IN JUST THREE SHORT YEARS, SEADREAM YACHT CLUB STARTED WALKING OFF WITH SOME OF THE MOST COVETED TRAVEL AWARDS IN THE INDUSTRY.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS_ My first glimpse of Sea Dream I triggered a feeling not unlike seeing a celebrity in person and realizing he isn’t as tall as you’d expected. After sailing large ships, the sight of the intimate navy and white yacht was surprising — delightfully so, I found, as its abbreviated size felt approachable with none of the chaos that usually characterizes embarkation day on larger ships.
With Monte Carlo hovering in the background, we alone clamored up the gangway, greeting the captain and activities director before joining some of our shipmates at cocktail tables around the small sparkling swimming pool. Champagne was offered by handsome young crewmembers dressed not in the oppressively hot polyester uniforms that are so common on large ships, but in cool and airy cotton shorts, striped shirts, and deck shoes. They looked just like they worked on, well, a yacht.
Almost immediately, it became clear that what SeaDream I didn’t have was not nearly as important as what she did have. Casual in both attitude and dress, SeaDream I defined allinclusive luxury. Open bar, gratuities, use of water toys like jet skis and sailboats from the yacht’s sports platform and use of the ship’s mountain bikes to explore ports on our own were included in the fare. Accommodations on board were lovely with marble bathrooms, Bulgari toiletries, and showers that featured body jets. And, to our astonishment, we could also opt to spend a night sleeping under the stars atop a Balinese sunbed made up with luxury linens and a fluff y duvet. SeaDream even supplied our pajamas — complete with our first names embroidered on them. Try that on a megaship!
Dining? Superb, with meals cooked to order and most often served at the yacht’s outdoor dining room, each table laid with china, glass, and silver, and ceiling fans supplementing cool ocean breezes on warm evenings. Menus at lunch and dinner featured delectable, innovative dishes as well as traditional favorites, and the outdoor setting allowed us to dine with glittering exotic ports — often ports that large ships were unable to sail to — as our backdrop. On that first SeaDream sailing, I felt as though I had been admitted to a very exclusive club, one that a selfish part of me wanted to keep entirely to myself. But that wasn’t to be.
PRESENT DAY _ In just three short years, SeaDream Yacht Club (suddenly referred to as “the little cruise line that could”) started walking off with some of the most coveted travel awards in the industry, awards that recognized SeaDream’s cuisine, its service, its spa, and some that simply ranked SeaDream Yacht Club as best small cruise line, period.
It’s been 15 years since SeaDream Yacht Club debuted to a doubting industry, and through those years it has not only remained afloat, but continues to thrive. During its existence it has carried guests (the vast majority repeat guests) to a wide range of exotic destinations including the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Asia, the Amazon, South America, and Costa Rica — and don’t be surprised if Cuba is on the agenda next year.
So here’s to 15 years of SeaDream Yacht Club, the little cruise line that could and, believe me, still very much can.