ryndam

Good heavens! Is the hull really that rust-streaked?

Just a quick reminder for those that learned expensive lessons with our credit card issuers (especially Visa and Mastercard)...there is no way to dispute any charges on these cards after 520+/- days from the initial charge (depending on the issuer). We watch these dates very carefully now, for any vendor requesting/requiring any type of deposit for any future service greater than 500 days in advance. Rob

I stand corrected. In the original cabins there's a US plug and a European plug at the desk. There's also a European plug and two USB ports under the TV.

Returned from Star Pride last month. The TV pulls away from the wall and swivels. It can be watched from the bed with no issues.

Just returned from Star Pride. The original cabins only have two outlets: one US and one (2-prong) European above the desk; no outlets of any type next to the bed. There were also two USB ports on the wall under the TV. The new cabins have additional US and European outlets and, as noted, are shown on the Windstar website's cabin photos.

You cannot make specialty restaurant reservations in advance on Windstar. During the onboard check-in process, there will be a restaurant manager on duty at check-in. That is when you can make both Cuadro 44 and Candles reservations. They cannot be reserved in advance. Rob

Great review, diebroke. Thanks for posting. I quoted your comment about the open bridge policy. On the Star Pride, the bridge doors also were often closed due to inclement weather, with a "closed" sign on the door. We usually just walked around in front of the bridge, got an officer's attention and indicated with hand signals if we could be allowed on the bridge. Every time they motioned us to come around and they opened the doors. All bridge personnel were masked and as a professional and health-related courtesy to the bridge crew, we also donned our face masks when on the bridge. The only time the bridge was truly closed was when maneuvering in or out of ports. Due to Covid protocols, we were told that no more than 6 guests were allowed on the bridge at the same time, however, every time we visited, we were the only two pax there. Thanks again for your observations. We look forward to cruising again on the Pride, Legend or Breeze on a cruise in a warmer climate when we can enjoy all the outdoor decks, bars and the swim platform! Rob

There are at least three live Broadway theaters with actual Broadway addresses: Palace Theater: 1564 Broadway Winter Garden Theater: 1634 Broadway Broadway Theater: 1681 Broadway https://broadwaydirect.com/theatre/palace-theatre/ https://shubert.nyc/theatres/winter-garden/ https://shubert.nyc/theatres/broadway/ Rob

We were on Star Pride for 18 days last month. It was a port intensive itinerary with only 3 sea days. Our T-Mobile phone plan provides unlimited LTE/3G/5G roaming and text messaging in virtually all countries in the world. We just used our phones when we were in port. The cellular connections ashore were so sophisticated and strong, we were picking up the land-based cellular signals onboard, even when we were miles from the coast. The onboard cell service plans were rather pricey (i.e. $35/day =/-). Even the ship's front office was advising against it; they were offering a "1-day-free-trial-see-if-you-like-it" before you had to commit. When the ship's officers are discouraging the onboard internet package, you know that it is not of much useful value. Go with very low expectations and plan to use your land-based services when ashore as a more reliable back-up "plan B". Rob

I scanned this list on the Star Pride in July 2022. These are the wines that are included as part of the beverage package. Availability may vary, depending on how/when/where supplies are restocked onboard.

We just returned from 18 days on Star Pride. There were about 80+/- movies on demand on the TV. There was no DVD player in the room. I do not recall seeing any DVD's on the shelves or in cabinets in the Yacht Club either. I do not recall a library onboard. There were several music channels available on the TV. There were several satellite TV stations available, but I do not recall either Hulu or Netflix available on the TV. Based on our experience, I would recommend loading up your Kindle (or preferred personal device) with as many books, journals, movies, etc. before you leave home. Rob

Taken on Star Pride last month.

Yes it is.

