Trip Report from a first time SeaDreamer - SD II - Mediterranean

[swassbac]

My wife and I travelled on the SeaDream II last month on a Greek Isles voyage from Istanbul to Athens. Before the trip we were able to find lots of helpful information both on this forum and The Lazy Sea-Dreamer blog. I wanted to share our experiences with other newbies who may be trying to decide if SeaDream is right for them.

 

Once sentence summary: We loved almost everything about SeaDream, had a fabulous time, and put down a deposit while on board towards our next voyage!

 

Passenger Mix

 

There were approximately 100 passengers on our voyage with a split of 40% from the US and the other 60% from everywhere else – Australia, Germany, Mexico, UK, etc. There was one big group from Brazil but everyone else seemed to be in groups of 2 or 4.

 

One thing we were concerned about is whether we would be too “young” for SeaDream. Although Sea Dream is considered the younger, more relaxed of the super premium cruise lines, it is an older, more affluent crowd than most of the larger ships.

 

We were definitely one of the youngest couples (I am 41 and my wife is in her early 30s) but there were several other couples in our age range including one younger couple on their honeymoon. The median age was an active 60 and we never felt awkward or out of place. Everyone we met was friendly and outgoing and we shared multiple meals with three couples we met on board.

 

The only time the “target” age range seemed noticeable was in the movie selection. Most nights they had a projector and screen set out by the pool to offer “movies under the stars” and the selections (Tony Bennett concert, Mamma Mia, etc.) seemed a little too old and sleepy for me.

 

It seemed that more than half of the passengers retired after dinner ended at 10:00pm. However, about 30 of us split out post-dinner time between the Piano Bar and the Top of the Yacht (TOY) Bar. Both were enjoyable and we probably spent more time at the TOY than anywhere else. The two blackjack tables by the Piano Bar had a small group of regulars but never tempted me to play. No matter how late we stayed out, there were always a few people left at the TOY, and the bar stayed open until the last person called it a night.

 

Accommodations

 

The cabins are very nice but not overly spacious, and none of the cabins (even the largest suites) have balconies. As others have said, this is perfectly fine since you use the public areas much more than you might on the larger ships since there is never a problem finding a private place to relax around the boat.

 

My only complaint about the room is the front of the toilet is very close to the bathroom door. This, combined with the location of the toilet paper dispenser, makes it a really tight fit for anyone with long legs!

 

The only difference between the cabin types is location and windows. On deck 2, each cabin has two portholes, while the deck 3 and 4 cabins have larger, traditional windows. We booked the cheapest cabin classification (2 GTY), which doesn’t pre-assign you a cabin number (you get what’s left). This saved us almost $1000 per person, compared to booking a deck 3 cabin. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to see we were assigned to deck 3, cabin 302! This seemed to be a common occurrence: We talked to several other guests who booked the 2 GTY rate and were assigned deck 3 and 4 cabins. Not only did we get “upgraded” to a deck with bigger windows, but we had the cabin closest to mid-ship which was very convenient, and which also minimized the effects of rougher sees. We didn’t really experience much in the way of rough seas although one other couple mentioned being practically thrown out of their beds on the roughest night.

 

One thing that I did miss was an iron and ironing board. Since I didn’t smuggle on a travel iron, and I didn’t want to pay to send everything out to be pressed, I wound up using the “hot shower” method of steaming out some of my wrinkles. I was glad that there was room under the bed to store our suitcases so we could get items in and out as needed throughout the trip. The one disappointment was the requirement to leave your suitcase in the hallway the night before disembarkation. I had hoped that this wouldn’t be required on a small ship. Still, it wasn’t too inconvenient because we brought a carry-on that we were able to roll out when we left the ship in the morning.

 

Food

 

The meals were consistently great throughout the trip. A few dishes were excellent and very memorable and none were bad. We appreciated the variety and the portion size. The portions weren’t too much to fill you up before sampling multiple courses and weren’t too small (except for one notably tiny veal entrée). There were always snacks available between meals and a limited 24-hour room service menu – although we were so well fed throughout the trip we never took advantage of room service.

 

Four of the nights, dinner was served outdoors. This was very nice, especially with the perfect weather we had. Dinner was served below deck on three of the nights: these nights were the first night, the night of the very tasty degustation menu, and the last night. It seemed that, if the ship was moving at dinner time, they would serve in the dining room instead of on deck, but you always have the option to have dinner on deck by yourself if you want to. We joined other couples and groups on four of the nights, dining by ourselves the other nights. The dinners were so good that we actually made a point of getting back to the ship each night by 8pm – even when we had a few hours left in port.

