SeaDream Yacht Club Review

Sea Dream makes it's position clear in it's brand name - Sea Dream Yacht club. It's not a cruise, but a yachting experience with people who would be on their own yacht except for the pressures and costs of modern day life. I remember that when I sailed a day sailer out of the Tarrytown Yacht Club on the Hudson River, that our boat was one of the few that ever left the dock. Lawrence Rockefeller often cruised the Hudson past our house as part of his commute to Manhattan. The rest of them left their boats generally untouched. Owning a yacht is truly like owning a hole in the water into which one pours money. While SeaDream is a luxury experience, and is not cheap, It's just a fraction of the cost of doing it yourself, and someone else has to get it pullled, scraped and painted each year. Besides, you deserve more than "cheap"!


At SeaDream, your yacht and it's polished and professional 95 person crew are in sharp contrast to the ragtag crews that one often has to hire for a private yacht. We spent an wonderful afternoon aboard the SeaDream II in the Southern Caribbean a few years ago, and found every cabin to be a suite, but that none of them had balconies. Most items, including alcohol, water toys, and gratuities are included in your fare. If this were your yacht, you'd probably not have all of the facilites that you and your "109 best new friends" will find aboard: golf simulator, casino, spa, medical facility with doctor, 1200 volume library, piano bar, pool, and fold-down water sports "Marina".


You may be thinking "If he's only been on the ship for one afternoon, how can he write a review?" Well, the review is only starting. Patti and I will be giving these #1 rated ships the acid test on April 27th, and we hope to bring you along via this blog.

Most Seadream itineraries include frequent stops at ports that cater to yachtsmen rather than cruisers. To reposition their ship to Europe for the 2008 summer season, they must make a non-stop transatlantic crossing. If there are any weaknesses in the shipboard experience, 12 consecutive days at sea will definitely expose them. That's why I call this the acid test.

Let me put this into perspective. Patti and I have done over 30 cruises spanning the globe. We love to stand on the deck in rough weather and look at the awsome power and beauty of the waves. We've often said "Who need ports of call? - The ocean covers 70% of the earth, and we want to see 100% of it. We do love to visit new places, and at the end of the cruise, we'll spend a couple of days in Madrid. While we lived in Europe for 3 years, we never got to visit Madrid.

Seadream promises that internet coverage is sufficient to bring you daily updates. Even if we have problems, we'll upload the status of our adventure as soon as we get net access. Stay Tuned!