Surf or breeze Italy ? May or June?

Hi, wonderful to see so many enthusiastic repeat cruisers. My h and I have taken large vessels but found them a little tacky. We are an older couple, fairly well-travelled, professionals who are avid readers and museum goers(but very down to earth) and casual/sloppy dressers.

We think we would like to try a 300 or under cruise and wind star looks appealing. The windsurf and windsurf breeze, triplet to pride, both have 8 days trips in May and June between Rome and Venice. Will early a May be cold in the Adriatic portion, early June already too crowded?

any opinions on which ship is best suited for us? The breeze has larger suites but I wonder if it has ample deck space. The pride has also gotten mixed reviews, any idea if this later rendition of the seaborn boats will be more thorough?

We don't plan on taking many or any of the excursions, are the Dalmatian ports as interesting as other european destinations? I am actually thinking of a Caribbean cruise on wind star for a trial run...which wind star cruise destinations are your favorites!

W

Any suggestions as to cabin location?

Whew, sorry for all the questions but looking forward to your replies! Happy Sailing all.

Hi, The trip,Rome to Venice or reverse is my dream trip, coming into or going out of Venice on one of Windstar' s sailing ships would be a dream come true. I think it would be warm enough in the beginning of May and in Venice the crowds would be less. I also think that June would also be great bit it bit more crowded in Venice. I have heard the Dalmatian Coast is just georgeous and I have heard the ports on that cruise are wonderful. We have sailed with Windstar Cruises 14 times,all with the sailboats because we are avid sailors. We adore the experience and we are taking two cruises with them in 2015. For us and our busy life the Caribbean cruises is absolutely perfect relaxation, the other cruises have also been perfect for exploration. There us nothing like the Trans oceans for relaxation as well. We love the sails, the food, the cabins are spacious and comfortable, remember they are sailboats....portholes.....great stabalizers, the service is extraordinary and the staff magnificent. It is elegant without being ostentacious. We have done all the Caribbean Cruises but we keep going back to the BVI's. We never really take excursions I do a lot of research before hand because we would rather explore on our own, with the European cruises it is easy to do because the ports are old and that is where the history is and it is easy to reach the towns from the ports. Exception Ephesus and we found an independent guide for that. We are in our 60's travel for us a passion, we are tri-lingual, readers, museum goers and we love to just wander, we love great food, markets, and Windstar just seems to be perfect for us. We have never tired from the ships. It sounds like you would love the experience as well. Happy Sailing enjoy. Susanne ( we have never taken a large ship, we just are so satisfied with Windstar we can't seem to branch out )

We have been on 30 Windstar cruises - all ships and most itineraries. You mentioned Rome to Athens and the Dalmation coast - did you mean the Athens to Venice itinerary? Rome to Venice does not do Croatia. We love all the Croatian ports and sailing into Venice at sunrise is amazing! We have done this three times and look forward to going again. We have done the Windsurf and The Star Pride and would definitely do the Surf over the Pride on that itinerary. If you want a nicer cabin choose a suite on the Windsurf. Our favorite itineraries are Istanbul to Athens, Tahiti, and Costa Rica (not the Panama Canal itinerary). Each is different but we have done each three or more times. We are going on the Pride next spring but it is an itinerary that has many sea days so having more to do inside is great. But the Star Pride is not a ship I spend much time on the decks. The pool deck is enclosed by life boats so you don't get the same feel of being on the sea as you do on the Windsurf. I don't find it as relaxing. Also, although this may have changed in the last few months, the crew was not happy on the Star Pride - those who had been on the sailing ships wanted to go back to the sailing ships. But I love Windstar and any trip on any of the ships is a wonderful!

Just to clarify, this is the classic italy and dalmatian coast trip.

The May 3 trip is actually on sale, I wonder again if the weather will be uncooperative during that period. We would wind up in Venice where we would stay for a week...not too shabby,lol.

I am also considering a March cruise in the caribbean, I suspect I may really become a fan if my first trip is there, seems to be a natural match for a sailboat.

That being said, we are older and not actually spry anymore so the water sports would not be relevant for us.

Thanks for all the helpful commentary. Sail on.

We have been on 30 Windstar cruises - all ships and most itineraries. You mentioned Rome to Athens and the Dalmation coast - did you mean the Athens to Venice itinerary? Rome to Venice does not do Croatia. We love all the Croatian ports and sailing into Venice at sunrise is amazing! We have done this three times and look forward to going again. We have done the Windsurf and The Star Pride and would definitely do the Surf over the Pride on that itinerary. If you want a nicer cabin choose a suite on the Windsurf. Our favorite itineraries are Istanbul to Athens, Tahiti, and Costa Rica (not the Panama Canal itinerary). Each is different but we have done each three or more times. We are going on the Pride next spring but it is an itinerary that has many sea days so having more to do inside is great. But the Star Pride is not a ship I spend much time on the decks. The pool deck is enclosed by life boats so you don't get the same feel of being on the sea as you do on the Windsurf. I don't find it as relaxing. Also, although this may have changed in the last few months, the crew was not happy on the Star Pride - those who had been on the sailing ships wanted to go back to the sailing ships. But I love Windstar and any trip on any of the ships is a wonderful!

We did a Rome to Venice itinerary that made two stops in Croatia...

OP, I noticed that you mentioned being "sloppy dressers."

