What happened???!!!!

[magooatsea]

I just got a call from Sea Dream stating that all and I emphasize all! :eek:South American cruises for '07/'08 are being cancelled!! They said the level of service cannot be maintained for what Sea Dreamers have come to expect and they're moving the boat back to the Carribbean. My heart is broken, we scheduled 3 weeks!!! That was the carrot at the end of the stick for this year, work, work, work then yeah!! cruise. Guess now maybe I won't work. How will I tell my hubby?

[ctbjr1309]

I just got a call from Sea Dream stating that all and I emphasize all! :eek:South American cruises for '07/'08 are being cancelled!! They said the level of service cannot be maintained for what Sea Dreamers have come to expect and they're moving the boat back to the Carribbean. My heart is broken, we scheduled 3 weeks!!! That was the carrot at the end of the stick for this year, work, work, work then yeah!! cruise. Guess now maybe I won't work. How will I tell my hubby?

 

Well, that's very interesting. After a wonderful welcome by Captain Berg, Hotel Manager Sean Heaney and the rest of the crew we're comfortably ensconsed in our stateroom unpacking. I'll do some inquiring and will report back. Hopefully, they won't be moving the ship back to the Caribbean this week.

[Jim Avery]

the SD site has SDII doing a lot of alternating 5 and 9 day itineraries. Might open up more possibilities. Was reading a few posts on South America that had some items not up to par but most posters seemed to be handling it ok. Weather and swell conditions seemed a bit more active than most times in Carib. Lots of new cabins/trips out there gang.

[DisneyJen]

Inquiring minds want to know ctbjr!!!

 

Glad to hear that you are aboard ... please tell the mrs. to have a glass of champagne, heck a whole bottle, for me:p

[DisneyJen]

Inquiring minds want to know ctbjr!!!

 

Glad to hear that you are aboard ... please tell the mrs. to have a glass of champagne, heck a whole bottle, for me:p

[DownUnder]

SeaDream may be winning awards for comfort and onboard services but they are fast losing credibility as far as their office management is concerned. Last year we paid deposits on two cruises on SD11. The first was from Naples to Barcelona and then from Terneriffe to Rio. The cruise in between which we had planned on taking also was chartered out but that was not a huge problem as a week in Spain and Teneriffe is no chore. Last November I discovered that the first cruise had disappeared off the schedule and on contacting SD they advised that this had also been chartered. That was a great disappointment as the thought of cruising from Naples through Sorrento, Amalfi, Corisica and Menorca to Barcelona was greatly anticipated. No matter, we would just fly to Barcelona and spend a little more time there and in Teneriffe before boarding the Atlantic Crossing to Rio. At no time did SeaDream contact me or my Travel Agent to advise of these changes. Now I find that the "crossing" is also cancelled but still no word from SeaDream. One would have thought that if deposits are held by the company, the first people they should contact to advise of changes are those depositees. We travelled with SeasDream 1 from Seville to San Juan in October 2005 and had a wonderful experience but I would be very wary of making future booking on this line.

[vandrefalk]

Interesting that both times SD has ventured out of its' original markets to somewhere new (Mexico and now South America), it's only been for one season. Perhaps the advance visits to set up these itineraries don't live up to the reality?

At any rate, will be most interested in CTBJR's reactions and what he learns from the delightful Capt Berg.

Vandrefalk

[DisneyJen]

Interesting that both times SD has ventured out of its' original markets to somewhere new (Mexico and now South America), it's only been for one season. Perhaps the advance visits to set up these itineraries don't live up to the reality?

At any rate, will be most interested in CTBJR's reactions and what he learns from the delightful Capt Berg.

Vandrefalk

 

I agree Vandrefalk that it is interesting about the new markets.

 

I have to wonder if SD does such an outstanding job in the Caribbean (we have yet to sail them in the Med) that expectations are high. I found it interesting reading emckeeve's and alita's reports. My sense is that some of the passengers are expecting a similar experience to their Caribbean and/or Med experience. South America and Mexico are very different economically and culturally than what most Americans are used to.

 

Waiting to hear from our on the scene reporter ... ctbjr:D

[Jim Avery]

Lois & I were on one of the first Mexican cruises on SDII and had a fabulous time. 59 passengers, good weather, no kids. Perfect. We heard that weather and swell conditions caused problems on later cruises as seems to be the case for South America. Will be interested to see what happens. Maybe they will look at some of the suggestions on the "Wish List" thread.

Jim.

[yogagal47]

we changed from a South America cruise in nov '07 to a greek islands cruise in June of '08. Guess that was a good call! I was nervous about travel to SA and concerned about the hassels of flying all the way there.

[surfklutz]

we changed from a South America cruise in nov '07 to a greek islands cruise in June of '08. Guess that was a good call! I was nervous about travel to SA and concerned about the hassels of flying all the way there.

 

Sounds like you have a nice alternative. I would prefer Greece anyway!

[Jim Avery]

According to friends made on SDII who have just completed one of the South America cruises, there were several problems in that part of the world including that they originally planned short travel between ports but found that if they stayed in Brazil, they would be required to hire 15% Brazilian crew. Also mentioned, due to certain regulations they were unable to provision the ship with the usual quality items. As far as the trips to the falls, the problems appeared to be related to VARIG airlines and them suspending service. This is from 8 time SeaDreamers who plan to stay with Caribbean and Med cruises for now.

Jim.

[ctbjr1309]

Jim,

 

I understand that SD discovered the Brazilian crew requirements (I heard that it was 25% rather than 15%) some time ago but after they published the original itineraries. That's why they changed the itineraries to now include itineraries that do not include Brazil such as voyage 1705 which started yesterday.

 

FWIW, we did not notice any decrease in quality of food, service or anything else on our just completed Rio-BA cruise. I believe that SD concluded that trying to deal with moving targets of government regulations and vendor pricing didn't allow them the control they needed over their expenses thus resulting in less income than projected for the SA itineraries.

[Jim Avery]

ctbjr:

I think you are right. Got my info from a European couple just aboard so dont know if the 25% or 15% is right. Not important, having to hire unqualified help does matter and I can see where it would cause issues. It must be very hard to try to plan a year in advance and then have to make it up as you go along thanks to uncooperative bureaucrats. I personally would rather spend money with cooperative governments. Too bad, looked like interesting trips. On the bright side, more options in the Caribbean.

All the best,

Jim.