SDII: truly was a let-down, but

We just left SDII on November 25 after the 11-day Miami to St. Thomas trip. I'm preparing an extensive review, but the bottom line is we will not be likely to go back to SD anytime soon. I've sailed with Regent in the past and there is nothing that SD does right that Regent doesn't do, without the negatives we experienced. The ship is nice, but it is a rough, loud ride in cabin 319, and the bed squeaked so badly that after four days and nothing that could fix it (they said they tried, we believe them) we bolted it up to the wall and slept on the floor for the duration of the trip-it was comfortable and quiet. Even our cabin stewardess said we had the coolest bed and she wished she could do that. Our itinerary was changed so often and all our booked excursions were canceled. Much was blamed on the weather, but when we took taxicabs to the "bad weather side" of the island, the seas/beaches were just fine. I'm so glad we hadn't booked anything on the side in advance as our stops/dates changed five times in a ten-day period. That was just a bit more "flexibility" than I anticipated or was happy with, especially since after the first couple of times, it seemed more for SD’s convenience than the passengers. The dream beds at night sound better than they are -- they do not turn the lights off up there and by 5A the crew is out cleaning and making noise so it is not the perfect romantic solitude that reviews and their site would lead you to believe. And this was the nice “front bed;” the others are located under the loud, wet stacks and near the bar, so don’t think you are actually going to fall asleep up there. The great water toys and marina sound wonderful, but are open for use far less than you would imagine. (It is great when it is, but again, two days out of ten and only 2-3 hours a day!) Dining in romantic alcoves under the stars is another draw, but what they don't tell you is that more often than not, if you are moving, they will only serve in the dining room. And it gets crowded and loud at 8-830.

There are some great things: the service (all the crew members) is/are excellent (but they do NOT all know your name and call you by it), the concierge (Nina) was one of the most friendly and helpful I've ever met on a ship, the bed linens are divine, and the food is very, very good with the portions sized well and the variety good, although a very limited room service menu (but we went for it two nights just for the peace and quiet).

More in a detailed review, but I guess we were quite disappointed in our SD experience after all the excellent reviews. Maybe we just aren't the right type of clientele and will stick to Regent or try another luxury line. The bottom line, we felt like this was a business trip for SDII (new ports and lots of media coming on board at each new port, putting us in port with other large ships when we were scheduled to be elsewhere, etc.) and they took us along to help pay for it. The best days we had were the two post-cruise ones in St. Thomas, although St. Barts was great because that is the only time they opened the marina and let us have water toys. None of the stops had decent snorkeling, guess you had to take an excursion for that. If you are not that interested in the ports and don't really give a hoot where you'll be tomorrow, and really want to spend all your time on the ship drinking, sunning, reading, or sleeping, SD is a nice ship with excellent service. If you were hoping for water toys, snorkeling, and a little privacy in the mix, you might not be too pleased.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. BTW, liquor and perfume prices are better in St. Maartin (although we were supposed to be in St. Martin) than in St. Thomas and all places will deliver to your ship if you buy six or more.

Hi JustAud:

Sorry to hear about your troubles on board. I have been on other venues when the "media" were aboard for filming of videos, brochures or whatever. One time they held up a train we were on for over an hour for pictures. Made many passengers late for connections/appointments, etc. It is very uncaring and inconsiderate of the paying passengers and should never happen. Also, on our last SD1 in October we had a very bad noise problem in 203. Some sort of a pump below decks actually shook our cabin and sounded as if there was an air compressor on our coffee table! We finally had to call Capt. Berg and he made arrangements for the pump not to be used at night so we slept well after that. Sleeping on the Bali Beds is something we knew would not be real fun. You are right about the ones by the stack. 24/7 the blowers run and all night the stack is illuminated. On SDII, a passenger spent every night there. Her husband was a terrible snorer and at home they had separate rooms. Every morning she was still there, a sequined mask on her face, bunny slippers on her feet and wrapped in her comforter as crew and early risers passed by. I'll take my bed any time. The water toys are another point you are correct about. Marketing would have you thinking they are yours for the asking any time. The fine print in the back tells you differently. Regardless, water toys are very limited and, for example, if you want to ride a wave runner and have visions of zipping over to the beach or the next island, aint happening. The permitted area is a very small area around the ship. Like everyone else in Florida, we had to have a wave runner. Sold it in 2 months. Mostly boring. Not the point here but for us, doesnt matter if they never put them out. Your point about remembering names is true. On our first SD in 04, we were amazed when everyone seemed to know our names. It was very nice but unexpected and certainly not seen on other cruises. As time has gone by and more and more new personnel arrive, the skill or practice of the name thing has reduced somewhat in my opinion. Does it matter? Not to me as I was not used to it before. In all, service aboard SeaDream is the best we have encountered in 26 cruises. The only service that comes close is on QE2 in the pre-Carnival days. I hope it stays that way. SeaDream is not for everyone. On one trip a couple stated they would not be back even though they were well cared for. Their reason, they missed the casinos and shows of the big ships and they actually missed the buffets!!!! As the old saying goes "different strokes for different folks". We go for the ability to be alone and for what SeaDream doesnt have: rock climbing, art auctions, etc. Looking forward to your review. All companies cruise or not have room for improvement. Nothing stays the same, they are either getting better or getting worse.

