Newbies on a Transatlantic Sailing 10 Nov

[Garpo]

Hi everyone

 

With our first SD cruise booked for November 10 this year, I have had great fun reading through the board, and have found my appetite to be severely whetted!

 

I do, however, have a couple of queries that I am hoping such a friendly community can help me with: -

 

1) Although I have crewed a yacht across the atlantic, I have never taken a cruise across. I was wondering about the weather in November? I know that Frequent Traveller left a detailed review of her Xatlantic last year, but the weather references simply seemed to comment on how unusually clear the skys were. I am more interested in the sea conditions on a small vessel - anyone have any ideas what we can expect?

 

2) My wife and I are towards the younger end of the typical age ranges, both being in our (very) early 30s. Are we likely to fit in well with our fellow passengers?

 

3) My wife is going to be 4.5 months pregnant at the start of the cruise (there's timing for you!). Does anyone think we will have to make any special allowances - advise the company, take special precautions etc?

 

I would appreciate your advice, ladies and gents.

 

Kind regards

 

 

Iain

[mariners]

Hi,

I can only answer part of your question as we are about to sail for the first time with SeaDream. We have, however, done quite a few trans-Atlantic crossings on Windstar in November. The weather has been different every trip. On our first crossing, we left Madeira and had gale force winds. We were on the tail end of a hurricane the whole way across and the waves would crash over the sports' deck. The weather did not keep people off the deck, and the only thing that suffered was the way our hair looked. We set a sailing record (at the time) for Windstar and it was a fantastic trip! On other crossings, the sea has been so calm one would never know they were at sea except for the scenery. We have gone through a "white squall", seen waterspouts, and spent almost the whole crossing in rain. It has been blistering hot, and cool enough that sweaters and jackets were necessary. We usually choose not to repeat vacations, but the crossings have been different enough that we have gone many times. For us, the small ship size; the type of fellow passengers (open to the world, content within themselves, respectful of others, fun,...); and the ability to truly relax that a trans-Atlantic crossing offers have made us repeat the vacation. We've learned to be ready for any type of weather and make the ship the "destination".

 

Fellow passengers were many different ages, of varied backgrounds, and were part of the reason we loved the small ship. Age is irrelevant when you travel - it's all about personalities. We've had a fabulous time with people in their early twenties, as well as others who could have been our great grandparents. We've also have had people are own age whom we would choose not to interact with (and them with us) because of very different views and approaches to life.

 

I would discuss any issues you have with your wife's pregnancy - seasickness, impact of flying, etc. with your physician. If she has any restrictions such as diet, type of water, etc., I would inform the cruise line. You might also want to see if the cruise line will provide non-alcoholic wine, etc. if your wife would want to drink specific type of products.

 

Hope you have a fabulous trip!

[LBLBSC]

I am sure you will have a fabulous time, no matter what the weather.

Due to vacation scheduling, I was unable to book a crossing and I have been following everyones comments on this board for a while.

With the best captain in the industry...the uniquely fabulous Captain T, at the helm, I am certain that socialization will be smooth and inviting. It will not matter your age!

You are in for a treat to vacation with this special Captain!

'Nough said. Have a great trip. I am Envious.

[ctbjr1309]

Wow, Mariners that is indeed very high praise for Capt. T!!! I sure am glad that my wife and I will be on the SD 2 crossing in November so that we can observe him in action. It will be fun to see if he succeeds in living up to your accolades!!

 

All kidding aside, I agree that he is one of the best and he is certainly one of our favorites. We look forward to being his guests for the 9 days of the crossing.

 

Garpo,

 

We look forward to meeting you and your wife on the crossing. I see that the questions that you asked in your original posting have been answered. If you have any other questions about SeaDream or your upcoming cruise, please don't hesitate to ask as there are a number of people participating on this board who will be very happy to share the benefit of our SeaDream experiences with you.

[mariners]

Hello ctbjr 1309,

Wish we knew Capt. T, or would get to know him on our sailing, but it is LBLBSC who has sailed with the Captain. Our cruise in November from Tenerife to Rio will be our first cruise on SeaDream. From reading the reviews, and comments on this site, we believe we've made the right choice in terms of the cruise ship; we know ocean days are a bonus for us. If you've sailed on SeaDream 1, we'd love to hear what you have to say about the ship, chef, requests that should be made ahead of time, etc. Thanks!

mariners

[ctbjr1309]

Double post.

