sealord

LOL. I wish. I do recall your posts regarding your preference for deck one. Our experience was on the Windsurf, cabin 123. I don't know what to tell you. It didn't occur every night, & when it did occur it wasn't always constant, tho' some nights it was. My husband took an engine room tour and asked the chief engineer about it. His Russian accent suddenly got VERY thick and incomprehensible. :p

Really. Actually, I think I have heard that they have a bowling alley in the smoking room. (;-) On the other had I do know a couple things. The crew often smokes outside on deck near the dining areas, and in spite of it being not allowed there are passengers who smoke in their staterooms. The smoking sensitive person was probably lucky enough to be near one of those. When I smell smoke inside, I call the desk and let them sniff it out. But, we have been relatively close in 129 and 127, and we never heard the bowling alley. When we are aboard Star Legend next week I will ask if there is an indoor smoking room for the crew. After all, there are no indoor smoking areas for the paying passengers.

Did none of you on deck one hear that rolling-bowling-ball sound from somewhere "beneath?" I wouldn't book a cabin on deck one again.

Really? We have been on deck one seven times, and we never experienced a rollong bowling ball sound. Were you perhaps having bowling dreams?

We've cruised most of the Caribbean and were looking for something different than the big cruiseships with the crowds, constant selling, etc. I have some research to do with flights out of Tampa? to St. Maarten and hope to book around July 4th for the 12/16 cruise.

 

Question: Do you think it is better to book Deck 1 or Deck 2? I could also get used to "sloshing", but wondering if the "view" would be better from Deck 2.

 

Thanks SO much.

Barbara

No better view unless you are cuising the North Sea, in which case the port hole on deck one might be under water. I usually book deck one because the rooms are identical but cheaper on deck one. Only time I was on deck two it was an upgrade ... No better view. We find the aft cabins most convenient to most of the ships facilities other than the dining rooms which are forward.

In the last four years, we have been on four WS cruises and two Crystal Cruises, so I am not sure that we are "Crystal people". We were very pleased with our experience on WS until our last cruise, where the food was disappointing, at best, the service had also gone downhill, and the cigarette smoke was suffocating. So I suppose now we are Crystal people. That is really a shame, because we do like the smaller ships and the more casual ambiance on WS. And yes, the Windsurf is in remarkable condition.

I guess you fooled me. You have one WS cruise and five Crystal cruises in your countdown clock list ... that's why I thought you were Crystal people. Enjoy your cruising. We will be enjoying WS. (;-)

Unfortunately, on the Windsurf the employee smoking room is located just below one deck of passenger staterooms. It is supposed to have a special ventilation system, but the odor of smoke in our room and the adjacent rooms was a major problem. And yes, food is subjective, but on our first three WS cruises, we thought the food was excellent. On the latest one, it clearly had gone downhill. Yes, food is subjective, but......

Yes ... food is subjective but cig smoke is not. You are obviously Crystal people, which WS is not. We were on the Surf two months before your last cruise and again three months after. On our cruises the food was just as good for us as our seven previous WS cruises. The ship itself is in far better condition since Zanterra took over.

I have been amused about all the definitions about luxury and WS. For me it is such a personal term. My luxury is another's regular occurrence.

" state of great comfort vs extravagant living"

" condition of great abundance vs great ease and comfort"

" something adding great ease or comfort but not necessary"

"Elegance"

" something one enjoys but does not get often"

" something expensive that you enjoy but do not necessarily need"

So speaking to friends and family who have taken the WS due to the experiences my husband and I have had and believe it or not and I am not a travel agent, it has been over 100 people since 1999 when we took our first cruise. Everyone of them would have described WS as luxury, casual elegance. For it is elegant and for us luxury and thankfully not ostentacious. We do not need people serving us drinks in the water in a tux. WS gives us our sense of luxury:

Sails, wind, sea, great service, wonderful food, terrific mattresses, great water pressure and bath products, friendliness with crew and passengers, no crowds and lines, fair prices, lovely drinks, nice wine selection, quiet, destinations that are intellectually stimulating and destinations that are relaxing, salt air, experiences i.e., Tall Ships, going trough the Dardenals, and I could go on. Are they necessary in life no but they sure are wonderful and being able to share the experiences with people we love time and again. Is everything perfect 100% of the time no but who cares for us it is about as perfect a way to travel as one can get. We are trying the motor yacht in 6 days and I am sure that will meet our definitation of luxury. Happy Sailing, don't let the word define your experience and make you miserable enjoy it for we are the fortunate ones to be able to define the word within ourselves. Susanne

Well spoke! (;-) We have cruised Silversea, and it was very nice ... and all inclusive. That initself makes this an apples and oranges discussion. And on Silversea we had the benefit of having to figure out what to ask of our butler. Going aboard Windstar, however, is like going home to our home away from home. I think they have been voted the best small ship cruise line several times for a reason ... or a number of reasons. On the other hand, we don't look for flaws, we just enjoy the overall experience.

