Back after 15 years

It has taken us 15 years to get back onboard Windstar. Our first cruise was on Holland America, too big, second one on Windstar, at the time too small, and then we settled on Seabourn. However when we decided on Tahiti as a destination, and after looking at all the options, we decided on Windstar. We were not disappointed.

We arrived in Papeete late in the evening. The transfer from the airport to the hotel went smoothly and we then had 2 nights in Le Meridien (ordinary in our opinion) before our cruise.

The transfer to the yacht went to plan, everyone was on time.

When we arrived at the dock our luggage was opened and inspected, no X-ray for scanning,so there was a bit of a delay but not too bad. We then headed towards the gangway. The Windspirit looked beautiful, and although this was the yacht we had been on previously, we could not remember it all. She is an old girl, but she was gleaming in the sunshine. We knew then that we had made the right decision.

At the top of the gangway we were greeted by the captain and hotel manager (it amazes me how they make you feel you are the only passengers they have ever had onboard even though you know they had seen off a boatload a few hours earlier). We then did the paperwork, had our photos taken, discussed the pros and cons with the various packages and were shown to our cabin. I will call it a cabin and not a stateroom because it is a cabin. It is small with 2 portholes and only just enough room to walk around the bed. The bathroom is definitely 1 person at a time but as we discovered later, the shower had the best water pressure we have had on any ship. The cabin has more than enough storage so although small there was no clutter.

Back to the packages. We looked at the drinks package and decided it was not good value for us. It is $116 per day - we ended up paying $30 - $40 per day!

As it was only 7 days onboard, we decided against the laundry package but we did take the unlimited internet. This was well worth while because the Internet is so unreliable it is easy to use up your time just trying to log on.

Sail away was beautiful, the Captain raised the sails and with classical music playing we were off on our wonderful voyage.

We signed up for snorkelling every day and were not disappointed. The weather was perfect, the water warm and crystal clear and the fish plentiful. We also did the 4x4 tour on Bora Bora which was fantastic. Another interesting tour was the pearl farm. I am now the proud owner of a Tahitian pearl pendent.

The food was consistently good, the dining room is lovely and has a relaxed atmosphere. We tried Candles and this was probably our only slightly disappointing meal. The deck BBQ was the best we have had and the beach lunch and dinner were also great. The amount of effort the crew put into these occasions is amazing.

The crew are fantastic. They genuinely seem to be happy and work such long hours just to keep us happy.

Fellow passengers were interesting and very freindly. The ages ranged from young honeymooners to elderly. A lovely mixture.

All too soon we were back in Papeete and I was being told I really DID have to leave the Windspirit.

No cruise is perfect in every way, but for us, this one was as close as you could get. We are very happy we rediscovered Windstar.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the review. Much appreciated.

It has taken us 15 years to get back onboard Windstar. Our first cruise was on Holland America, too big, second one on Windstar, at the time too small, and then we settled on Seabourn. However when we decided on Tahiti as a destination, and after looking at all the options, we decided on Windstar. We were not disappointed.

We arrived in Papeete late in the evening. The transfer from the airport to the hotel went smoothly and we then had 2 nights in Le Meridien (ordinary in our opinion) before our cruise.

The transfer to the yacht went to plan, everyone was on time.

When we arrived at the dock our luggage was opened and inspected, no X-ray for scanning,so there was a bit of a delay but not too bad. We then headed towards the gangway. The Windspirit looked beautiful, and although this was the yacht we had been on previously, we could not remember it all. She is an old girl, but she was gleaming in the sunshine. We knew then that we had made the right decision.

At the top of the gangway we were greeted by the captain and hotel manager (it amazes me how they make you feel you are the only passengers they have ever had onboard even though you know they had seen off a boatload a few hours earlier). We then did the paperwork, had our photos taken, discussed the pros and cons with the various packages and were shown to our cabin. I will call it a cabin and not a stateroom because it is a cabin. It is small with 2 portholes and only just enough room to walk around the bed. The bathroom is definitely 1 person at a time but as we discovered later, the shower had the best water pressure we have had on any ship. The cabin has more than enough storage so although small there was no clutter.

Back to the packages. We looked at the drinks package and decided it was not good value for us. It is $116 per day - we ended up paying $30 - $40 per day!

As it was only 7 days onboard, we decided against the laundry package but we did take the unlimited internet. This was well worth while because the Internet is so unreliable it is easy to use up your time just trying to log on.

Sail away was beautiful, the Captain raised the sails and with classical music playing we were off on our wonderful voyage.

We signed up for snorkelling every day and were not disappointed. The weather was perfect, the water warm and crystal clear and the fish plentiful. We also did the 4x4 tour on Bora Bora which was fantastic. Another interesting tour was the pearl farm. I am now the proud owner of a Tahitian pearl pendent.

The food was consistently good, the dining room is lovely and has a relaxed atmosphere. We tried Candles and this was probably our only slightly disappointing meal. The deck BBQ was the best we have had and the beach lunch and dinner were also great. The amount of effort the crew put into these occasions is amazing.

The crew are fantastic. They genuinely seem to be happy and work such long hours just to keep us happy.

Fellow passengers were interesting and very freindly. The ages ranged from young honeymooners to elderly. A lovely mixture.

All too soon we were back in Papeete and I was being told I really DID have to leave the Windspirit.

No cruise is perfect in every way, but for us, this one was as close as you could get. We are very happy we rediscovered Windstar.

Thank you for sharing your experience! My husband and I will be on the Wind Spirit in August and I'm excited to read such positive reviews.

One question: Cost and reliability aside, is the Internet connection on the ship painfully slow, as I've read elsewhere?

We really didn't find the internet too bad. In fact DH thought it was better than we have experienced on Seabourn. It really depends on time place and weather.

We really didn't find the internet too bad. In fact DH thought it was better than we have experienced on Seabourn. It really depends on time, place and weather. There was one morning when we couldn't connect at all but in the afternoon it was fine.

We really didn't find the internet too bad. In fact DH thought it was better than we have experienced on Seabourn. It really depends on time, place and weather. There was one morning when we couldn't connect at all but in the afternoon it was fine.

Good to know, thanks!

The Internet - wired or Wifi - onboard is "sell your first born child" expensive. If you can get by with checking it a couple times a day, either chat up the crew who know where the free Wifi is at every port and/or just head for the closest coffee shop where you'll get access for the cost of a cup of coffee and they'll let you sit there as long as you want.

The Internet - wired or Wifi - onboard is "sell your first born child" expensive. If you can get by with checking it a couple times a day, either chat up the crew who know where the free Wifi is at every port and/or just head for the closest coffee shop where you'll get access for the cost of a cup of coffee and they'll let you sit there as long as you want.

Thanks for the tip! I'm a freelancer and don't have back-up when I'm away. Even if I tell my clients I'll be on vacation, it's nice to have e-mail access from time to time. I think the port Internet cafes may be the way to go if the onboard quality doesn't justify the cost.

They will happily tell you when and where Internet is available in port. It was not available in every port in Tahiti and as we needed it more often we decided the package would work better for us.

Thanks Joc123 for your post. Like you we have not been on Windstar (for 5 years) and been with Seabourn. This October we are on 10day Tahiti voyage. We enjoyed Windstar, and this cruise suits our schedule as we are in the area anyway (well sort of). It was re-assuring to read your comments and we are looking forward to a great trip

I hope you enjoy the cruise as much as we did. In our opinion it is the only way to do Tahiti. We would go again in a heartbeat.