new_cruiser

I've packed magnet hooks in my carry-on and TSA hasn't objected. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/magnets

Is there a laundry package? Is a by the bag wash and fold service always offered and what is the current charge?

None of those mention the "scenic" cabins nor the "sunset balcony". I'll be sharing the space with my granddaughter and we would be fine in a regular cabin but I'd appreciate a bit more space. I've been on two prior Alaska cruises and didn't spend much time in my room. Also, this cruise is more about traveling with the family and my son and daughter-in-law are getting a balcony so I expect I'll be in my cabin less time. The cabin types are all offered on RoyalUp so I expect not sold out. I was looking for the cabin type names on the deck plan so that wouldn't be affected by the sold out status of a particular cruise. Our first Alaska cruise was on Crystal - we got a good deal on a balcony guarantee that time but spent very little time on the balcony - like the upcoming cruise it was port intensive and on the scenic sailing days we preferred being on deck or in the lounge where we could change boat sides for the current view. Our first cruise was on Celebrity but that was a long time ago. I also did one cruise on Star Clippers and probably will use them again when going solo as they have a lot of no-solo supplement offers. Most of my cruises including have been on Windstar ships. That includes a cruise from Japan to Seward followed by 14 days cruising from Seward to Vancouver.

This is my first time on Royal Caribbean. I just booked on Radiance of the Seas to join some family on that Alaska Cruise. I'm confused by the number of cabin types on the RoyalUp page. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see any information on Royal Caribbean for all those types. Many aren't even mentioned. Other lines I've traveled on have little floor plans showing the typical layouts for their various cabin types. Is a Scenic Ocean View cabin bigger than a regular Ocean View cabin? What makes it different from the regular ocean view? How spacious is a Spacious Ocean View? And an Ultra spacious Ocean View? What is a Sunset Balcony? (I did find a thread where that was asked before, but it seemed that nobody knew the answer at that time.) Then Balconies also have regular, scenic and spacious.

It's $184 per adult on my upcoming Alaska cruise, but maybe it is less on a Radiance Class ship because of fewer specialty venues? It will be my first Royal Caribbean cruise so I've no idea whether it is worth getting. Also, I'm traveling with family and don't know yet what they plan on getting.

Fins I've gotten from them have been full pocket. I haven't used paddle boards so can't answer that part of your question.

r&rd is correct. There are two kinds of OBC: 1. OBC that Windstar gives out (e.g. from promotions, loyalty program) 2. OBC you get from your travel agent or someone else paying it in advance. The first is non-refundable (i.e. use it or lose it) and you can't use it for gratuities). The second is refundable and can be used for anything on board including gratuities. It's basically like cash.

I very much doubt that was the reason. They give everyone the laundry package on cruises over 13 days like the New Zealand/Australia cruise we were on. I've been on Mediterranean cruises where a very high proportion of the passengers were on Cruise Collectors so got the package for free and all 4 stars get it free. It's more likely that they took it out of the package because so many get the laundry package for free anyway. It made the package less attractive by inflating the price. When they took out, they dropped the package price by $10 (slightly more than the laundry package price) to compensate. They are generally out at sea often enough that it isn't a problem. Due to weather conditions, the ship stayed in Auckland 3 consecutive days (the penultimate day of one cruise, turnaround day when we boarded and the next day of our cruise). That 3 day port stay did stress the grey water capacity and delayed return of the laundry we turned in the first morning but that was a pretty unusual circumstance.

If you mean a flat fee per bag, they do have a special for that occasionally on cruises. I don't know whether it happens once per cruise or more or less since I usually have the package. I noticed it once when I was on an Alaska cruise. It seemed like one would have to stuff the bag pretty hard to break even with it though perhaps on a warm weather cruise with more shorts and cooler tps it would work out better. Windstar's per piece prices are pretty reasonable.

I can confirm that as well. We were on a 15-day single segment (i.e. not a Star Collector) and laundry was free for everyone on that cruise.

There are water pitchers and an ice bucket in each stateroom which the steward refills daily. I like to fill my Hydroflask with ice and water in the evening so that I have cold water available at night and the next morning. When I first board, I let the room steward know that I like to have the ice bucket filled around 4 or 5 PM so there is fresh ice when I want it. Otherwise, they tend to refill the bucket earlier in the day and the ice is too melty later. There is a mini fridge in each room too stocked with cans of soda (which are free). If you have a particular drink preference, you can also let your room steward know that and they will make sure that is stocked in the mini fridge. Sodas on board all come from cans, there isn't a soda fountain. (The mini bar is also stocked with alcoholic beverages which aren't free unless you are on a beverage package that includes them.)

The "hotel service charge" (Windstar's name for the automatic gratuity) is currently $16 per day per person. I think it used to be $14.50 so people mentioning $29 are giving the old amount per couple. There is also an 18% gratuity on drinks. https://www.windstarcruises.com/voyage-plan/general-information/#HotelServiceCharge $89 is the daily per person charge for the All-In package which includes the beverage package, internet and gratuities if the package is bought pre-cruise; $99 if bought on board.

