Just got back !

We just returned from the Feb 20th sailing of the Wind Surf and could not have enjoyed a better cruise. I have 'bout 20 cruises under my belt (pre-historic Costa 'C', Norway..bless her soul...Pacific Princess yada.. yada.. yada...)

This cruise was by far one of our most enjoyable. The food was superb, 'cept for one day, but I can live with one out of seven.

The stewards and stewardesses did actually remember your name !!!

(and I used my 'original' name just to make it difficult to check this out)

As for the diving, I dove Utila which was nice, down to 80 ft. waters were clear but not as clear as some dives I have taken, i.e. Bora Bora, Ta-hiti etc.

The surface was extremely rough, resulting in some injuries to participants (one of whom was me..) the Dive Personel were superb..the local dive boats were the problem....coated with ENAMEL paint which turned out to be extremely slippery under the existing sea conditions. (one of our seasoned divers chucked up breakfast several times) so we looked for sharks, but none came to the surface. The snorkelers 'whale shark dive' on the other side of the island was cancelled... Roatan beach had almost as many fish in the shallows as did Utila...folks who dove Roatan said the same thing. I could not dive for the rest of the journey due to my leg injuries sustained on the dive boat. :(

Biggest bummer was the EIGHT HOUR BUS TRIP TO COPAN....:eek:

The site was very nice...but...sitting on a bus dodging Guatamalen Semi-truck drivers on peote, attempting to pass one another on a two lane road almost led to leaving skid-marks on a certain part of the this human's anatomy :eek:

Generally speaking this trip was an ADVENTURE, always tempered by returning to the ship and it's 'friendly confines' with it's freindly crew and sumptious menu's.

As to accomodations, we were in rm 145 on the water level deck...Yes, at times the water did spash by the portholes, did it bother me? no, since my own boat is'nt much higher off the surface of the sea. If it 'bothers' you the existing curtains, when drawn, give the impression that you are on deck 14 of the Grand Princess. Then you can lull yourself to sleep with the 'natural' sound of rushing water to sooth yourself to sleep.:eek:

All in all ,we'd do it all again, cept for the Copan trip, next trip to the Med in late Summer.;)

Sandpebble -

thank you so much for your post and review. I check here everyday, and its always great to see a new review.

Were there any standouts not to be missed in the dining room?

Beth :)

Hello Sandpebble --

Thanks for the posting. Like Pudgesmom I wish there was more traffic on the Windstar thread. I guess that's the price we pay for avoiding the floating hotels (which I must admit I've sailed on several times and enjoyed thoroughly!)...

Anyway: we're doing the same trip later this month, and we're pretty excited. I wonder if I could as you a few questions?

1) Did you see anything of Puerto Cortez or Omoa? Or did they just hustle you on and off the bus to Copan? I wish I knew what to expect in these ports. Even before reading your review I'd decided to skip Copan; 8 hours on a bus is no vacation for me. So I'm hoping there will be something interesting in these ports...

2) Any specific impressions of Costa Maya/ Mahahual?

Now, a few dive-related questions:

3) Did you do your dive with the Windsurf's excursion office, or did you book it independently?

If you dove through the ship:

4) Aren't there a couple of ship's staff members who are dedicated to the dive operation? Sort like a Dive Host?

5) Did these Dive Hosts actually get in the water with you and act as the divemasters? Or did they push you off onto a local dive operation and then go have a cocktail?

6) If you brought your own gear: did they have a place for you to store it overnight? Other than your own stateroom, that is!

7) Did the ship provide BCs, Octos, and regulators? Were they in nice shape?

8) How many divers were on your dive?

9) Did the trip start right at 8:30? What time did it return to the ship?

Sorry for all the annoying detail questions, but it's all stuff I've been wondering about. Any further information you can provide will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

To PudgesMom;

The standouts in the menu category had to be the multitude of chilled soups (both veggie & fruit) as well as the DESSERTS, BREADS & PASTERIES.. YUM!!!. At breakfast, try the 'smoothies' from fruit that I have rarely tasted. The main course normally was either seafood or beef/lamb. I asked for an end cut...and got it nicely prepared. Scallops were just right, on a bed of fresh greens. The Lamb was just right, slightly pink but not 'runny pink'. Hope this helps..:o

Gonedownlately?

I'll try to answer you as best I can...

Puerto Cortez & Omoa...

This was the origin and ending of our Copan Marathon...Puerto was exactly that, a seaport unloading dock from which we left on our buses...

Omoa was a bay that the ship moved to after disgorging those of us hell-bent on Mayan Archeology

As we arrived 'bout 8 P.M. there was little to see other than the surreal appearance of the solitary ship in the empty bay with all it's lights displayed...

My best advice for this port/ports is to bring plenty of lotion and a good book...