All the best,

Jim.

we are on SDII next year for 12 nights.

can one "assume" that Sea Dream reads these postings.you would hope so.

They do, both in the office and aboard the ships.

JustAud:

Thank you for your preliminary review which was very informative since I will be on the Dec. 14th, nine day sailing. This is my first SeaDream cruise, having recently sailed on Silversea, Seabourn and Oceania. Looking forward to your "extensive review", hopefully before I leave for San Juan on Tuesday.

we are on SDII next year for 12 nights.

 

can one "assume" that Sea Dream reads these postings.you would hope so.

I know for a fact that SD does read these boards ... although I don't know of any SD crew or land-based folks who post here.

Sorry to hear about the issues you had with this cruise JustAud.

One of the things that is always a bit disconcerting is when expectations are not meet ... We had this happen last year on Seabourn. We went in with high expectations, based on what I read on the SB forum, and the fit just wasn't right for us.

It will be interesting to see if you hear from SD about the issues you raised. Did you include them in your comment cards?

I know SD read the comment cards and takes them seriously. We had a couple of issues (some small and some big) on first cruise on SD: They forgot our anniversary which was the reason for the cruise, the a/c in our cabin didn't work well and we were under the impression that this was an adult only cruise and we had an infant in a cabin on one side of us and a toddler on the other side ... so it wasn't quite to say the least.

About a week after we returned home we received a dozen roses from SD with a card wishing us a happy anniversary and apologizing, and then a letter offering us credit on a future sailing which we did take advantage of. The next cruise exceeded expectations ...

Now interestingly enough, we wrote of some issues (particularly about a very rude crew member and a dining room situation) on our SB comment cards and there has been no follow up.

We received a letter this week from the "Office of the President" of HAL saying that they received our comment card and that someone would follow up on our cruise over Thanksgiving. We had written on our comment card how the crew exceeded our expectations (which I admit were low since it is a mass market line and we traveled over a holiday period) even though they couldn't resolve our issue (not being able to dine as a family at the same table).

So ... this a long-winded "yes" SD does take comments seriously!

I traveled with SeaDream 2 years ago. I was very happy. You are right about the Balinese beds. It certainly appears idyllic, but isn't quite so. Bright and noisy... It wasn't a big deal to us, I absolutely loved my bed. Wonderful bedding with a comfy duvet. We booked Deck 2 and were put onto Deck 3 directly across from the Owner's Suite, very quiet. The day the marina was open, we did take advantage of it, kayaking. I believe that was at St. Barts's as well. The other days it didn't matter because we were either on shore or reading by the pool. Even though everyone didn't know my name, they were certainly still exceedingly polite and kind. I suppose we weren't "banking" on anything, and if things weren't exactly as we thought we were able to go with it... I've traveled extensively, and the Sea Dream experience is a big favourite of mine. Last year we cruised with Royal Caribbean and within the first hour of being on board I watched my husband scale the rock wall... fun, but not a big deal. We won't ever do a "big" cruise again, it'll be Sea Dream or a land vacation. I didn't enjoy the mass breakfasts and lunches with plastic trays... Too many people, crowds actually, not a good thing on my vacation. We are booked for our second SD cruise Jan 10 for 9 days. My husband isn't concerned with the lack of activity on the ship, because during our last cruise on SD, for example, he ran up and down Saba twice... there's plenty to do on a SD cruise. My husband and I are in our 30's, don't have kids, and enjoy the peace, quiet, beauty and small community feel on the ship. There really isn't anything quite like it. I can't wait to be welcomed aboard again!

SavySailor, would love to hear your impressions when you get back and about Oceania. We had planned a Med cruise on Oceania October 27, but had to cancel as my daughter couldn't make it as scheduled. Sort of how BF and I ended up on SeaDream. I've only cruised Regent and SeaDream and my TA sticks to the luxury lines so couldn't give me much insider info on Oceania, but I really, really like their itineraries and pricing. Would love to hear about your experiences on both lines. Hope your trip is a far better experience than ours! This is one time I'm hoping to be in the minority.