Surprisingly normal: What it's like on board the first Caribbean cruise since March
It turns out cruising during a pandemic isn't as weird as we all thought it would be.
After three days on board the first cruise vessel to restart operations in the Caribbean since March, my fellow passengers and I have settled into a cruise routine that looks, well, almost normal.
All the facilities of the vessel — SeaDream Yacht Club's 112-passenger SeaDream 1 -- are open, with just a few small accommodations to allow for social distancing among passengers.
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Up at the open-air Top of the Yacht Bar, for instance, the venue's ever-personable bartender, Tomislav, still is there every evening as the sun sets to shake up your gin martini for sailaway. But every other bar stool is blocked to keep passengers at a safe distance.
Two decks down, the ship's fitness center is open. But to use it, you need to make an appointment. The ship only is allowing a handful of people at a time into the space to keep passengers socially distanced, and staffers are cleaning it extensively every hour.
There are a few other minor things that remind you these are not normal times. Passengers must stop by the Concierge desk every day to have their temperatures taken at an automated digital station. Signs around the ship politely ask passengers to remain at least 6 feet apart from each other -- a message that also was reiterated by the vessel's activity director during a first-day talk.
But, for the most part, there are relatively few COVID-related intrusions. The baseline experience on board SeaDream 1 is pretty much the same lovely, relaxing experience it was before the new coronavirus began sweeping the globe nearly a year ago.
The Points Guy is getting exclusive access among North American media this week to SeaDream I’s very first sailing in the Caribbean.
Here, a look at what it's like for passengers when they are on board the vessel (we'll have a separate dispatch later this week on what the experience is like when passengers get off the vessel during destination stops):
Related: How to plan a cruise with points and miles
A bubble of normalcy
As I wrote about on Sunday, SeaDream is requiring passengers to run a gauntlet of COVID-19 testing before boarding SeaDream 1. The idea is to create a COVID-free "bubble" on the ship where the odds that even a single passenger is carrying the new coronavirus on board is extremely low.
Every SeaDream 1 passenger must test negative for COVID-19 three times -- first, several days in advance of boarding; again on the day of boarding; and a third time several days after boarding. Driven in part by the COVID-testing requirements of Barbados, where the ship will be based for the winter, this is a far more rigorous testing regime than the world's biggest cruise lines have mapped out in their plans for a cruising comeback.
Related: Why our cruise writer feels safe getting on a cruise vessel right now
The sense of a COVID-free bubble that such testing creates has allowed passengers to relax in a way that comes almost as a shock at first. For many of the 53 passengers who booked this trip, the COVID crisis at home has quickly become a distant memory.
As the fourth day of the cruise began on Tuesday, the most noticeable sign on board that the world still was in the midst of a COVID crisis was the masks that passengers now have to wear at times.
Initially, as the cruise began, SeaDream didn't require passengers to wear masks, and not a single one of the 53 passengers on board chose to do so. The consensus among passengers on board was that the COVID testing regime was so rigorous that mask-wearing was redundant.
But on Monday evening, the ship's activity director announced that the line was tightening its rules. Passengers now are required to wear masks when moving around the ship. Crew are wearing masks at all times.
Many passengers are angry at SeaDream because of the tightened mask-wearing mandate. One passenger on Tuesday blew up at me, too, suggesting that SeaDream had changed its mask-wearing rule due to my presence on board. A SeaDream representative told me that was not the case.
Quite a few passengers on board this sailing have told me they signed up for this trip specifically because they were told they wouldn't have to wear a mask, and they said they wouldn't have taken the trip if they had known a mask-wearing requirement was coming.
SeaDream had operated in Europe for months over the summer without a mask-wearing requirement without a single case of COVID occurring on board.
The pool is open
Other than the odd sight of cruisers walking around a cruise vessel in masks, the experience aboard SeaDream 1 this week is about as normal as can be. Indeed, since the vessel departed Barbados late Saturday, the onboard cadence has fallen into a predictable rhythm that any fan of small-ship cruising would recognize.
Early risers are up at the Top of the Yacht Bar soon after the sun comes up, chatting at a distance over coffee and croissants as the ship maneuvers into an anchorage for the day. The nearby outdoor Topside Restaurant soon is buzzing with wait staff serving up made-to-order omelettes and eggs Benedict.
When not off the ship on an adventure (more on this in future dispatches), passengers lounge during the day around the back-of-the-ship pool or head down to the marina to take out a kayak for a paddle.
Related: The best credit cards for booking cruises
Late afternoon brings a top-of-the-ship cocktail hour followed by an elegant dinner and an after-dinner nightcap in the piano bar. In a nod to COVID safety, nearly all meals are taking place outside in the ship's covered, open-air Topside Restaurant.
The service, as one expects from SeaDream, is friendly and attentive.
Notably, passengers do not have to wear masks when dining or when swimming, or when lounging around the ship in a socially distanced setting.
In some respects, SeaDream 1 is the perfect vessel for cruising in the keep-away-from-me era of the coronavirus. A tiny fraction of the size of a typical cruise ship, it's designed for an upscale, yacht-like experience that revolves around outdoor lounging on its sun decks, water sports off its retractable marina and landings by Zodiac at remote beaches or other uncrowded locales.
Even when at its full capacity of 112 passengers, it doesn't feel crowded. But as an added layer of safety, SeaDream won't be running it at full capacity for a while.
Not that SeaDream has had to implement such capacity restraints. For now, at least, bookings for the vessel's early Caribbean sailings remain modest. The 53 passengers who have signed up for this trip amount to just 47% of the number you'd normally find on board.
In other words, the social distancing on board this vessel right now is coming naturally, with no extra effort.
Other than the reduced passenger count on board and the mask-wearing, though, this is a cruise that feels surprisingly close to what cruising on a vessel like this was in the days before the coronavirus crisis began.
TPG's cruise writer, Gene Sloan, is traveling on SeaDream 1 as a guest of the cruise line.
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There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.