Windsurf December 12

I've made an impulsive decision to book this cruise without doing much research. Since most of the small islands on this trip are off the beaten path(which is, I think, a good thing about the trip) there isn't much about them on the ports of call section. Isla Culebra isn't even in the Caribbean book I have.

What are good things to do on these islands? Is there good snorkeling where the ship anchors or do you have to take a taxi or excursion to get to it? I'm asking mainly about:

Iles Des Saintes

Nevis Island

St. Barthelemy

Isla Culebra

I visited St Thomas and St John on a previous trip and there is plentiful information about them. I would like to hear suggestions of a good hotel for St. Thomas and I'm curious where in St. John the ship anchors.

Click: Isla Culebra for detail info on this tiny island at the east end of Puerto Rico.

Click: Isle de Saintes for detail info on this French island near Guadeloupe.

Click: Nevis Island for details on this tiny island to the west of Antigua.

Click: St. Barts (St. Bartholomey) for details of this French Island situated just 15 miles from St. Martin.

As for things to do on each island, rest assures that your Cruise Staff will have plenty of things and ideas for you and, if you have any special interests, they most likely can accomodate you. However the sites I listed above can give you a lot of info about each of the islands.

Thanks for the links Host Walt.

I'm really looking forward to traveling on a line where the port briefing is about the island - on Celebrity most of it was exhorting us to buy jewelery and stuff at the stores in their program. Even so, I like to be oriented so it is nice to have the information ahead of time - and doing the research is part of the fun.

I bought the cruise this morning. Originally I was going to go solo because my husband didn't have the vacation time available. I mentioned the trip to a friend and she is able to get away so now I'll have a room mate which will add to the fun.

I was able to reserve pre-cruise at the Marriot Frenchman's Reef on points too. I can't believe I have two cruises booked at the same time - this and the Aug 20, 2005 Radisson Diamond.

A solid resource I use for the smaller islands is http://www.frommers.com/destinations/main_caribbean_atlantic/. It has several web pages on each island the 12/12/04 Wind Surf cruise visits (The section on Culebra is listed under Puerto Rico.). I'm taking the same cruise. I booked it because the itinerary looks unique and I've never taken a sailing ship before.

Thanks for the web site Johnny. I liked the descriptions on it.

It looks like a good itinerary to me too and I wanted to try Windstar - really looking forward to the moment the sails unfurl. I grew up reading all the Hornblower and Alexander Kent books.

Before you get to Nevis, you might want to get in touch with biologists Jim and Nikki Johnson by email. They've lived on Nevis for many years and offer many different hikes, from an easy walk to climbing Nevis Peak. I found Jim by chance on the internet and my husband and I were glad we did.

When the tender arrived ashore, Jim was waiting for us right where he said he'd be. He never asked for money until the end of the day.

The reason we liked going with Jim is that it was just the three of us. He tailored the hike to what we wanted to see. It was much nicer than hiking with 10-15 people who all want to ask questions at the same time and who move at different speeds.

And we found out that Jim is the guide that Windstar uses for their hikes. Jim, of course, charged us less than half the price that the ship was selling the excursion for.

You can reach him at walknevis@caribsurf.com

tgg, This is a signature sailing and the included signature excursion is on Nevis and the description doesn't mention the time though it sounds like it will be around half the day so other excursion plans may be hard to fit in.

New Cruiser,

Where did you find the info saying the 12/12/04 cruise is a Signature Voyage? I think the included excursion may be for the Foremast Club (previous cruisers). My docs don't say it will be an inclusive cruise, but I hope you are right!

My documents don't say anything about it either.

I was looking at the signature cruise special page (because I'm considering one for next year):

http://windstarcruises.com/landing_pages/specials4.asp

When I put the cursor over Caribbean Holidays, one of the sailings that shows up is December 12, 2004 Windsurf.

Then if you go to the itinerary for that trip, it includes the description of "Our Formast Club Exclusive Signature shore event". The other signature cruises have similar event descriptions and the other Windsurf St. Thomas sailings don't have the event.

I had trouble believing it as well - I guess we will find out for sure in a couple of weeks.

Curiosity got the better of me and I called Windstar this morning. Was told the 12/12/04 sailing is a Signature Voyage but won't include the extras (free soft drinks, etc.) - they start in 2005. The Nevis shore excursion is free for "alumni" according to the customer service rep. Told him it was misleading to have it listed with the 2005 Signature sailings if it had different inclusions and he agreed. Maybe (hopefully) that will change - I would hate to haul a couple of six packs of Coca-Cola on board to find out it's included after all! The rep said the cruise still had a lot of availability.