I do want to point out that pretty much anything goes during the day, but in the evening there is a dress code that requires elegant casual. So the jeans or cargo shorts and t-shirts you were exploring ports in during the day aren't going to cut it.

They require long pants (no jeans) and collared shirts for men and slacks/blouses or casual dresses for women. Most people notch it up a bit. You'll see a lot of casual cocktail attire. While you won't see ties, sports jackets with open collared shirts are not uncommon on men on cooler evenings or if dining on deck. Ladies tend to wear a lot of jewelry and accessories.

Think Brooks Bros, Eileen Fisher, Chicos, and Ralph Lauren for styles. Very "country club-ish."

I'd hate you to book and find that this is out of your comfort zone.

To your other questions, we sailed the first two weeks of June. The crowds were still manageable, I think Venice was the busiest port we visited. Croatia was our favorite--we visited three cities there. It was definitely passing warm into hot by the time we finished out second week, and we've said if we go back to that region it will be late April through May. We were on the Surf and loved her. We are looking at another B2B in 2016 on her.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I won't feel out of place but don't wish to appear

Completely out of it either.

We really travel light and will be spending time before and after in cities, I really try to leave all jewelry of value home and to be inconspicuous so as not to attract pick pockets etc.

I hope to get away with ann Taylor cuffed chinos, black tee shirts and beautiful silk scarves. My husband is 75 and could care less what anyone thinks but he will wear chinos, llbean collared golf shirts and his rock port walkers, maybe even a sports jacket.

We are more book club types than country club sorts but that is by choice and we socialize with a wide range of dressers without any problems.

The cruises I am looking at is the classic Italy leaving from Rome on 5/3; ports are Capri, Messina, Dubrovnik, kotor, split and concludes in venice on 5/11.

I am glad to hear that you believe early May to be a perfect time for the trip.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I won't feel out of place but don't wish to appear

Completely out of it either.

We really travel light and will be spending time before and after in cities, I really try to leave all jewelry of value home and to be inconspicuous so as not to attract pick pockets etc.

I hope to get away with ann Taylor cuffed chinos, black tee shirts and beautiful silk scarves. My husband is 75 and could care less what anyone thinks but he will wear chinos, llbean collared golf shirts and his rock port walkers, maybe even a sports jacket.

We are more book club types than country club sorts but that is by choice and we socialize with a wide range of dressers without any problems.

The cruises I am looking at is the classic Italy leaving from Rome on 5/3; ports are Capri, Messina, Dubrovnik, kotor, split and concludes in venice on 5/11.

I am glad to hear that you believe early May to be a perfect time for the trip.

That clothing will be on the casual side but will work. :)

Dubrovnik is one of our favorite places in the world. You must get up early the day you are sailing into Kotor to see the fjords--on the starboard side you'll see the old Soviet sub bases carved into the cliffs--made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Kotor is safe during the day, in the evening it's another story. You will want to be back on the ship at sundown even if it's anchoring overnight.

By the way, if you exit out the rear gate of the city and walk about 1/2 mile or so (there's a sidewalk on most if not all of the walk) there is a grocery store. We picked up some candies and cough drops there.

PS--You might want to take a look at the link in my signature about three weeks in Europe in a carry on. That was my B2B on the Surf plus a few days before and after.

We just booked the May 3 Rome to Venice on the Surf with 2 other couples. The Dalmation Coast will be new except for Dubrovnik and the small ports each do have something different if you search them out. We're taking private guides and going out of town to nearby areas as the small towns can be covered in a couple hours easily. Barring a cold front May should be perfect for exploring.

The May 3 Rome to Venice Wind Surf Trip will be our 4th Wind Star cruise, second time on Wind Surf. We are travelling to Italy for 37 days to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We are casual, unpretentious travellers who are interesting in experiencing the people and places that we visit. This time, other than the hotel in Rome the nights of the 1st and 2nd, we are staying in homes, condominiums, apartments that we have booked through airbnb (and a couple of them - Florence and Rome - look like movie sets). We will be staying in Venice for four days after our arrival - in an apartment in the Rialto market neighborhood. As someone else said, the early morning experience of sailing into Venice is one of the great travel experiences of the world.

If anyone has done this cruise before, visited these ports, it would be wonderful to learn of good (and bad) excursion experiences, etc. We are also looking for suggestions for a private guide for the morning of May 1 when we arrive in Rome (land, overview tour) and for a private trip/tour from Rome to Pompeii the week of June 1.

Thanks

Steve and Helena

"Duck" - we did a back to back Wind Surf in 2009 out of Barbados. First week north, island skipping up to St. Maartens and back. 2nd week south to the Grenadines, Tobago, Grenada. 3 islands in particular you will want to go back to - Iles de Saintes, Bequia, Mayreau. The second week was the most idyllic cruise we have ever been on

My wife and I did the exact same trip in 2014 on Windsurf and loved it. We had excellent weather as well. We went on many of the Windstar excursions and probably enjoyed the trip out to Taormina the best. However all of the excursions were enjoyable.

I would say that the laundry package was well worth it. It allowed us to get our clothes washed since we were in Italy for 5 days prior to the cruise and it allowed us to have clean clothes as well post cruise since we stayed in Venice for 3 days and then made our way to Florence.

We have only sailed on Windsurf; I spent many years in the US Navy and was reluctant to 'cruise' at all. I am happy to say that I really enjoy Windstar and am looking forward to our cruise in May from Athens to Istanbul.

Karl and Sue Rosenbaum