OKCer

Curious how far out AOV sends details regarding hotel selection in Buenos Aires, along with chartered flight info? Additionally, what is the traditional return flight time to BA after docking back in Ushuaia. Do you recommend booking flights home, starting the journey that day or is it best to book one hotel night in BA to allow for delays getting out of Ushuaia? 

I agree with Trapper, any Caribbean adventure will meet your needs as they can be port-intensive and provide something new each day allowing you to get out and adventure or stay put and relax on deck. Do note, find out when Carnival is in St. Barths if your itinerary includes an overnight there. While the island may not fit your needs for diving and/or snorkeling it's a great bay to see millionaire's yachts then sail ashore to enjoy the Carnival parade in the afternoon. It's worth the experience. We're headed to Barbados in March 2020 and trying the southern Caribbean itinerary for the first time. 

Once you click on "view voyage" after finding your specific trip, to the left-side of the page you can click on "land adventures" to find what offerings they have during your week. 

To confirm, will SD let folks off at VG to do the Baths if they are not doing the paid-for excursion? I thought they only let the paying folks get off at 8:00 a.m. while everyone else waited till arrival in North Sound to catch a taxi. We are planning to do the Baths, but have no desire to do the formal excursion as we don't want to be on an organized schedule. 

Yes, flexibility is on our radar and we're prepared. The open water sailing is what I look forward to the most and was just curious if it truly all happened during traditional sleeping hours. I look forward to morning coffee while watching the sunrise as we sail in. Thank you! 

Upon waking up each morning during Caribbean sailing should I expect to already be in bay and anchored or will we still be sailing in? I'm in no hurry to jump off the boat each morning, but noticed that anchor time is often not till 9:00 a.m. or later. And is the time listed truly what time one should expect to anchor or what time the tenders start to head on in?  I'm a early morning riser and look forward to be awake to see some sailing out in the open waters. 

On 10/3/2018 at 7:45 PM, Mrs_Tiki said:

Which sailing are you considering? We are on March 2 on SDI embarking in STT and disembarking in SJU. Would love it if you are sailing with us!

 

BTW, if "OKC" is what I think it is, I was born at St. Anthony's Hospital!

 

 

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Mrs_Tiki, we are on the same embarking as you. We'll be 10 folks from OKC and two from southern Cali, celebrating a milestone birthday! 

Where exactly does SD handle embarkation in Saint Thomas? Also, for San Juan where does SD disembark? Trying to look at hotel bookings this week for an upcoming sail.

I inquired about dry dock and the only information I was able to elicit was “general maintenance & repairs”. I can report what I find after boarding on 11/18; however I’d love to know any details if anyone has more specifics.

 

Well, I eagerly await your feedback on your experience. Happy sailing!

If SeaDream reads these posts, I truly hope USB ports are included in the drydock scheduled for November of this year on SeaDream I. This is great news, TrapperZimmy! I cannot wait to hear the rest of your adventure.

Good to hear that SD1 is going through drydock this fall. Any idea on what they plan to fresh/upgrade, by chance?

With SD, how do they handle tendering late at night? Do they always keep one vessel ashore and one at SD and rotate once someone needs a ride back to the yacht? Or do they have a phone you can call/text when needing assistance back?

Haha, that "shopping list" has worked quite well...;p And didn't cost me a dime..... Well, other than the cost of SD in the first place, and air, and hotel, and.......

Did you contact SD ahead of time and request a certain beer to be onboard? Curious how it didn't cost you a dime.

On what ships have you sailed where they have a selection of wines for no charge? You have to take into consideration the fact that there might be only 100 people on board. If they are pouring a Chardonnay and you want a glass of Sancerre, they might have to open another bottle. If nobody else is going to drink it, what are they supposed to do with the rest? Things are different when there are a couple thousand passengers and they can expect to sell (that's right, sell) the other three glasses from the bottle. I may be wrong, but I have never known SeaDream to sell wine by the glass. I will confess that Zimmy and I are not wine connoisseurs, but we have been very satisfied with the poured wines and have rarely felt it necessary to order a bottle. On occasion, we might ask if there is something else available, and there always is. From what I can tell, their cellar wine list is reasonably priced, and returning passengers get a discount coupon. Wine is only one aspect of the cruise. Don't get too hung up on it and try to enjoy the total package.

Thank you for your insight. I've always purchased a full beverage package on my cruises and have factored that "idea" into this cruise knowing my beverages were covered. You make an excellent point on less guests and therefore not being able to pour something should it be opened. I hadn't thought of that. Thank you. I am planning this trip for a group of 12 and am wanting it to be perfect, and know my guests are wine drinkers over dinner. At this price per person, one would expect to have more than one option. So while I am not hung up on this situation, I'm just getting all my ducks in a row and planning accordingly. Someone has to have all the details for the group :) Again, thank you.

