SeaDream celebrates 5 years of successful business

**Ally** · 09-15-2006, 03:09 PM

Not your usual five-star cruise line, the SeaDream Yacht Club is a yacht club that offers a yachting experience with all the benefits of a five-star cruise and is now in its fifth year of operations.

But not everything was smooth sailing for this, one of the world’s smallest cruise lines. The brand SeaDream Yacht Club and its first yacht were launched by Atle Brynestad and Larry Pimentel just ten days prior to the ‘September 11’ attacks on New York.

Larry Pimentel, SeaDream Yacht Club President and Chief Executive Officer said, “When 9/11 occurred half way through our second voyage, we initially thought ‘well, that’s that for us. But we had the attitude that we were The Little Engine That Could, and while people were cancelling cruises on the big cruise ships hand-over-fist, we found that in fact our bookings were increasing… we were seen as small, secure and safe.”

The two yachts on offer, SeaDream I and SeaDream II each carries just 110 guests served by a 94 strong crew.

Small does not translate to lacking for this yacht line, recently in the Conde Nast Traveller ‘Cruise Poll’ for 2006 SeaDream II scored a perfect 100 in Dining and Service. No other passenger vessels received the perfect 100 in 2006.

“We’ve never really looked back. We don’t deny it was a nervous time, but we knew we had the very best product in the refurbished yachts, we had the very best staff aboard them, and we went out and sold the concept of 5-star yachting, not cruising,” said Mr Pimentel.

The company celebrated its five-year anniversary by relocating to a new location in Miami, Florida, which will allow for further expansion.

When the cruise line entered the Australian market, Australian guests made up for less than 1% of its business.

“Today Australians make for nearly five percent of our business, and just this year alone we have had both a corporate full-yacht charter of SeaDream II in the Mediterranean by the Australian end of an international direct marketing company, and a full-yacht charter by a successful Australian businessman who chartered SeaDream II in the Mediterranean to celebrate his 50th birthday with family and friends,” Mr Pimentel said.

For further information visit www.seadreamyachtclub.com.

(eTravel)

**Ally** · 10-30-2006, 12:37 PM

It was just over five years ago that SeaDream Yacht Club launched – inauspiciously – only days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Larry Pimentel had gone from planning the world’s largest cruise ship, Queen Mary 2, as the head of Cunard and Seabourn lines, to building a new brand around what he calls ‘the smallest minnows,’ the former Sea Goddess yachts.

The first year and a half were tough but Pimentel, president and ceo, said that even in SeaDream’s worst year, capacity utilization was 84%. This year, that figure is at 99.2%, and yield is more than 140% higher than when the company started. Per diems are consistently in the $500 to $600 range.

Full-ship charters range from $299,000 for seven nights in the Caribbean in low season to $850,000 for a week at a peak event in Europe.

Norwegian entrepeneur Atle Brynestad had been thinking of building for the new venture, but Pimentel advised a different approach after having worked on the ‘Christina O’ project, which opened his eyes to the economics of mega-yacht charters. In that world, people can pay $50,000 to $70,000 a day for a vessel carrying 10 to 12 passengers. ‘That blew the best tariff, at the time, Seabourn at about $1,000 a day, out of the water,’ Pimentel said.

So Brynestad and Pimentel acquired the Sea Goddess ships which Brynestad had built in 1984/85 but later sold. They were extensively refurbished, adding a new top-deck bar, a spa and other facilities. ‘We took the Sea Goddess vessels out of the ocean of passenger ships and put them into the pond of yachting,’ Pimentel quipped.

SeaDream launched with the concept of ‘casual perfection’: no tuxes, no ties, but excellent food, 3,000 bottles of estate wines and an emphasis on service, with 94 crew (including eight masseuses) serving 55 cabins. ‘What makes this product hum is the service is absolutely fantastic,’ Pimentel said, pointing to a raft of awards including the recent selection by Conde Nast Traveler readers as world’s best small passenger line, and the only cruise brand to make the magazine’s 100 ‘Best of the Best’ travel experiences.

Also, SeaDream was a forerunner of relaxed cruising. ‘We created a product that was so different. We started shore excursions at 10 in the morning so people could sleep in,’ Pimentel said. Itineraries emphasize overnights, and three or four days a week the ships drop their watersports platforms and unleash Jet Skis, banana boats and windsurfers.

The company is drawing a passenger base aged in the mid-40s, one-third of whom have never cruised before. Charters are an important 40% chunk of business, with family groups now a hot trend, especially for events such as the upcoming World Cricket Cup.

The recent order of two newbuilds for Seabourn underscores the strength of the small-ship, ultra-luxury category, Pimentel said, noting that bankers are now knocking on the doors of the small lines. ‘We have not seen the end to newbuild orders,’ he predicted.

Will SeaDream be among them? ‘We’re looking at newbuilds, studying if they’re cost-effective,’ Pimentel told media. ‘Frankly, the small size can make it tough. For us, probably a viable route is to look at private mega-yachts that can be converted in unique ways. Those opportunities exist.’