We just got back from New Zealand and Australia. The cab drivers we had in Australia all treated paying by card as the normal way to go. The card machine doesn't give the option of adding a tip and none of the drivers gave any indication of expecting one. All the drivers were pleasant and helpful including loading and unloading baggage from the trunk. Our first driver in Auckland added a surcharge of a couple of bucks for using a card. Other than that, our experience in New Zealand was pretty much the same. The lack of tipping also applied at restaurants and pubs.

Northern New Zealand is experiencing unusually wet weather for the time of year. We boarded in Auckland on 10 January. Our first two ports of call were canceled due to the rough sea conditions. Instead, we had an extra day in Auckland and an extra sea day. The cyclone didn't directly hit but tge fringes still caused heavy seas. Instead of going directly south down the East side of North Island from Auckland, we started going North and went around the West side of North Island to Wellington. We had some rain and lots of clouds. Rains have continued and the situation in Auckland is now much worse with some flooding. The airport flooded Friday and people were stuck in it because the flooding blocked the roads. All flights were canceled. Domestic flights restarted Saturday but getting international didn't until Sunday. Baggage claim flooded too.

This is the plug adapter we use: https://www.amazon.com/Inovat-American-USA-European-Adapter/dp/B01AZ9BIKG/ref=mp_s_a_1_45?crid=3EKH3LRXT6HII&keywords=euro+plug+adapter&qid=1674769802&sprefix=euro+plu%2Caps%2C653&sr=8-45

There is at least one US outlet in the room and a low power (shaver) one in the bathroom. There is also at least one European outlet in the room. A heating appliance like a hair dryer is usually voltage specific so a 110 V one shouldn't be used on a 220 outlet with a plug adapter. (Some travel hairdryers may have a switch to adapt for voltage.) Windstar provides an adequate hairdryer that plugs into the Euro outlet. Euro plug adapters are small so you might as well bring a couple.

Go to the Windstar cruise finder. Under Specials, click Last Minute Deals. Some are between $1000 and $2000 currently. I don't recall seeing prices below $1000 very often pre-COVID. I did get a great deal last December (2022) on a 7-for-7 on the price of my crossing Cruise Collector a bit before the Price Assurance window ended. The prices went back up after so my fare for 23 days was less than the fare on the 10 non-crossing segment.

We've had some Windstar cruises with unusual itineraries that booked full or near full and the price only went up. We were glad we booked them early. If booking the cruises Windstar does a lot like some of the Caribbean, Panama/Costa Rica or Tahiti itineraries, it makes sense to wait.

Actually, the change was made well before the pandemic. The price assurance policy used to be up to 7 days before sailing. Then they changed it to 180 days (or maybe it was 120 days) which I felt was too long and unfair to the cruiser. After some months, they changed to 90 days, the same as final payment. I feel that's a reasonable compromise that allows for booking a cruise you really like well in advance getting your choice of cabin with some price assurance and Windstar being able to sell spare capacity by last minute price reduction.

We arranged with a tour guide to drive us to the port in Colon with a stop in Portobelo to visit the Royal customs house and the fort there before arriving at the ship in the early afternoon. It cost less for two people than the Windstar transfer.

I've bought wine at intermediate ports and have had similar experience to others - I've brought it on board and they haven't said anything about it. I haven't tried to sneak it on or anything. It's mostly been bottles that I intended to bring home and if they had wanted to hold it for me until the end of the cruise would have been fine with that. Occasionally it has been a bottle to drink in the room or take to the dining room a pay corkage - but in that case not more than the 2 or three bottles allowed per cruise. Occasionally, I've bought a small bottle of an unusual local spirit (e.g. mastika from Greece). They checked my bag on boarding and didn't say anything about it either.

There were several pieces of info in my post. Not clear which you are requesting a link for. Hopefully one of these covers it. On: https://www.windstarcruises.com/ships/star-legend/ scroll to the bottom and choose View Deck Plan which opens a pdf of the deck plan. Look at the key for the symbol indicating 3rd birth. The deck plan also shows a typical cabin layout. The waived and reduced solo supplement page is: https://www.windstarcruises.com/reduced-single-supplement/

Cabins with a third berth are marked on the deck plan. There are not a lot 2 to 4 in most categories so you should contact Windstar to see if one is available in your category. Cabins have a good sized sitting area with a couch and two chairs so there should be adequate space to be comfortable during the day. I have no experience with the comfort level of the 3rd berth. Some cruises have a reduced solo supplement (generally 25%) and the normal solo supplement is 75%. I don't know what Windstar charges for a 3rd person in a room. Edit: The spring Barcelona to Athens is on the reduced solo supplement list, the one on Star Legend in the fall is not so you might consider whether the spring dates could work. Or, if you book the three of you sharing a room, you might check the reduced solo supplement list from time to time and change the booking to two rooms if it gets added.

The issues are similar on the Star ships - doorways with raised thresholds. A motorized scooter might be too large to work in the space available and too heavy to lift over the raised thresholds. I've never seen anyone on the ship with one so I'm only speculating. Also, on most of the cruises there are tender ports so if one will debark there, any mobility aid would have to be transferred to the tender which would be a problem for a scooter.

We've come on board after spending 4 or 5 days traveling and sent everything into the laundry right away with no issues. At the end of the cruise, we left with everything clean except the penultimate day's clothes to spend a few more days on land before flying home.