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Sea Cloud Cruises

s/v Sea Cloud

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Reviewed by: Jennifer Rahel Conover
# previous cruises: 10-20
Date of Trip: September 2, 2002
Itinerary: Mediterranean

Sea Cloud Cruises has spared no expense in restoring Sea Cloud to her original Bristol condition. She is every bit as elegant now as when she was built as a private yacht for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Aside from the fact that she's one of the most beautiful ship's afloat she has an amazing history.

She served as a US Embassy when Marjorie's husband the Honorable Joseph E. Davies was made Ambassador to Russia. During WW II she was loaned to the Coast Guard for $1 per yr and assisted in sinking a U-Boat. After the war she was re-masted and restored to her prewar glory and the Davies continued to cruise on her. Her ship's log reads like a who's who of royalty and heads of state. Kink Gustav of Sweden, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor and Winston Churchill to name just a few, have all been entertained aboard. Finally she was sold to Dominical Dictator Rafael Trujillo and became a Dominican Naval vessel.

After that she began going downhill until a group of forward thinking European investors took her back to Germany and completely restored her from the keel up. She now cruises the Mediterranean in summer and the Caribbean in winter. Sea Cloud Cruises has been so successful that they have built another tall ship, Sea Cloud II. She too is a 5 star ship, we cruised on her last year from St. Petersburg to Copenhagen.

A cruise on either ship is a memorable experience but I particularly recommend one of Annemarie Victory's charters. Both Sea Cloud Cruises and Annemarie Victory are meticulous in handling details. Together they are an unbeatable. Annemarie, who hosted World Class Cuisine has a panache and an entree to people and places that I have never experienced with any other tour operator. I know whereof I speak because I am the granddaughter of Ambassador Joseph E. Davies and the step-granddaughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post. I have cruised on Sea Cloud both as a small child and again for the last 10 years. It is the ultimate in cruise travel and something everyone should do at least once. Both ships represent an era of elegance and gentility that is seldom seen and rarely enjoyed in this day and age.

The public areas on Sea Cloud and her larger sister ship Sea Cloud II are very well done. Everything is beautifully appointed. Sea Cloud is furnished as closely as possible to the way it was when Marjorie Merriweather Post first built her and some of the fabulous china is still on display.

The food and service are both excellent, innovative and beautifully presented. Weather permitting lunch is often served on the after deck and they have barbecues from time to time.

The original staterooms on Sea Cloud are incredible, complete with marble baths (some with tubs), gold plated fixtures, intricately paneled walls, ornate ormolu marble fireplaces and walk in cedar closets. The new cabins are good sized with marble baths (hair dryers), beautiful paneling, and good closet space. Sea Cloud II also has beautiful appointed staterooms with a separate sitting area, TV, VCR music system and a desk. All rooms have safes on both ships

There are no shows per se but there are often fascinating lectures.

We've stopped all over the Baltic and in the Mediterranean at ports and islands too numerous to mention.

We found the fellow passengers very interesting. Cruising on Sea Cloud and Sea Cloud II tends to be addictive and we see fellow passengers year after year and we've made many lasting friendships aboard.