Not even half a year ago we (both in our thirtees living in Munich) took our last SeaDream cruise: 12 days of caribbean sunshine on Seadream II. In the meantime lot's of changes happened in our live including a little seadream baby that is in the works (you can see how we liked our first cruise ;).

This resulted in us having to change some of our travel plans for this year. Instead of going to Caribbean again with a 12+ hour flight we were now looking at a vacation in the Med - and of course at Seadream again. Juggling with availability and pricing we came up with a 7 day cruise on SeaDream I departing from and returning to Venice and going to a lot of Croatian islands in between. On this trip, we would also take our parents to convince them off the Seadream way of doing things.

Venice proved to be a very convenient starting point for our voyage. It is only a one hour flight with Lufthansa from Munich and the airport is within reasonable range of the port and the city. And obviously the city has a lot to offer as destination.

Departing on June 28th our flight left Munich at 6:50a.m. Ummm. Still had to get up at 4am to catch the plane. The flight is a Lufthansa / United codeshare flight operated by Air Dolomiti running on small turboprop planes (ATR 72) and takes little over one hour. We arrived in Venice shortly after 8am after spectacular sightseeing over the alps: No clouds, sunny skies and great mountains. In fact we saw several places we usually use to go skiing or hiking from above which was very nice.

Venice airport is a nice small airport (and surprisingly has a lot of international direct flights as well) not too affected by the italian creative chaos that got us when we landed at Rome once. In fact we got our bags very quickly and were off the airport in 20 minutes or so. Our choice of transporation was Alilaguna, the public water bus connecting the Airport and downtown. The blue line went all the way to Zattere, which should be a short walk to Quay St. Basilico where Seadream was docked. After quite a wait for the boat we boarded the water bus which tooks us  on a sightseeing tour (passing through Murano, Lido, St. Marks Square. Price is 12 Euros per person (which is really cheap), but the bus can ge crowded and carrying your own luggage can be a pain. The trip took 1.5 hours (compare that to 40 minutes on a water taxi at a steep 100 Euro).

Ending up in Zattere, the ship's docking point was short 15 minutes walk from the drop off point. BUT: There are two bridges in between and they are not made for luggage. We bravely carried it all across but my dad hurt is back while doing the heavy lifting and had to see the doctor on board later.

The St. Basilico terminal is a small ship terminal which receives yachts and smaller cruise ships (you can argue about which of these two categories best fits SeaDream). Other than Seadream, it would also have the Seabourn Spirit today which was scheduled to leave on hour ahead of us. Getting there at 11 there was nothing open in the terminal yet. The agent showed us to the porters who would stow our luggage and we went about to go an explore Venice. The city was both incredibly hot and incredibly full but still fun to explore. However after two hours we were simply exhausted and walked back to the terminal. Seabourn was boarding their passengers through a counter at that time. Nothing yet for Seadream. We continued to wait (together with a growing crowd) until after 2pm (which would be the scheduled boarding time), but noone would appear at the counter. Then a few brave souls just got up and walked through security towards the ship and we joined them. It turns out that they never intended to use the counter and were waiting for us on board.

We were meeting the Captain (Bjarne), the activities director (Meredith) and quickly got our first glass of champagne - which we refused since Britta is pregnant. Our first surprise here: The old fashioned room cards and sliding boards have been done away with and you now get a plastic card with your picture on it. Embarkation now takes a little longer since it takes a minute or so to print the boarding pass. We really enjoyed the wooden board and are a little bid sad to see it go away and being replaced with technology. On to the reception where we met Maxi - the receptionist from Austria.

Shortly after boarding it was time for the safety at sea drill. The ship alarm bells would ring and you are taking your life vest and assemble at your assigned lifeboat station. At Seadream there are 4 lifeboats (one of which is also used as tender) with a combined capacity of close to 100 guests as well as life rafts for another 100 people.

After having completed these formalities (hopefully without needing them), it was time for the magic Venice sailaway. San Basilio cruise terminal is located right at the end of the Zattere. Ships have to sail literally right through downtown Venice to reach the open seas.

Sailaway was spectacular. Having your our cocktail on the open deck while watching the incredibly busy Venice was a sight to remember. Slowly gliding through the canal we could watch all the nice little streets, the crowds of tourists and the gondolas working their way through the waters of Venice.

