Ski Mom 2

We have sailed many times with Windstar. In 2018 we were on a back 2 back 2 back cruise in the lowest cabin on Wind Surf. The upgrade fairy sent us an email several months ahead of our cruise asking us if we'd like to upgrade to a suite (at that time it was the suites where they combine 2 rooms into 1 thus giving you 2 bathrooms). I had to call and double check that the upgrade was for no money, for all 3 legs of our cruise, and that we would be in the same cabin the entire trip. Once we were assured of those things, it was a no brainer and we upgraded. I think what happened is they realized they could sell our lower cabin for all 3 segments as individual cruises and hadn't sold very many of the suites so they offered us the upgrade. I wasn't about to complain; 25 days with my husband and 2 bathrooms...what's not to love?! We have asked after boarding if there are any upgrades available but haven't ever had the answer come back yes. And we've never received another visit from the upgrade fairy...

We did Sicilian Splendors in September 2018 as the third leg of our back to back to back. It was a glorious itinerary! We loved it! We sailed on the Dalmatian itinerary on Wind Surf out of Venice back to Rome in September 2022. Another wonderful itinerary! We have sailed on Wind Surf many times. We love her crew and the sails. The cabins are laid out well and if you can splurge on a cabin, we love the ones on Deck 3 that are the suites with 2 bathrooms. But any cabin is wonderful. We did think there were a few cosmetic issues on our last sail. Nothing that would stop me from sailing her again but there were some tired spots. It’s all about the itinerary, the crew and the other wonderful passengers (now life long friends) that we’ve met on Windstar that keeps us coming back!

Taking the train is easy. Ravenna to Bologna with a transfer onto Venice. Depending upon the class of service you book, it looks like it's about $30 pp (or less) and takes upwards to 4 hours or less. Do you have a lot of luggage? We travel with one 22" rollerbag and one carryon bag each which makes train travel very easy. I wouldn't hesitate to book it. We took the train on several occasions last September including Bologna via Milan to Varenna and then Varenna via Milan to Venice. Make sure you know your stop in Venice.

In September 2022 we departed from Venice aboard Wind Surf.

I thought maybe they had been hacked.

We were visited by the upgrade fairy into the “double suites” in the Med and loved it! We sailed for 25 days and having 2 bathrooms saved out marriage. We had friends in the owners suite (this was in 2018) and knew our suite was above and beyond theirs. I have not sailed in the Bridge suite but having the 2 bathrooms and 2 desks/dressing areas/closets make this a no brainer in my book.

Well low and behold my TA forwarded me a new statement from O today and our shareholders benefit is listed! Yeah! Thanks to everyone who had suggestions and helpful information to share. I appreciate it!

I sent emails December 16, January 1 and January 6. Today I sent it again to the TA who said they would look into it for me. Fingers crossed!

Well I’ve emailed the next up at O and she said she would work on it. Waiting for her response now. Not sure what will happen but my DH says it better appear if O wants us to continue sailing with them 🤣 (this is our first cruise on O). (My TA is currently cruising.) Thanks y’all!

I did speak to my TA but she said she would not be able to help me out.

Help! I have emailed three times to ShareholderBenefit@oceaniacuises.com with my information and proof of ownership and still no response. Nothing under my account and we sail on January 18, 2023. Any other ideas on what to do? I’m really looking forward to our $250 credit!

I briefly looked there but there were so many to choose from I had to stop looking! I'll have to try again. Thanks.

Does anyone know what the Black Jack table minimum’s on Marina might be? Thanks!

We are still searching for our best option for traveling from the Rio airport to our hotel. My TA arrangements are $69 per person which I find expensive. My husband would prefer to have something pre-booked as opposed to just hiring a taxi on sight. I am unable to get a hold of the hotel to ask them for suggestions. Anyone?

Ok I’ll try again. My TA got through and the guy at A told her I must have done something wrong to get the pricing I got when I went to do a “practice” booking for my cruise. I took a photo of it and sent it to my TA but all she got was grief. He told her I should have booked it. Now it’s $3000 higher as others mentioned.

It looks like our cruise may be several thousands of dollars cheaper. My TA is checking but waited on hold so long today she’s going to try again tomorrow. We will see.

So we have brought on more than 3 bottles of wine. Boarding in Venice this past September I'm not sure the port guy (not a WS guy) even cared. We have also bought wines in port and brought them back on the ship on our Med cruise in 2018.

I always asked to wash in cold water and low dry. I feel like they did as I asked.

We have done it for a 25 day cruise and a 30 day land/cruise!

May I ask which cabin numbers on Marina are the 2 open sided balconies?

When we sailed in 2018 on a B2B2B in the Med we had laundry included. That meant you put your dirty laundry in the bag, hung it outside that night and typically it came back the following day by 5 pm. Shirts and dresses on hangers, undies folded. It was amazing!

We are new to Azamara. I clicked on the Request More Information button on their web site. I received an email from a customer service agent. I asked for them to call me to explain a few things about the cruise I was interested in and we set up a time for them to call me. They called me when they said they would and have also answered any questions I had via email. Perhaps you can try that route to get of someone and schedule a call to pay your balance.

Nope nada nothing....

Thought I would post an update… We canceled our Star Breeze New Zealand cruise and asked for a refund of our deposit which is suppose to give us each a $200 Credit to apply to our next WS cruise. Haven’t seen either yet. We booked a 17 day New Zealand/Australia cruise on Azamara for January 2024 to replace the Star Breeze cruise which has been pulled with nothing in its place (nice hole in SB schedule still). We are disappointed but ready to move on and try something new! Thanks to all that responded. We appreciate your input!

Thanks for posting this! Exactly what I was looking for in regards to menus and life onboard!