Copies of the current Candles and Quadro 44 menus are attached. Rob

Background • Over 600+ days cruising with Crystal Cruises from 1994 through February 2020. • Last cruised Windstar Cruises on the sailing yachts WindSong in 1993 and WindSpirit in 1995 when under previous HAL ownership. • Never sailed Star Pride under its previous incarnations as Seaborne Pride or as Star Pride prior to its “stretching”, so we have nothing to compare its previous ownership or configuration. • Booked this 18-day b2b from Leith-Kirkwall-Norwegian fjords-Faroe Islands-circle Iceland r/t Reykjavik for the itinerary. Sailed from Leith on 7/15/22 and disembarked in Reykjavik on 8/2/22. Hits • The yacht is beautifully maintained, very tastefully furnished, spotless after it’s “stretching” and extended dry-dock. • The cabin is ginormous compared to Crystal’s non-penthouse, “standard” cabins. Huge living area, massive flat screen TV visible from bed and living room, walk-in closet, double sinks in bathroom, previous bathtubs replaced with walk-in shower with hand-held wand and rain-shower overhead; more drawer and counter space than we could possible fill on this 18-day voyage; excellent black-out curtains on the massive picture window (no balcony), the window-sill in front of the picture window is large enough to sit in it, separate privacy curtains to separate living area from sleeping area. Overall, an excellently appointed cabin. Excellent soundproofing…we heard no neighbors or noises from anywhere outside the cabin. • The staff and crew are amazing. Most are long-tenured and have been with Windstar for many, many years. Virtually all returned, without hesitation to Windstar, once operations restarted. The comradery of the crew is self-evident from the moment you step onboard. By the second day onboard, we were addressed by name by virtually all staff members, the bar tenders and waiters knew our preferences by the second evening. Most of the service staff is Indonesian, Filipino or Thai. Their warm, friendly, genuine hospitality makes you want to adopt all of them and take them home! If you do not feel part of the Windstar “family” when you finally disembark, well, I don’t know how to respond. Everyone onboard speaks of “family”, and the word is not used lightly. Service = 6* +++++. • Open bridge policy. Except when maneuvering in/out of ports, the bridge is open to all guests 24/7. We spent many a late evening on the bridge with the officers, observing the midnight sun, getting 1-on-1 explanations of the ship’s operations, its features, the “stretching”, etc. The officers were all approachable and eager to have guests on the bridge so they could share their knowledge and love of cruising the world. • The size of the yacht. You can get anywhere in less than 5 minutes. • Small yacht = dock virtually anywhere. We only had two tender port landings. Tender service is seamless, just go down to Deck 3 and board. The tenders are high-ceilinged and very spacious. • As a longer b2b cruise, unlimited complimentary laundry service was included. Left clothes in laundry bag before leaving cabin for dinner; clothes returned on hangers or folded by 3pm the next afternoon. Dining • Many varied number of venues for such a small yacht. • Yacht Club on Deck 8. 270 deg. views over the bow with a wrap-around outdoor viewing deck. Specialty coffees and very light pastry and snack selections, usually 6am-6pm. • Star Grille & Star Bar on Deck 8. It’s the outdoor barbecue grille for lunch, with standard selections and varying daily specials. Unfortunately, it was lightly used for lunch and never opens for dinner on this windy, cold, wet itinerary. It would be a very lovely venue when sailing in warmer climates. • Verandah/Candles aft on Deck 7. This room is used for the breakfast buffet; standard quality, usual breakfast buffet selections, but can custom order eggs benedict (delicious), waffles, French toast, pancakes and omelets made-to-order. This is the only venue open for lunch (buffet service), other than the outdoor Star Grille. Daily specials at the lunch buffet, but nothing to write home about. At dinner, this room morphs into the reservations-only (no additional charge) Candles restaurant. The menu features grilled seafood, steaks, and veggies from its own dedicated kitchen. It’s a nice change from the main restaurant, since Candles has full length windows (the views are spectacular while sailing this far north). There is a very nice outdoor, covered dining terrace. Unfortunately, due to the cold, wet, windy weather conditions on this cruise, the outdoor terrace was unusable; it would be very nice when sailing in warmer climates. • Quadro 44 on Deck 6. Open for dinner by reservation only (no additional charge). We dined there three times on this cruise. In our opinion, one of the most unique venues at sea. This restaurant would be Michelin-starred anywhere in Spain. It has its own kitchen and specializes in Mediterranean-style/Spanish-style tapas, meant to be shared. The grilled octopus is amazing. The Covina is perfectly prepared. Service is outstanding. On our second visit, the chef and the servers already knew what dishes we enjoyed during our first visit, and were already offering double portions of our favorites! Food = 6* +++++. Service = 8* (more if we could give more stars!). • Amphora is the main restaurant way down on Deck 3. Being so close to the waterline, the outside views are through portholes, so this is essentially a “room-without-a-view”. That said, the décor is beautiful. It is open for breakfast, with the same menu as the Verandah upstairs. The difference is, all courses are served, and not buffet-style as in Verandah. We preferred breakfast here. It was much quieter, all dishes were prepared-to-order, and it was not a buffet! Amphora is not open for lunch. For dinner. It is officially “open seating”, but once you discover a preferred service-team, the maitre’d will generally hold your table for the entire cruise. Dinner is 7p-9p; we generally arrived at 7:30p, and always had the same service team at the same table. Windstar has an association with the James Beard Foundation, and each meal highlights several courses from James Beard award winners. The “James Beard” selections were always delicious. Each dinner featured 3-4 starters, a couple of salad options, a couple of soup options, at least 4-5 main course options, 2-3 dessert options. Steak, chicken, fish options are available every day. Dinner was the culinary highlight of the days’ meals and we were never disappointed. Portion sizes are appropriate and manageable; we never felt the need to order “half-sized” portions as we often had to on Crystal. The lobster tails were the best we have ever had, either on Crystal or ashore! Absolute perfection! The soufflé’s were oven-fresh, and the lightest, fluffiest ever eaten! The ship’s baker deserves a Michelin star for each and every pasty, roll, and croissant! • Room Service is available 24/7. The full breakfast menu is always available during regular breakfast service hours. The full Amphora dinner menu is available during regular dinner hours. There is a wide selection of soups, sandwiches, burgers, snacks, etc. available