SeaDream II Cruise Review of a Transatlantic Crossing by Rudy from the USA — READER REVIEW

SeaDream II Cruise Review.

Reviewer

Rudy from the US.

Cruise Line

Sea Dream Yacht Club.

Ship

Sea Dream II.

Destination

Transatlantic.

# of Nights

16.

Departure Port

West Palm Beach, FLA.

Date of Cruise

April, 2023.

Ratings

(5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=good, 2=poor, 1=terrible)

-Overall Experience Rating: 3

-Food Rating: 3

-Service/Crew Rating: 5

-Cabin Rating: 4

-Itinerary Rating: 5

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SeaDream II Cruise Review

The Customer-Facing Crew is Outstanding, But…

We traveled on SeaDream II in the Admiral Suite for the Spring 2023 Trans-Atlantic Crossing.

Everything you’ve heard about the Crew (at least the customer-facing crew) is exactly true. They are wonderful, accommodating, and very hard working. They are the major selling point for this Line.

If you are a die-hard SeaDream fan, you may want to stop reading because…

The Emperor Has No Clothes…

Over the first few days of the 16 day trip, I came to realize that maintenance and safety are not priorities on SeaDream and that they may be making cuts to save money as you’ll see.

The first indication was the A/C in our Suite was not blowing much air. I’m extremely familiar with these systems, and the first step is to check the filters (before and after pictures below). There is only one word to describe them — Disgusting. I’m confident they have never ever been cleaned. One would think during the pandemic that air filters would have received even more cleaning — not on SeaDream!

Air filter on Sea Dream II.. * Photo: Rudy from the USA

This is not a Housekeeping issue, it is strictly a maintenance issue and opened my eyes to other problems on the ship.

Our Suite housekeeping was perfect and was done multiple times a day, oddly by the Housekeeping Department Head (Corporate Cutbacks?).

I asked the Concierge if I could get 5 minutes with the Chief of Engineering (who’s responsible for maintenance). After 72 hours, I asked again. I’m 100% confident that the message was delivered as the Concierge Staff are outstanding. I never heard from the Chief of Engineering, which only confirmed my suspicions.

Interior vs. Exterior of Sea Dream II

Looking with a critical eye showed that the emphasis on maintenance was clearly on the interior which is smart if you have to make a choice. So it’s pretty much yacht on the inside and freighter on the outside.

The pictures below point to a few of the issues:

— One of the pool lights (arrow) came on twice that I saw over 16 evenings. I wish it had never came on, because that means there is a short in the circuit. Oh, and the pool hand rails that the lights are mounted on are not bolted down. There are mounting holes, just no bolts — super safe.

Pool lights. * Photo: Rudy from USA

— Several pathway lights stayed out and several had water intrusion — probably because the seals are not maintained. They’re clearly not cleaned and polished although for some reason the brass bell on the pool deck was polished. Looks like a freighter. The picture with the CFL bulb shows the level of water inside the housing. Oh, and there are no marine-rated CFL bulbs (Corporate cutbacks?).

Pathway lights. * Photo: Rudy from USA

— Exposed rail hardware was a common safety hazard. Credit to the maintenance crew for keeping all of the handrails stained and sealed. That process takes several days. I saw them working on them every morning from the gym. But a simple cut up pool noodle (which they have) would prevent someone from ripping their hand open on these exposed edges. Trans-Atlantic crossing means rocking ship. I had to quit the scheduled afternoon walks as this was too much of a hazard.

Exposed hardware on SeaDream II. * Photo: Rudy from USA

— Hardware like washers and bolts were often missing or loose, for example in the handrail picture. Maintenance crew came by this very handrail from below several times a day. One of the bartenders had a habit of hand lighting this bolt.

Exposed bolts. * Photo: Rudy from the USA

— Instead of fixing the shower doors during the multi-million dollar renovation, we had a cracked plastic “clip” to put over the shower door to keep it from opening during swells. That’s a freighter fix on a “luxury” ship.

Sea Dream II shower door issues. * Photo: Rudy from USA

Speaking of Multi-Million Dollar renovation, maybe they could have flipped for some exterior scrape and paint. This was the view from the Admiral Suite and common everywhere on the sea-facing exterior. I expect some corrosion, but I’ve never seen this level on other Lines.

View from the Admiral Suite of SeaDream II. * Photo: Rudy from USA

Food is not as great as it should be…

I’ll start with the picture of the cup of coffee. That’s right, you’re served bottled water from Costco on this “luxury” Line.

SeaDream II cup of coffee with a bottle of water. * Photo: Rudy from USA

This has Corporate cutbacks written all over it.

All the served meals were at least good. That’s not “luxury” standard.

If a dish had chicken, it was always in this strange strip-like form factor and stringy. It clearly had been bulk frozen. Only the sauces made it edible. We stopped ordering anything with chicken. Maybe they got it from Costco as well (Corporate cutbacks?). Food plating and presentation were always great, but the food was often bland and honestly the portions were too big — like they were trying to make up for the lack of quality ingredients.

Here’s the crazy part, I’m not blaming the Chef for this. We twice asked to have what the crew was having for lunch. The Chef periodically cooks for the crew and we had Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Pirogies — they were OUTSTANDING. Those are the only two meals we’ll remember from that trip. It’s not the Chef — I think the Galley budget is being cut by Corporate.

I highly recommend taking a Transatlantic Crossing. I cannot say the same for SeaDream Lines.

Did I mention the customer-facing crew is one of the best at sea?

Number of Small-Ship Cruises Taken (Under 300 Passengers)

2

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