 

For breakfast and lunch, there was a cold buffet in addition to the menu and we’d often order something off the menu and start with a salad or other dish from the buffet. One of the SD touches I could do without is the staff insisting on carrying your dish from the buffet back to your table. They were quite insistent about this, and although it was a nice touch at first, it sometimes felt a little overdone and awkward to have someone take your plate, follow you back to your table, and then refuse to even let you fill your own bowl with cereal J

 

Every day, snack stations were setup by the pool area and there was always a nice selection of hors d’oeuvres every evening before pre-dinner port talks. You definitely would never go hungry! Although I didn’t find I had gained the “average 1-2 pounds per day,” it wasn’t for lack of trying!

 

Some of my favorite dishes were a sliced lamb on baguette sandwich (lunch), the lobster entrée (dinner), the homemade pistachio ice cream, and a “lamb 3 ways” entrée (dinner). The only meal that was fairly bland was breakfast – the blueberry pancakes, French toast, and Swedish pancakes were all good, but they paled in comparison to the lunches and dinners. The orange juice started off as fresh-squeezed but by the last few days of the trip, it seemed to be a mixture of Tang and concentrate. One morning I ordered what was possibly the greasiest side of bacon I had ever seen. It was almost like there was a different kitchen serving breakfast.

 

Service

 

We expected service to be great with the high staff-to-passenger ratio, and we were not disappointed. It seemed that everyone knew you by name within hours of boarding. Even on the last night, a waiter we had not seen before instantly greeted us by name.

 

The staff quickly got to know everyone’s preferences from their favorite drinks to how they liked their meals prepared and we were continually impressed by their attentiveness. Everyone was friendly and outgoing from Captain Johan, who we got to know on two shore trips, to the cabin stewards.

 

Some of the nicer touches were crew members coming around to clean our sunglasses by the pool, stopping by with spray bottles to mist you, and bringing around ice-cream treats when it was getting hot in the afternoon. I also fondly remember getting a dessert from the buffet after lunch and sitting down, only to have Werner, one of the waiters, tell me that I was not “allowed” to have it without him making it “a la mode” for me! He sure knew me!

 

I can see why people frequently book the same ship time and time again just to sail with the same great SD crew.

 

Beverages

 

When we arrived, the mini-bar in the room was stocked with a selection of soft drinks and a few Heinekens. You can leave a note for your cabin steward who will make sure to stock it with anything available in the bar. We mostly used it for Diet Coke and the Gordon’s Imperial IPA I had brought with me. For you other beer snobs out there, see my other posts on what is involved in specialty beer orders and bringing your own beer, since you’ll only find the typical light lager selection: Corona, Red Stripe, Heineken, and possibly a local lager from whatever ports you are visiting. The most interesting selection was a 12 pack of Erdinger they picked up in one port.

 

The service out on deck was excellent and it was always easy to get a drink. It was hard not to always have a drink in hand, regardless of whether you preferred beer, wine, mojitos, frozen rum drinks, etc. The hardest thing was trying to keep your glass empty. Infact, during the Champagne and Caviar party on deck. I tried to quickly finish my champagne to move on to something else, but every time I set down my glass, it was immediately topped off. This was a much different experience from other cruises, where I have had to patiently wait to flag down someone so that I could BUY a drink! One thing I didn’t realize in advance – but really appreciated – was how nice it is not to have to sign a bill with each drink.

 

For dinner, everything available at the bars was available, as were two complimentary wines that were different each evening. They do have an extensive wine list available for purchase, but since I am not much of a wine dinner, my wife had to “suffer” through the nightly selection. We never felt pressured to order a bottle of the nicer wine, which was nice.

 

Most evenings we went to the Top of the Yacht Bar and/or Piano Bar. They typically had a decent selection of wines by the glass and a selection of premium liquors that were complimentary with some super-premiums being an up-charge. For instance, Ketel One was complimentary but Grey Goose had an up-charge. The selection was extensive enough that my entire bar bill for the trip was $4 for a Red Bull I ordered one night as a mixer. It was amusing that I could have had the entire bottle of vodka for no charge, but that I was charged for the mixer.

