sb44

22 hours ago, pnsnkr said:

Check YouTube.

 

Here's a Superior suite with shallow balcony

 

 

Here's a Concierge D with full size balcony

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much.  We were out of town so couldn't look for videos on YouTube which is generally my go-to.  I think we've decided on the concierge suite. A 2nd internet connection is $30 a day in an F2 so the difference really gets to be less and less by the day.

We are new to Regent and wonder what the true size difference is between the F2 balcony and the Concierge balcony on deck 7 or 8.  We like to spend lots of time watching the sea go by and are looking at March 13th Caribbean Explorer. We are getting credits on Concierge for air and hotel as we're local and only things that would be different between the two would be additional internet access and balcony size. The balcony is the deal maker or breaker. Thoughts appreciated. 

1 hour ago, new_cruiser said:

American Airlines cancelled a flight so I now have to leave on March 16 for a cruise starting March 19. Windstar is now requiring a PCR test within 3 days of the cruise. I might be able to get a test at SFO before boarding my flight or at Miami where I have to overnight, but I'm not currently certain whether the timing will work for that so I'm wondering about where I could get tested in Saint Martin where I'll be arriving March 17 at about 1:30 PM. That leaves March 18 for getting a test since it looks like most of the labs test in the morning/early afternoon. 

 

Any recommendations or experience with getting the required PCR test in St. Maartin?

Strenz had a place in SXM. I'll text her and get to get online to answer you.

On 1/26/2022 at 1:36 PM, IpswichChris said:

Windstar website and brochure describes beds on the Wind Surf as Queen size and that they can be separated into two.  Are they actually the same size as regular Queens or bigger than that?  My husband and I are used to the space of a King.

We sleep in a king at home. The beds are two twins made up together with a topper to get rid of the ridge.  We find them very comfortable and not too small. A couple of times the mattress seemed too hard for me and the cabin attendant was happy to put an egg crate covering on the mattress which fixed the problem.  I sleep like a rock on those ships.

1 hour ago, RemPuck said:

From the front lines: watch what happens with the Legend sailing on the 28th. The Surf cruise was canceled and passengers were offered a transfer to Legend (from St Maarten and similar itinerary). 
 

Do they have a clean sailing? Mark one up for bad luck for us. Do they have more issues? Mark one up for “oh oh”. 
 

August is an eternity from now. We booked this trip in May when everyone was getting vaccinated and life was getting back to normal. Delta, and now Omicron, show things can change quickly. 
 

If I had a trip on Windstar later in 2022, I wouldn’t change it. And if I had a trip on any cruise in early 2022, I’d really consider canceling. Operate with a 2-3 month mindset. 
 

FWIW, we booked Alaska 2023 while on board. I just hope we aren’t having this conversation then!

Hi RemPuck and agkinmd,

We also were on that Surf Panama Canal cruise and first time we saw masks was in the Panama Airport. Wondered why! Then it got nuts!

RemPuck, our friends are on with you. The three sisters and their husband's. No names mentioned for their privacy. I applaud all of you for.your positive attitudes. I am reading everything I can and believe in 3 or 4 months covid outbreaks will be behind us. Omicron has taken over Delta rapidly. It is highly contagious but not as deadly for the general population.  According to what I have read, the 1918 pandemic morphed into the modern day flu. We have a vaccine that keeps people from dying from flu if they regularly get vaccinated.  Same thing is going to happen with this. An annual shot should keep us relatively safe and able to resume life as it was.  We will definitely cruise Windstar again and I would say by mid March things will settle down once again. Right now we are on Crystal heading back to Florida. We wish you all well. I think Windstar did everything right and got caught up in some really bad luck. 

I think it's very likely that the purveyors supplying Windstar just don't have as much to offer right now. The US has some food shortages but, from what I understand,  Europe and the Caribbean more so. As long as the quality is good and the service great, then give them time for "normal". I'm not sure what that even means anymore.

You are correct about Capri tenders.  The day we were there rough seas and the local tenders operators didn't have a clue how Wind Surf responds to swells.  A passenger wound up with a broken leg which never would have happened with Windstar crew.

