RetroSister

Hadn't heard that about a Colombia port being missed, but I would assume if it's part of a Panama Canal itinerary, it's probably Cartagena. There are a lot of reasons why ports get cancelled or skipped, not necessarily related to crime or civil unrest, but that's possible, too. I've been to Colombia a couple of times, but only to Bogota, never to the coast, and it's been a while. According to friends who moved back there, it's much safer now than when we were there in the '90s, but unrest can happen just about anywhere. I was thinking more of the Eastern side of S.A., since that is more accessible for a Trans-Atlantic, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina. It would be arriving at the beginning of the cruising season for the Southern hemisphere. I have no idea if they're considering any such thing, but a girl can dream! 😍

We're really hoping for A, since we were using the repositioning itinerary to reposition ourselves to southeast Asia, and South Africa would also be a great destination we haven't explored. C would be acceptable, depending on the specifics. For us, B would be a deal-breaker, since it would get us back to the US, which is the opposite of what we were looking for. Not to mention the fact that it's a very ordinary route, which defeats the purpose, at least for us. I propose a D option, a Trans-Atlantic that ends in South America for their summer season, which we would definitely take advantage of! We're trying to preemptively decide what we would and would not accept so we can make a quick decision when the time comes.

Ohh....I thought you meant reviews of VV or The Resilient Lady. Now it makes sense - thanks!

Thanks for saying what I was thinking...hard to do a search if you don't even know what you're looking for! 😄

That's what I heard as well. We're only booked on the first 2 legs, ending in Singapore (for now!). We were using it to get to Southeast Asia. To me, the middle leg looks the most interesting, but if they decide to scrap the next Australia/NZ season, then the whole thing is up in the air. I'm hopeful we'll know in the next couple of weeks!

It is! We are booked with points over to Europe as well, so if we have to change it will be easy. Or just make it a trip to Europe...or get a different repositioning itinerary back to the US. Rebanking points is so much easier than getting a refund or changing.

It's hard to imagine the upstream itineraries like Portsmouth to Barcelona being affected, since that would be an unnecessary amount of work and expense for VV. I would actually look forward to a Barca to Cape Town itinerary, but a 5 night Athens - Barca in lieu of a 14 night Athens - Dubai would be a serious downgrade! I'd probably cancel that leg and keep the Barcelona - Cape Town if it comes to that. But they may change the whole thing entirely and not even reposition to Australia, in which case it could be going anywhere! I'm game as long as it's not something ordinary, but I really feel for the passengers booked on the Spring itineraries who are dealing with all of this with little time to spare and almost certainly have airfare booked.

It will be our first VV, and we're SO looking forward to it! I'm happy to give leeway as far as changing the itinerary, both because I know it's out of their control and because I'm excited about the prospect of going to new places even if they're not where we originally expected to go. We recently retired and I'm planning to use repositioning cruises extensively to get all over the world with no jet lag! 😄

I've been watching it unfold because we're booked on the 1st 2 legs of opposite itinerary in the fall: Athens - Dubai and Dubai - Singapore. Hard to imagine the Red Sea will be safe for insurance underwriters by the time they have to make the decision whether to sail that route. The Barca - Cape Town let honestly looks pretty exciting to me, but the Athens to Barca? From 14 days down to 5? No thanks. And what they're selling the Barcelona to Athens leg for right now is much less than what we paid for the original 14 day itinerary to Dubai. If we end up with the opposite itinerary, we'd probably just cancel the Athens - Barcelona leg and go Barca - Cape Town. Even though it's months away, it's still kind of maddening to wait. I can't imagine how hard it is to be recalculating plans for everyone on the upcoming April sailing.

Thank you! Can't wait to see your thoughts on it, and on the ship in general.

@Doh15 it might be worse than uncomfortable for your travel companion: it could be actually unsafe. I agree with above; no interest in bringing my tourism $$$ to such a place. There's a big difference between being curious about different cultures and financially supporting oppressive dictatorships or monarchies. No thank you.

Thanks, Maryann. We did discuss the anchor noise, but I don't think it will bother us, since on port days we'll want to be up early anyway - it'll function as an alarm clock! 😉 Great to hear that you didn't experience motion sickness. I just put down the deposit today so we could get the 2025 early booking special. So excited!!

Neither my husband nor I are susceptible to motion sickness - we always take meclazine with us but as yet have never used it! I love the idea of having the bed in a separate little alcove, but wasn't sure if there was some downside I was missing, other than the movement of the bow. Thanks!

I've just put a hold on Suite 400 for a 2025 itinerary with the early booking special. Anyone sailed in 400 or 401 more recently and have any comments or advice? I'm so excited to finally try Windstar!!