SeaDream II - Nov. 6-13

[DisneyJen]

Just put our deposit down for the West Palm Beach to St. Thomas itinerary on SDII.

 

DH and I have been very impressed with the customer service that we have received since we had a less than stellar first cruise on SD 1 in December 2004.

 

Kudos to Adrienne, manager of the Sea Dream Club, for being so responsive.

 

Anyone joining us on this repositioning cruise?

[wulicny]

DisneyJen,

 

Just make sure everything is in order when you get back. We will be sailing out of St. Thomas on the SDII on Nov. 13.

 

Are you staying in St. Thomas post-cruise? If so, do you mind if I ask where? We are considering Hotel 1829 for one night pre- and post-cruise.

 

Bill

[DisneyJen]

Will do Bill:D

 

We are spending two days in STT after the cruise to ease back into the real world.

 

We are staying at Frenchman's Reef - Morning Star. We stayed there last year before our STT to STT cruise on SD1. We enjoy being on the beach so Morning Star works well for us.

[Dream Vacationer]

.....DH and I have been very impressed with the customer service that we have received since we had a less than stellar first cruise on SD 1 in December 2004.

 

Could you please explain further? Among others, we were considering Sea Dream for next year and would like to know as many of the pros and cons before we book. Thanks!!!!!!

[DisneyJen]

Let me start off by saying that I have been incredibly impressed with the customer service ... especially after our cruise. That we have booked another cruise on SD speaks volumes to how well SD treats its guests.

 

There were a couple of things on our cruise that didn't quite meet up with our expectations which admittedly were quite high.

 

The a/c in our room didn't seem to work as well as it should. We mentioned it to our cabin steward and the front desk person and we were told that it was working fine. We found it very warm to sleep on a couple of nights.

 

We were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on the cruise. We included this info when we filled out our forms as it requested to know about special occassions... We did observe others who were marking birthdays and such. We weren't expecting anything more than a "Happy Anniversary" from the staff. I know this is a small item to some but it was important to us.

 

No flames please ... we love our 12 year old and love children.

 

The topper for me was on this romantic cruise was to have an infant in the cabin next door to us and a toddler across the hall ... remember our expectations were based on the literature that repeatedly talked about 55 couples ... not families ... couples.

 

The first day, while we were unpacking, we heard the baby cry ... as babies do ... and asked to be moved. We were shown another cabin that just wasn't for us as it was one of cabins that is converted to a commodore so the bed was lower to the ground and there was a door to the adjoining cabin.

 

Needless to say when we filled out the comment cards at the end of the cruise I let my feelings known.

 

About two weeks after we arrived home we received a dozen roses from SeaDream wishing us a happy anniversary and an apology.

 

About a week after that we received a letter from Adrienne apologizing for "falling short of expectations." She assured me that the a/c and some other really minor housekeeping issues (there was a tear in the sheer curtain and a stain in the rug) had been addressed. She also offered us a discount on a future sailing if we decided to sail in the next year.

 

DH and I decided that we would take advantage of SD's goodwill gesture.

 

We LOVED the casual elegance of the yacht. We loved the flexibilty of the dining schedule and the ports of call. DH was especially fond of the water sports platform and the jet skis.

[ctbjr1309]

DisneyJen,

 

We've just booked ourselves on cruise # 2547. If all goes according to plan, we'll look forward to spending a relaxing week with you guys early in Nov. Should be a fun cruise.

[DisneyJen]

Wonderful!!!

 

So we will see in you in West Palm in 4 weeks:D

 

We are counting the days!

[ctbjr1309]

Wonderful!!!

 

So we will see in you in West Palm in 4 weeks:D

 

 

Yes, we'll be there. I expect that we'll be in the Main Salon at 2 PM, at the Top of the Yacht Bar by 3 PM and certainly at the ever popular Life Boat Drill at 5 PM. Look forward to being with both of you for the week.

[DisneyJen]

Sounds like an excellent plan!

 

We look forward to a relaxing week:D

[ctbjr1309]

DisneyJen,

 

Have you received your cruise docs yet? I'm not expecting mine particularly soon, having just booked yesterday, but am wondering if they've gone out yet to those who have had bookings in place for a while.

 

Also, did you book a specific cabin or go the GTY route. We're doing the latter, btw.

[DisneyJen]

Our cruise docs were sent out on Sept. 28. I suspect you will be seeing yours in the coming week.

