SEADREAM YACHT CLUB HAD A GOOD IDEA
Back in the fall of 2001, a few weeks after SeaDream went into business, you probably wouldn�t have bet on its success. What could go wrong, did go wrong.
On September 1, 2001 Atle Brynestad and his partner Larry Pimentel jumped into a new venture with both feet. They started something called SeaDream Yacht Club. A couple of weeks later---September 11, 2001---all hell broke loose. But it was too late for Atle and Larry to change their minds.
�People thought we were crazy, but we couldn�t go back. We had to just suck it up and move on,� says Larry Pimentel today.
But, as it turned out the pair did have a good idea. They modified the business plan they had so carefully worked out and moved on to create a luxury travel product based on the concept that small was beautiful and that there was a new breed of luxury consumers just waiting to try a new kind of yacht-like travel product.
� casual, without pretension,
� youthful yet mature, active or inactive focusing on desires or even whims,
� and based on personal service unknown on passenger vessels at that time.
In this case the key wasn�t location, location, location, but rather Service, Service, Service, with a capital S.
While Atle and Larry had no way of anticipating 9/11, they had correctly gauged this new luxury consumer just peeking over the horizon. They were ahead of the marketing curve.
Nevertheless, it wasn�t easy---especially in the beginning. The two had taken over the twin vessels that were to become SeaDream I and II, on September 1 knowing that they would modify them---redesigning not only staterooms and public rooms, but adding a complete upper deck that today has become the social focal point for SeaDream guests.
After a shaky start, it was uphill all the way, like in the famed and inspirational story �The Little Engine that Could.�
But the more Atle and Larry---and a dedicated, but small staff aboard the twin mega-yachts and ashore---huffed and puffed and worked diligently to refine their product, the luckier they got. �Isn�t that frequently the way,� says Pimentel. �Although you are up at dawn, working twenty-four hours a day, there are always those you say, �You got lucky.�
�In a sense we were lucky, I suppose. We started at the wrong time, read the luxury market correctly, and then worked like hell,� says Pimentel.
So where is SeaDream yacht Club today? Let�s give you a few figures.
� In the first quarter of 2007 revenue increased by 19 percent over the same period in 2006.
� In the first quarter of 2007 yield from that revenue was up 24 percent over the same period in 2006.
� In the first quarter of 2007 utilization of staterooms was 101 percent compared to 97 percent over the same period in 2006. This is based on two guests per stateroom. Year end utilization is expected to be between 99 and 100 percent full based on current booking trends.
� In the first quarter of 2007 there were nine voyages fully chartered for business meetings or by private families compared to seven in the same period in 2006. Family charters were at an all-time high with five weeks of the first quarter�s inventory utilized for this purpose.
� SeaDream�s new Caribbean schedules are showing highly active booking patterns on voyages that are shorter (five nights) or longer (nine nights) ---exploring islands and ports-of-call larger vessels cannot engage.
Is SeaDream Yacht Club being acknowledged for having a good idea and making it work? Right from its shaky beginning the tiny company began receiving public notice and honors from authoritative industry observers.
Recent awards and accolades include:
SeaDream I and II shared the top Five Star Club award in the authoritative Berlitz Ocean Cruising and Cruise Ships 2007 guidebook. Berlitz guide author Douglas Ward, who first recognized SeaDream in his 2002 Berlitz Guide, created a special category �Utterly Exclusive� for only three vessels he said were above luxury. Of the three, two were SeaDream I and II. Conde Nast Traveler Magazine named SeaDream Yacht Club the �World�s Best Small Passenger Shipping Line� for 2006. Additionally, SeaDream scored higher than any other cruise line---large or small---in this Readers� Poll--- and was the only cruise line rated in the top 100 �World�s Best Travel Experiences.� Early in 2007 SeaDream Yacht Club was rated one of the World�s Best Values by Travel & Leisure Magazine. Further, Cruise Magazine, leading UK travel publication, named SeaDream I �World�s Best Small Cruise Vessel for 2006.