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!
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
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 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.
— Several pathway lights stayed out and several had water intrusion, probably because the seals are not maintained. They’re cleanly 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?)
— 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.
— 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.
— 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.
Speaking of Multi-Million Dollar renovation, maybe they could have flipped for some exterior scape 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.
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. 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 Trans-Atlantic Crossing. I cannot say the same for SeaDream Lines.
Did I mention the customer-facing crew is one of the best at sea?