I sail the Surf on Dec 12th and am anxious to see the product in total. The last time I sailed WS (on the Wind Song) was 16 years ago.....and many WS owners ago. I acknowledge the Surf is aging, but as long as she is clean I will be happy. Food is a personal thing, but quality of preparation and presentation is not a difficult thing to achieve and hopefully it will be superior to mass market big ships. Service though will be a deciding factor for me.......especially on a small ship, the service should be attentive and friendly. If the parent company is in the hotel resort business, then service should be spot on.

I must admit some of the threads concerning WS in general makes me think the power yachts can't compare to the sail vessels......so I am hoping the Surf will be a wonderful experience. I will be comparing my WS experience to my Star Clipper sailings which were wonderful. They were not luxurious, food was simple but well done.....and the crew were fantastic. I must admit the Star Clipper employees made me feel like family.....and kept me coming back for more.

I have sailed everything from Buckets such as the Odysseus to the top of the heap....Regent Voyager,the Seabourn Star, and everything in between. I do believe you get what you pay for so if its a low tariff, I expect less and vice versa. My needs are few......a clean bed, a hot shower, tasty food, good bar service and a friendly crew. This sailing will be my 79th overall, so I am anxious to see how WS measures up. I hope to write a review....and if I do it will be observations and hopefully few "opinions".

Wind Surf.......the first 5 minutes onboard sets the tone......so get ready!:D

I think you will be happy with the first five minutes at least. We have cruised on the Surf twice this year, and we were not disappointed by anything. Of course, we realize that everyone has to be 'new' at something at least a few times in their lives. So you will not always have the most expert waiter in the cruise world. And you might encounter someone who has been taught how to make a Manhatten, and since they were raised in the Philippines, and may not drink, they might not realize that there are at least six ways to make a Manhatten. So they might get confused when you ask it to be made a certain way. And if occassionally everyone decides to visit the same dining venue at the same time, the service might suffer a bit. We have done at least forty cruises, and the Wind Surf is our favorite ship, 'manned' by our favorite people. Last aboard in July, the crew was friendly and engaged, and did their best to handle whatever situation that they encountered. If you are in a hurry for breakfast, and they get overwhelmed by a big crowd, do the buffet instead of the menu. Personally, I have never been in a hurry for anything on the Wind Surf. If you want really prompt service, perhaps McDonalds would be a better choice. (;-)

Xanterra will not sell Windstar considering the deal they got when they bought the ships in the first place.

 

That being said, many Canadian (me included) decided that they would not pay a surcharge of over 30% (Canadian $ loosing 30% over the last 2 years VS US$) to sail cruise lines that charge in US$. Same might be said about the Euro and the AUS$. That might be one of the reason they are not full (mind you, on our last 3 cruise with WS, Canadian were making roughly 5-7% of the passengers).

 

Still love WS

 

dandee2

Whats the alternative? I would think you would have to deal with the exchange rate regardless of where you go ... or do you just not travel outside of Canada?

We just did a river cruise with Tauck on the Danube, and we had quite a few Canadians. Paid in dollars, and they used Euros onboard for what little you could buy.

The question is, as one reviewer noted, how long can they stay in business running at half capacity... And how would the service have been with a full complement of pax?

 

We usually don't buy trip insurance, but we might for our March Legend cruise :o

 

Just for curiosity, what is the average occupancy rate for cruises? At least for those lines that turn a profit.

Windstar is owned by Xanterra, a privately held company, and they are huge! They might sell off Windstar if it is not profitable in the long term, but I don't think they are very likely to go Chapter 7 and leave you without a boat. The subject of going 'self insured' is a different issue. I almost missed our last Tauck trip due to a detached retina. That 'cruise' loss would have been substantial (I had insurance), but nothing compared to the cost of evacuation from some remote area.

One pax on our trip passed out on an excursion, so they sent him to the hospital via ambulance (cost?) thinking he had a heart attack. Then he missed the river boat, and took a $300 dollar cab ride to catch up. He was still laughing about it when I last saw him ... guessing he had insurance.

I sent a link to this thread to Windstar Customer Relations. I did not request a response, but if they write back I will post their comments.

So here it is:

Hi Mike,

Thank you for sharing this thread with us.

We absolutely welcome our guests’ feedback – it allows us to grow and improve, learn our strengths, and continue to offer a world-class service.

