Just back from the Windsurf January 18th, 2014

[gymswim]

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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[jumelle]

Dear Gymswim

Thanks for the report. We are going on that cruise in February. Was the beach BBQ on Pigeon Island? And which night was the onship BBQ? Any info on the ports would be much appreciated. How was the weather?

Thanks.

[gymswim]

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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[Strenz]

Hi Bill, Best to Larry the Tapper extraordinaire. Wish you were with us the Trans-Pacific to Tahiti, really anxious to get going! Jealous about the Caribbean such a hard and miserable winter in the NE. Glad your cruise was terrific. Adore Bewei and Daddy, Bobby was on our cruise this fall adore him as well. Gilles is 70 next winter I hope he chooses the Caribbean for birthday. This is our 2nd winter in row with no Caribbean. Great Istanbul -Athens on the Spirit this past October. I am not really suffering with our up and coming 26 days on the ship going to Tahiti and Tahiti. Keep sailing our best to you both and hope to see you on board again. Susanne

[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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[acruisefan]

Thanks so much for your report! Was the BBQ on deck on the last night? Did you sign up for the excursions ahead of time or just wait til you got on board?

Do you know if there were suites available when you got on board and what the extra cost was, if so?

41 cruises... I'm impressed!

[gymswim]

On my cruise itinerary, the deck BBQ was scheduled Thursday night in the harbor off St Kitts. Beautiful.

I booked all my excursions weeks in advance. Payment is taken in full. Once aboard and underway, Windstar cancelled all the 3 certified dive excursions and I was offered alternative excursions (non dive) or a refund. I was not given or offered a suite upgrade.

 

 

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[ljk76]

We were very excited to read your review...we will be on board Saturday for our first Windstar cruise and are understandably excited! The sports platform was one of the big selling points for us so it was great to read the details. Is there a lot of demand for the laser and Hobies? I'm sure that can be unpredictable depending on the interests of the guests on board any given week, but with 44 Windstar cruises we figure you have "historical data" oh, and we want to be you when we grow up! Any other tips for a newbie would be vastly appreciated, as was your review.

[kbr]

We were on the Windsurf in January (our first of many trips in the future) and the sports platform was certainly a highlight of our week. There were usually 5-10 people on the mats/trampoline (never felt crowded), and a couple of people using a sailboat or kayaking. We went waterskiing and tubing several times. During the entire week, there was ALWAYS equipment available and never a wait to go out on the ski boat. BJ and his team on the sports platform did an EXCELLENT job helping guests, making sure everyone was comfortable and being very focused on safety. Have fun!

[Califonria cruiser]

Never been on a ship like this before, have always done the large mega size ships, mostly because we needed kids club, etc, but am considering a couples only trip and have always wanted to do it. Did you find it easy to get an excursion at the other ports also? Did you feel that the prices were higher since it was a Windstar cruise line?

 

Was the pool and Jacuzzi salt water or fresh?

 

Jenn