We generally book our own excursions and always tip. Just part of our anticipated expenses when we travel. When we take Windstar excursions the same applies. We tip about 10% of the excursion price.  If there is bus transportation involved we tip the driver as well, usually $5 pp. It's just a gesture of appreciation that they got us to our destination and back comfortably.  If we are fortunate enough to be able to spend thousands of dollars traveling I think it's important to show gratitude. We have traveled to many countries and never felt that anyone was insulted by showing a monetary appreciation for services.

Hopefully the rest will be following shortly and we will be back on board. To me the requirement of going in a van or bus, which means close contact with others, is not something I'll be doing. We went to Bermuda on another line last month and were able to get off on our own to explore. It was wonderful! The next cruise people who were in close contact with those who wound up Covid positive were removed from the ship for having been in their presence for more than 15 minutes. That was quite a wakeup. We have always toured on our own and intend to continue that when that option resumes in other countries. I can't imagine being taken off a ship because I was in the same van with someone who later tested positive. I have enough aggravation in my life without that!

Should be covered by insurance.  Most are treating covid as any other disease in which case a doctor would advise against travel. I asked our insurance company before a cruise recently and they said it would be covered as cancellation due to illness. But that was mine and every insurer is different. 

On 9/22/2021 at 6:21 PM, new_cruiser said:

I know that I can look on the port of call boards but I have more confidence in Windstar passengers generally looking for similar levels of service as us. 

 

Assuming flights are on time, we will have a few days pre-cruise in Athens. So we are interested in a well-located hotel there.

 

We've been to Athen's before and have visited all the top stuff in the city. Since our Delphi stop was cancelled due to the Corinth Canal closure, I'd be interested in a private or small group guide for seeing Delphi and interesting points nearby on one of the days. 

Hi Pat. Glad you're still going to Greece. The itinerary is the exact one Steve and I did right before the shut down so we've opted out. In Athens we used a wonderful tour/taxi company both before and after our Surf cruise.  George's Taxi. They picked us up at port as we were coming from Barcelona, we toured all day and got back to port for our 10 day islands sailing. Then when we returned they picked us up. Hotel in Athens wouldn't be ready until late in day so we did another coastal tour. When we stayed in Athens they took us all over, the  we also spent a day touring Corinth and then a day to Delphi. We had mostly one driver/guide who we loved but everyone we dealt with was great. One of the best companies we've used anywhere. If you want any other info let me know. Best, Susan

16 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi sb, thanks so much for the reply🙂. I can't recall the last time I gambled so no need for a casino.

And I definitely don't need a cigar room.  As for larger ships? The largest I have sailed in the past few years only held 600. And others in the 300-400 range with a couple of river cruises which of course are way less people.  I love the small vessels😀.

Then you sound like  good fit for Windstar.  

On 9/19/2021 at 3:44 PM, Babr said:

It might be useful to know that the ratings were based in large part on the high dollar limits for medical and evacuation. They are being represented as good for Covid coverage, but most policies today cover Covid as any other illness so that feature is not unique. The difference is that the Forbes-rated policies have higher than usual dollar allowances, which likely will not be necessary for vaccinated people who test positive for Covid.

 

A real concern is quarantine resulting from a positive diagnosis. The trip delay or trip interruption parts of the policy cover that. Just about any policy will pay up to 150% of trip cost for interruption. It is intended to reimburse you for unused days and for expenses to return home. Trip delay may be used under certain circumstances, and some of the Forbes policies provide extra funds in that category. Pay attention to those two sections, if that is something you are concerned about.

These policies have attractive features in addition to higher limits such as primary coverage, providing a pre-existing conditions waiver at final payment or reimbursement of fees for redepositing airline miles. They deserve your consideration. Just be aware they have been singled out for the amount of coverage they provide for medical / evacuation, not because they are the only ones that cover Covid. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have used the insurance provided by our Chase Sapphire card for many years. They paid a claim for us a few years ago with no problems. We do purchase a separate medical and evacuation policy and make sure that the medical is primary and that we get to select our hospital should that be necessary.  Learned that from friends who wound up in a nightmare hospital after he broke  hip in Greece and had to get our U.S. Senator involved! The medical policy we purchased last month was reasonable and had specific Covid coverage. I want it spelled out because I don't want to argue with an insurance adjuster. I retired from that business two years ago so I could spend more time traveling.  See how that worked out! 