I did read through the comments, and forwarded the link to the appropriate Star Legend officers for their review. I am confident the information shared will be well-received and appreciated.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to us – if you should need any help planning your vacation, or would like to share your stories with us when you get home, please feel free to write or call at your convenience.

We look forward to seeing you on board again soon!

Kind Regards,

Guest Relations Coordinator

I have deleted the identification info to protect privacy on this venue. The contact information including phone numbers is available on the Windstar website. I could be mistaken, but it seems someone also complained that they could not get Windstar to respond to their issue. They responded to me in a couple hours, (;-)

I sent a link to this thread to Windstar Customer Relations. I did not request a response, but if they write back I will post their comments.

Hi Sealord,

 

Looked at your Africa photos, thanks for posting them! Your trip looks like what my wife has been wanting to do for a while. Do you have a link to a trip review, or can you provide a quick summary of where you visited, the lodges you stayed at, and the tour company(s) you used (I saw the photo of the Tauck 4x4 in the slideshow). Also, would you have done anything differently, in retrospect?

 

Thanks!

 

Ragnar

 

(I can provide an email address, if you prefer emailing to posting here)

 

Here is a link. My email is trijet zero (numeral) at comcast dot net.

 

[/http://www.tauck.com/tours/africa-tours/kenya-safari-kt-2016.aspx

 

If you look in the bottom right corner of that page you will see their travel forum and message board. A lot of info available there. We went in July and it was excellent ... relatively cool, dry, and sunny.

Hi Sealord,

 

Looked at your Africa photos, thanks for posting them! Your trip looks like what my wife has been wanting to do for a while. Do you have a link to a trip review, or can you provide a quick summary of where you visited, the lodges you stayed at, and the tour company(s) you used (I saw the photo of the Tauck 4x4 in the slideshow). Also, would you have done anything differently, in retrospect?

 

Thanks!

 

Ragnar

 

(I can provide an email address, if you prefer emailing to posting here)

 

Here is a link. My email is trijet zero (numeral) at comcast dot net.

 

[/http://www.tauck.com/tours/africa-tours/kenya-safari-kt-2016.aspx

I read a few more of these reviews, including the one that started this. It may have been from an experienced traveler, but that traveler has only posted three times total ... all on this subject. It is also apparent that the primary problem was that the traveler made too many purchases ashore, and the Windstar people were not capable of getting a refund. What a surprise!

Another post criticized the experience they had in August for various reasons. We were aboard the first two weeks of July, and we were aboard in January, and our experience was equal to or better than our other six visits to Wind Surf. We also were remembered by many of the crew, some of which we have known for years. The ship was a bit empty because they were renovating fifty staterooms while enroute through the North Sea and the Baltic. I also noticed that the ship was in amazingly good condition. Fresh paint and varnish, clean, and no rust visible anywhere. (I am a retired Naval Officer.) Everything was not perfect, and it never has been. When you do encounter new personnel, service can be a bit slow. That can happen on any ship. We were all given a cabin upgrade (party of four), and we dined with the Captain one night. The day we departed Edinburgh they served really good snacks and Champagne as we sailed from the harbor. A couple times we were taken to a table that we did not prefer, we told the person seating us that we would prefer something else, and they gave us the table we requested.

It is the consistency of poor reviews here and elsewhere and not the random negative review that is so concerning. I guess we waited too long to try Windstar as it is does appear to have suffered due to current management and expansion.

This venue can be a little like Yelp sometimes. And having read many reviews, I find that in many cases you can identify a single issue that ruined the cruse for that couple, and you can often see it if you read between the lines. Then they complain about every flaw no matter how small. One company points out that they do their best to solve problems, but you can't solve a 'complaint'. Reading between the lines on one review, the problem was not enough vegetarian nor gluten free options. Another reviewer missed a port stop due to a contract problem over tender fees, and the reviewer became so obnoxious about it the Captain wanted them off the ship. That being said, a quick look at the reviews of Star Legend had ten times as many reviewers rating it between average and excellent, as those 10% who rated it below average. In most cases you could identify the single issue that some of these folks allowed to ruin their cruise, and make 'everything' bad. In our eight Windstar cruises I have had some experiences that did not meet our expectations, but overall we have always had a great time. We have cruised with them twice this year and will go again in January. We have also cruised with Silversea last year .... and we are not expecting Silversea.

we are going on the yachtsman's cruise feb. 15. this will be our third windsurf and first in 12 years.

 

are all of the stops on tenders or do they dock at any of the stops.

 

is there a gala captain's night dinner or something like that we should be sure not to miss in the dining room?

 

whay was your favorite alternative dining room.