all day and night. (no additional charge for any room service). Bars, Wines and Liquors • This is a small yacht. There are only two bars. The outdoor Star Bar on Deck 8 and the Compass Rose on Deck 6. Waiters continually roam the yacht and will take bar orders from virtually anywhere and deliver your libation to you virtually anywhere. • Specialty coffees, bottled waters and soft drinks are included as part of the base cruise fare. • We opted to add the full, additional cost beverage package once onboard. A la carte drink prices range from $8 beers to $12 wines-by-the-glass to $10-$15 mixed cocktails. If one only consumed one glass of wine at dinner + one glass of wine at lunch + one pre-dinner cocktail + one post-dinner cocktail, the beverage package more than paid for itself. We consumed more than that (lol). The package basically gets you open bar throughout the ship and 35± wines; no signing bar chits or receipts; the bar staff knows you are on “the package” by the second day onboard. Liquors are generally “top shelf” brands (Ketel One, Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire, Makers Mark), but not as extensive as Crystal due to storage limitations on the yacht. The cabin min-bars are well stocked with beers, wines and liquors; these are also included as part of the beverage package and are restocked daily. The included wines were adequate once we found a few whites and reds that we preferred. Again, selections are not as extensive as Crystal due to storage limitations. Windstar allows each guest to bring their own wine onboard for personal consumption in their cabin; the quantity of bottles allowed onboard varies based on the length of the cruise. This is NOT a cruise to sample the best wines-of-the-world; there is simply not enough space onboard to offer any type of extensive selection. Entertainment & Enrichment • This is a small yacht. The itineraries are port intensive. We had only 3 full sea days during our 18-day b2b. • No casino. • No children’s room/activities. In fact, Windstar discourages children under age 12. There is simply nothing for them to do onboard and food selections are not geared to children’s tastes. • Surprisingly well-stocked shop onboard, given the yacht’s size. • We had one lecturer onboard. His expertise was astronomy and the stars. If you were interested in this subject matter, his presentation style was very informative. If you were not interested in the subject matter, well, that was about it. • There were two resident music groups that alternated sets in the Compass Rose pre-dinner and after-dinner. The Delight Duo from Columbia know Ana & Humberto (long-time Crystal Cove duo) and their style, personality and performances are very similar to Ana & Humberto. (It was so nice to make that Crystal-connection!) The Top Society quintet are from the Philippines and are similar in style to so many other onboard quintets. Evening entertainment mostly consisted of music, conversation, watching the midnight sun and rounds of cocktails. • There were a couple of evenings when local entertainers came onboard prior to sailing. There’s a weekly crew show, the cruise director does double duty as an occasional main stage singer, but that’s about it. • The interactive TV in the cabin has a wide selection of movies, a dozen or so satellite TV stations, and hours-and-hours of varied recorded music selection. • The shore excursion manager doubles as the port lecturer. His daily port lectures were very informative, entertaining, and they were not veiled sales pitches for the ship’s shore excursions. He and his two assistants were very helpful and always accessible and visible, whether in port or on the gangway and the pier when we were in port. • We did not expect any sort of entertainment or enrichment series anywhere close to Crystal, so we certainly were not disappointed. This was a port intensive itinerary. That said, we probably closed down the Compass Rose at midnight on quite a few occasions, followed by a late visit to the bridge before turning in. Other Random Observations • For a small yacht, the gym area is unusually well equipped. • There is a co-ed steam room, sauna and heated chaise lounges (no additional charge). • There is a hot tub on the bow (not used much on this cruise due to nasty weather), and another hot tub mid-ship. • There is a nice, infinity plunge pool mid-ship (filled but not used on this cold, wet trip). • 15x around the “hamster track” on Deck 8 = 1 mile (for those who like to walk their miles). • There are three stair towers and four elevators on this yacht. (The forward elevator is the tiniest elevator I have ever seen anywhere; it claims “4 person capacity”, but I have been in residential elevators in private homes that were larger than this dumbwaiter-sized-lift!) • Jacco, former Crystal Society host, was onboard as the ship’s future cruise consultant. He recognized us immediately (Jacco was onboard Symphony during our final “Flying-Dutchman-cruise-to-nowhere” in February 2020. An unexpected connection: Jacco on our last Crystal cruise and here again on our first cruise since February 2020.) • Passenger mix a group of well-traveled, experienced voyagers. These folks have been-there-done-that and are adventure-seekers looking for new places. I would guess that we were in the older demographic onboard; median age likely in the mid-50’s, if I had to guess. Nice people, many very loyal and passionate Windstar devotees. Opportunities • Windstar’s shore excursions (not included) are relatively pricey compared to Crystal (or other lines). We only booked one shorex through Windstar; it was a very small group tour with only 18 others. Windstar does send a ship’s escort along with all tours. We arranged private, independent tours in ports that we did not just venture off on our own. • One evening during each segment was Windstar’s signature deck barbecue. It is normally held outdoors on Deck 7. Because of the wet, windy, cold inclement weather on this cruise, it was moved indoors. Maybe it’s better outdoors. On barbecue night, that is the only dinner option. No specialty restaurants. Limited room service. If one enjoys a self-service, picnic-style outdoor barbecue, then one would enjoy this. It was a complete and total miss for us, and rather than the “signature highlight” of the cruise, it was actually the lowest “low-point” for us. I had a conversation with the hotel manager and suggested that some sort of alternative dining should be offered for those not interested in an average, picnic-style, buffet dinner. Closing Observations • Incredible staff and crew! • Well-appointed accommodations. • Fantastic, personal yacht size. • Open bridge policy. • Itinerary. • Food selections, preparation and service exceeded our expectations. • We would return, based on the itinerary. This is not an experience for many sea days; it is a fantastic 5* floating hotel to transport you in luxury to unusual, unique and out-of-the-way locations. I will also post these observations on the Windstar CC message board and the Windstar Cruises review board. If anyone has any specific questions, I will be glad to respond. Thanks for taking the time to read this tome! Rob

