakfast.

I wouldn't fret too much Mary Lou ... actually it seems that the Caribbean cruises are the ones that are chartered more than the Med ... just an observation. Actually the only person I know who has been bumped, and it has happened to her twice is Frequent Traveler and both were Caribbean cruises:(

Seeing an 80-ish-year-old man strutting around the pool in his bathing suit with an umbrella as if here in a parade in New Orleans defines festivities Ctbjr:p Not to mention the yoga dancing and disco music:D

The only time I missed "traditional" room service was a breakfast ... but I quickly got over that as dining at Topside al fresco for breakfast was wonderful ... not sure if the sight of me without makeup and coiffed hair sat well with my fellow SeaDreamers but at least I didn't come to breakfast in a bathrobe.

Great info, thanks!

I was thinking primarily about breakfast and not a huge one but more like coffee and fruit. Sounds as though that won't be a problem.

Another question concerns clothes... always a problem even with the short cruises but I'll be gone for 5 weeks and I'd really love to be able to travel light (one medium sized checked bag as opposed to 2 giant ones). What sort of clothes are worn on crossings? Mine will be 14 days--Tenerife to Rio--and that will come after a 7 day Barcelona to Seville cruise. Am I correct in thinking that the same type clothes can be worn on each cruise?

I'd love to hear from some of you how you'd handle the wardrobe challenge of 21 days and nights on SD.

alita (who can hardly wait for her first SD experience!)

My goodness ... 21 days on SD ... how wonderful:D

Actually I haven't done a crossing .... yet. But Frequent Traveler (FT)has ... Here is her trip report: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=252321

In terms of clothing ... I am a big fan of Chico's, especially their Travelers Line. I love the flexibilty.

During the day, DH wore his bathing trunks (no Speedo for him:eek: ) with a T-shirt. This was fine for breakfast and lunch in Topsiders. At night he would wear golf pants and usually a short sleeve buttoned shirt (think Tommy Bahama, Ralph Lauren's Chaps). He brought his blazer but I can't remember if he wore it or not ... I think he did the night we had cocktails in the Captain's Quarters and then dined at the Captain's Table.

During the day, I wore my bathing suit with a cover up (think Land's Ends knee length or longer). This worked for breakfast and lunch. I brought several interchangable pieces from Chico's ... pants, capris, skirt, tops and a jacket. I was proud that I limited my self on shoes!

Of course shorts and shirts for touring off the yacht will be necessary. Last trip we didn't venture off the yacht except for the call on Jost Van Dyke.

My sense is that folks aren't always checking out what others are wearing ... at least if they are we weren't aware of it. The SD group tends to include folks who are very comfortable in their own skin ... and style:p

Neither DisneyJen nor I have been on a crossing, although I hope to rectify that situation in November (SD 2 crossing from Tenerife to San Juan); however, I think the clothing for a crossing is similar to that for any other cruise. Since it's a lady asking the question, I'll defer to DJ other than to say I plan to bring shorts, tee shirts (for daytime wear) and khakis and polo shirts for evening.

You might want to take a look here: http://www.freewebs.com/seadream2

The photos will give you an excellent idea of what people wore on the Fall, 2005 crossing from Tenerife to WPB on SD 2.