 

thanks for the great, informative review.

 

steve

I think these were all tenders. I believe the other itinerary docked once. It is docked of course in St. Maartin. No gala, there is a big BBQ, Candles is fun if it does not rain, but we thought AmphorA, the main dining room, was the best venue.

Sorry. I did mean Sandals (not Marriott) and Google maps show Sandals to be right next to Pigeon Island beach.

St. Lucia website states that all beaches are public.

We just want to walk the beach.

Thanks.

It may or may not be public, but I don't remember the Sandals beach being accessible from the outside. There is a beach on the other side of the 'island' that is a short walk.

This stop is normally the sight of the beach BBQ, and most of the beach here is reserved for Windstar's exclusive use. There is another small beach area that some cruise lines use for a 'shore excursion'. Assuming you are attending the beach BBQ, and they bring ashore all the water toys, it is best to go ashore early if you want a chair convenient to the BBQ area in the shade. When you get off of the tender if you turn left instead of right, there is a small bar restaurant that has free wifi for their "customers."

Lovey, I couldn't imagine what the inside of these sail boats looked like so thanks for posting all those inside pictures. It's amazing to see how nice it is. I now have a much bette sense of what it's like to cruise with them.

Thanks for sharing......

 

Patty

Yes ... if you haven't seen them, they are beautiful, inside and out.

We go where they go. It doesn't matter much where that might be. ;)

And four days later we were there. If you look at the picture of the American Airlines 757 landing, you will see the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in the background. We were in the top floor room directly below the "e" in Sonesta. By the way, I've made that landing many times ... fun!

Saturday, Jan 26, 2013: Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

Today was the end of the cruise for most on board. Our cruise cards showed the sail date range of both cruises and we did not have to change cards, nor did we have to move rooms since we had made sure we were booked in the same cabin for both cruises. For all intents and purposes, it was a typical port day for us.

 

We wandered off the ship around 9:30am and took a taxi to Maho Beach, close to the airport. We walked over to the Sunset Bar & Grill, got a nice table for two at the end of the upper deck’s patio section, enjoyed cocktails, some food and watched the planes land and take off. Below are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am really enjoying your trip report and pictures! We are on the cruise next month, and I am getting excited.

 

One question...on this itinerary do any of the island's taxis take credit cards? I am trying to figure out how much cash we will need.

I would be astonished if any taxis take credit cards. We just did the Yachtsman's, and the Flavors, and the only place we used credit cards was at our hotel in St. Maartin, and at the liquor store at the end of the pier in Philipsburg. You can get both dollars and euros at some ATM machines in St. Maartin. In our two weeks there doing the B2B we went through a couple hundred euros and several hundred dollars ... and we didn't buy anything other than a few trinkets. We did spend three days in Maho Beach before the cruise so that did chew up some coin. :rolleyes: If you don't have the local currency, be sure to ask before you consume. On these itineraries it is best to carry both euros and dollars.:)

I am wondering if any folks on here have been on Windstar before the 2011 acquisition (say , when it was managed by HAL) and afterwards and can comment on changes (for better or worse).

 

It's been awhile since we sailed on Windstar, and while we liked the experience before, we are wondering if it will be the same now.

Just got off the Wind Surf last Saturday. The new Captain, Peter Harris in the past was a HAL Captain and pointed out that as good as it was HAL never put any money into Windstar so the boats definitely needed work. Even with the renovation, the quality of some of the carpeting is questionable, as one of the rooms our companions were in had carpeting that was already a bit worn. But, we liked the renovations, and the food and service are as good or better. We now know quite a few of the crew as almost all the crew we knew from previous cruises did remember us.

I found the dining seating arrangement perfect for us. We had a table for two the first 3 nights. Of course, we made some friends during the trip and ended-up having dinner with them the rest of the cruise. It was perfect. And we love the fact that you can just show-up between 7-9 and ask for a small table for 2. Of course, nothing is garanteed but at least they will try to accomodate and that is reasonnable enough.

Of the three evening dining venues, we found AmphorA to be the 'best' (IMHO) and the 'most quiet'. The Stella Bistro, and Candles provide some nice variety, but we found the Stella Bistro to be quite loud, and the menu perhaps not quite as attractive as AmphorA, and Candles (the pool deck steak place) can be quite windy and occassionally 'wet'. Both of our onboard BBQ nights were rained out, so they were moved indoors. That may sound like a 'bummer', but in fact it lead to two of the best 'party nights' of each of our cruises. Of course, we learned of the first big party night from our travelling companions, because after dinner they stayed aboard, and we went to Foxies. It was fun to see Foxies in action at night, but it is now in the "been there, done that" category. :rolleyes:

On Super Bowl Sunday The Maltese Falcon deployed one her square-rigged sails and projected the Super Bowl broadcast on it. We were at the Mad Mongoose bar/restaurant watching it on numerous screens setup for the purpose.

