Windsailer

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Are masks still being given out on the ship?  If so, are they the good N95 or only the thin surgical (usually blue) ones?  If anyone know who the Hotel manager is, I'd appreciate knowing.  The Front Desk should have a comment box with his/her name and photo 🙂

Colin Jacob. I don't know if they are still giving out masks. I brought my own.

2 hours ago, boeckli said:

 

Thanks for reporting on your experiences. I'm also on the next sailing and hope that the favourable weather continues for us. I've been to Zealandia and agree with your recommendation.

A question please: are masks mandatory on your cruise? I was on Westerdam in Nov/Dec when it was but so far we have not been advised by HAL of any such requirement.

Hope you continue to enjoy your cruise. ☺️

They were mandatory  for the first few days then the Captain said they weren't  required. But with the number of people coughing  I still wear mine in crowds and on buses.  Wish the people who are coughing  would wear them but mostly  they don't. 

I am currently on the Noordam. No one has said anything about canceling Tauranga. But on the other hand they insisted that Napier wouldn`t be cancelled the morning  of 2/16 yet it was csncelled later that day. 

The reason I asked is that people have expressed surprise that a test is necessary when their cruise is less than days away. 

SO what does HAL do if a passenger on a cruise that requires pre-cruise testing shows up to check in and hasn't done the test? Does HAL test them or just refuse to let them board?

Is there a separate area in the MDR for Club Orange passengers? Just unclear how that works!

My Boarding Pass says Priority and lists my check in time as 2:40pm. Group 1. So I can show up long before 2:40pm to check in? 

1 hour ago, Jananza said:

If Sutamba is still the Maître d' and Keilah the hostess when you get there, you're in for a real treat. Our meals there--Eastern Caribbean, 1/7-14/23,--were lovely. 

I am making a note of this! Thanks. 

The HAL PDF describing the program is pretty helpful. It's on the Club Orange page of the HAL website. As far as cost - this is what it says:

"$25/person/day on cruises up to 13 days $15/person/day on cruises 13+ days."

After reading these threads recently I looked into CO and decided to see if it was available on my February cruise. It actually was. And though it did not appear as though there were any cabins were available for the upgrade - I was wondering what the "alterative benefit" would be -  they found me one. I went from a VH balcony - which I was perfectly happy with - to a VA.  Since I was on a roll I also booked it for my August cruise on the NS. A separate dining room will be lovely. Again, I went from a VH to a VA. My TA did take some educating and she finally found someone at HAL who understood the program. 

So in Sydney if you don't have Verifly you can't enter the port check in area?

If it were me I would send HAL a message on their FB page and if no response then post your experience on their FB main page. Very poor customer service. 

22 hours ago, cookmg40 said:

Thanks.  I had a chat with NCL and it gave us all a laugh.  They cannot explain their own rules.  The rep kept telling me to go to the Greece embassy website and I told him that the website says no test is required. 

My sail date is May 29.  Our current plan is to get tested in Athens the day before boarding, which would fulfill the 72 hour and the 24 hour requirement.  If they need a second test, we can take the Eurofins test at the port, which we had to register for.  Please report what your situation was at the port.  Hopefully for the May 15 and May 22 sailings, the information gets a little clearer, as Israel will not be on the itinerary.

Any information from your experience will be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you.

So I just boarded the Jade. Paid for and had the 72 hour before test. They never asked to see it. Pretty irriated by that. 

And NCL didn't notify me either. I wouldn't have known if not for Cruise Critic. 

I wish that NCL would stop changing the rules weekly. I now need to find a place to get tested in Istanbul before I fly to Piraeus. 😞

Thanks!

The reason I ask is that I just booked a cruise on the Jade in May (2 weeks from now!) through the big box store. The fine print references the Premium Beverage Package in 2 places. But when I got to my NCL account this is what it says:

So what is this Adult Beverage Package? Is this something I need my TA to sort out with NCL?

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to cruising again!

