SeaDream Yacht Club: Follow My Journey – Part Two – Embarkation & First Thoughts

Starting today, Premier Custom Travel Founder and President Chris Grum is onboard SeaDream II, one of the two ships in the SeaDream Yacht Club fleet for a five-night Caribbean cruise. Chris will be blogging throughout the cruise, and we plan to broadcast a special edition of THE ITINERARY on Tuesday evening, internet permitting. In the second installment in this series, Chris chronicles his journey to the ship and embarkation day.

It was quite an adventure getting to the ship. Of the past 48 hours, I’d like to forget most of them. It all began at the airport.

THE FLIGHTS

Because my first flight of the day left at 5am Houston time, I decided to spend Thursday night at the Marriott Hotel at Bush Intercontinental Airport. I parked my car at the airport valet (a service I’ve come to love for its convenience) and took the inter-terminal tram to the hotel. I really do appreciate that IAH has that service to get between the terminals and the hotel. My stay was unremarkable, consisting of a room service dinner and an early bedtime.

3am came early, but I was ready for the adventure to begin. I had no idea how accurate that word – adventure – would turn out to be.

The first flight went fine, departing on time and featuring an excellent cabin crew. For an early morning flight, they were all in very good moods and I must admit American Airlines took great care of me on the way to Miami. It’s there where the wheels started to come off, one at a time.

First, our flight to St. Thomas was delayed. Not a big deal – happens a lot with air travel. We were scheduled to only be 30 minutes tardy due to a late-arriving aircraft. The plane arrived, was cleaned, and the boarding process begins. This is another place I must compliment American Airlines over United – group 1 is group 1, not after 20 other “pre-board” groups. Let’s face it – that’s boarding. Group 1 is whomever gets on first, not 20th. I was in group 1 and was first on after the wheelchair customers. We were boarded and ready to go when word started to filter from the back of the plane that we had a medical emergency. The crew were going back and forth, trying to figure out what was happening. Turns out by medical emergency they meant drunk idiot.

This lady managed to pass out, awaken, vomit profusely in the back of the aircraft, and then destroy (yes, you read that correctly) not one but both of the rear restroom doors. They were rendered inoperable by the drunk, who was removed from the aircraft by security and taken away by police. After Drunky McDrunkelstein is vanquished, the captain announces that we must wait for maintenance to come onboard and fix the broken doors. Turns out we caught them at shift change, so we must wait for the day crew to sign out and the next shift to punch in. Finally, they arrive and begin to work on the issues. One door is fixed fairly easily, but the other proves to be more of a challenge. After more diagnosing, it is determined that the second door is beyond repair.

Now almost three hours late, our pilot informs us that he is okay taking us with two bathrooms, provided we are okay with sharing the two remaining restrooms with the entire aircraft. That’s 2 bathrooms for 172 people, not including the crew. Fine with us – let’s just get going. After another 30 minutes, the pilot has an update. He has told maintenance that he is uncomfortable flying with just two restrooms, as on the way back they would have to enforce the rule that first class (24 seats) must use their restroom and the rest (148) must use a single toilet in the rear. He doesn’t want to subject the passengers returning from St. Thomas to that, and I can’t really blame him. So, for the first time in my 50+ years of flying, a pilot tells us that he has “refused the aircraft.” Now we must wait for American to decide if they will fix the door while we wait or if they will give us a new aircraft.

It is decided we will be given a new plane, so we are all disembarked and moved to a new gate, where our new plane will be arriving in 20 minutes. Once it is cleaned, we will be off. Not so fast. Yes, we get onboard fairly quickly, but now we have no catering. So we must wait for them to load the food and beverages onboard. I’m worrying the entire time that our crew will time out (run out of legal hours to fly) but alas we wound up being okay. We finally took off from Miami and landed in St. Thomas almost five hours late. I can only imagine how the people waiting on the return flight felt. But kudos to American – they were fantastic and handled it all about as well as they could have. My only gripe is that they could’ve decided a bit earlier to swap planes. It was clear by hour 3 we weren’t going to be going anywhere on the vomit comet.

