cburger100

Hope to meet you on board ! 

Anyone here sailing to Israel? 

Is it too soon to tell?  Covid is seeing high increases in Barbados, as well as some of the ports SD will call on.  CDC and Johns Hopkins shows significant spikes in cases since 9/21.  Anyone made a move not to go??   We live in NE Florida and had a huge spike that's just now waning (Thank God).  

Y’all aren’t answering this “wind” person, who sounds like he/she wants more info on protocol getting on a luxury yacht who is trying Everything They Can to provide a safe sailing.

I’ve got ONE thing to say to you!  
 

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

bottomline !  
 

These people from CA ruined a great deal of people’s vacations who were acting responsible!  And the crew are suffering too !!! 

According to many of the people on board, this is what they were bragging about.  Partying in Miami.
I’m not quick to judge.  
At the end of the day, AND especially in these time, we expect people that want to travel, to be cautious, courteous and respectful! 

Staying away from crowds, ie bars, nightclubs, etc.  Just like the Bajan government required you to stay on property of the regulated hotels, should you go into Barbados pre or post. 

For so many years it was our dream to one day be able to get on a Christmas Sea Dream. We took care of my mother for many many years, and would never leave her alone during the Christmas season.  However she passed away this year from Covid, and our hearts are broken. So this was the year we would go out and spend time with our favorite crew on our favorite yacht for Christmas.

Thanks to the hard work of all of the executives at Sea Dream to make this happen!
Alas some stupid people decided to party before they got onto the ship, and have now ruined everything for all of us, including the crew. And some of the crew are infected.

I wish that the Sea Dream team would reach out and let us know what we could do to help the crew and show or appreciation.

And I really wish there were a way that these people from CA, will be banished from Sea Dream forever more, better yet I’d love to sue them.  I’m sure they were questioned by the Dr or staff as to the protocols they followed before boarding. Did the lie?  I’m sure they did.

Well I’m off my soapbox now.  I hope the CA people read this and realize how selfish they were, but I doubt it.  

Here’s a cute one of some of the staff!  Can you name them!   

Me to a T!  But Margaritas and Japanese food ! 

9 hours ago, southseas said:

In my case (we were planning to sail Saturday) it would have been:  stayed home, stayed home, waved to the UPS guy, ordered Chinese delivery as fridge was empty, made up gift basket for the cat sitter, had small breakdown over which shoes to pack, drank far too much gin, threw out expired kefir,  ordered emergency shorts from Amazon after realizing quarantine was unkind, threw every piece of jewelry in a case in a horrific jumble, did video supervised COVID test, did contactless prescription pick up, stayed home, made ‘innovative’ dinner out of few remaining fresh foods, jumped on suitcase to close, got terrible phone call, drank far too much gin while contemplating unpacking.  
 

Um, probably more detail than was needed, but I’d have been happy to provide it.

Totally 💯 percent agree.  SD has done an awesome job, but I tell you, if it were me, I’d drill every passenger!  And make them sign something, just like I go now to PT for a broken elbow.  No one goes in without reporting where they’ve been!  

I disagree.  I think Seadream has gone above and beyond, except perhaps drilling the new passengers as to where they were/what they were doing 3 to 4 days before embarkation.  We are still booked for Christmas and we pray the Barbados govmt will allow them to try again.  No this is not selfish on my part.  This is just how confident I feel.  
if you want to get on Seadream, then don’t go out partying before you travel !  Stay extremely vigilant, masked, travel with wipes, stay away from people !  
Or don’t go!   This crew, company - they are doing their utmost and I am proud of them! 

Wherever it came from, it's not the crew!   And SD has done an extremely good job with protocols.  I bet if you interviewed the passengers, you will find someone was not heeding protocols the night before they flew into BGI.  

I pray the Barbados government will allow them to sail again.  

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 
Thanks for sharing - great idea.  We remember Pablo on the right from several voyages and his excellent friendly service, but not the person on the left of the picture, though he looks a bit familiar.   Look forward to your future postings of more pictures!
 
Timely to focus on the crew, past and present, not just on when we all might return to normal and enjoy another voyage.  We all often stress the importance of the crew to the special SeaDream experience.  Please reach out to any past or present crew you may have friended on Facebook or otherwise kept in touch with over the years.  Lend a hand in spirit or even tangibly if you can. 
 
Today’s Washington Post documents the plight of Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) returning to the Philippines, which of course is the home country for many of our beloved SD crew.  While SD crew are better off than most, they are not out of the woods.  Many have been and others will be sent home before the end of their SD contracts, through no fault of SD but due to the Norwegian rules changes limiting crew following the Hurtigruten virus incident.  
 