There is no list. At dinner they pour a red and a white. However, on the very few occasions when I didn't care for that evening's selection, a different wine was always graciously provided to me, at no cost.

Thank you for the clarification. I'm very surprised to see such limitations for the price of this experience, but believe it will be a wonderful time by our group.

No we don’t, we forgot to take a pic. But every day was a different white and red, the same rose through the sailing, until they ran out of the complementary rose anyway. All of Eric’s selections were good though. All very drinkable you won’t be disappointed by the complementary wines.

 

 

 

 

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Am I understanding you correctly then, that each day they only had ONE red and ONE white (and a rose) as complimentary but otherwise I would have to pay a price for something else? For example, if they only had chardonnay that night then anyone in our group who wanted a pinot grigio would pay a nominal fee? This is what I can't seem to find in any research---i is if there is a small list of multiple wines for each meal or are we only offered one or two wines as part of the general beverage options. Thank you for helping me better understand this.

You don't happen to have a picture of the wine menus you saw while on-board that week, would you? I'm curious to see the overall selection they offer, and potentially how many varietals are included without and up-charge.

I’m going to try to post a full review of my feb SDII cruise this week it will have all the menus from the week.

 

 

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Yes! Looking forward to reading your full review and seeing your pictures. Thank you for sharing.

We did BGI to SXM in December of 2016 on SDI. Our experience would say you're concerned about things you don't need to be concerned about. Conditions aboard SDI were as advertised; the service was excellent; the food was always spot on; our cabin #202 was clean and comfortable. My wife is particular about her scotch brand. There were adequate single malt labels available but not her favorite. We asked the bartender; they produced the liter which we purchased. Funny how that bottle always knew where my wife was. She never had a problem getting her drink. All this is to say, there are plenty of premium brands available; yet if a super premium is your desire-just ask. It was a great trip and we will be back!

Thank you for your input! Do you recall the wine service during your trip? Some of my research leads me to believe there is one "included" type of red and white at dinner, but all other wines are at a charge? This would surprise me, but I've seen multiple reviews note this. Is there not a good size list of wines included in the inclusive price during the week-long cruise?

Also, you mention purchasing a bottle of Scotch. Was this purchased on-board and then reserved for your wife all week, or something you brought onto the ship?

We're jumping on-board the March 2nd trip out of STT. Celebrating a 40th birthday with friends. Come on!

Would anyone have any pictures of menus they experienced on the SD and also a bar menu/wine list?

About to book a group trip (10 ppl) on SD1 for March 2019, but am curious on a few things. After researching this site, when was the last time SD1 drydocked and was updated? Does the ship interior look old and ragged?

Can anyone recall what alcohol brands were a part of the inclusive price? How much pushing does the staff do to up-sell top shelf? Are the included brands that bad or low-level?

We were on the Dec. 17 - 24th cruise as mentioned above. JanineM, is correct in how the service drastically changed in our cruise. We heard rumors on the boat from fellow passengers AND crew on what exactly was happening.

It's my understanding there were roughly 50 (+/-) people who had come down with some type of gastrointestinal issues. These are only the folks who sought some type of treatment on-board. Who knows how many other people may have felt sick on the boat, but never checked-in with the Dr.

The ship handled it perfectly well. I noticed some staff who typically tend the Martini Bar were also working other shifts/locations on the boat. Our Martini Bar sever said one of his colleagues was so sick he couldn't walk. I point this out to state it was crew and passengers who identified as sick, yet the ship and their staff were awesome. Yes, you couldn't touch some of the menus. Employees couldn't touch your seapass card, etc. Sometimes service was much slower than normal. Staff were posted at all doors and forcing everyone to sanitize--- Summit has very few automatic doors compared to Solstice class--so lots of door knobs had to be touched in public spaces.

In our room the couch pillows were removed, all reading materials thrown out, tray with cups on it removed, and a few other items. While off-ship for excursions they were spraying every room and public space with disinfectant using a rather large machine...not your typical handheld Lysol spray. Staff didn't get much time off the ship as scheduled, from what we heard. They all were working overtime to stay on top of any damaging outbreak.

This outbreak did not ruin our trip. It changed normal service levels, but was understandable at the same time.

We sailed Reflection, Dec 2015 in cabin 1509--right under Persian Gardens. Never heard a single noise from above and didn't have the overhang above our balcony. Plenty of sun and quietness. This cabin is convenient to forward-stairs to access the rest of the ship, but most importantly there is a door at the end of the hallway that leads to the quiet-waiting room to access the Persian Gardens/Fitness room. This room is hardly used and the most convenient coffee/water station to your room. From there use the PG/Spa staircase and head right up, all while wearing your robe in public. Completely private area and the perfect area of the ship.

Does anyone have the latest dailies for Summit, southern Caribbean route?

Am I correct in learning that Celebrity now docks in Crown Bay at St. Thomas?