Normally I wouldn’t share that much detail in a blog about a ship-based journey, but that story is too remarkable (and ridiculous) to not be shared. Also, it illustrates why we always beg our cruise customers to fly in at least a day early. If this had been my embarkation day, I would have missed the ship.

ST. THOMAS

SeaDream Yacht Club does not offer transfers, but they did recommend a local company to take care of my needs. I was met at the airport by the owner, an affable fellow called Tom. He handed me off to his driver, who took me to my hotel. Unfortunately, due to issues I won’t chronicle here, I was forced to relocated to a different hotel back near the airport. Fortunately the driver was able to take me there as well. Sadly, I arrived just after the restaurant had closed and there were no options for delivery. So dinner was a bag of peanuts and a candy bar – less than ideal. I was already craving the dining that I assumed would be onboard SeaDream II.

This morning, I woke up to the sound of the waves on the beach right outside my bedroom. I enjoyed a light lunch at the beachside restaurant at the hotel and waited for my transfer to the ship. It must be noted that the bad luck continued at the resort hotel, with no hot water and no WiFi (I overheard others having the same problems).

EMBARKATION

I arrived at the port right at 2pm, which is the start of embarkation. Both SeaDream yachts carry a maximum of 112 guests across 54 staterooms and a compliment of 95 crew. It’s apparent from the moment you step on the pier that this will be a different experience from any other cruise. As I noted in my previous blog, they prefer the term “yachting” not “cruising,” but there will be times in my blogs that I will use the generic term for simplicity.

Upon arrival at the pier, you wait in no lines, sit in no terminal, and go through no formal embarkation process. No luggage tags to print, no online check-in, and no crowds at all. I walked up and there was one couple ahead of me. A SeaDream crew member was there to tag our luggage, using a list of guests and stateroom numbers. The process took all of 2 minutes. No tip expected or required – it’s all part of the package. Next, I walked ten feet to the security shack and was checked in by security. No bag or body scanners – just a look at my passport and a check of his list to make sure I was approved to sail. Once I passed him, the yacht was in clear view.

At the purple tent in the photo, you are checked against the list one last time and invited to board. By the time I reached this point, I think at least 10 crew members had already welcomed me aboard. A short walk up the gangway and there was Captain Michael Macleod waiting to greet me. Another line of officers and crew were waiting, including a couple of ladies from the spa with cool scented towels. That was a refreshing way to step on board. Directly after that was champagne (or a fruit cocktail if you preferred) as a welcome aboard drink.

Beyond that, the first lounge I entered had a nice assortment of canapés and snacks that all appeared to be freshly prepared.

In the next room, which is the Concierge office and boutique (ship’s shop), there was a table set up to check in passengers. Both stations were busy when I arrived, but my wait was all of maybe five minutes. I was welcomed to sit with one of the ladies as she checked my passport, asked for the one piece of paper (the cruise contract) that they had sent me to sign before the trip, and then asked for a credit card for my onboard account. Once done, she printed my room key and gave me a SeaDream embossed RFID wallet to keep it in. The wallet is mine to keep after the journey.

MY STATEROOM

There are only four types of staterooms onboard – Yacht Club staterooms, the Commodore’s Suite, the Admiral’s Suite, and the Owner’s Suite. I will blog about the other options in a future post, but for now I will explore my stateroom – which is a deck 3 Yacht Club stateroom.

Yacht Club Deck 3 & 4 staterooms average 195 sq.ft. These picture window ocean view staterooms include a marble-lined bathroom in select staterooms with a multi-jet shower and a well-appointed open living area with sofa, chair, cocktail table, and built-in dresser with writing desk. Most staterooms offer a choice of 2 twin beds or 1 queen bed. I have a queen all to myself. Deck 4 staterooms enjoy close proximity to the SeaDream Spa, Fitness Center, and Library. Deck 3 is the perfect location for guests who desire to be just feet from the pool. I am on deck 3, stateroom 322 almost all the way forward. I think this will be an excellent location, although it truly doesn’t take long to get anywhere on a vessel that is only 344 feet in length and has 5 passengers decks.

