Sea Dream I Trip Report 10/30/05

[autoxer1970]

This was our first cruise on any line, but considering the circumstances, I'd say we made the most of it on our honeymoon. We thought we'd be dodging hurricanes, but the weather was essentially perfect.

This was the voyage where a few dozen people (including me) got sick with the NLV (norwalk-like virus). At least my wife didn't get sick. She's a flight attendant, so I think she has an immunity to everything.

I'll start by saying that we had a fantastic time. The service was great, the food was wonderful, and Martin at the top of the yacht bar can make a very tasty Lemon Drop martini, and although they're a lot of work, he smiled as he made each one. That was typical of our experience on board.

We loved the itinerary, too. It brought us to some quite varied places: San Juan, PR; St John, USVI; St. Martin; Saba; St. Barths; Nevis; and St. Thomas, USVI. After Nevis, we were scheduled to visit Jost Van Dyke for a beach party, but that was cut short so they could use an extra day to sanitize the ship before the next cruise departure. From what I've read on the boards, it was an effective plan.

I hope this post gives you some ideas on what to do at some of these ports, too.

SERVICE

Our room was clean, well-appointed, and although we never thought we'd be using it, has the nice TV/DVD set that came in handy. The Bvlgari green tea amenities didn't appeal to me, so I used my own soap and stuff for the most part. Our room attendant always made sure we were comfortable and happy, and was always smiling. It makes a difference.

FOOD

We loved everything we tried, and we enjoyed eating with other couples as well as by ourselves on the deck. There were others on board who thought it could be better, but when I asked what would make it better, they couldn't come up with anything. Room service food was a separate menu that was available 24/7, and everything we got on that was wonderful and fast. While I was sick, we ordered cheese and crackers so I could enjoy some wafers with my ginger ale. When our room attendant realized that was all I was eating, she brought a plate of wafers all by themselves.

The chef was creative, and we looked forward to dinner and wine. Complimentary wines were great, but the red would outshine the white, or vice versa. We usually tried both during the early courses and went with what we liked. Mmmm. Fun.

ACTIVITIES

We skipped the casino, although a good number of guests seemed to be enjoying themselves there. The piano bar player was a little flowery with his playing, as in hotel-lobby/dinner style music. I thought a more versatile player (one that could go into jazz standards or more lively sing-alongs) might have enticed us to hang around longer. For the most part, we enjoyed ourselves and/or the company of others either at the bars or on the sunbeds. We never felt bored, in any case.

On port calls, we never once took an excursion arranged by boat. If cost is not a consideration, and you would like such things arranged for you, the tours are probably great. Instead, we usually went on shore without a definite plan, and I think things just went our way.

I think the activities director must have been new, because every evening, she didn't provide any more information about the islands than a rundown of the Yachting Land Adventures (YLA) offerings. She didn't seem all that excited about anything, either. I would have liked more anecdotal information, or more "while you're out on your own, be sure to..." and "This island is known for its..." type stuff. Maybe it was better that we didn't get tips like that. We might not have had as much fun!

ST JOHN

Here we took a tender to the dock with nothing but a backpack. Every day the ship provided a factsheet about the island and the offered excursions, and there was usually a tourist map available at the service counter on the main deck. Armed with these, we ended up hiring a taxi "take us to a beach, please!". For $8 (I think) the driver narrated the trip and stopped at a couple overlooks. He took us to nearby Caneel Bay, and pointed out the asphalt path to nearby Honeymoon Beach. We hiked from there and enjoyed a couple hours at Honeymoon Beach which was very nearby. From there we hiked all the way back along a path through the national park. Beware: the path itself was mis-marked, perhaps by locals. If we had been trying to find Solomons Beach from the other direction, we might have gotten lost. All in all, it was a beautiful hike, and we made it back to the dock in time to enjoy watersports from the yacht's marina and then some mojitos.

ST MARTIN

On the way to St Martin, I got sick. :( Initially, because I was unaware of the ongoing outbreak, I took a couple seasick pills, but of course I was fighting something much worse. I spent the better part of six hours in the bathroom. In the morning my wife finally called the doctor and he offered a shot to stop my stomach from contracting, but by then I figured it was just about over anyway, so I declined it. It indeed had run its course, so for the rest of the day I slept, drank as much liquid as I dared, and started to eat wafers by the end of the day. I was too tired to do anything until the next morning, when I felt about 80%. My wife spent her day on the deck, discovering just how many others were sick, and checking in on me.

On our next trip, we hope we'll actually get to visit St Martin.

