scrosser

but the lack of integrity lives on.......

My issue should have had nothing to do with WS. I had arranged for the luggage to be delivered to the ship. The WS GSM took it upon herself to intervene on my behalf (without my asking her to do so), and wound up CANCELING the delivery, and then the Wind Star staff said it was not their problem that my luggage was lost, not their fault that it wasn't being delivered, and the only thing they knew for certain was that I shouldn't bother with going to the airport, since they KNEW the luggage wasn't there. I agree, not their fault luggage was lost. It was totally their fault that the delivery was canceled and they were totally wrong about it not being at the Split airport. No customer service whatsoever. If you experienced a problem on the 2018 cruise, and they assisted, may be they finally figured out how stupid they were in handling the problem THEY CREATED for me.

So the squeaky wheel got paid off. Oh well, too bad. End of story.

 

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Didn't take the cash. Please see Post #30.

Yes, I grew up sailing. I'm also familiar with the concept of prevailing winds. Apparently, I've just managed to be very unlucky in never having the wind conducive to sailing on my trips, since everyone else has managed to have at least a few hours of sailing on their cruises. I now thoroughly understand that "sailing" is "cruising", and does not imply using wind for propulsion.

As I've noted, Windstar has removed the Facebook block, and WS offered a "goodwill gesture". The story is over, the details are here. Best wishes to everyone, and thank you for your time.

And in the interest of full disclosure, WS has removed the block :-)

Pudgesmom - hmmm. Lots of assumptions there. You might want to read the whole thread before assuming that I began the thread because my cruise didn't include sailing.

Sorry Strenz. It just seemed like that was the "best opportunity" based on what others had posted. I'm glad you've been able to sail so often. I was asking for help from WS in choosing a cruise that would likely include sailing. Wish they had responded with "book the cruise Strenz is on" :-)

I have no personal experience with the WS masted ships sailing, but I was told by the staff on one of the ships that one reason they don't sail is because some passengers can't handle the angle. I must defer to those of you who seem to have a lot of experience in this area. I was a sucker for the advertising about "iconic sailing", not understanding that "sailing" + ship with masts and sails does not actually equal a cruise that will include some "sailing". Still wonder why they couldn't have said "best opportunity to actually sail would be on the repositioning cruises".

Don't worry. I won't cruise with Windstar again. For me it's about misrepresentations and lack of integrity. Mistakes happen - it is what happens after the mistake that defines the company.

And I just want to clarify - I travel a lot, and have run into WS guests on many trips, not just during my WS cruises.

Also, when I say "decline in service level" I am referring to management and corporate; not the wonderful Indonesian staff who work very hard to meet the guest's needs.

Thanks dandee2. That's sort of what I've been hearing from other Windstar guests - the ships did sail in the past, and I've also gotten a lot of comments about noticeable service level decline since the change in ownership.

A few years ago the apology would have been immediate, along with at least a shipboard credit or offer to reimburse the taxi fare (relating to the WS GSM answering my phone and cancelling the delivery of my lost luggage, which I later retrieved myself by going to the airport against WS instructions, because yes, my luggage was there even though WS insisted they had "verified" that the luggage was not at the airport (after the GSM had cancelled the delivery)). My email to guestrelations after the cruise was ignored. After two months, and questioning whether Windstar was no longer a reliable company, I sent the email again, only to be told that Mr. Delaney had reviewed and the assistance offered by the WS staff was appropriate (?? cancelling the delivery and doing nothing to assist me was "appropriate" ??) They have never disputed the facts, so I posted here and on their Facebook page. The post was deleted and I was blocked from posting on their page, but suddenly, I get an offer of a "goodwill gesture" to reimburse the taxi fare NOW, with no reference to the two earlier emails. Well, other Windstar guests told me I'd get a response if I posted to Facebook and Cruise Critic - they were right. Unfortunately, what I wanted was an apology and recognition of the mistake. Since that is not within WS's capacity, I have refused the goodwill gesture. To me, it seems like 4 months after the fact, they just want to buy me off. Why is it so hard to say "we screwed up. We are sorry. Please let us reimburse you for the taxi fare." Why didn't that happen during the August cruise? Why did it take airing the situation here and on their Facebook page (until they deleted the post) before WS thought that they should offer a "goodwill gesture". Sorry, in my book, that just shows a total lack of integrity. It's possible to have a wonderful trip with Windstar (but it probably won't include any actual sailing on the masted ships), but if there is a problem - get ready to spend hours trying to get any sort of response.

Well, I wasn't asking about "will always sail". As someone who grew up sailing, I totally understand the issues of tacking and problems for people if the ship has a substantial heel angle. I asked which cruises would include SOME sailing, and the answer was, if I wanted to actually sail, WS was not the correct company. I thought I was asking a simple question - please tell me which trips will be the ones most likely to include sailing. Windstar said don't expect any sailing. I'd be curious as how long ago LvWindstar007 actually sailed with the company. Has it been since the ownership change?

Thanks to FredT for the recommendation about Star Clippers. As to Jazz's comment, I asked very politely as to what cruises would most likely include some actual sailing. The response was that due to scheduling issues, they used motors. I asked, well surely there must be some cruises that will try to actually sail, at which point they told me that if I wanted to be sure of some sailing, WS was not the cruise company for me. I didn't ask for a guarantee. I asked for a recommendation of cruises that would likely include some sailing since three trips did not include any sailing. I just want people to realize that no matter how pretty the pictures they put up, they don't actually sail the ships the majority of the time. And I believe, they should clarify that situation - sailing rarely occurs due to schedules and weather, unless you travel on a repositioning cruise. The masted ships are pretty, but if you want to have some actual sailing, do not expect to have it happen with Windstar.

