Live from the Windsurf Transatlantic crossing to Barbados

After sailing on Windstar 45 times over the years, I'm happy to report everything has never been better aboard! The condition of the ship, the outstanding level of service by the crew and the quality of the food have never been higher.

The only glaring execption has been the string of false promises from the Windstar Seattle Headquarters made to us and other passengers about refunds in the form of a check or as shipboard credits we would receive at embarkation for (in our case $500 total) for costs related to rebooking our return air flights from Barbados instead of from St Martin because of Windstar's last minute rerouting change.

On embarkation last week, we provided the on board guest relations manager with the email evidence from Windstar Seattle about the $500 promised to us and now the Seattle office is not fulfilling their promise.

Not only that, Windstar Seattle are no longer committing to the amount promised us and have told the on board guest relations manager they will be reviewing every submission again and then mailing checks at some unspecified date in the future. This has many of us feeling very angry. I will update this string as the situation evolves.

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Hi, This is Susanne. So happy the cruising is going well. We were on the ship in May for the Venice/ Croatia cruise. It was such an outstanding cruise and it was our 20th perfect. It is perplexing to me that the disconnect between Seattle and what happens on the ship is almost like they are two completely different companies. Astounds me. I have, on occassions, written WS to tell them they need to act on a negative issue. I have written them about the disconnect and when we knew there was going to be an embarkation changes after the hurricane and they weren’t posting I wrote and received a reply thanking me for evidence!

For us the 20 cruises we have taken perfect, not one issue. My family, cousins, and friends I must say a good amount and I am batting 100% on them repeating. I must say the reservationists are much better and more informed than in the past. We keep going and loving it. Two weeks on the Surf in January big b-day celebration with our oldest friends one repeater one new. So glad all is well for you. Thanks for writing. Hope the tap dancing lessons are going well! Who is the Captain and how many people? Good luck with the fee issue. Let’s hope Seattle gets its act together, too much at stake we are hoping for 20 more cruises in our future. Happy Sailings. Susanne

Ahoy Suzanne, Thank you for adding your comments. I remain hopeful that Seattle Windstar will do the right thing with all of us quickly. Honestly, most of us already have charges on our shipboard accounts that exceed what Windstar owes us! Why they don't make good on their promises is beyond me.

Our Captain on the crossing is wonderful Gerald Hogan. I remember when he was First Officer on the Wind Song years ago!

There are approximately 140 passengers. And yes, Larry's tap class is in full swing and very popular and well attended again. Wish you were here! :D

Hi, I wish I were as well. Would be if it were not for the big birthday. That is in January. When you are from the NE it is January you would like to rid from the calendar.

Today on Cape Cod 35 with a wind chill of 20 grim. Love Gerry he was the Captain in May, hope he remains on in January, heard it might be Pedro Pinto who we also love. Crossed the Pacific with him on the Spirit. Have a great time. Tap away Larry! Susanne

Give Capt regards from Brown's in Clearwater, Fl. Is his wife aboard too? Great couple. Also hoping they are on in January. We were with them in Scotland/Ireland in June and somewhere the year before but couldn't remember which sailing. May have had something to do with wine consumption. What are you all spending money on during a crossing? Seattle - are you listening? Happy sailing.

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After sailing on Windstar 45 times over the years, I'm happy to report everything has never been better aboard! The condition of the ship, the outstanding level of service by the crew and the quality of the food have never been higher.

The only glaring execption has been the string of false promises from the Windstar Seattle Headquarters made to us and other passengers about refunds in the form of a check or as shipboard credits we would receive at embarkation for (in our case $500 total) for costs related to rebooking our return air flights from Barbados instead of from St Martin because of Windstar's last minute rerouting change.

On embarkation last week, we provided the on board guest relations manager with the email evidence from Windstar Seattle about the $500 promised to us and now the Seattle office is not fulfilling their promise.

Not only that, Windstar Seattle are no longer committing to the amount promised us and have told the on board guest relations manager they will be reviewing every submission again and then mailing checks at some unspecified date in the future. This has many of us feeling very angry. I will update this string as the situation evolves.

 

 

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Good news to report. Windstar Seattle Office Supervisor of Voyage Services, Jermaine Tagi, notified the Guest Relations Manager aboard our ship that he would finally approve the $500 refund Windstar promised us back in September. According to Marina, our on board Guest Relations Manager, Mr Tagi apologized for the multiple failures by the Seattle staff to issue refunds before now, even after receiving the passenger airline documentation months ago. Our shipboard account has been fully credited the $500 amount promised by Windstar.

The staff aboard Windstar ships work so tirelessly to provide passengers with the very best service, I hope the Seattle Office will work harder to better emulate the high standards consistently achieved shipboard.

The overall on board experience on this crossing has been supurb. We love and so cherish the personalized attention by the dedicated crew every time we board A Windstar vessel.

One highlight of this crossing has been the opportunity to take a tap class every day offered by Larry Crummer, one of the passengers, andthe for the entire class to perform during the cocktail hour in the Windstar Lounge. It's been a really fun way to get exercise and make new friends.