None of the rooms have balconies, but there are plenty of spaces around the yacht with views and I will share those in a future post as well. The stateroom is very nice and well-appointed. Amenities include:

Well-stocked beverage refrigerator

55″ flat-screen TV with “Infotainment”

Direct-dial telephone

Safe

Climate Control

Make-Up Mirror

Hair dryer

Elm Organics bath amenities

Superior Belgian bed & bath linens

Luxury Bath Robes & Slippers

Wooden & Padded Silk clothes hangers

24-hour in-stateroom “Small Bites” menu

Wifi Available

A note about the wifi – it is an additional charge (one of the few things that is extra) and it’s $35 per day or $69 for the full five-day voyage per device. Obviously that pricing changes for longer journeys, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t get the full package as it’s a huge savings vs. the day-to-day. So far, it appears to be very fast. SeaDream uses StarLink and while I haven’t been impressed with that service on the big ships, so far it appears to work very well here. We shall see what happens when we are sailing.

One thing I noticed right away is the abundance of plugs and USB ports. The ship was recently remodeled and these important features were added. There’s a full plug by the right side of the bed and USB plugs on both sides for charging overnight. There is another set of plugs in the desk area.

There is ample closet space, lots of drawers, including two that have special lining which I presume is for jewelry and other items that could easily be scratched. The bathroom is small, and I did notice that with the door opening in, it can be challenging to close it and navigate around it to the shower. I’m sure I’ll get more comfortable with that as the voyage progresses. The shower has glass walls, which I prefer to the annoying curtains on some ships. It’s not big but I think it will suffice. The toilet is very close to the wall, so that might be a bit challenging at first. Again, I’m sure it will work itself out.

The TV is interactive and features our daily schedule. There is no app that I could find, but that’s fine. I took a photo of today’s schedule – see above. I’ll type it out below in case you can’t read it on smaller devices.

DAY 1 SCHEDULE – CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST. THOMAS

14:00 – Embarkation aboard SeaDream II
14:00 – Welcome aboard drinks and canapés – Main Salon – Deck 3
14:00 – Concierge Desk is open for assistance with Jovana and Joanne – Concierge Desk – Deck 3
16:30 – An introduction to SeaDream II & this voyage’s Yachting Land Adventures & onboard activities with Club Director Jamie & Activity Manager Marcelo – Main Salon – Deck 3
17:00 – 17:30 – Yachting Land Adventure inquiries & bookings with Activity Manager Marcelo – Concierge Foyer – Deck 3
17:30 – Mandatory Lifeboat Drill for all newly embarked guests. Please report to your lifeboat station on deck 5 wearing your life jacket and follow the announcements from the Captain
18:00 – Drinks with the view – Deck 5
18:30 – 19:30 – Welcome cocktails – Main Salon – Deck 3
19:15 – A brief review of tomorrow’s activities in Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI with Club Director Jamie – Main Salon – Deck 3
19:30 – 21:30 – Welcome Dinner – Dining Salon – Deck 2
21:30 – Top of the Yacht bar is open with Bartenders Daniel and Georgije – Top of the Yacht Bar – Deck 6
21:30 – Piano Bar is open with Pianist Spencer & Chief Bartender Nic – Piano Bar – Deck 4
21:30 – The Casino is open with Casino Manager Ioana – Casino – Deck 4
22:00 – Mix and Mingle at the Top of the Yacht Bar – Top of the Yacht Bar – Deck 6

Opening times for onboard services:

Fitness center – 14:00 – 20:00
SeaDream spa – 14:00 – 20:00
Concierge Desk – 14:00 – 23:00
Hospital – 17:00 – 18:00
Boutique – 18:00 – 20:00
Casino – From 21:30

Sailing plan:

17:30 – All guests are requested to be onboard at this time
18:00 – SeaDream II navigates to Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI

THE VOYAGE AHEAD

As I finish this blog, we are about to get a preview of the days ahead and an overview of the ship. I’m looking forward to exploring and sharing more stories and photos. So far, I am absolutely blown away by the hospitality and the friendliness of the crew.

I’ll share photos of tonight’s menu and food on our social media. Stay tuned for that.

Stay tuned for more. Have questions or something you’d like to see me feature? Drop me a line at chris@premiercustomtravel.com.