SD2 Review - March 30th Cruise

We just returned from our first SeaDream cruise. It was on SD II, and was a retirement gift to myself. We left San Juan on Sunday March 30, returning a week later. Now that I can't feel the ship moving any more, I thought I'd report on our trip.

Like so many Caribbean trips this year, we were at the mercy of the weather. It was real windy all week, and coupled with the high seas, our captain had to be creative with our itinerary. We were forced to skip Saba, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. We instead spent two full days in St. Bart's (instead of one), and stopped at a few harbors in the BVIs that weren't on our original schedule. We also stopped at Anguilla, but a day earlier than planned. Another casualty of the weather was the marina, as it never opened all week. The tour schedule was erratic - because our itinerary was - and snorkeling was out of the question.

OK, that was the bad news. The good news is that we loved the SeaDream experience. In no particular order, here's some thoughts:

Food: I expected to be well fed, but the food was even better than I had hoped for! It was seriously good in every way. I ate a lot of beef for some reason, and it was always very well prepared, and cooked exactly to order. Soups, which can be a throwaway item on some menus, were outstanding. Desserts were exceptional, and I ate way too many of them. All of the baked goods like pastries, cookies, etc. were great.

Cabin: We were in 202, which is one of the cabins closest to the dining room. We were glad to be in the middle of the ship given the high seas. If (when) we go on another one of these, I'd probably get the same cabin. We loved the bed and the bedding, and even liked having two duvets. DW's internal thermostat is set higher than mine, and she could kick off her duvet without me even noticing. We're furnishing a new house soon, and plan to get two duvets there too! The shower was excellent, way better than I expected, with fine water pressure. We didn't have any problem keeping the room cool either.

Service: Wonderful! We especially liked Davide at the TOY, but everyone was outstanding. We couldn't have been treated any better.

Fellow Passengers: The ship was full to capacity, although it never felt crowded. I didn't get a breakdown, but I think it was probably 50% Americans. There were about 8 to 10 kids ranging in age from (I'm guessing) 10 to 18. They weren't any problem at all. One of the few times we saw them was on the last night, as they were all sitting around topside doing last minute homework.

We met up with a friendly Australian couple that had just spent 2 weeks on the Regent Navigator. We dined with them the last 5 nights. John has a massive wine collection back home in Brisbane, and brought several of his best reds. He wanted to show off Australian wine, and I was more than happy to let him! After we depleted his stock, we had some very fine wines off of SeaDream's list. I think that they are priced at retail, which is a tremendous bargain compared to other lines. The last night we had an excellent Caymus Cabernet for $79, and I think that's about what a wine store would sell it for here.

What a drag it was to have to come home to dreary Wisconsin after all that pampering. At least I don't have to get up and go to work any more. That would be too depressing to handle.

Congratulations on your retirement ... and the very fine gift that you gave to yourself ... and your wife:D

Mother Ocean and Mother Nature sure have been active this spring:eek:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

Enjoyed reading about your experience aboard SD2. Great to hear that you loved the SD experience. Now, I'm even more excited for our upcoming voyage...as if that could be possible. :)

Wisconsin must be full of fabulous people. We met a couple from WI on our Nov. '07 voyage with whom we're traveling next week.

Welcome back to reality. It comes all too soon.

Forgot to mention that when we were in St. Bart's, we stopped at Le Select for a cheap Caribe and Rum Punch. While we were there, Alton Brown (Good Eats food tv show) was there with his film crew getting ready to do an episode. I'll be watching for it!

The burgers are good too.

The burgers are good too.