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

I am considering this ship for my first cruise on Windstar as well. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

Wesport, you mentioned it was your first time with them.....what other lines have your sailed and were you overall happy with the food and service? 

Lois, we have been on every Windstar ship multiple times and have just booked 10 days in Greece on the Star Legend. I will tell you after just taking a Crystal cruise to Bermuda and having sailed on QM2, HAL and others over the years, we are thrilled to be getting back to Windstar. Food is good to excellent, accommodations are larger than the more expensive suite that we had on Crystal with a bathroom that we could barely share. The Windstar crew will do anything in their power to make you happy and your fellow passengers are generally friendly, unpretentious and well traveled. What you will not have is a casino, multiple entertainment venues, cigar rooms,  and such. So my advice is think about your favorite things on the larger ships and whether or not you will feel that you will miss them. As for us, there is zero that we will miss from the "upscale" market. We were yearning for Windstar the entire week.

We've been in the suites multiple times. The only time we heard anything from the lounge was crew show night because we didn't go that particular night.  And it's over around 10.  If you are in the hallway near the stairs you might hear the music but once in your suite,  no sound. No sound whatsoever from the Yacht Club. We would gladly book any one of them again.

We just returned from a cruise and needed to deal with the possibility of Covid and quarantine as part of our planning.  While we have depended on our credit card company's relatively rich benefits in the past, the big concern was medical and repatriation. I did my research and bought a modest policy. We are now looking at a longer trip, overseas, and a longer period of time. I found this article with a summary of Covid coverage by Forbes and thought I'd share with those who are also making these decisions as the new part of travel.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/best-pandemic-travel-insurance/

Since I don't have a mask on 24 hours a day I still prefer to have makeup on. Thankfully we have not been ill, have had 3 Moderna shots, have already cruised and flown. We are fortunate to live in a warm climate so have eaten in outdoor restaurants for the last year and a half, but are absolutely masked up indoors in grocery stores, doctors offices,  or any place else with four walls or lots of people. We have continued our volunteer work in the community because need doesn't care about Covid. Our grandchildren are all older and all vaccinated. And I have to look at myself in the mirror and prefer an improved version.

Let's not be so judgemental.  We are all living the best life for our individual circumstances. 

37 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

Forgive me if you already know the bag method of cleaning N95 or KN95 masks. But thought I'd add as an alternative- didn't discover it until yesterday.

I can buy 20 KN95's on Amazon for $30. I get different colors for husband and I.

 

You wear one a day, clean hands, and remove your mask by the straps and place into a lunch paper bag. The front of the mask faces the bottom of the bag. You want to tear a couple strips at the top of the bag on each side to hang the straps from, so mask is suspended inside the bag. Close the bag and initial and date the bag to tell yours apart from whoever you cohabitate with. After three days, clean hands, open bag, remove mask by straps and wear, or put on a clean surface for when you do. Safely dispose of the paper bag.

 

The principle is that the virus is inactivated after three days. CDC says you can only cycle through five times as straps stretch, and won't properly seal the mask.

 

Again sorry to those of you who already know this. Also read that the delta variant is as contagious as chicken pox even for  those who've been vaxed. For me time to finally upgrade to N95 or KN95.

 

 

Interesting.  My problem is makeup on masks so I don't want to reuse disposables. What I tried to drum into my kids and grandkids heads is you change your underwear and your mask every day. So far, so good.

8 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

I have no intention to be offensive. I’ve read numerous posts on several lines where people would not send underwear to the laundry. I know you are a regular poster here so may I ask why you feel differently about your underwear from the rest of your laundry?

 

For us, the feeling is that it all goes in the bag and then into the washer then the dryer with the rest. We assume the laundry staff wears underwear too. Is it the folding or the returning? Pardon me and feel free not to reply if I have overstepped.