SABA

Feeling much better, but not yet able to eat heartily, I decided I felt good enough to go to shore. When we got on shore, the YLA was assembling in taxis. We asked the activities director what she thought we might try, and she helped us get a taxi, but our real source of information was Jonah, our taxi driver. Jonah took us to Windwardside, and pointed out everything along the way on an amazing trip up seemingly vertical hillclimbs. By the way, unless you're Lance Armstrong, don't take a bicycle onto Saba. Most importantly she pointed out the base of the trail to Mt. Scenery, a fantastic little restaurant called My Kitchen, and the local grocery store. She said she'd be back around to take us down to the dock later on. We bought some shoes suitable for hiking for my wife, and headed up the trail with one fellow adventurer from the boat that had taken the same taxi. We would have hiked to the top, but I wasn't up to it. My knees were shaking as we descended. It was a strenuous hike, but at least it was shaded most of the way. At the bottom, we had lunch at My Kitchen and talked with the proprietor of an antiques shop for a while. While waiting for Jonah to come back around (the island is so small it didn't take long), we talked with the guide from the YLA tour, who told us about the six ecosystems through the ascent. The guide estimated we had gone through four on our partial ascent. The steep descent to the dock made me wonder out loud how often Jonah changes her brake pads. Answer: every 3 months (!).

ST BARTHS

Boarding the tenders here, we considered taking bicycles along, but we thought we'd just scope it out first. We took towels, snorkels, and flippers with us. At the dock, the activities director again relied totally on the local guide for information. One of the YLA's was renting a car for $120 or so. Yes, your car was waiting for you on the street by the dock. Very convenient. But you could also walk three blocks and rent a car for $60. Or rent a scooter for $35, which is what we did. Helmets and a map came with the rental, and we scooted around the island looking for beaches, which were everywhere. You can't get lost on this island. It can be a challenge to find the public entry to the beaches, but if you look, they're usually marked with signs. We visited at least three beaches, two of which we had to ourselves – high season had not yet begun. Lunch at a beachfront seafood cafe was fantastic. A scooter is the ideal way to get around the island because you can park it anywhere. This was by far our favorite place – we're coming back here, and it makes us look forward to St Martin that much more. Next time I'm renting a windsurfer, too.

NEVIS

Nevis seemed to be the opposite of St Barths. While St Barths was literally manicured, Nevis was littered - it was rather depressed, actually. We initially felt a little uncomfortable, as the wealth differential between tourists and locals was huge. The people were very nice, though. We brought bicycles and snorkels onto shore and headed up the paved road toward the airport looking for a beach. At a local service station, a very nice old man with a gleaming smile helped us operate the antiquated air pump. We stopped at the Four Seasons resort to buy suntan lotion (we couldn't find sunblock at four local shops and grocery stores, probably because nobody on Nevis has fair enough skin to need it). All the beaches on Nevis are public, but getting to them is impossible in most areas. The Four Seasons is a good way, but don't use a chair unless you're a guest. We merely leaned our backpack against a chair while we dipped in the water to cool off and were told the lounges were for guests only. Working our way up the coast, we were getting discouraged because we couldn't find any inviting access to any beaches. We made it as far as Qualie Beach, and even there we felt like we would be trespassing to approach the beach, which seemed non-existent anyway. Hot and tired after 5 miles of somewhat hilly bicycling in 95+ degree heat, we turned around and headed back. On the way we stopped at a large open-air restaurant with a thatched roof which hadn't opened yet. We talked to one of the women getting it ready, and she said we could walk out to the beach right there. We did, and we discovered our own stretch of beach with the proverbial palm tree extending sideways out over the sand. We spent the next three hours under the shade of that tree, and we didn't see another soul the whole time. I snorkeled for a while, and then later we watched (in alarm) a huge shark circling and feeding where I had just been snorkeling. We also saw monkeys and iguanas crossing the road. All in all, a great experience.