We just returned from 18 days b2b on Star Pride. The 11-day segment from Leith-Reykjavik had 150+/- guests onboard. The next 7-day segment r/t Reykjavik had 260 +/- guests onboard. Speaking with the hotel manager onboard, Windstar is currently holding capacity at 75% so that they have sufficient empty rooms for Covid isolation (both for crew and passengers). We were told that all ten Deck 3 "porthole" cabins, as well as the very far forward Deck 4 cabins were off-inventory for isolation use. There were approx. 180+/- crew onboard for both segments. Rob

All restaurants open except the Star Grille for dinner. It’s open for lunch only. The weather has been too cold to eat outdoors for dinner.

We were originally assigned 448. 548 would be directly above. Designated ADA rooms. The room is slightly wider than the typical room. The main difference is the bathroom. There’s only one sink in the ADA rooms. All other rooms have two sinks. Don’t be concerned. We were reassigned to 449, a non ADA, “standard” cabin when we checked in onboard! It was literally a last minute reassignment. They are using both ADA rooms 450 & 448 as liquor storage on this trip! We love the location. It is a 15 second walk when the gangway is on deck 4. It’s a 20 second walk when the gangway is on deck 5. The location is very convenient. Rob

On Star Pride now. 154 pax onboard.

We received the same notice for our mid-July departure. Google is your friend. Telehealth is your friend. There are many online telehealth Covid certification sites available. This is one of many and is only $9.99. https://onpoint-testing.com/product/certified-teleservice-covid-testing/?gclid=CjwKCAjwtcCVBhA0EiwAT1fY75V9tWfJA2isDxH6VILyakhVvbkEE1jcVlDr6A1WO7ThOxcWhZSQKhoCHTsQAvD_BwE

According to AIS Marine Traffic, the Zaandam is currently anchored off Freeport, Bahamas as of 7:00am EDT today.