Costa Maya/ Mahahual?

the dock (it's a LONG WALK!)there is a shuttle... mates to a touristy shopping court in which only a few 'stores' were open due to the scarcity of passengers and possibly due to the greater knowledge of same, that there were no 'bargins' here. Just outside the tourist bazaar is a stand were they will arrange a bus to cart you off to the 'fishing village' of Mahahual..it is a quintessential 'Mexican' village remeniscient of prior Acapulco's, Cancun's Playa del Carmen's etc...take a palapa with a Mayan hummocka (fits three! try it!) and laz away the day.

The owner of the site owns a restaurant just the other side of the 'road'..buy a beer or order some tacos and make him happy then swim, sun and 'hang' all day. A taxi will take you back to the ship at days end.

Diving...OK

I scheduled thru the ship's dive group. There is a dedicated group of certified divers that will 'test' your underwater prowess in the surging pool during the at sea day. Normal stuff, pull off your regulator put it back, flood your mask blow it out...all while you are being surged back and forth in the tiny pool..but HEY its an ADVENTURE...

The dive masters did accompany us to the sites and were excellent. My Dive Master, a Lady, gave me her safety regulator when my air went to 500 and we swam around 'attached' as it were, for another 20 mins. I cant say enough about their dive personnel.

Must admit, I rather enjoyed the pretty ladies company, even reduced my rate of breathing...

guess I'm gettin olde..shoulda done just the opposite..

Did the ship provide BCs, Octos, and regulators?

YES, all equipment was in good shape. There were more problems with the equipment brought by the Divers...enough to delay some of us from getting to the coral...you know how happy that makes the rest of us...I saw a small number of gigantic dive bags being dragged about the ship...IMHO you dont NEED to take your 'stuff' unless you have a great attachment to a particular item, for me that is a Rx mask and my ittle blue snorkel...a mouthpiece for the ship's regulator would also be a convienient item to take. Also the Dive shop is literally in the stern of the ship by the non-functional dive platform, you can safely store your gear there.

The dive boat was full, I guess bout 12 divers and they did leave pretty much on time.

The only 'local' part was the dive boats and you know what I think of them already...:rolleyes:

Well enough for now, hope this helps prepare you for a great cruise !!!

Thanks for all the details. You've helped a lot!

And, you've also made me really hungry!

Thanks sandpebble,

I appreciate your response. We're looking forward to the diving on our Windstar cruise,too.

Beth :)

As stated Puerto Cortez is a big nothing....just a supply stop and drop off point for some excursions. Omoa is a little bit more interesting...the people were very friendly and it seemed like some of them weren't sure what to do with the "tourists" ...they don't see them very often! Be sure to wear bug spray...lots of sand fleas!! I didn't and was the "poster child" for bug spray the rest of the week..I still have some bites after almost a month! We didn't walk up to the fort but several people who did said it wasn't wonderful...just OK. ..not necessarliy a "must see". We did have a nice afternoon though bar hopping from palapa to palapa. The locals tried really hard to speak english and make us feel welcome..and at a dollar a beer it was easy to spend the day lazing around!

We had a funny experience at one bar/resturaunt...they had plastic bags filled with water hanging from the ceiling..when we asked the waiter what they were for he expalined to "keep the bugs away"...You see the bugs land on the bag, see themselves reflected in the water, think it's a bigger bug and fly away because they're scared!

I don't know if it really works or not but we had a good laugh......

The flies and bag-o-water trick is supposed to really work. I know people who swear by it. It's just that most folks don't dig the idea of bags of water hanging around their backyard, I guess... I just wished it worked with spiders, 'cuz man we get a ton of those buggers out here in Texas...

Thanks for the info on these ports, KANDN.

Here's another question for experienced Windstar travelers: Is it true that ship's personnel confiscate your passport upon boarding and hold it until you disembark? Any idea why that is? I've never seen that on any other cruise...

If I remember correctly, they do indeed hold yourpassport and issue a ship ID. It never presented a problem for us when ashore.

I've also heard (and seen) dryer-sheets (w/fabric softener) keep the bugs away. Bit then again, everything in the area ends up smelling sickingly sweet.

It is so nice to read all these great comments and reviews....we're bound for the Windsurf out of Cozumel on March 27th. It's been a couple of years since we were aboard and we're looking forward to another wonderful cruise. One question.......was the sports/swimming platform put out when you were in port? The last cruise we were on was so rough, it wasn't put out at all....looking forward to launching right off the ship, if that's possible.......

As to the passports, yes they do take them in.

But remember, the ship calls on three different countries and they are required for entry..

As long as we rec'd them back at the end of the cruise, we never even missed them.

As to the dive platform, No they were not able to deploy it during our cruise.

I thought I heard some sort of maintenance issue, did'nt really miss it other than for the 'experience' itself.

We had a fabulous time. It was our first Wind Star cruise and I can't say enough good things.

Since so many people gave us some good advice, I wanted to give some back.

