SeaDream is expanding its horizons with its first new ship

SeaDream Yacht Club has been a quiet small-ship line since its founding in 2001, building a loyal following for its Caribbean and Europe cruises on two ships that were built in the 1980s.

So it certainly made a splash earlier this month with the announcement of its first new ship, the SeaDream III, scheduled to set sail in July 2029 from Hong Kong.  

With room for 230 guests, the ship will double the capacity of the 112-passenger SeaDream I and II. It will also take SeaDream guests where they have rarely cruised before: In its 25 year-history, SeaDream has sailed in Asia just once, according to owner and co-founder Atle Brynestad.

Introducing a new build has been a goal for more than 10 years, and after plans for an expedition ship fell through in 2019 and the Covid pandemic came and went, it was finally the right time, said Brynestad.

Depending on the sailing, 70% to 90% of SeaDream guests are return customers, and they have expressed interest in cruising more of the world and doing it with the line, Brynestad said. Sailing the globe, visiting more destinations, was a task best suited for a larger ship, he said. Plus, he didn't want to swap out SeaDream's popular Caribbean and Europe cruises for other destinations. 

The SeaDream I and II, he added, are here to stay. 

"The existing ships are beautiful ships," he said. "They are small, intimate, and they can never be made like that again. So they are unique, and they will always be unique."

The SeaDream III will be built by China Merchants Cruise Shipbuilding. Larry Pimentel, who was SeaDream's first CEO and is now retired from the cruise industry, posited that the decision to look beyond Europe could be because shipyards there are at capacity into the 2030s. Looking elsewhere is the only way for a small luxury cruise line to invest in a newbuild without waiting close to a decade, he said.

The growing yacht market

SeaDream launched 25 years ago with two ships purchased from Seabourn; they were originally built in 1984 and 1985 for Sea Goddess Cruises.

The ships underwent refurbishments in advance of the cruise line's launch in 2001 as well as during the pandemic. They have gone into drydock for updates and maintenance every two years, Brynestad said.

Since its infancy, SeaDream has defined its onboard experience as one that is more like a yacht than a cruise ship. That concept is having a renaissance with the launch of Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Four Seasons Yachts and Aman at Sea this decade. 

The space is growing so significantly that luxury travel agency Global Travel Collection created a yacht category to track sales. The burgeoning market is good for SeaDream, Brynestad said, because it builds awareness about small-ship cruising.

"Business is booming," he said. "That's definitely not hurting us at all."

A third SeaDream ship will also grow brand awareness and offer travel advisors something fresh to sell, Brynestad said.

As the small-ship market grows, SeaDream should continue to dig into what it does best: selling "a specific experience that a devoted repeat guest base genuinely loves," said Pimentel.

"This newbuild is a bid for another generation of relevance and for a ship that can go where the current yachts can't," he said. "Done well, it extends the brand's life by 20 years." 

In a letter to guests, Brynestad said the SeaDream III will have the same DNA as the fleet's current ships. To him, the brand is defined by a relaxed atmosphere with no need for restaurant reservations but high-quality personalised service. 

He said he wants to move away from calling SeaDream "luxury."

"The word really has no meaning anymore for us," he said. "For SeaDream, it is much more about being a lifestyle company. We do not need to have the world's largest suites or the largest grand staircase. We do not need to be the biggest in anything. What we want for our guests is to be the best at something far more important: creating fantastic days and unforgettable experiences."