Is Windstar for Us?

[gemjunky]

Hi Everyone. We are "seasoned" cruisers, but have been on "typical" cruise ships. Since my husband doesn't like to dress up, we have been thinking about Windstar, but do have some reservations. First, does anyone "dress" for dinner, i.e. for men, collared shirt and something a little nicer than jeans and for women, a resort-style capris set or pantsuit? Also, hubby is 66 years old and has some mobility issues (he's not in a wheelchair nor has a walker) and balance issues. Do you tender into most ports? Will this ship work for him or not? How much hassle is it to get to the more exotic ports, i.e. planes in/out, customs, language difficulties, etc? Your comments would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

[6rugrats]

Hi Everyone. We are "seasoned" cruisers, but have been on "typical" cruise ships. Since my husband doesn't like to dress up, we have been thinking about Windstar, but do have some reservations. First, does anyone "dress" for dinner, i.e. for men, collared shirt and something a little nicer than jeans and for women, a resort-style capris set or pantsuit? Also, hubby is 66 years old and has some mobility issues (he's not in a wheelchair nor has a walker) and balance issues. Do you tender into most ports? Will this ship work for him or not? How much hassle is it to get to the more exotic ports, i.e. planes in/out, customs, language difficulties, etc? Your comments would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

 

I have been on five Windstar cruises, and have sailed on every one of their ships. Dress is "country club casual", and although it's discussed here sometimes, I have never seen jeans in the dining room on any Windstar cruise. For men, appropriate wear at night is usually Docker style pants and a polo shirt, or a collared shirt. For women, yes, resort style clothing is fine; dresses, capris, pants suits. No formal nights, but people definately don't show up in the lounge at night in T shirts and shorts, or casual wear.

 

Keep in mind that only the Windsurf has an elevator. The stairways are fairly wide, but you will definately need to use them on the other ships. I do not know what you mean by "exotic ports". I don't think of Windstar as going to what I would consider an exotic ports. I have sailed from Barcelona, Athens, Nice and Papeete on Windstar. They are no more difficult to get to than any other ports in the world, customs is not complicated, and in most countries, you will be able to get along fine without knowing much of the language.

 

Windstar does use tenders, but not for all ports. You can look at the itineraries on their webpage, and the tendered ports are marked. This does mean climbing up and down the stairs, and getting into the tender. If the sea is rough, I think it could be difficult, but everyone seems to manage. The crew is great at helping.

 

I would highly recommend Windstar. I've met some wonderful people, the crew is great, love the itineraries and there is nothing like the small ship experience. It's not for everyone, but we always enjoy it.

[Mands&Ian]

No formal nights, but people definately don't show up in the lounge at night in T shirts and shorts, or casual wear.

 

 

 

Random anecdote: The first time we cruised on Wind Surf we walked through the lounge on the way to the dining room on our first night behind another couple. I was surprised to see that the husband of the couple was wearing what we would call jogging bottoms, sweatpants I think? I whispered to the OH that that wasn't really what I'd expected from reading the Windstar documentation.

 

As the couple approached the Maître d' he had a very discreet conversation with them and they turned back and walked through the lounge again and towards their cabin. We were seated for dinner and saw them reappear 10 minutes later with the husband wearing a pair of chinos.

 

Those sweatpants didn't make another appearance for the next two weeks. Casual, but not that casual.

 

Mands

[6rugrats]

Random anecdote: The first time we cruised on Wind Surf we walked through the lounge on the way to the dining room on our first night behind another couple. I was surprised to see that the husband of the couple was wearing what we would call jogging bottoms, sweatpants I think? I whispered to the OH that that wasn't really what I'd expected from reading the Windstar documentation.

 

As the couple approached the Maître d' he had a very discreet conversation with them and they turned back and walked through the lounge again and towards their cabin. We were seated for dinner and saw them reappear 10 minutes later with the husband wearing a pair of chinos.

 

Those sweatpants didn't make another appearance for the next two weeks. Casual, but not that casual.

 

Mands

 

Funny!

 

For the OP - here's a recent thread where clothing on Windstar is discussed:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1176436

[gemjunky]

Thanks so much for your assistance. What I was referring to "exotic ports" were the cruises out of Barbados or Puerto Caldera. To me, those are pretty exotic and a little more difficult to get to than, say, Fort Lauderdale or San Diego. I will look at the other threads about dress. The casual resort style is fine with us - hubby just hates putting on that suit and tie.

[6rugrats]

I have looked at flights to Barbados (BGI) and found the airline that usually has the easiest and least expensive flights to be American. For Costa Rica, (SJO), you may find Continental, American, or Delta to be good. You just have to look. Flying from the west coast, if we go to the Caribbean, it doesn't matter what destination, "exotic" or not; we always have to make at least one stop.

 

No need for a tie or jacket ever on Windstar.

[ksg]

Many of the ports on the Costa Rica itinerary (Puerto Caldera) are reached via "wet" landings. You'd be climbing in and out of a rubber zodiac into the water. The staff gives you a hand, but if the mobility issues were serious, I'd think twice about booking that trip. The other Caribbean sailings were a mix of tenders and docked. To reach the tender one uses a fairly steep portable staircase that can move around a bit if it's windy.

 

I believe that jeans are forbidden in the dining rooms at dinner time. The exception is during the decktop barbeque, when even shorts (nice ones) are permitted. We've been on each ship (4 sailings) and I've never seen anyone dressed sloppily in the evening.

 

Hope this is helpful to you in making a decision.

[chicagogal]

Thanks so much for your assistance. What I was referring to "exotic ports" were the cruises out of Barbados or Puerto Caldera. To me, those are pretty exotic and a little more difficult to get to than, say, Fort Lauderdale or San Diego. I will look at the other threads about dress. The casual resort style is fine with us - hubby just hates putting on that suit and tie.

 

I have sailed on Windstar from both of those ports. I think Barbados is as easy to get to as any international port. Puerto Caldera, on the other hand, requires flying into San Jose in central Costa Rica (which was NOT a non stop flight for us, even being from a big airline hub like Chicago) and then taking a bus about 2 hours to the port of Caldera on the coast. Both were great trips!