Sea Dream Incompetence

[its_my_dime]

As to the writer who stated that the ship will greatly suffer because people read these boards and will discover that Sea Dream is incompetent.... Get a grip, folks. Ease up on your own importance. Move on to another line, and give us a break.

 

Disagree.

 

I think that cruisecritic has more clout than you give it credit for.

 

Notwithstanding its significant faults, this is one of the few sources of consumer (as opposed to company or travel-agent generated) information about ships.

 

I suspect that only a tiny percentage of cruise passengers read cruisecritic on a regular basis, and, given the large number of sub boards, even fewer read a specific board. Ditto travel agents who probably access a specific board only when they are interested in a particular issue. And that is the point. Those interested in or planning to purchase a specific cruise are more likely to access cruisecritic.

 

And decisions are made at the margin. And everybody has friends. And bad news travels much faster and wider than good news.

 

Per a current best seller, enough small decisions can cause a "tipping point".

 

The world has changed. Because of the web, corporate decisions and actions are much more transparant. I still believe that SeaDream retail will suffer because of the negative posting on this board.

[zqvol]

Don't forget that SD management is well aware of this board and reads it as well.

[upscalecruiser]

Again, I don't think it is a SeaDream Phenomenon.

As I said earlier, I have friends that have been bumped a few times on Seabourn.

See posting below regarding charters on Wind Star Cruises.

 

Upscalecruiser

IL

 

 

 

 

 

October 13th, 2005, 03:39 PM

notahappycamper

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Oct 2005

Posts: 3

 

 

Bumped from Cruises--Twice!

We were booked on Wind Surf 1/22/06 sailing from Barbados. We were bumped because someone booked the entire ship. We rebooked for the 3/5/06 sailing from Barbados and were informed today that we are bumped once again. Has anyone else experienced this disappointing treatment by Windstar? We are considering just forgetting the whole thing...





 

 

 

 

 

[sandbag7]

I had heard about this charter issue before; apparently it's quite common, and disturbing; don't know if it's worse to be on a cruise which is partially chartered or one where you are "bumped", but the loss of personally booked airfare would be particularly disconcerting.

I'm hoping Dan and Company is wrong; we need a high end line without pretentious formality for a younger clientele; adults playing dress up and showing off their family Jewels and dancing the fox trot till all hours is not my idea of a relaxing cruise.

[English Voyager]

adults playing dress up and showing off their family Jewels and dancing the fox trot till all hours is not my idea of a relaxing cruise.

This has not been our experience on any of our Seabourn cruises.

[sandbag7]

Well, excuse the hyperbole, but in my opinion, the requirement that people on a luxury yacht in the Carribean or Mediterranean dress in formal clothes which otherwise are only worn at charity auctions (many of the same people, yes?) is a form of unnecessary artifice in an attempt to return to an era which for the most part never existed. Thus, while people on Seabourn are open and generally inclusive, they seek a different, and to some degree more regimented experience. Moreover, the people on Seabourn are, on average, 10 years older than those on Sea Dream. These differences establish the need for a line such as Sea Dream.

I fully expect to cruise again on Seabourn someday, given the high quality of their food (I'll air out my tux), but I'll be suprised if all in all, the cruise is not more sedate.

So, England, if you didn't do the Foxtrot, what dancing did you do in your wings and spats?

[loving life]

I'm with Dewla on that, SeaDream 1 allowed us the absolute perfect vacation experience. There was not a single thing that should have been/could have been different. Simply wow! and just happy to have picked a winner this year!

[Skip's Dad]

Dewla....

 

If you charter let me know....Maybe we can get all (OK maybe not all, but most) of the folks that were on SD1 on 11/27.....

[zqvol]

The issue in this thread has nothing to do with service on board the ships.

[40cub]

Hmm... You sailed Seabourn out of Nice and found it stuffy and pretentious? Thats too bad... I have never found the passengers of Seabourn to be stuffy at all. Actually, I've made many friends!

Glad you found this site, and finally decided to post.

 

Host Dan

My husband and I sailed on Seabourn for the first time in 2005 for our 25th anniversary in the Mediterranean. We agree completely with Surfklutz. It was the most souless trip we have ever taken. I would consider ourselves to be very outgoing people, yet we did not connect with anyone on board. The passenger profile on our cruise was uptight and unfriendly. Not only that, but the so called "never say no" attitude advertised on Seabourn was a joke. We have had better service trips that cost us half as much. Additionally, the ship appointments were tired and bland. We have yet to try SeaDream, but do know that Seabourn will not be on our list as a future cruise experience.

[AdeleMc]

FYI, SD operates approximately half of her sailings as charters. It is just part of their business model. Can wait for my first SD sailing in Feb 06.

[surfklutz]

Adele - I am not sure that is correct. Looking at the website, you can see which dates are chartered as they are not there. It looks like they are doing less than 30% as charters- and I am guessing that is probably average for any small ship since they seem to be a natural for business and incentive charters. I could be wrong though....

[sandbag7]

Our Seadream cuise for 12-3-06 was just cancelled in favor of a charter; I doubt we'll reschedule. What can you do about the travel insurance we purchasded independently. In general can it be transferred to a different cruise?

[Welshapple]

Sorry to hear of your cruise cancellation.

 

As far as insurance goes I guess it depends on the insurer you used. Last year we had to cancel and rebook three times due to health related reasons but our insurer - TravelGuard - had a very easy transfer process on it's website and we were able make the changes and to increase the amount of coverage. We had not known that this was possible before then and I think we gave up at least one previous coverage without realizing that we could transfer it.

 

One thing, though, is that you have to make the change before the date of travel shown on the policy that you are already holding.

 

Hope you find an alternate cruise and that you can transfer your coverage.

[frequent traveler]

I am reading all the Sea Dream Postings -- it is so great - there is absolutely no negative from anyone who has been on board recently, how many times for a land vacation do you ever get this type of response-- NEVER!!!

 

I Love the Sea Dream Teams. just wish I never got bumped and had to do something else.

 

FT

[DisneyJen]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Capt. T from SD2 could share some of his communication and management skills with the SD staff on land?

 

Capt. T. has made sure to stay in touch with us via email since we left the ship early last month. He even asked me to forward an email to a past guest whom he knew I knew ... talk about communication!

[ama22]

We are booked on SD II for Sept 2007, Istanbul to Rome (11 day cruise). I've just read this thread, and can say I'm concerned about being cancelled. The itinerary was the reason for booking this cruise, and it is the only cruise with this itinerary.

 

What I'm wondering is that because it is the only cruise with this itinerary, is it less likely to be chartered out?

 

If a cruise is chartered, but for only half the cabins, will other passengers be able to sail also?

 

I noticed some of the posters on this board can find out if a cruise has been chartered by going on SD's web site. How do you do that? Also how do you find out how many passengers have booked a certain cruise?

 

To FrequentTraveler: Are you thinking of chartering to the Med? Any chance it would be the cruise I have booked?

 

Thanks to everyone who can answer my questions and concerns.

 

Mary Lou

'

[surfklutz]

I think you are going to be fine with your cruise- especially since it is 11 days - that is generally much longer than most corporations do incentives and charters for.