 

We did not go the GTY route as I am not particularly fond of the cabins that are converted to commodore cabins (I am a light sleeper and noise can sometimes be an issue for me). We are on Deck 2 midship this time ... last year we did Deck 3. I thought about going the GTY route as the price was certainly right ... but I decided to stay where we are at this point.

 

We are visiting family in Rochester, NY this weekend ... it is so cold and rainy! I can hardly wait to be on board SD

again.

 

How are you doing with the airfare?

 

This is our first time on SD2 so I will be interested in seeing if there are any differences between the two sisters.

[ctbjr1309]

Thanks for the info on your docs. Looking forward to receiving ours. Will be interesting to see how quickly they send them out.

 

Our first SD cruise in 1995, we were in 322, which is one of those Commodore cabins. Didn't have a problem then or perhaps didn't know better. Since then, we've been all over the ship and really don't have enough of a preference to make it worth the price difference between the GTY rate and the cost of booking a specific cabin. Each deck has its own plusses and minuses, in my opinion. Will be interesting to see where we end up this time.

 

Airfare is an intersting question. We're close enough to drive to Palm Beach the morning of the 6th. Don't want to leave our car there since we'd then have to fly home from STT to PBI (connections are bad) and then get from PBI to the port, pick up our car and drive home. Would probably take all day. I'm thinking I'll get some kind soul to drive us down to the port on the 6th and we'll fly back from STT to Orlando on the 13th. One way flights on AA are $234 which isn't bad but I'm very annoyed by the fact that the San Juan/Orlando one way flights cost $116, meaning that the 20 minute hop from STT to SJU costs more than the 3 hour flight from SJU to Orlando! Oh, well. Shouldn't complain with the cost of the cruise being so cheap.

 

I don't think that you'll find a heck of a lot of difference between SD 1 and SD 2. We were on SD 1 in July for a week and sailed in tandem with SD 2 that week. One night we had dinner on SD 2 and we noticed no difference in the actual ships themselves. There was quite a different passenger mix on the 2 ships and that was interesting to observe. I seem to recall some different decorating themes in the public rooms on the 2 ships. I didn't go into the Main Salon or the Dining Room on SD 2 in July so can't say for sure.

 

The biggest difference we notice is the crew and staff. They are wonderful on both ships but each ship develops its own culture. We've made some very good friends among the crew and staff on both ships but have spent more time on SD 1 so are looking for this opportunity to be on SD 2.

[DisneyJen]

Thanks for sharing your observations! I suspect that SD will become our annual "couple time" trip. DH and I are talking about a trans-Atlantic or a Med cruise next year:D

 

We are using frequent flyer miles for this trip so we couldn't get a flight back to NC until Tuesday. Now DH wants to return on Sunday after the cruise because of business commitments so I am spending lots of time hunting down air. It is so crazy how the airlines are pricing one-way fares!

 

Will be interested to see the passenger mix on this cruise ... I haven't bothered to check on the passenger demographics for this cruise. I am guessing since it is a repositioning cruise that we won't see a big group or lots of children ... regardless we are looking to enjoying our time relaxing.

 

We are really looking forward to those sea days:D

[wulicny]

ctbjr1309,

I've already told Jen, so now I am telling you too. Make sure you keep the ship in ship shape, since I'll be boarding after you disembark on the 13th. :)

 

Seriously, this is our first SD sailing, and we are very much looking forward to it. I have really appreciated all the experiences shared here on the CC boards.

 

Bill

[DisneyJen]

Not to worry Bill:D ctbjr and I will make sure everything is in ship shape for your first SD adventure.

 

Soon as we nail the air down (DH is making me crazy:rolleyes: ) I will share our disembarkation plans.

[ctbjr1309]

Bill,

 

We'll have all under control when we leave. Don't worry. There may not be much beer or champagne left on board but I have a feeling that the Provision Master will have plenty ordered for your week.

 

Have just booked our flights home. We're on American Eagle flight to San Juan leaving at 10:40 AM. Glad I don't have to buy one way tickets often!

[ctbjr1309]

DisneyJen,

 

Have you inquired as to whether there will be a beach party on the last full day of the cruise? Looking at the info on Virgin Gorda, I see no indication that there will be. That would be quite unfortunate.

[DisneyJen]

Ctb,

 

I have had traded some emails with the marketing department at SD. When we originally booked the cruise Jost was the last stop (it is one of our favorite places in the world). I was told that the Caviar and Champagne splash will be held on Virgin Gorda instead of Jost ... but we will wait and see. I do agree that my favorite way to end the cruise is with the beach party!