I will be boarding the Aegean Odyssey (Road Scholar) ship in May and have been trying to figure out the new cruise ship terminal - Galataport. Is it marked so  boarding passengers can find out where to drop their luggage and the check in desk? The Port's website isn't very helpful So if anyone has some detailed information I would appreciate it! TIA.

4 hours ago, Windstar Cruises said:

After much work, San Juan has just notified us of a J&J vaccine supply available for our crew, so we will go there next week to inoculate the crew.

So the crew will receive the vaccine on 6/28. And the vaccine isn't fully effective until 14 days after vaccination. So will the July 10th cruise be cancelled along with the next two cruises? If so when do you intend to let those passengers know? 

7 minutes ago, sail2day said:

Yes, that is correct. Windstar knew last week when I e-mailed them on June 16th that their crew was not vaccinated and did not have immunity. Royal and Celebrity had their entire crew vaccinated prior to the beginning of their cruses from foreign ports, ie St. Maarten and Nassau.

 

It is obvious that Windstar did not plan well for the beginning of their operations in St. Maarten. The Star Breeze arrived in St. Maarten 10 days before their first cruise. They could have taken a trip to San Juan earlier and vaccinated their crew.

I completely agree. The Star Breeze left Lisbon on May 31 and arrived in St. Maarten on June 9.  They could have made a stop in San Juan (or somewhere else) for the crew to get vaccinated.  Windstar really failed us here. 

As one for the people who had their cruise just cancelled, a question for those of you who have been through the refund process. How were refunds for shore excursions and other purchases handled? Were they refunded separately?  TIA.

I don't think they are cancelling the next 3 cruises. Just the next 2. Since the July 10th cruise was offered as an option for us to move to. But I think not. Increased possibility of hurricanes. 

Windstar sent me a letter as did my travel agent. 

I am sad they waited so long to do it. Nothing has really changed in how the island are handling visitors in the past week. 

Fron Windstar:

We are working diligently with local Caribbean authorities in regards to COVID policies and rules for visiting various island countries. A number of island nations have recently revealed new COVID policies for entry which hinges on vaccination rates. While we can confirm our guests will be 100% vaccinated, we have run into challenges sourcing vaccines for our crew. Due to this new policy, we cannot visit many of the islands on our Caribbean itinerary.  

We have been fortunate to source vaccines for the remaining crew on the Star Breeze but in order to execute this we unfortunately need to cancel your June 26 Caribbean cruise. We apologize for this inconvenience and understand how disappointing this will be for you. 

We are offering a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valued at 125% of monies paid to Windstar Cruises. From there, you have two options:

Option 1:         Book another Windstar Cruise. If you have the flexibility, we hope you can take advantage of a “lift & shift” to another Star Breeze sailing on the same itinerary departing on one of these dates in July 2021 – July 10, July 17 or July 24. We will honor your paid cruise fare on the new sailing and offer you $250 per guest towards offsetting any airline or hotel change fees you may incur. Should you not be able to sail in July, you will have 24 months from the issue date of your FCC to sail with the FCC.  Please allow up to four weeks to receive the FCC certificate. 

Option 2:         Receive a Cash Refund. Should you wish to convert your canceled voyage FCC into a cash refund, you may do so once the FCC certificate is received. Please follow the link on the FCC certificate to request this option. Windstar will deactivate the FCC valued at 125% and process the refund to the original form(s) of payment at 100% of the monies paid to Windstar Cruises. You will have 24 months from the issue date of the FCC to request the refund.  Please allow for up to two weeks to receive the refund. Please note Windstar does not reimburse third party (non-Windstar) travel expenses or fees. However, given the short notice of this cancellation, we will provide you a $250 refund per person to offset any airline or hotel change fees you may incur.

Pretty disappointed.

31 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Stuck on the ship.  It has happened.  At least, is WS giving guests free WiFi?

Stopping at any ports at all? How many passengers are there?

I just did a search for COVID test locations online.

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing

Once I enter my zip code, it takes me to a questionaire that I filled out. Then after I submit it - it pulls up locations. with "rapid result testing". That's what you want. Not drive thru

So try this and maybe there will be success.