Returning home has been no walk in the park, as even those who test negative for COVID on arrival have to undergo weeks of quarantine upon reaching their home provinces.  There is serious discrimination against OFWs because some locals mistakenly think they were exposed to the virus just because they were working overseas.  We live in South Florida and read in the papers here about cruise ship and cargo ship crews still stuck on board ships.
 
We hope to see these special SD crew members back again when things get back to normal, whenever that may be.  They took care of us and made our voyages so special.  Time to see if some of them and their families need our help now, just as many local restaurants are urging customers to help their employees during these difficult times.
 

So, my Facebook keeps popping up pics of our many wonderful trips around the World, many of which are on Seadream. Hubby and I look at them and just dream of a Covid free life again and hopping on our beloved yacht. Yet we also can’t forget the wonderful crew - family - which makes the memories even more fond. So here, I’m just going to start posting them as they come up.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Quick update from one of my FB Friends over in FL: The SD Office in Miami, which had been shuttered since March, was permanently abandoned in mid-June. Folks who had personal items were given same-day notice to grab what they could.  There are no plans to open another US office as they are still running a skeleton crew at about 20% normal staffing levels, all working from home.    

Were I able I should be in the Pub as well.  A man can only drink tinned beer so long then strange things start happening.  Like Meghan in charge.[emoji33]  Poor, poor Harry.  What if the "herd" is right?  As I understand it it is aerosol like and airborne.  In other words, air breathers stand a very good chance of being exposed at one time or another.  Sort of like Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, in the desert Valley Fever, and on and on.  The death rates as a percentage of the total population are extremely tiny.  You could look it up but this year, on this planet, approximately 59 Million people will die from all causes.  Is Covid serious? Yes.  Is it the end of the world? No.  And I will not spend thousands to wear a mask on a cruise ship.  [emoji15]  Pull me another pint of Shropshire Lad if you please Mr. Barman...[emoji481][emoji41]

Web Cam Aalesund port
 
SeaDream I arrived to Aalesund this morning. 
I called SeaDream Reservations and they advised that they are exploring the possibilities of sailing in Norway this summer if the Norwegian Government allow them to. 
 
I guess this will be mainly for Norwegians first and then Europeans when Europe opens. 

The way that the US government has treated this Virus I think it will be a while before US citizens are allowed to travel to Europe. 

 
Good questions.  I think there are two ways of looking at any “lock out” of the Miami office.  We now live about an hour or so north of Miami.  It is true that the office was likely “closed” temporarily due to the Covid-19 stay at home order from Miami-Dade county.  That may still apply since that county isn’t opening up as quickly as others in Florida, yet anyway.  However, SD staff should have been able to work from home like others.
 
The separate and more worrisome question I can’t answer is the report from someone else here that SD stopped paying rent and the landlord locked them out.  That same person or another said most staff had been let go in Miami.  We know SD monitors this board because they posted to correct something else many weeks ago, so them posting here or otherwise is in order.
 
To add to the intrigue, there are reports that the staff now on SD1 heading to Ålesund, Norway (farther north than Oslo) don’t have clothes for that weather.  Big difference between the late spring temps in the Med and Ålesund, where it is a balmy high of 42 F today (lows in the 30s)!
 

I don't see a way they can execute a summer season even with re-positioning SD1 to Norway when it is running at half crew.  Wouldn't they need to bring more back staff from places like the Philippians/Thailand, and/or recruit/train new people, and/or cut amenities and quality?  Or maybe they could further transfer staff from SD2, and then mothball her somewhere cheap? Plus they fired 95% of their shore side team such that they can't even keep their website updated or reply to simple emails. 
 
So is it reasonable to see them sailing again before September/October at the earliest?

Thanks to everyone who has been sharing information here - that is the key, that we share and not question motives please.  This is especially important in the complete absence of any credible information from SeaDream directly - or any information at all - despite many attempts several of us have made to get them to be more forthcoming to SeaDream guests.
 
For us, the proof is in the absence of a single penny in any refunds to us or others we know who have been waiting patiently.  We were promised them in March and told in writing they would be processed within 10-14 business days.  Crickets since then.  It is now mid-May.  The point is absent a liquidity crunch - which to some extent might be reasonable - there is no excuse.  Instead of being honest if cash is short, we are told incredible things like “the Miami office is closed and we can’t process refunds from Oslo or home ...”.  Rubbish.

Lynn in NC 

we we should meet 🇬🇷

Any news or updates?  We are sailing on April 23rd, our first time on Ponant.