bebtwice

We're US citizens returning to the US, so flight options are not necessarily common in the afternoon, but will of course depend on your destination in the US and how many connections you are willing to endure. I understand the cruise lines have a hard time keeping up with the airlines' ever-changing schedules to make it most convenient for passengers, but if the ship is docked from 1:30 the previous afternoon, it doesn't seem like they should have to wait till the last minute to have the ship cleared. Every cruise we have been on has wanted passengers off by 9-9:30, so doesn't seem like they would be clearing a ship of 700+ people at the last minute. If Guest Relations are aware of people needing to depart before 8 AM, I would think there would be a process to allow those people to be cleared at the beginning.

I just asked about leaving the ship early a few days ago. The ship will be docked overnight in Lisbon and we wanted to leave at 6:30 AM on the final day. At first I was told we could not do this, which made no sense to me. We have been on other cruise lines (both river and ocean) where people have left during the night in order to catch early morning flights. The rep told me that Azamara has the day before listed as not available for disembarkation. She misunderstood what I was asking. The cruise officially ends at 8 AM, so it's not like the 90 minute difference should be a big deal. Azamara tells passengers who have booked air thru them that flights can't be booked in their system before 10 AM, due to their transfer schedule. Since we have booked our own air, we are already doing our own transfers, so I didn't see a reason for us to not be able to leave the ship early. After a number of emails and her consulting a senior agent, we were told that we have to tell Guest Relations when we get on the ship what we will be doing, but that we may have to deal with our own luggage (no big deal). Seemed odd to me that they haven't had similar requests numerous times and have a policy available to the agents to deal with what I see as a pretty common request. If we weren't allowed to leave early, we would have had to stay overnight (at our expense) and fly out the next day, as there are no afternoon flight from Lisbon to our home airport.

Returned from a Viking river cruise at the beginning of July. We did not know that it was the 2nd part of a longer cruise. 2/3 of the people were on since Amsterdam (we boarded in Budapest). Many were sick and some even confined to their cabins but others with milder symptoms were still socializing with everyone. A lot of couching going on. We caught it but got home before we had any symptoms. I was OK after a couple of days but my husband had the cough for about a week. We did test ourselves for Covid but the results were negative. Two friends were also cruising at the same time. Both caught Covid on different itineraries and ships and one not only got that but then a gastrointestinal bug. We leave in less than a month and are keeping our fingers crossed. Really ruins your cruise you have paid $$$ for if you end up sick and can't participate in the excursions..

We recently competed our first WS cruise on the Legend. When we booked, the AI package was included in our fare. We found all of the service very good, but our cabin steward did go above and beyond in helping with a couple of issues. We tipped him extra but since the dining staff and staff at the pool were usually different people waiting on us, we did not tip extra to any of them. IMO everyone should do what they feel is right. Tip or don't tip. Up to you.

Had one port cancelled on our cruise. Excursion fee plus the port charges were refunded to our credit card of record.

We just completed our first Windstar cruise on the 11th. We had the AI pkg as it was included when we booked . We wouldn't get it again as we simply don't drink enough to have it be cost effective. None of the people we dined with had problems getting their wine refreshed or my husband getting a second beer. Also getting served on the pool deck was not a problem, but the ship was not full so don't know if that made a difference. We never signed for drinks. The WiFi was terrible so we wouldn't pay separately for that either. We used our own internet data plan, which would probably be cheaper than buying a Windstar plan. Having the gratuities pre-paid was nice though. It is now $16/pp/day now but some info still said $14.50. ..

We will be on Legend in a couple of weeks - our first Windstar cruise. The comments about crew and food are consistent with what we have read from other passengers on other cruise lines and what we experienced on our one cruise in April, which is the only cruise that we did in 2022 that was with the same cruise line as pre-Covid. Seems like getting and keeping crew has been a problem and of course the world-wide supply chain issues have affected cruise lines' ability to get supplies, especially certain foods. Heck, every time I go to the supermarket, there's items I can't get. Supplying a ship for the length of a cruise has got to be difficult, especially on itineraries where you don't stop at large ports.

So many of the times we see "specials" for tours or cruises, the fine print will state that the price only applies to new bookings. Maybe that means people who have booked prior will not get the lower price or added benefits, but people should know that. We have learned to book things when we see a price we are comfortable with and not look back. I don't feel that Windstar or any other cruise line or tour company is doing anything wrong in changing the prices later on. They want to fill their ships as much as possible. Would you want to pay more if they came back after you booked and said the price has gone up because the ship is not full? There certainly has to be a "break even" point for each sailing, so maybe they make money on some cruises and not on others. IMO you can drive yourself nuts trying to get the best price on anything travel related. As has been said, cabin locations are picked over the closer you get to departure, airfare and hotel rates ae usually more expensive. The comment about not asking what others have paid also applies to airfares and hotel rates. We do our first Windstar cruise in 3 weeks and just plan on enjoying ourselves. We're OK with what we paid. If we weren't, we wouldn't have booked in the first place. Sure we all like to get a bargain, but sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. The money is already spent, so why worry about it?