 

Sleeping Under the Stars

 

This was promoted in the brochures and in the orientation and I thought it would be neat, and my wife (reluctantly) agreed to try it one night. We signed up for the bed at the front of the ship after reading some of the posts and seeing how much more private this was than the beds on either side of the ship. We are really glad that we did this, since there is no dividing curtain between the beds on the sides. There is also no separator between the beds on the sides and the TOY bar. I could see why many of the couples who tried to sleep there didn’t last too long! The front bed that we used, however, was completely separated from the others, and the crew puts out Do Not Disturb signs when that bed is reserved. (Note: When I went to reserve this front bed when we boarded, it was already booked for every night except for one. If you want to reserve this bed I recommend you do that ASAP upon boarding.)

 

The evening that we slept outside was cooler than the previous nights so we brought an extra blanket from the cabin and made the semi-awkward stroll in our bathrobes through the TOY bar to our beds. We were able to get comfortable and warm although the wind was blowing more than we had expected. The view of the stars was amazing, but we were awakened by a scraping sound that started every time the winds picked up. It seems like something wasn’t completely secured on top of deck 5, although I was not able to pinpoint the source of the sound. Later in the night, the winds died down (and/or the ship stopped) and we were able to sleep more soundly. At one point during the night I used the restroom (there is one located close to the front bed), and I was amazed at how bright the ¾ full moon was and how clear the sky was.

 

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise, and it was a much gentler awakening than I feared. We really enjoyed watching the slow sunrise as we moved into the caldera of Santorini and docked. It was a great sight, and we stayed on deck until about 7:30am. We were joined by 2 other couples during the last half hour.

 

Ports

 

Istanbul – We arrived in Istanbul on a Thursday morning which only gave us a couple of days before the ship left on Saturday. We stayed at the Ferman Hotel, which was highly rated online. The hotel is in the Sultanahmet/Old Town part of the city, and the price was quite reasonable. It was very convenient to most of the major sights, and we managed to see Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. We even had time for one of the 3-hour Bosphorus cruises, but it would have been nice to spend another day or two in that beautiful city.

 

Lesvos – We decided to just go on the organized walk with Captain Johan and Amy, the activities director. This was an easy walk that went up the hill to Mytilini Castle, which had some great views. We then went down to the shore with the group and about half of us took a swim in the Aegean and then returned to the ship. One thing we were impressed by throughout the trip was how efficient the tendering process was. With such a small number of passengers, it was always very easy to get to/from the ship. As soon as the crew saw you, they would quickly send a tender, and we never waited more than a few minutes to get a tender to or from the ship. In most ports, Sea Dream had a table with refreshments and an umbrella for shade, so that you could relax at while waiting for the next tender.

 

Kusadasi - Before leaving for the cruise, we researched each of the ports, and we decided to arrange a private guide for Ephesus for the Kusadasi stop. It was not that much more expensive than the group excursion offered by the ship, and we were able to tailor the tour to our interests (excluding the House of the Virgin Mary, skipping the rug shopping, etc.). We went with EKOL which was actually our third choice, but this was the only company willing to do a half-day tour for us. After booking the tour, I explained via e-mail that we did not want any time reserved for the rug demonstration/shop and although they were very persistent in trying to change my mind over email, I was more persistentJ. The tour was perfect – knowledgeable guide, good use of time, and we slept in a little later than if we had gone on the ship’s excursion. Of all the archaeological sites we visited, including Athens, I was most impressed with Ephesus and the Terrace Houses at Ephesus. I would highly recommend this to anyone stopping in Kusadasi. I also really commend EKOL for not even mentioning the rug stop on the tour – they must have put a notice in my “file”!

 

Mykonos – We started the day by taking a ferry to Delos and touring it on our own. It wasn’t as impressive to me as Ephesus because it has not been reconstructed and it has very little in terms of explanatory signs. We used a guide book to navigate but felt that we would have gotten more out of the visit with the organized tour and guide. However, I understand that those guides might have been a little “too knowledgeable:” some mentioned that the group tour went on for much longer than needed. One word of caution, there isn’t ANY shade on the entire island of Delos – not a single tree. We were glad it was a relatively mild day since Delos would have been miserable on a hot day.

 

During the afternoon, we toured the city with an iPod walking tour that we downloaded from http://www.discovery-walk.com/. We took the printed map with us, and the tour and map provided a great way for us to navigate the entire area at our own pace and get informative, well narrated descriptions of what we were seeing. I highly recommend the audio guides for Mykonos and Athens (see below) for anyone who prefers to set their own pace and avoid the group tours, while at the same time learning more than can be gleaned from the signs.