[ctbjr1309]

Whoops. Mea culpa. Sometimes it doesn't pay to type and run, eh? That quick reply button can be dangerous.

 

Frankly, Mariners I'm envious of your trip. We would seriously consider that one if we had the time but please don't tell Capt. T.

 

We have indeed sailed on SD1, most recently in July from Istanbul to Athens. The ship and crew, are all great. I can assure you that you'll be very happy with the experience. I really can't think of anything that you should ask for unless you have very specific needs or wants. We've always found everything that we needed or wanted was close at hand on SD.

 

If you have any specific questions about SD, please don't hesitate to ask. As DisneyJen knows, I am very good at answering specific SD questions on this board.

 

Incidentally, I see that you'll be leaving Tenerife the day before us. We're arriving in Tenerife a day early for our cruise so if time permits we might stop by the port and wave goodbye as you depart.

[DisneyJen]

I am sure you will have a fabulous time, no matter what the weather.

Due to vacation scheduling, I was unable to book a crossing and I have been following everyones comments on this board for a while.

With the best captain in the industry...the uniquely fabulous Captain T, at the helm, I am certain that socialization will be smooth and inviting. It will not matter your age!

You are in for a treat to vacation with this special Captain!

'Nough said. Have a great trip. I am Envious.

 

I have to agree 100 percent with LBLBSC and of course Ctbjr ... Capt. T is the GOLD standard in terms of captains on ANY cruiseline. It is apparent that he truly cares about his passengers/guests as well as his crew!

 

Wish we were crossing with Capt. T and company in November!

[Garpo]

Thanks for all your thoughts, guys - I really can't wait!

 

Just one other thing: we are scheduled to be in Tenerife for a couple of days beforehand, and have been recommended the Hotel Botanico in Puerto de la Cruz. Has anyone been, or heard of it?

 

Garpo

[frequent traveler]

Garpo -

If you are still looking for a hotel - I stayed at the Sheraton in Puerto La Cruz last year. Its a 10 minute taxi to the dock and has wonderful service. The hotel arranged for a driver to pick me up at the airport on arrival. The hotel has lovely grounds, is close to a park and shopping, and the service is top notch. The bar has a lovely menu (I recommend anything with the Spanish jamon (ham) with a variety of cavas (great way to gear up for the champagne on SeaDream). I lost some money at the casino but enjoyed a nice brunch before boarding the Sea Dream on Sunday.

 

 

To CBJ and Kim -

I wish I was joining you -but my teenager was not thrilled with the idea that I'd dare miss his 18th birthday for a crossing - oh well, there's always 2007. Pleae give my regards to Captain T, Christophe, Erik, and the rest of the wonderful crew and put all your drinks at the Top Of The Yacht on my tab- I left it open last fall.

 

FT

[ctbjr1309]

To CBJ and Kim -

I wish I was joining you -but my teenager was not thrilled with the idea that I'd dare miss his 18th birthday for a crossing - oh well, there's always 2007. Pleae give my regards to Captain T, Christophe, Erik, and the rest of the wonderful crew and put all your drinks at the Top Of The Yacht on my tab- I left it open last fall.

 

FT

 

FT,

 

We too wish that you were joining us but certainly understand your absence given the circumstances. Hopefully we can find a crossing to experience together soon!

 

I believe that we'll be staying at the Sheraton. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Will pass your regards along per your request but as for your bar tab, I'm a bit concerned that after certain of us so badly abused your gracious hospitality during the Palm Beach-STT voyage that followed last year's crossing, we may not be welcome back at the TOY bar. I expect that we'll find out at approximately 2:01 PM on Nov. 10.

[DisneyJen]

FT,

 

We too wish that you were joining us but certainly understand your absence given the circumstances. Hopefully we can find a crossing to experience together soon!

 

I believe that we'll be staying at the Sheraton. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Will pass your regards along per your request but as for your bar tab, I'm a bit concerned that after certain of us so badly abused your gracious hospitality during the Palm Beach-STT voyage that followed last year's crossing, we may not be welcome back at the TOY bar. I expect that we'll find out at approximately 2:01 PM on Nov. 10.

 

Wish we were joining you as well Ctb and Kim ... especially since we helped make a dent in FT's tab post-crossing last year:p

 

Please pass along our regards to the wonderful Capt. T, Christophe and staff.