We also saw one of the big cruise ships: Brilliance of the Seas. She looked like a giant compared to the houses of venice. 

Sailing from Venice takes abou 30 minutes to one hour. First you pass the main island with San Marco square on the left, then later the Lido island with its beaches on the right hand side. Then it's off through a channel out to the open sea.

Our next day stop would be: Rab, Croatia.

Seen from the town of Rab, Seadream I anchors at bay. Since the yacht has been here before we were allowed to come into the waters without a pilot and captain Bjarne would anchor the ship right in front of the old, walled town. You can see the local town beach and the beautiful water in front. While the water can rival the caribbean any time, many beaches in Croatia are rocky. Very few (if any at all) feature sand. If you pack accordingly and bring bathing shoes this should not be a problem. Having no sand means also having great visibility for snorkeling!

Rab is also known as the town with 4 towers. The last one belongs to some ruins of a church and can be climbed for great views of the town and the ship. (Free admittance)

Rab city in the evening. The light made for some "magic moments".

 Seadream would tender into port here (the same as for every other port we went to execept for Venice). A tender ride would be approx. 10 minutes. There was hardly any wait for the boat. If you had to wait, they put up chairs, shade, cookies and soda drinks on the pier. Quite a lot of tourist would come by, look very surprised and even take pictures of you waiting there for the tender. Truly a VIP service for Seadream guest!

That evening, Germany would play Spain in the finals of the European soccer cup. There were 13 Germans and 4 Spanish people on board and everyone watched the finals on the big screen in the salon. Well, sad for us, but the Germans lost. Seadream stewards would bring out champagne for the Spanish guests after their victory for the celebrations. (Nice treat). And anyhow: The spanish team was way better and deserved the win! That ended our first real day on board. Our next port of call would be Hvar.

The next day, Seadream I is pulling into Hvar, Croatia. The ship would stop quite a distance from the shore and the friendly small tender is running all day back and forth the ferry people to the port.

Hvar is one of the secret society hotspots at the dalmatian coast of Croatia. Quickly becoming a hip place to be for boaters and yachters, it is something of a combination of Jost van Dyke and Cannes. The small harbour shelters lots of sailboats and little yachts mostly occupied by younger folks (or those who at least feel they are young).

During the day it is a quite little town, during night all the bars at the harbour turn into nightclubs with dancing and loud music playing on the street. If you are into nightlife, this is a very fine place to take advantage of Seadreams late departures.

The central piazza is located at the heart of the city, right next to the harbour. It is lined by old houses with their typical stones. Still today, this central location is the place for the daily fresh goods market (upper end of the piazza, right next to the church), where you can purchase groceries directly from the farmers. Also, fishermen sell their catch of the day there in a lifely atmosphere.

Stone houses, stone streets: Hvar is a marvel of the mediveal art of building. A couple of impressions:

Hvar would also be the second day that the water toys would be out. Each Seadream vessel carries two jetskis, a sailboat, two kayaks and a couple of zodiacs used for water skiing and swimming. All water toys are free to use (price is included in the fare), but require a legal waiver to be signed. You will also have to wear a lifejacket and remain in the supervised area of the ship. Given these limitations, it is still a lot of fun to use the toys and play or simple swim around the ship. The captain has repositioned the ship a little bit in the afternoon to provide for better use of  the toys and we were facing a natural bay now - and a safe distance from any boat traffic.

And then the Seadream experience is about fine dining as well. The evenings start of with cocktails - this time directly on deck for a spectacular sunset. The hors d'oevres are mouthwatering little pieces. Add your favourite cocktail for that and what better way could there be to spend the early evening?

Well, Seadream would not be Seadream if they would not have an  answer to that: Dining al fresco to a five course menu under the stars! Dining on board is in a casual yet elegant setting. And with great, personalized service and a good choice of gourmet dishes from the kitchen, it is also a delight. Guests are carefully placed at tables by the Maitre D' and oftentimes he would place guests with the same waiters so that you can build a relationship. Also on the positive side: There is no real fixed dinner time - you can come when you are ready (within limits, obviously). And: There is only one seating, so that you will never feel rushed. If you want to, you can take all night to finish your dinner or your drinks.

And tomorrow: On to Dubrovnik