 

Jen

[frequent traveler]

Hi gang -

on our last Sea Dream stop at Jost Van Dyke, the beach was extremely crowded -- lots of boats had motored over and we were almost ran over several times. Non Sea Dreamers were all over the beach,trying to infiltrate and a few got upset when told this was a private party. Several crew members indicated that they were looking for an alternate location. May be you will be the first to see it this year!!

FT :)

[DisneyJen]

I went and looked at some of the cruises after ours and looks like they have made Virgin Gorda the last day instead of Jost ... not a major travel issue since the islands are so close together. We did enjoy visiting Foxy's last year on Jost ... but we have been many times during our bareboat sailing adventures in the BVI.

 

There are some nice beaches on Virgin Gorda ... as well as some lovely spots in Gorda Sound like Prickly Pear.

 

Jost is a popular place with the bareboat group so I suspect FT is right:p

 

How is the weather at home FT? It is cold and rainy here in Rochester:rolleyes: 49 degrees for the high:eek:

[ctbjr1309]

Sounds encouraging, DisneyJen. Prickly Pear is a perfectly fine spot for a beach party. I have been to several SD beach parties there. I do hope that is part of the plan but if so I think it would be listed as one of the activities for that day along with the shore excursions.

 

SD is still doing beach parties on Jost. If you look at other itineraries and click on Jost, you'll see the beach party listed.

 

I'll check with SD myself to see if they are planning for a beach party at Prickly Pear and report back, probably early next week.

[DisneyJen]

Sounds like an excellent plan Ctb! My sense is that they have not updated the excursions ... just moving the itineraries around. I don't have an inside read on this ... just and educated guess.

 

I agree that Prickly Pear would be a lovely spot. Virgin Gorda is one of our favorite spots. We also like Leverick Bay ... and of course the Bitter End Yacht Club is always a must do when we are bareboat sailing.

 

I appreciate your checking it out for us! And of course we can always do our own cavier and champagne splash on one our sea days at the pool or at the Top of the Yacht or the Balinese sun beds ... oh the choices:D

 

I am STILL working on an early return from STT ... DH has to check in with work on Monday ... my goal is to have my air nailed down Monday or Tuesday!

 

I personally would love to stay on in STT for three days but duty calls.

[ctbjr1309]

I hope that you are right. Will let you know. Personally, I can't imagine SD stopping at Virgin Gorda on the last full day of a cruise and NOT doing a beach party (unless the beach party took place at Jost or elsewhere earlier in the week) but stranger things may have happened and things DO change from time to time.

 

Yes, 3 days in STT (better yet, St. John) would be nice. We don't have the time to do that this time around as this was a rather impromptu trip for us. Also, we'll be back on Virgin Gorda for a week in June so don't feel too sorry for ourselves. My wife would love extra time in STT as she has established quite a relationship with many of the jewelers there. She's not pushing for that this visit as she spent last weekend in your neck of the woods buying furniture.

 

Good luck getting your air figured out. Are you flying into PBI the day of the cruise or coming down a day early?

[DisneyJen]

Right now we are scheduled to fly to PBI on Saturday afternoon ... and returning the Tuesday after the cruise from STT to GSO.

 

We have gone back and forth on the Morning Star/Caneel/Westin hotel thing for those two days ... and right not we are at Morning Star but of course that is subject to change. And of course the return air is influx.

 

The ironic part of this whole trip planning is that at work DH is the most decisive individual on the executive management team ... when I give him too many choices for our personal travel he has to have a matrix! Someday I will learn!

 

DH jokes that I have kept Little Switzerland in business for years ... it's a must stop every island we visit. And of course there are lots of other stores that call to me!

 

Of course in the middle of all this I am trying to plan our January long weekend at Disney World along with our 9 days in June at Disney World with DD and our extended family.

 

As I have said before ... definitely good problems to have!

 

We are heading out of town before furniture market. We are heading to Vegas, Anaheim and San Diego to escape the craziness of furniture market.

 

One of the great things about living where we do is the buy on furniture:D It's pretty sad when you walk into the showrooms and they know you by name:eek:

[ctbjr1309]

I'm getting the feeling that introducing you to my wife might be a very bad move on my part!! You know, gasoline and fire....

 

Nevertheless, let me know if you'd like a ride to the Port of Palm Beach on Nov. 6. We'll be driving down from Orlando and would be happy to pick you guys up at your hotel (unless you're staying in FTL or MIA) and take you to the Port.