JOST VAN DYKE

Cancelled. :(

ST THOMAS

On the sail from Nevis to St. Thomas, we requested a bed to be made up on the windward side, and when we came up, the one obviously marked for us had been slept in!!! (Goldilocks comes to mind.) Turns out another couple had requested the big bed on the bow of the ship but had climbed in to ours, and had abandoned the front one. So we slept in that one all night under more stars than I had ever seen before. It was just amazing - beautiful, breezy, and private (for the most part: just one inebriated couple passed through). In St. Thomas on Saturday morning, the staff there was scrambling to accommodate everyone for the night so that everyone could take whatever transportation they had arranged for Sunday. I've seen other posts saying that Sea Dream did nothing for them. All I know is that they were all working HARD to manage everybody's arrangements, and we didn't have to complain loudly or whine to get a place set up for us. We were put up (at Sea Dream's cost) at the Best Western Emerald Beach, which was perfect for us. Others were being put up at decidedly more expensive places like Marriott, but our hotel was walking distance (!) to the airport. We walked to the airport to purchase our standby tickets for the next day. We enjoyed the beach at the hotel and then had a memorable dinner in Frenchtown at an Italian place called Epernay, where the wine list was extensive and reasonable, and where you must have the fried polenta appetizer. We enjoyed an excellent Rosso di Montepulciano for just $24. Also in Frenchtown, but not in our budget, was Craig and Sally's with an even more extensive wine list. We're told every meal is memorable there, too.

SAN JUAN

Not part of the cruise, but we spent two extra days in San Juan at the Marriott Hotel and Stellaris Casino, which was very nice – the beds are more comfortable and plush than my own. I just had to include it to mention the following: If there's one thing you do in San Juan, stop by La Bombonera bakery in Old Town, preferably for breakfast. It's the real thing.

GETTING SICK

Once the epidemic was in full swing on board, the staff on Sea Dream I went to great lengths to make us as comfortable as possible. Every precaution was then taken to try to stop the virus. But it wasn't so at the beginning of the week. One precaution that might have helped was to inform us that people were sick in the prior week. That is the one thing that I fault Sea Dream for. Had I been told about the prior outbreak, and of ways to protect myself, I would have equipped myself with some Purel. I have the habit of biting my nails, and I would have certainly minimized that activity had I known about the outbreak.

That said, I would go on Sea Dream again in a heartbeat, but on any cruise, I will be far more careful about germs and about protecting myself. Using hand sanitizer often, washing your hands more often than normal, keeping your hands away from your face, and avoiding public restrooms should be ample protection when it is being passed from person-to-person, as it apparently was on this particular voyage.

[stebul]

Thanks for a great review, and for your positive outlook. You made lemonade out of several lemons thrown at you, and didn't let this ruin your honeymoon! Wonderful!

[dewla]

Great review. Love the "glass 1/2 full" attitude. The world needs more people like you!!!

[autoxer1970]

Thanks stebul and dewla.

 

Actually, I'm definitely more of a pessimist, but I just seem to appreciate it that much more when things work out for the best.

 

I wanted to mention that it's not like the bit about the activities director was another lemon thrown at us. She was a very pleasant person. Now that she's got a few more sailings and shore visits under her belt, I'm sure she's already got more to offer. And still, I think it's often just as much fun to go without a guidebook or a strict plan of attractions to "hit".

 

I also mentioned something called "The Real Book" to the piano player, who was genuinely interested in learning more jazz standards. I think if he picks up of a copy of that, he'll discover his versatility.

 

Correction: The Italian restaurant in St. Thomas was called "Tuscan Grill", but I think it's managed by the same folks that run Epernay, which is what appeared on our visa receipt.

[Verystormy]

Thanks for a review by someone who doesnt just do the excursions (never understood the point of them myself) or just head for the shops. I normally skip the ports parts in reviews as i know they arent going to be of any interest, as the day i do a organised excusion or want to spend my holiday shopping, i know it is time to check into the last big ship in the sky.

Are the bycles on board good?

Chris

P.S. Thanks again for a wonderful review

[zqvol]

Chris,

 

Never used the bikes myself, but last spring one of the couples with us used them and said they were fine. Typical SD quailty and well kept.

[autoxer1970]

Are the bycles on board good?

Chris

P.S. Thanks again for a wonderful review

 

The bicycles are good bicycles. They collapse with an ingenious little quick-release cam similar to the one that holds most front wheels on.

 

I would only recommend the following before you take one out:

 

1. Be sure they're put together properly before you hop on and ride off. My quick release was loose as delivered to the dock, so the whole bicycle initially wobbled and rattled. It was a very simple thing to un-tighten the quick-release, give it a few turns, and re-tighten. Solid bicycle again.

 

2. Sit on it on board before you go, and adjust it the way you'll be riding it. I wish I had. The seat was fixed at an angle where the front point of it sort of pointed up. I would have had them correct the angle for me before I left. Since I didn't have an allyn wrench, I just had to deal with it for 10 miles.

 

3. Check the tire pressure before you go by sitting on the bike and observing how squished the tires get. As I mentioned in my report, we stopped at a service station and got air in Nevis (for free, plus service with a smile). Pedaling with underinflated tires is just more work.

 

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the review.