milepig

We explored the Grill this time. Tea Smoked Duck was amazing. Burgers the same as in Veranda. We did notice that the default portion size was smaller than in the past. Very small number of Fries - but they'll bring you more. The soft serve ice cream machine by the grill was operating most of our cruise, flavors were always vanilla, strawberry or the two twisted. Never anything else. Still no BBQ lobster - I think its gone for good. We've had mostly solid chefs and once in awhile one who is splendid. Out recent itin on the Legend we had an OK chef. It was all fine but sort of uninspired. Things labeled "spicy" had almost no spice, even the Indian. You could add Tabasco, but that's no substitute for real Indian spices. If you label one option as "spicy" you need to make sure it is, people will have been warned. We did have excelling pasta bolognese is Amphora, one of the best I've ever had. The beef was definitely a higher grade than they were using last November.

I think it is $79 pre-cruise or $89 on board, so that’s correct.

There’s a drink package other than the one that comes with the All Inclusive?

The price of, well everything, is up. This doesn't seem out of line.

We arrived there on the 23rd. No real issues. Disembarked, walked a small distance to get our bags, a very short distance to immigration (you need your visa) and then just a few steps to the waiting shuttles. I've heard Galataport described as a maze. This was very easy.

for us both were tendered. Santorini with a local tender which was very much throw on the pax.

I do understand, but I think there is a market for small places, and if WS would market it properly with a notice "Why we are skipping the usual ports..." Maybe :small ships, off the beaten path, avoid the crowds, experience unspoiled destinations." and add " We truly are 180 degrees from the ordinary, In Tahiti they have it is spades! That is the WS I love and remember and they seem to have strayed. I'd grab it. In terms of the crowds, it was impossible to get anything out of town without wading tyhrough the mass of humanity all the was around the port to get there, and then back.Santorini was ever worse the line to go up the cable car was 90 minutes, and back down almost as long, and couldn't even look at a shop, the crowd just herded along, Everyone was complaining and said thier day was ruined. Yes, outside down in the country was great, but is was the getting there part. Borum and Kushadadi were better. I had great morning walks both days.

Just off the Legend. Food improved, same great crew, all good on that account. But the destinations were so not windstar. I'll just mention two. Santorini and Mykanos. Both were overcrowded with multiple mega ship to the point of disaster. Kusadashi was almost as bad although we did have views of the Azamara next door where people were running around naked. What happened to the old Windstar that was proud of seeking out off the beaten path ports. I may as well have been on a megaship. Even the tours seemed like no one even tried.

They stick to times. If it say 8:30 departure, be in the lounge by 8:15, they mean it. They will track you down and not be nice. Don’t mess with the tour desk, you’re holding up a lot of people and if you aren’t on time, and they will leave without you no refund.

Departing Greece on Thursday, and have out test result sent to us by PDFs. Does anyone know if that will suffice or whether we need to have them printed. I'd normally just print but that would be difficult from where we are in Athens.

Hide if you don’t want to be caught into stupid participation stuff. A good time to heed the call of nature and admire the sunset.

We have found that the hotter the weather becomes and the more tropical the location, the more the dress code is relaxed. I recall one blistering hot day where we all came back puddles and they said to not bother to dress for dinner just put on clean shorts and t-shirts if we wanted. You could hear the signs of relief.

And such a nice neat cabin!

Yes. Not sure how far.

Correct, and this is one reason to board early. This has been our custom. We board a little after they open boarding. Make reservations for dinner, dump carryons in the cabin and go have lunch. Stop by reception to say Hi, we're back, the captain who we likely know may be walking around. We're sipping our glass of rose as others begin to wander in. After lunch, the bags are in the room, we unpack and then either nap or go up on top, and see who we know is on the bar crew. Nice day.

At least in November the daily sheet with the crossword was gone. Reception just shrugged and said we don't have them any longer.

Yes, two packages, two devices, and that means simultaneous, I use by phone on deck, and then can work on the laptop in the cabin later. The signin system is web based now, and much easier to use once you get the hang of it. I showed many pax how to do it. The service itself, remains wildly erratic, set your expectations low and you might be lucky. On the breeze last fall you had to re-login each time you move to a different router. Really annoying.

To my knowledge, WS had never required a PCR test. Always Antigen. And I don’t see it as a problem. We’re moving to a stage where Covid is sort of like the flu as long as you’re vaccinated and being boosted. Just one more than thing to deal with. There is no major bubble but part of life.

Other than getting to the table doesn’t everyone take of masks during dinner? You’re eating!

Good idea. There was one couple in the Yacht Club playing a lot of cribbage but they came and left with their own board.

This may all have since changed, but in November on the Legend we were told that a number of changes were Covid-related. The video collection was gone, as was the library, which IIRC was in the little room that is used for small meetings, demos and stuff. Also, interestingly, in the Yacht Club the playing cards were gone, but the jigsaw puzzles were still there, random! I don't recall a DVD player in the room, were they ever there past renovation? It's not really something we use. The TV options had been improved with more channels, and there were some streading videos, more than in the past and playable on demand. We buzzed through the few that looked interesting in a couple days. I assumed the movies were loaded onto a shipboard server and not streamed over the satellite. I guess I could watch Netflix on my laptop, but with the speed issues I'd think that would be an exercise in frustration.

From the article, it sounds like the exceptions are where countries still require pre-cruise testing. I'm surprised about Greece, since they're generally quite open. The exception to this new testing procedure is that Windstar must follow the local rules and regulations of all the countries it visits and currently Canada, Greece, Australia and New Zealand (subject to change) still require COVID-19 pre-testing prior to boarding any ship in their respective waters.

It is but IMHO they ruined it by plopping down a huge white box in the middle of it that holds the kitchen and I'm not sure what else. It blocks the views and just makes it feel closed and cramped. I miss the old configuration. Instead of the old scattered tables most of them are lined up in rows, cafeteria style.

You also can cancel and change when on board - within the time limit. I've seen the tours tend to be higher priced when on board, only known since I took the list I'd downloaded from the website before the cruise and the brochure in the cabin had higher prices.

I'd say we have at least one tour canceled on every itin. I have the impression that it is usually due to lack of interest. Someones the tour we change to has only a few people on it either. This can work to your advantage if you have lots of on board credit. The canceled tour gets a credit on your account and the new one you but come off your on board credit. On our last itin we have at least 3 tours canceled and would up with over a thousand bucks credit on our account that was paid to us after the cruise.