HaveDogWillTravel

@misguy Thank you for the photos and updates to your sailing. I am really enjoying reading about your experiences. @medskis I just booked this itinerary (different line but will watch WS to see if they offer it) for April 2026. I’ll admit I haven’t done any research yet. I assume you are referring to very rough seas in this area? Or were there issues with the ship and or staff? Apologies to @misguyfor a brief off topic query.

Thank you so much for the kind words @BellaBayi truly appreciate them. @medskis The tender issue was only that one time and on subsequent tender days they used the other side of the ship or the prevailing winds were in our favor. We simply loved having that balcony door open with fresh air and sound of the sea. Packing for your trip will be a challenge with the skiing part first, but how wonderful! We just returned from 39 days….LA to Buenos Aires with 4 days scenic cruising in Antarctica. We actually sailed by the largest iceberg in the world (A23a) that recently dislodged. It was massive and quite a treat. Anyway our weather went from high 80’s and humid to 28 degrees F with 40-50 km winds so biting, freezing cold. As we were determined to be on the outer decks for these spectacular scenic days we brought all the gear and were not disappointed that we went to all that trouble. Our days in BA were hot and humid which meant a change of clothes needed before dinner after being out in it. It was a horrific amount of luggage. I keep swearing that I am going to pack less and someday I hope to succeed. I don’t really engage with the entertainment staff on cruises. A combination of port intensive itineraries and cruising style mean events don’t usually align with what we want to do. ‘’That said we did wonder up decks for a beer one day and found our ED just starting a lively game of Beer Trivia. Adam is a home brewer so we thought oh boy finally a trivia game where we don’t feel like complete idiots! We soon found out we know nothing about beer but it was a good time. The beer was cold, the skies were clear, the seas were calm and the other guests were fun. We thought she did a good job of it. She would also be up decks with Willhelm scooping out fresh ice cream some afternoons. I’ll attach some pictures. I just booked the Wind Spirit, 7 day Med Is mosaic, for Oct 27 this year. The itinerary looked very interesting and it gets us back to Barcelona from Rome after taking the Oceania Vista Barcelona to Rome Oct 3rd followed by 2 weeks in Italy on land. I read the reviews of the Wind Spirit cabins and picked 127. The tiny cabin will be a new experience for both of us and we figure we can do anything for 7 days. But again there’s only one sea day and we have 2 very late nights in port.

The link to my review that @Crystabelso kindly posted is a very comprehensive recent review of the sapphire D736 cabin. My friend was in the aft facing balcony on that trip so I got to contrast and compare the two. Her balcony was much less windy than mine but mine had better vistas for scenic cruising. I think having both available to use was the best of all worlds. But if I had to choose only one I’d choose D736 for the couch and living room space.

Thanks for doing this review! It’s great to get more information about WS from those onboard. We sailed on star legend in October 2023. Sounds like the same executive chef we had, Joseph. We missed doing the Shop with the Chef excursion as we had a different one that day. I loved his cooking demonstration. I’m glad it’s working out well for you even though there’s a bit more mobility required than you expected. Was it a third party TA or a Windstar cruise vacation planner who initially asked if your wife could “handle a few steps?”. Please post photos if you are able. Especially of your favorite crew. Thank you for taking the time to do this!

I’m glad you found this useful. Thank you for saying so. We are just finishing up 34 days on Sapphire Princess LA to Buenos Aires. We are finding that we really miss the food and level of service we received on WS. In fact we are missing it so much we booked another WS sailing for this coming October on one of the sailing ships from Rome to Barcelona.

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I use Nikon Monarch M7 10 by 42. I love them. I use an OUFABE harness to hold them. It’s elastic and takes all the pressure off my neck so I can wear them comfortably all day long. Binos are only good if you can have them with you always and have fast access to using them. Adam carries his in a backpack. Guess who sees more cool stuff?

We have a full ship at just a hair under 2600 souls. For Adam & I the NYE celebration was in our mini suite with our good friends watching The Next Generation Season 1’s best episodes that we downloaded before boarding. The patter will show what the rest of the ship was doing. And hopefully someone on this sailing will pipe in on those events. Adam has the premium package and tried to get a glass of the Hasslinger premium champagne last night around 8 pm and gave up after being told at wheelhouse and crooners they were out. I had purchased the sparkling 3 bottle wine package so I shared my Veuve with him and friends. I thought it rather sad that at least at those two bars there was no premium champagne for NYE. Passengers shouldn’t have to run around from deck to deck trying to find what’s included in their package. Especially not champagne on NYE!

The Bluff cove excursion thru Princess was outstanding. The snacks and beverages served were excellent. A short 15 minute drive from the pier.

There you go OP @Old Sea Dog These should give you the information you’re looking for regarding entertainment offerings. Sorry I can’t review any of the shows, activities or music other than the outstanding Diamond Strings Duo. maybe someone from this sailing will eventually see this thread and pipe in. There’s also a FB group for this sailing that’s pretty active so you might try asking questions there too.

We did not get scenic cruising at Cape Horn due to weather. We got to view iceberg a23a that recently broke free. The largest iceberg in the world. And we got to Antarctica earlier too so great trade offs.

If you read the blue boxes of info front and back you will see that all guests who wish to smoke are invited to use either Churchill or the casino. No gambling required.

Here are the patters. I’ll put up one day at a time.

No but captain Paolo Ravera is doing an excellent job. After Ushuaia had to cancelled due to weather he took us to see iceburg A23a. Then skirted us expertly thru Drakes passage ahead of inclement weather. We had 4 gorgeous scenic viewing days with mostly sunny or partly cloudy skies. Coming back north he again got us thru drakes passage with minimal seas by sailing between two fronts. He’s been great with his details at the noon announcement and others as needed.

Snow shoes optional