olesiabr

Thanks all. We'll pack jackets if we have the space. Don't want to know what they will look like after a week in the suitcase since we will be touring on land for a week first 🙄

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UPDATE

The confirmation email never came through, so I called again this morning.

Turns out the one way rental is over $1308 for the week. (Anchorage airport to Whittier)

I was prepared for double the rate of a round trip (about $350 airport to airport) but this is ridiculous. At this point it makes more sense to take the train to Whittier from Anchorage, even for 4 people...

I've read the FAQ on Princess, and I've done a search on these boards, but I am still confused.

On formal night in the MDR, whether ATD or Traditional, what is required for men: are slacks and long sleeve button down sufficient, or are jackets required? We are on an Alaska cruise

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Thanks

That worked!

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We are booked on a cruise in june 2017. I see reports here that folks are already reserving cars for their shore excursions.

We need 2 Avis rentals: a 1 way from Anchorage Airport to Whittier and a one-day rental in Skagway, but I am unable to reserve online. When I called Avis I was told that I would have to wait until January to do the one-way rental between the airport and Whittier.

Is it true that I need to wait until January?

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3kidslater: make sure you are not joining a larger bus tour. Our tour was private for just the 6 of us. Also are you leaving from Malaga or Almeria?

Milepig: in Cartagena we docked at the commercial pier that was further away from the city center. It was very close to the beach but we would have had to take a shuttle to get to the city. This helped us to decide our plan for the day

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We did Malaga on our own, visiting the Automobile Museum, Picasso Museum and climbing to the Alcazaba (this was a challenge! )

In Morocco used Tours By Locals to visit Tetuan and Tangier.

Cartagena just went to the beach , same in Ibiza.

Used TripAdvisor and the ports of call board here on Cruise Critic to do my research!

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We went to the Alhambra from Almeria and used Spain Day Tours for a private tour. It was 159€ per person, but I had to purchase timed tickets for Alhambra online. Both the driver and our tour guide were excellent!

We were glad we went, the drive through the desert landscape was stunning, and we had time to explore Grenada as well.

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Babr: we are actually considering a bareboat sailing trip in the Caribbean early next year... but will definitely take a look at the Sea Cloud!

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MNgardens: we used toursbylocals.com in Morocco. The name of the tour was Explore Tetuan and Tangier. We enjoyed Tetuan much more than Tangier, which was pretty much a tourist trap. I think of we had to do it again we might actually book through Windsurf for Morocco.

All the ports had something that we found worthwhile, but honestly after Almeria I was tired of climbing to Moorish fortresses and looking at cathedrals!

In Cartagena we just went to Cala Cortina and had a beach day. Same thing in Ibiza. Tarragona probably would have been our least favorite stop if it wasn't for the private event.

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I just used Spain Day Tours twice while on a Windstar cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona. Our group of 6 was picked up at Lisbon airport, and we were given a Lisbon city tour for 4 hours and dropped off at our hotel at the end.

We also used Spain Day Tours for the Alhambra with transfer from Almeria.

All the guides and drivers were first rate. The vehicles were large, comfortable, and sufficiently air conditioned (very important in Spain and Portugal in early September.) The prices were significantly lower than those offered by the cruise ship, and how nice not to be traveling in large buses!

Excellent communication throughout, and all was very professionally done!

We just returned from a lovely two week adventure in Madrid, Portugal and on the Windsurf's Treasures of Morocco and Southern Spain.

This was our first Windstar experience, and hopefully not our last!

Overall the service was very good and attentive without being over the top or subservient. Food (always subjective, of course) was for the most part very good to excellent, particularly if you take your server's suggestions for the evening.

We did all of our tours independently and would not hesitate to do so again.

The private function in Tarragona was well done.

The deck BBQ was fantastic!

The officers, including the captain, freely mingled with the passengers and were friendly and approachable. The open bridge was a nice touch.

Thanks to those on these boards that recommended the laundry package, it was wonderful! And also thank you to the poster that gave us a heads up about the fact that OBC cannot be used for gratuity. I will add that on the last day (we didn't leave Tarragona until 10pm) the gift shop was only opened for a short time after sail away and there were many folks trying to use up their credits...I didn't have much trouble given the laundry package, spa visits and decent wine list!

As a whole we enjoyed the Windstar experience, and will likely cruise again, perhaps on one of the motor yachts to Italy, Croatia and Greece. Our group skewed on the younger side of the average age range aboard but since I'm not a night owl, the lack of evening entertainment didn't bother me...I even missed the crew show!

I was a little disappointed that our itinerary didn't really include any out of the way ports or small ports that are not accessible to the average large cruise ship, but I guess that is itinerary dependent. On most of our stops we were accompanied by other large ships. It was great when we were able to tie up close to the city centers, but this did not anyways happen. When we were diverted to the outlying commercial piers a shuttle bus was available gratis to the city centers but you had to keep track of the schedule, so this was more of a mass market feel than private yacht feel.

I also had mixed feelings about the sails. It was very moving to see them unfurl to the music of 1492 (and I watched every time...never got cheesy for me! ) but they are really just for show, and we were always under power. Again this is probably itinerary dependent. The Windsurf is a beauty to look at though!

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions, especially since so many have helped me in the past months of pre trip planning.

We just returned from Windsurf's "Morocco and Southern Spain" itinerary and were in stateroom 106. The location was convenient to the stairs and elevator. The noise of the bow thrusters and activity related to docking/setting up the gangway did wake us in the morning, but it was typically time to get up and going anyway for tours.

I smelt no smoke coming from lower floors, and I am very sensitive to this (the streets and outdoor cafes of Spain and Portugal are another story...wow do Europeans light up! )

It was cool being so close to the waterline. On two evenings the waves lapped up to and over the portholes.

Caution that at times when we docked on our side the port holes were at street level....must keep curtains closed for privacy!

Is it possible to prepay laundry and gratuities?

OK Alaska experts!

We have decided to go whale watching in Juneau. We are a family of four and will be on the Star Princess next June. Our time in port is 6:30am to 4pm.

Can anyone comment on the three best rated tours on trip advisor: Juneau Whale Watch, Gastineau and Harv and Marv?

Is it worth including a city tour or is that easy to DIY?

Thanks for any input!

Thanks again!

Do you recall if there were cabs readily available?

Thanks, that is helpful!

Does anyone know which port in Ibiza the Windsurf uses? I am trying to arrange tranfer to Port Antony

I have read conflicting reports about whether the self serve laundry is available on the Star in Alaska....can anyone give me a recent report? Do we need to being quarters or do we use our cruise card?

Thanks!

Redtravel, I agree with you. We have been on many "mainstream" cruises and OBC had been able to be applied to gratuity. I would never have even thought to call about this. That is why these forums are so wonderful!

Forewarned is forearmed! I will make sure to "zero out" before the last day. And for sure the staff will never be stiffed by us!

So: laundry package, gift shop, wine can all be paid with the OBC? Sounds good to me!

Thanks all

Oh my! We just recieved OBC because of a price drop and were planning on using it for gratuities as all our shore excursions are set. Has this policy been in place long?

Oh boy, I'm going to miss my nav and TripAdvisor! So no data at all, even in Anchorage and Seward?

How prevalent is wifi in restaurants and hotels?

Has anybody returned recently from Alaska that can comment on Sprint coverage?

Searching this site and Google has turned up only old information.

Sprint coverage map shows roaming, which is not a problem with our plan. Also have good Canada coverage.

Thanks!