 

At the end of the day, we took a bus out to Paradise Beach. It is relatively easy to walk to the bus stop and the buses run regularly. When we got out there it was somewhat overcast so we only stayed for a couple of hours. The area really only started getting busy as we were leaving, as this was definitely more of a night party spot, but it gave us a chance to see another part of the island.

 

Paros – This was the first morning we actually felt the ship rocking, and we soon learned that the captain had decided that we would dock in Parikia instead of Naoussa because of the “rough” seas. We signed up for a mountain biking excursion to the other side of the island. After the bike ride, we went to the Church of 100 Doors and then returned to the ship for a late lunch and lounging by the pool. I also took out one of the the Jet Skis for a little while – the two times that I wanted to use them, there was only a short wait. That afternoon we also took advantage of the spa credit for electronic ticketing, and we had a couples massage at the spa.

 

Santorini – We arrived in Santorini after sleeping on deck, and we woke to a beautiful sunset as we came into port. We decided to go on the ship’s tour which ferried us over to the island, and we took a guided bus tour up to a winery for a wine tasting. The bus then took us to Oia. As we wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon in Oia, we parted ways with the group and took a taxi back to port later in the day. Oia is unbelievably beautiful and you’ll definitely want to spend some time there exploring and taking photos – this is THE place you see in all of the post cards, travel brochures, etc.

 

We ended the day in Fira and walked around for a little while before taking the cable car down to the ship. It was nice to see both SeaDream I and II “parked” side by side as we came down the cable car. Originally we planned on seeing the sunset from Oia, but the ship was scheduled to leave soon after sunset, so we returned to have dinner on deck. It was actually a little cloudy (and we had a good view of the sunset on deck), so we weren’t too disappointed. Our photos of the sunset actually came out nicer than the view in person – the island just seems to be made for photos.

 

Sifnos – Sifnos was a very nice change from the packed cruise ship-friendly islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Sifnos doesn’t seem to cater to the large cruise ships. We ran into a family after we first arrived, and they were amazed that we came off a ship. It was clear that this was the first time they had seen a ship in the multiple times they had vacationed on Sifnos. They told us about a monastery out on the rocks “a short hike” away. (The monastery is Chrysopigi.) We decided to make the hike. It was a little farther than we expected (about 45 minutes each way) but it was gorgeous. Once we got half-way and could see down to the coast, there was no turning back! If we took a trip back to the Greek Isles, we’d probably plan on spending a few days in Oia and the rest of the time relaxing in Sifnos.

 

Athens – We arrived on Saturday and left on Monday. We thought this was the appropriate amount of time to stay. We were close to Syntagma Square, although we decided not to spend the money for the Grand Bretagne, which is the SD recommended hotel. Instead, we stayed at the Hotel Amalia, which we were quite satisfied with. We again had downloaded iPod audio tours, this time from http://www.greeceaudioguides.com/. We found the guides very informative and, like the Mykonos guide, very flexible. We used them for our walks around Athens, the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Agora, and even through the new Acropolis Museum. The last night we ate dinner at Horizons (Orizontes) restaurant on Lycabettus Hill. Horizons/ Orizontes is expensive but good, and it has an unbeatable, world-class view, looking down over Athens and into the Acropolis.

 

Bottom Line

 

We loved it so much we already put down a $2,500 deposit towards our next trip. If you put down a deposit on board, you have 1 year to decide on and book your next trip. When you finally book that next trip, you get a 15% discount off the lowest internet price. This essentially gave us 2 years to take another trip (which we will do!) so we took advantage of the offer.

[zqvol]

Good report. Looks like we sailed together and I agree with all that you said.

[Jim Avery]

Thanks for your detailed review. It always takes me back to read a recent review. Glad you had a good time.

J.

[knotheadusc]

Thanks for a great report! We took advantage of onboard booking, too, and we're trying to decide when we want to cruise again.

 

We had a big group from Brazil on our cruise. They really seem to like SeaDream.

 

My husband shared your thoughts on the staff carrying plates from the buffet. He's in the Army and has a hard time not doing stuff like that for himself!

 

Glad you had a great time! I didn't try sleeping on the Balinese bed because I figured I'd never get to sleep, but your description makes me want to try it!

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for a very thorough and informative report/review!

 

I always enjoy seeing SD through the eyes of newbies:D

[veve09]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

[swassbac]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

 

We did and can't wait to return!

[joannas]

fabulous review thank you and we will look forward to our trip even more!