gymswim

On Dominica, I really enjoyed the river tubing adventure. It's scenic, fun and a nice way to see some of the inland mountain area. Beach shoes are advisable but not required. You can expect to get wet from a passing shower as well as in the class two rapids section.

At Les Saintes, I took the snorkeling catamaran trip (limited to only 10) and really enjoyed it. Very advisable to sign up early. The sailing portion of the trip was really enjoyable and the crew and boat are good. The sailing portion was almost two hours. The snorkeling site was pretty. The variety of fish and coral was only average.

The catamaran snorkeling trip offered on Nevis was also good, but not as enjoyable because Windstar permitted up to 50 people to go on it. Many of us commented we felt unnecessarily crowded. The catamaran is very comfortable and if it is your only chance to get to sail and in the water, go for it. The boat comes from St Kitts and they sail you back over to St Kitts for the snorkeling portion; so you could probably arrange a trip on St Kitts on your own in advance.

On St Kitts, I just went out to the taxi stand and negotiated a private tour of the island with a driver who was standing around next to his cab. The driver's name is WENTWORTH. He is delightful and very articulate and knowlegable. You can expect to pay about $60 USD for an hour and a half tour which is for the whole cab. If I can find his card with his number, I'll post it later.

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The beach BBQ was on Pigeon Island again. The deck BBQ was in St Kitts harbor. The Captain made the good call to move it from Nevis because of the strong likelihood of rain showers in the late afternoon. Perfect weather all week and we were under total sail power with engines off for the better part of a full day during the cruise.

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Just returned from my 41st Windstar cruise, this time aboard the Wind Surf from St Martin southward to Dominica, St Lucia, Nevis and St Kitts. The cruise was superb. The ship refit is complete and the cabins, dining rooms and public areas look wonderful. Peter Harris is currently the Captain and JJ (Jeffrey) is the Hotel Manager. Both are delightful and make a point to engage with passengers. Daddy and Bewie are managing the two dining rooms. The new menus are good. The ship's staff continue to deliver the excellent personalized service those who have sailed on Windstar before have come to love. Cloud 9 continues to entertain in the Windstar Lounge at night. A very talented female singer who won the British version of the X FACTOR entertained us twice during the week. Ship Wifi continues to be problematic but thanks to my T Mobile cell service, I didn't have any difficulty accessing email and surfing the net and making calls near any of the islands or in the harbors. It was nice to be able to use these features without roaming charges on T Mobile. The Sports Platform staff, led by BJ, introduced me to being dragged around the harbor on a specially designed inner tube which was lots of fun. Much safer than the old banana boat! I took the Laser sailboat out a couple of times and was glad to see it was still in excellent condition. There are also two Hobie cats available for sailors who prefer to remain slightly dryer. The floating mats and the trampoline were also popular on the beach BBQ day especially. In the other ports, it was such a treat to be able swim right off the stern of the ship.

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I was on the Wind Surf this past week. Regretfully, Wind Surf no longer has scuba gear on board, nor does it conduct scuba trips from the ship. It's disappointing since Windstar was once the premier cruise line that offered cruisers the opportunity to discover scuba diving on board. Many of us learned to dive on these incredible ships and became certified divers. There is a whole generation of divers who learned while sailing on Windstar.

These days, Windstar offers excursions to certified divers by contracting with independent operators at selective ports in the Carribean. I booked three certified dive excursions in advance. Two of the excursions were two tank dives. On my week long cruise all three dive excursions were cancelled once we left port because they didn't have the minimum of four certified divers required by the operators they use. To avoid disappointment, I suggest you contract directly with independent operators in advance before you go to avoid disappointment.

Windstar still offers scuba diving on their ship in Costa Rica. Many of us are hoping Windstar will also offer on board scuba again in Tahiti as well, but no announcement has been made yet.

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Hi Susanne! Wonderful to hear from you. We were going on the Tahiti cruise until we discovered the price of the repositioning cruise airfare was more than the cost of the cruise. Meantime three of my colleagues from UC Berkeley who always wanted to sail with me, said they wanted to try a week long cruise in the Caribbean. The air fare from SF wasn't bad and with good connections.

We are at the Wynn in Vegas awaiting the arrival of friends from Avon, CT.

Ever QUOTE=47;40364318]From their website:

http://www.windstarcruises.com/blog/2013/10/windstar-cruises-ranked-2-in-conde-nast-traveler-2013-readers-choice-awards/

Congrats to a wonderful cruise line. We will be taking our 41st Windstar cruise in early November.

Since 1986, when my travel agent booked me on the Wind Song in Tahiti, I continue to rank Winstar as my favorite cruise line. Having sailed on Silverseas, Seabourn and Regent, the overall experience and price point makes Winstar number ONE in my book.

We are doing the Morrocan Coast/ Canary Islands and then sailing for two more weeks on thw Transatlantic.

We will return to St Maartin in January to sail on Wind Surf for a week in the Carribean.. Guess I like Windstar.

Having sailed on Silverseas and Seabourn, I still return to Winstar. Best overall experience and value in my book, especially for those prefering casual, friendly, personalized atmosphere on a smaller ship.

We are looking forward to our Morrocan/Canary Island cruise and continuing on for two more weeks across the Atlantic.