We have used the cruise line to book our flights and for the last two cruises booked our own. On our first cruise our first flight was going to arrive at IAD late and we would miss our connection. Even though we booked thru the cruise line, we were able to get new flights thru UA ourselves, so all we did was call the cruise lines contact number to let them know we would be arriving in Munich later than planned. Someone was still there to meet us. We didn't have to worry about finding the hotel in Munich on our own. For the last two cruises we booked on our own because we wanted to fly Premium Select and we could book cheaper on our own then thru the cruise line. Since we had been to AMS before, we knew where to find the ship and the ship provided us with the dock 2 days before we arrived. On both we were also staying a few days extra after the cruise, so we didn't have to pay for the deviation fee. Even when the flights were booked thru the cruise lines we had no problem changing the seats we were assigned as soon as the cruise line told us what the flights were. Guess it all depends on what cruise line you are working with. It might be something to ask about before booking your cruise as to what control you have over your seats. Regardless of how your flights are booked, you need to be proactive and check your flights regularly so you catch any problems. Our recent flight from Athens to JFK had 4 aircraft changes, including one from the time we did OLCI 24 hours ahead to the time we got to the airport. We ended with a downgrade in fare so will now be waiting for the airline to reimburse us the fare difference.

Gratuities are always a topic of discussion and disagreement as to whether they should be included in the cruise price and also the amount. In the fine print of every cruise we have taken, it has indicated what the per person daily gratuity is, based on cabin class. I don't know why people would be surprised about the amount, but can see how OBC usage may not be clear. If you're going to want to use OBC towards gratuities on any cruise line, IMO you should check either prior to sailing or when you board if that is allowed. That way you don't get caught with an unused OBC if the answer is "no".

I don't see the sign as pretentious at all, just a friendly reminder of the dress code that appears on the WS website as well as in their brochures. I don't mind cleaning up for dinner, wearing something nicer than the shorts, jeans, leggings, or whatever more casual attire I wore that day. I've done this on every ocean and river cruise we've been on. There's plenty of other cruise lines that allow informal clothes (jeans, tank tops, etc.) in their dining rooms, so if that is your preference, then just cruise with one of those lines instead of WS.

We will be making our first WS cruise in February(Panama Canal). WS' 7 PM dinner time is consistent with other cruises (both river and ocean) we have done, including one we just finished last weekend in Greece. It's a little later than we usually eat at home (6-6:30), but not unbearable. I do agree that finishing dinner as late as 9 PM (due to chatting with our dinner companions) isn't the best idea for one's system, as we often find ourselves tired after a busy day and therefore might want to turn in early. If dinner hours are important to you then I suggest you research what the times are BEFORE booking the cruise. It will make your cruise more enjoyable if you can eat at a time that works best for you.

We just did this a few weeks ago and it is what it is. Didn't mind the 2 ArrivCan's as much as my husband getting selected at the airport for a PCR test. Couldn't use the antigen test the cruise line did at the hotel. Fortunately there was a place open on Sunday within waking distance of the hotel. More paperwork. Then we also had to do customs forms for both the US and Canada since we were flip-flopping between ports in both countries. Forgot we also did a health assessment, but I don't know if that was just required by the cruise line or Canada too. Lot's of paperwork sure sure!

There are no bargain airfares to just about anywhere, especially if you have to book in conjunction with a cruise and your travel days are limited. Our fully-refundable flights to Toronto for late August went up to almost 3 times what we paid in March. After our plans became firm, I thought I'd switch to non-refundable ones if if they became cheaper than the refundable ones, which usually is the case. Not this time! They ended up being over $200/pp more than the fully refundable ones. We are doing WS from Panama to Aruba in February. Fortunately I had enough FF miles to get us flights to Panama and from Aruba (where we are staying for an additional 5 days) at "Saver Mile" rates. That always helps the budget! Definitely stay way from third-party OTA's. Jump over to the Air Travel forum on TripAdvisor and see the tens of thousands of complaints from people who have tried to chase the "cheap flights fairy".

While we didn't sail with Windstar, we did deal with flying from the US to Toronto, staying a night in a hotel, and getting on our ship the next day. We did the AriiveCan upload and completed the questions to enter Canada. We Also did the Canadian declaration form for both of us. Went thru the kiosks at immigration and then customs (nothing to declare), then onto the hotel. At the hotel the cruise line did a rapid antigen test on everyone as part of our registration. Those who hadn't done their 2nd ArriveCAn application for the cruise did it with the help of one of the staff as part of registration. The problem occurred when my husband got notified he had been selected at the airport for a PCR Covid test that needed to be done in 24 hours. This is completely separate from what is required as part of your cruise. The cruise staff (I think they were contract workers) were absolutely no help, but the people doing the covid testing were very helpful. They even marked up the local map to show him where he had to walk to, which wasn't more than 10 minutes from the hotel and was thankfully open on a Sunday. Got the test done and away we went on the ship the same day. We didn't get the results for 3 days, which was kind of pointless. Were they going to send the Coast Guard to remove him off the ship if the PCR test, which is more sensitive, had tested positive when the antigen didn't? So Redtravel you are right - 2 ArriveCan filings - one for your fight to Canada and one to get on the ship.