We are not divers but we love to snorkle and we had one of the best snorkle experiences in Utila - for $2 a person! Walk left from the tender dock for around 20 to 30 minutes (or you can get a golf cart or taxi - we wanted to walk off dinner) until you come to a beach (sort of) called Blue Bayou. You'll see a beat-up dock and platform with some benches and an old ladder into the water. Carefully descend the ladder - the bottom steps are slippery with moss- and swim out around 30-40 feet. There you will find a stupendous reef. It will cost you $2 per person for the use of the "facility" for as long as you like. Later in the day we did the $22 cruise-sponsored snorkle and they took us almost to the same place.

Don't miss the Jade Seahorse - we had good lobster salad sandwiches there- even though the walk is long and it's beastly hot. Words can't describe this place as an American (LA, NY) artist created it over many years. Check out http://www.jadeseahorse.com

We did the torture trip to Copan. 3 and 1/2 hours there, 4 hours back. The country is beautiful, Copan is interesting, the town of Copan is charming, and as my husband put it, "I felt like a baked potato in a convection oven."

We enjoyed the cave tubing in Belize, although you do have to paddle the entire time. Other people loved going to San Pedro on Ambergris. No one loved Belize City. It's a pit.

Watch out for the sauces at dinner. They are loaded with cream, so if you don't want it you should ask.

They do take your passports, but will make a xerox of it for you to use as photo ID for getting back on the ship. The boarding passes don't have photos on them. We preferred this to taking our drivers licenses with us. Also, they act as customs agents when we return to Mahahual, so it's a lot easier to let them stamp the passports while you sleep.

Passenger ages were all over the map, but probably skewed toward late 50s/early 60s.

Anyway, I'm jealous of all of you preparing to go.

Enjoy,

Kim

Thanks so much, Kim, for your review. I am devouring all Windstar information while waiting endlessly :rolleyes: for our cruise!

Beth

I was also on the March 6th sailing and had a great time. We loved Utila! I highly recommend Bando Beach, at the far end of town. It's about a 40 minute walk through town, but well worth it and the beach was pretty deserted when we got there. Only about 10 others there. It costs $3 per person to enter the beach and another $3 to rent snorkel gear if you are so inclined. The neat thing about this beach though is that you get your entrance fee back in a bar credit. Beers are $2 and cocktails are $4. You figure you'll end up buying a beer or two anyway. On your way back to the ship, stop by the Seven Seas restaurant and order a Super Baliada! It's a local snack, most easily compared to a messy taco. Well worth it and only about $1.50 in US.

We also went to Copan and although the ruins were cool and the history amazing, it was so hot that I had trouble concentrating on what the guide was saying. It's easy to sleep on the way to Copan; the ride back was worse than the ride in, maybe just because we were all anxious to get back.

Mahahual was very cool also if you like the laid back local kind of thing. We sat at the beach in front of the Pelicanos Bar (the one with swings for seats at the bar) and had a very relaxing day. Many locals were also swimming and enjoying the day. The walk is also about 40-45 min from the cruise pier, but considering all you eat all week, works out to be a nice compromise. If you decide to walk from the cruise pier, be aware that you walk out of the large Costa Maya complex (they are building a large residential community) onto the highway. There is very light traffic, but we were a little confused as to where we were going as the majority of the cruisers took a taxi.

Did anyone take a bottle of liquor aboard. We leave Sunday April 3, 2005.

Thanks Patty

Yes, we brought some wine on board, as well as a bottle of cognac, vermouth and 12 beers. No problem!

We loved Utila too, and it is so nice to hear others say that. Some people on our cruise didn't like it. I have some wonderful photos of the people (especially the children) of this beautiful island.

Roatan is the biggest treat. I am surprised nobody said anything about it here. The zipline tour is so much fun! And the resort that the ship rents for the day is great! And lobster tail for lunch! Yummy.

The scallops were fantastic on the ship. The breadpudding at the lunch buffet was also great. The wine selection was terrible, but they had big problems getting wine on our cruise, so things may have improved.

The best part: the people!

We brought booze aboard and nobody said a word. In fact, most of our party of 12 did, each with the same result.

Porta Cortez/Omoa, unless you are going to the ruins, is more like an At Sea day with a lot of dock time. EXCEPT on our trip, which offered one of the best excusions of the trip, for FREE. Seems there was a bit of a mix-up on the bridge and somebody zigged when they should have zagged, entangling the two anchors/anchor-chains. We spent HOURS watching the ballet of engineers and deckhands trying to unfoul (and eventually CUT) them. Now THAT'S Entertainment.

Other excitment, elsewhere, included Blue Boyou snorkleling (wonderful for 2 bucks), Monkey/Macaws tour (lots of fun), Beach BBQ (great music) and Snorkel (go left from the beach and far enough out to swim over the "wall") and scuba at the Elbow site in Belize (it ain't the Hole, but it's very pretty and the local dive staff are very attentive to details).