Hi..So nice to hear from you. No offense taken. For starters, I love everything about Windstar but I am a laundry freak so I use the laundry because we're usually onboard a significant amount of time and must. I send my husband's things daily and send my shorts or cotton shirts. My good things I wash by hand and use a microfiber drying towel to get the excess water out. I really dislike the smell of the commercial detergent that they use. I use all unscented products at home so these smells really bother me. As for my undies now that we're BFF's, it's a mental thing for sure but we're all entitled to our own craziness, right? I have always assumed that my clothes are tagged with suite number because they are put in a large washer with other people's stuff. Have no idea if I'm right or wrong, just my OCD. I have no problem sending my DH's. When I get home everything gets washed. But for washable masks, I would truly gag if I had to smell that detergent all day. 

I would never send my masks to the laundry.  As much as I love Windstar it gives me the creeps to have my underwear done in a commercial laundry,  much less something I'm going to wear on my face. We just sailed another line to Bermuda and used good disposable masks from a company found online. Maskc is the name. First disposable that was as comfortable as my reusable ones. My husband loves heavy cotton masks and he liked the black ones that Costco sells. We just didn't want to deal with washing masks and it worked out.

Thank you so much for the detail. We read about the arrest and now understand more! Quite an experience! We are looking at the Caribbean season and have a few questions. What did you think of the food in comparison to other lines? Have you ever sailed the Windstar sailing ships? If so, any comparisons would be appreciated.  We saw a review that the shower/tubs could be dangerous because of slick flooring.  What did you think? As for no shade, is there the ability to sit anywhere on deck and be shaded? Was your cabin one of the balcony cabins or did you see one? I'm curious about how they open and are they French balconies or one that holds chairs. Any other thought about cabin locations?  Many thanks in advance. 

2 hours ago, MindyJohn said:

Thanks so much for your extremely helpful posts @caymancouple  And @sb44  you make a great point about the raising of the sails accompanied by Conquest of Paradise providing a great moment to reflect on our blessings, especially after surviving huge challenges.  This will be my third time on the yachts and I find them fabulous, but sail away doesn't offer the magic sound of the sails flapping in the wind.  

Conquest of Paradise never made sense to me on the motor ships. Would vote for some Jimmy Buffet! But the sailing ships, it's always been part of the experience and hope it will remain so.

On 7/15/2021 at 8:00 AM, Rotterdam said:

I totally agree...when one is on a beautiful ship sailing the ocean what else do you need...there are some on another cruise line here that everyone they sail Louis Armstrong is played singing "what a wonderful world"...after the first time its like they drank too much or have alzheimers. Kitch sells i guess or there's no accounting for bad taste.

For some of us the return to a Windstar ship is special as it was for me after serious brain surgery five years ago. I wept when I saw the Wind Surf again thinking I might never board her again. When we left port and heard Conquest of Paradise I realized that I had survived and my heart soared. So give those of us with great memories of our sailaways some slack. It's five minutes of your life but so much more to some.

Thank you for the lovely and informative review. What you experienced is exactly what is keeping us from committing to our next Windstar, or any, cruise. The rules are very clear on the company's website and I would expect people to comply but I think these people have followed their "leader " and feel entitled.  I have a family member who is a senior flight attendant and they are the recipients of  the wrath of this rude and entitled group.  A terrible shame. Windstar has such a lovely crew and a wonderful reputation for pleasing all. I hope that it all works itself out as time goes on.

3 hours ago, adomatic said:

I noticed that Verizon now has a $20 International plan for cruises!

 

Verizon offers a new $20 International Monthly Plan for travelers interested in using data on select cruise ships and airplanes. Should service be available aboard, customers will receive a SMS offer for a 50 MB allowance. After that, you’ll just need to respond “yes” to get started. Please note that this a non-recurring plan.

 

Windstar is one of the select cruise lines...hopefully this works! Seems like a great option.

They had something similar before and it didn't work. Wound up just getting WS wifi and using the $10 a day roaming.