Having grown up in a family having our own yacht and full-time crew for eight years, I am especially qualified to say that SeaDream is more akin to yachting than cruising. This was our second time aboard SeaDream (and my wife and I had cruised aboard Seabourn three times prior to that). We believe SeaDream is measurably better (particularly after Seabourn was sold to a large, multi-brand company - Carnival Cruise Line).
My wife and I only stay at the finest of resorts when we travel on vacation. NONE have put together a team that executes like SeaDream does. I mean none. And seldom does the guest experience that from each and EVERY staff member and department that guests come in contact with. Usually, a guest senses some departments delivering better attitude and/or better execution than others. I was astounded to see "over the top" attitude and service from each and every crew member, regardless of which department head was responsible for their training. It is one thing to respond to a guest's request, but it is quite another to anticipate, and offer extra service, without having been asked. Equally telling, is that I recognized crew members from over five years ago - which longevity is uncommon (with some exceptions) in the crew industry.
For example, when our flight connection to San Juan experienced mechanical problems and we caught another flight getting us there 2 hours prior to the flight that our luggage was on, we reported the baggage situation to the airline in the usual fashion and then went right to the ship (we got out of the airport sooner than if we had to wait at baggage claim for our luggage). When we told the receptionist at SeaDream about our baggage being on a flight arriving later, she told us to go enjoy ourselves, and that she would arrange for one of the crew to go back to the airport and retrieve our bags. So, instead of my wife and I sitting for two hours or so in a Caribbean airport waiting for our bags - on our first day of vacation - we were able to enjoy our first day aboard just as we planned, and the bags appeared a couple hours later in our stateroom when we returned from cocktails and dinner.