Well I have to wonder why, when I asked WS corporate what trip I should book in order to actually "sail", their response was to tell me that I should never "expect" to actually sail with a Windstar ship. I have not been to the Society Islands; I was asking, since the trips I had been on did not include any sailing, what would be the correct trip to book. They told me that if I wanted to "sail", Windstar was not the correct company ? I wonder why they didn't simply say - best chance is the Wind Surf on a repositioning cruise. That sounds like what Strenz and sb44 are saying. I asked if their was a captain that enjoyed using the sails for propulsion more than some of the others - said they couldn't tell me for "security" reasons.

Strenz

That is all good info. I've done 3 on the Wind Star, and never sailed. I asked Corporate which trip I should be booking in order to actually sail and the response was that I should never expect the masted ships to actually use their sails. Hmmmm. Also heard from other WS guests that they have not sailed as well, including in Tahiti. I know that Alan McAry likes to sail, but he's now on the Star Pride.

1. The passage contract does not address their liability when their staff cancels the delivery of luggage.

2. My posts on the Facebook page were polite but factual. I thought others contemplating traveling with Windstar should be warned.

3. I am well aware that corporate and not the webpage administrator controls what happens. My two posts were deleted ( so you can not read that they were polite and factual), and I have been blocked! Be aware, that WS only wants positive posts. My one post simply stated that according to corporate, passengers should not expect the masted ships to sail (use actual wind power for propulsion). Since WS likes to show pictures of the sails raised in all their promos, I was addressing my own false assumption that that meant they were sailing vessels. I thought future guests might like that clarification - deleted by Windstar.

4. It was other Windstar guests who told me to post on Facebook and Cruise Critic. Aren't these forums for sharing information that might be useful to others? Instead I'm called a bully for simply providing information? Jeez. The issue isn't money. I had travel insurance. I was a pleasant and polite guest until the WS GSM inserted herself, and then gave me consistently wrong info, and WS corporate says that was appropriate. Wow. I don't know HOW anyone can say WS gave appropriate assistance. I must have missed the small print in the Passage Contract that said "and if the airline loses your luggage, we reserve the right to refuse it's delivery to the ship".

I went all the way up the food chain. It was fellow Windstar passengers who told me I should post the issue to their Facebook page and also on Cruise Critic. It just floored me that after their GSM answered my phone and inserted herself into the situation, Windstar did not start accepting responsibility for what happened. I can't/won't travel with a Company that has so little integrity; and I think this is clearly evidenced by their deleting my posts and blocking me from their Facebook.

You misunderstand my issue. I posted with all the detail on the Windstar site. All the info of what transpired. My issue is twofold: having inserted herself into the process that I was handling (charger cord was in lost luggage, so they were charging for me at front desk) and having made the mistake of cancelling the delivery, I hold Windstar responsible for the taxi fare. KLM was following the rules and had arranged for delivery. Windstar CANCELLED the delivery. And having posted their completely inappropriate response to the mistake, they have deleted the post, and blocked me from posting any other information. To me, this shows little integrity. I have done 5 cruises with Windstar, and many of them were great, but they also fell short of their representations, and okay, I said maybe my expectations were too high. Five years ago they would have bent over backward to fix the mistake. This year - it was all my problem. Their "assistance" was appropriate. Their assistance was to cancel the delivery, and then insist that my luggage was not at the airport. THEY HAD VERIFIED. But how, when it was there, and I was able to collect. If you don't think this puts into question their integrity, you should read other postings from other travelers about problems. If all goes well, and you have no complaints, you will be fine. Just be aware, if there's a problem, you are on your own (in true private yacht style I guess). And just to clarify, I held it together for three days, day 4 was the planned delivery, so yes, I was pretty desperate to have a change of clothes, and absolutely crushed when as the day progressed, the errors only mounted until at the last minute, I hired a taxi to the airport

I was handling the lost luggage. I had arranged for it to be delivered to the ship. It was the Wind Star guest services manager who took it upon herself to answer my phone (she was not asked to answer my phone, she was only asked to charge it). In answering my phone, she, through a miscommunication with the delivery driver, actually cancelled the luggage delivery. Then, in trying to fix the issue, she said my luggage wasn't even at the airport. I paid $150 to retrieve my luggage because a Windstar staff person had cancelled the delivery, and Windstar says it is not their problem. As soon as she took it upon herself to answer MY PHONE, she screwed up my entire day. All I got from Windstar was wrong information, wrong information and I was actually told by Windstar NOT to go to the airport to get my luggage, as THEY KNEW it wasn't at the airport !!!!! Before sail away, I went to the airport and collected my bags. If I had done as Windstar instructed me, I would have had NO LUGGAGE for the entire cruise. Does that explanation help ?

Nope. They left one, but have now deleted two regarding the lost luggage issue, and I can no longer send them a message, and I can no longer post to their Facebook page

I first posted in October, directly on the WS Facebook page. I also commented on Theresa's post.

I wrote about a problem I experienced with Wind Star on their Facebook page. Instead of replying, they deleted the post. They knew they screwed up - GSM inadvertently cancelled the delivery of my lost luggage to the ship. Cost me $150 to hire a taxi to the airport to collect before we left port. WS says not their problem, when it was one of their staff who cancelled the delivery. Be very cautious and hope you never have a problem when traveling with Windstar.