Sunday, Jan 20, 2013: Falmouth Harbour, Antigua (Continued)

 

It was time to tender back. And then... there she was again, The Maltese Falcon! We first saw her on our honeymoon in Tahiti. It's a very memorable looking yacht.

 

 

.

Saturday, Jan 19, 2013: Embarkation on Wind Surf at Philipsburg, St. Maarten

 

This morning we decided to sleep in and enjoy our complimentary breakfast at the Westin. We had a late breakfast and didn’t arrive to the port until just after 2pm. Check-in was a breeze. We were greeted where the taxis dropped us off by a windstar representative who tagged our luggage and asked for our names to check us off her list. From there we walked to the yacht, went through security with our carry-ons, and then walked up the gangplank (where we were again checked off a list). Once on board, we were asked to fill out credit card forms, waivers to water sport activities, and health cards (all the while we were given hors d’oeuvres and a rum punch). Then our picture was taken, our passports taken for the cruise, and we were then led to another line to get our cabin/cruise cards. The whole thing took under 30 minutes (the longest part was walking from our taxi to the yacht).

 

Once on board we were led to our cabin (114 on deck 1) and were told where our life jackets were and different things about our cabin. Below are pictures of our cabin (I'll post the bed area later when I actually took the picture):

 

 

 

 

Note: the flowers under the TV were arranged by my DH.

 

 

Porthole while docked:

 

 

 

We had nearly finished unpacking our carry-ons when our luggage arrived. We finished unpacking and proceeded to shore excursion desk. TJ was very helpful and we luckily were able to book the three excursions we wanted. We hadn’t booked before-hand because we didn’t want to miss out on the beach BBQ or water toy usage. She advised us that the water toys would be pulled out depending on weather (which I’ll post in this review) and if we were refueling. She also told us that on the lunch BBQ day, that all excursions would be completed in time for that event. After booking our excursions, we toured the yacht from top to bottom.

 

At 5:30pm was the lifeboat drill. It went smoothly and we then went for a cocktail. A gentleman who had sailed with Windstar many times answered some questions for us. He told us the jacuzzi’s and pool are closed in the evening for the dining venue (Candles) that is set up (good thing we found out early, because we had planned to go in the jacuzzi that evening). He told us they do not reopen them up after dinner - in his opinion, it was a drawback, but he stated it would be cleaned in the middle of the night and reopened at 7:30am. (I’ll discuss this more later - because later in the cruise we were able to go in after Candles closed). He also convinced us on getting the drink package; so off we went to the Reception Desk.

 

At the Reception Desk, Brenda was very helpful. She said our drink orders that we had placed would be taken off since we were doing the drink package, and she proceeded to explain the restaurants and the reservation guidelines. She said we could only reserve one evening at Candles (but could check daily for additional reservations), and also needed to make reservations at Stella Bistro. Stella Bistro would have the same menu until the evening BBQ and then the menu would change. Brenda recommended making one reservation at Stella Bistro before the BBQ dinner and another afterward, which we did.

 

Dinner that evening at Candles was wonderful. Due to the weather, they moved the restaurant to the Veranda location for the evening. Our waiter came around and placed sun-dried tomato tapenade and butter on the tables and, shortly thereafter, we were asked what bread we wanted. I went for the sun-dried tomato bread (absolutely wonderful with the tapenade). The rolls are nice and small, so you don’t easily fill up on them.

 

For dinner, my DH ordered the ceviche, but it tasted fishy and not good (thus he didn’t eat it). We each ordered the 8oz filet with bernaise and peppercorn sauce. It was perfectly cooked and wonderful, some of the best bernaise sauce we’ve had in some time.

 

That evening we retired early but I was woken up in the middle of the night, not by the rocking of the ship, but by the sound of the water sloshing and splashing by the portholes. I was a bit startled, so I decided to open the drapes to peek outside. Boy, was I surprised to see the water moving by at a height that was probably at my waist... then whoosh! Water hit the porthole and I recoiled back, hitting the bed. Yikes! :eek: Then more sloshing of water was hitting the side of the hull of the schooner. Time to close those drapes back up. To think that my DH was worried about sea sickness on this trip... Maybe we should have worried about the sloshing sounds that were keeping me awake. I read until I was too tired to stay up (all the while listening to the water hitting the schooner and sloshing around).

OK ... at the risk of appearing stupid 'again' ... how do you put your pictures into your post? Thanks.