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Bravo Larry, that picture brought back so many fun memories. Thank you Jim for taking the time to post. I unfortunately do not recognize anyone except Larry from past cruises. So happy Seattle came through, that your having such fun and all is well. I can barely wait for my two week turn 1/6.

Happy Sailing all. Susanne

So happy that Windstar finally did the right thing. Persistence pays off.

We are looking forward to our 2 weeks aboard the Surf on January 27. Have never done the crossing in our 20 trips. Would love to see more posts Gymswim.

Would love to know who our captain will be. Last year they changed captains mid February during our 2 week trip, so we had one week with Capt. Hogan and one week with Capt. Pinto. Both delightful. But we do miss Capt.John Clark.

So happy that Windstar finally did the right thing. Persistence pays off.

We are looking forward to our 2 weeks aboard the Surf on January 27. Have never done the crossing in our 20 trips. Would love to see more posts Gymswim.

Would love to know who our captain will be. Last year they changed captains mid February during our 2 week trip, so we had one week with Capt. Hogan and one week with Capt. Pinto. Both delightful. But we do miss Capt.John Clark.

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We are joining you on Jan 27 th. Can’t wait. :p

So happy that Windstar finally did the right thing. Persistence pays off.

We are looking forward to our 2 weeks aboard the Surf on January 27. Have never done the crossing in our 20 trips. Would love to see more posts Gymswim.

Would love to know who our captain will be. Last year they changed captains mid February during our 2 week trip, so we had one week with Capt. Hogan and one week with Capt. Pinto. Both delightful. But we do miss Capt.John Clark.

I started a roll call

Very happy that head office rectified the situation. We are doing a two week cruise on the Windsurf out of Barbados in a few weeks. We're very much looking forward to being on the ship again. On board service has always been top notch. However, we are very unhappy about Windstar offering up to $1000 in shipboard credits to new passengers signing up for the cruise. We feel we are being penalized for signing up early and for remaining committed to the cruise in spite of all the changes.

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So happy that Windstar finally did the right thing. Persistence pays off.

We are looking forward to our 2 weeks aboard the Surf on January 27. Have never done the crossing in our 20 trips. Would love to see more posts Gymswim.

Would love to know who our captain will be. Last year they changed captains mid February during our 2 week trip, so we had one week with Capt. Hogan and one week with Capt. Pinto. Both delightful. But we do miss Capt.John Clark.

We miss John Clark as well. We did two wonderful transatlantics with him.

Very happy that head office rectified the situation. We are doing a two week cruise on the Windsurf out of Barbados in a few weeks. We're very much looking forward to being on the ship again. On board service has always been top notch. However, we are very unhappy about Windstar offering up to $1000 in shipboard credits to new passengers signing up for the cruise. We feel we are being penalized for signing up early and for remaining committed to the cruise in spite of all the changes.

 

 

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For a 14 day cruise, the bonus credit is $400. The $1000 credit is for 30 days or more (I think there is only one that is long enough). I booked my crossing and Alaska cruise before the credit. I could get the credit, but to do so, my fare would go up by more than the credit.

 

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Here is a screen capture of the page associated with our upcoming 14 day cruise. It is being offered to new cruisers. They offered us nothing. They did upgrade our cabin which is no big deal for us, just a location change. No on board credit or offer of free wifi.

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If you follow the link to the unexpected shipboard credit sale, you will get to thistle

https://www.windstarcruises.com/unexpected/

Which explains that the credit is $400 for 14 to 21 day cruises. The blurb with "up to $1000"" covers the whole offer, not the benefit for the specific cruise.

I don't know if one can get the Carribean is Open Wi-Fi and credit plus the Unexpected credit or just one.

I know that when my cruise showed a 7 for 7 price and Unexpected credit at the same time, Windstar said it was one or the other, not both. So it wouldn't surprise me if one had to choose between the two offers.

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If you follow the link to the unexpected shipboard credit sale, you will get to thistle

https://www.windstarcruises.com/unexpected/

Which explains that the credit is $400 for 14 to 21 day cruises. The blurb with "up to $1000"" covers the whole offer, not the benefit for the specific cruise.

 

I don't know if one can get the Carribean is Open Wi-Fi and credit plus the Unexpected credit or just one.

 

I know that when my cruise showed a 7 for 7 price and Unexpected credit at the same time, Windstar said it was one or the other, not both. So it wouldn't surprise me if one had to choose between the two offers.

 

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Much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

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Thanks for the advice. It worked to our benefit. Mind you both our TA and I had to do a lot of follow-up with WS. It was very confusing but we prevailed.

If you follow the link to the unexpected shipboard credit sale, you will get to thistle

https://www.windstarcruises.com/unexpected/

Which explains that the credit is $400 for 14 to 21 day cruises. The blurb with "up to $1000"" covers the whole offer, not the benefit for the specific cruise.

 

I don't know if one can get the Carribean is Open Wi-Fi and credit plus the Unexpected credit or just one.

 

I know that when my cruise showed a 7 for 7 price and Unexpected credit at the same time, Windstar said it was one or the other, not both. So it wouldn't surprise me if one had to choose between the two offers.

 

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So did you get the onboard credit and free WiFi?