Live from 7/17 Star Breeze

[MNgardens]

Had you been on the ship prior to it being stretched? Are you in a new suite or one of the existing suites?

Do you have an opinion about the pool deck area?

Hoping you have great weather all week long!

[RlyLvn]

Thanks for all the info. Will there be any opportunity to use the water sports platform this week?

[wesport]

2 hours ago, MNgardens said:

Had you been on the ship prior to it being stretched? Are you in a new suite or one of the existing suites?

Do you have an opinion about the pool deck area?

Hoping you have great weather all week long!

We were in the new ocean view suite to start. Shower door broke , so they moved us to an older suite. Still redone. 
newer suite:

more drawer storage and more outlets for sure. Modern. 
Older suite quite nice with living area by the window instead of the bed. More wood like that of a yacht. Less outlets. 
 

pool area very nice. Especially during port days. Pool somewhat small. Only 3 feet deep. 
 

this is our first windstar cruise. Very impressed so far. 

[wesport]

1 hour ago, RlyLvn said:

Thanks for all the info. Will there be any opportunity to use the water sports platform this week?

We used all the toys on pigeon island for beach bbq. That’s it so far.

[wesport]

[wesport]

[wesport]

Thursday night will be deck bbq all dining venues closed. 

[wesport]

[wesport]

Deck BBQ was spectacular

[RlyLvn]

Thanks for the Pictures. Looks great!
 

Did you like the revised itinerary?

[wesport]

32 minutes ago, RlyLvn said:

Thanks for the Pictures. Looks great!
 

Did you like the revised itinerary?

We had been to all ports before. Stayed on the ship except at pigeon island.  Did An island tour today in Antigua.

[FLbeachbaby]

Deck BBQ looks Ah-mazing !

[wesport]

After a long series of lines at SXM(3.25 hours) we are home. From another post, earlier flights are better that afternoon flights. Or, leave on Sunday.  Once we landed in Fort Lauderdale, 10 minutes to get through global entry.  The airport experience did not affect the great week we had on the Star Breeze.  You could tell how happy the crew was to be back on board. We had 133 people, and next week I believe there will be 166. 

[LTCOP]

Wesport - Was that 3.25 hours the total time it took to get to your gate - or the total time you were in the airport?

 

Appreciated your reports from the ship!  We board next Saturday!  Wish we had planned to fly home on Sunday, instead of Saturday.

[wesport]

1 minute ago, LTCOP said:

Wesport - Was that 3.25 hours the total time it took to get to your gate - or the total time you were in the airport?

 

Appreciated your reports from the ship!  We board next Saturday!  Wish we had planned to fly home on Sunday, instead of Saturday.

Drop off to the gate. With 4 ships in port turning around on Saturday, Sunday is wise. Wish I would have know that. Earlier flights seemed to fare better. 

[JJGOLD]

Thanks for the great review, we are on board Star Breeze now, week of 7/24.  Arrived into SXM Friday, lines to get through the COVID documents check were very long, took about 45 minutes.  Be prepared and bring printed copies of your COVID test, even though you have to upload it to get the admission document, they want to see it.  Way too many people fumbling with their cell phones to show them a copy on the phone, and it delayed the lines.  Make sure you have printed copy of the clearance document as well, they need to stamp it.  Heard that Saturday departures are long lines as Wesport said, taxi driver said Sundays are better.  Tents were set up just outside the cruise terminal for Windstar passengers.  We got there early, and they did not start the process until 11:30.  After a quick passport check they shuttle you to ship.   Once onboard, you fill out a health form, get the nasal swab, then check in, dining reservations, and good to go.  RCCL has three ships sitting at the port with just limited crew. The usually bustling shopping area was dead empty.  It looked like Diamonds International and Sharkeys bar were the only things open, and no one in sight but the store workers.  It was a ghost town with several ghost ships showing some signs of reduced up keep, quite sad.  

 

The Star Breeze looks great, the Star Bar is further back from where it used to be due to the stretch.   The bar stools are off limits, no sitting at the bars at all.  I believe there are about 150 passengers and the CEO, President, and some other senior management are onboard for the week.  Service so far is wonderful.  

 

We are in a new suite, its very nice, but we could not fit our suitcases under the bed, we needed another inch for our full size hard sided suitcases, so they are in the closet.  There are two USB ports and plenty of electric

outlets.  I’m happy to answer any questions as the trip progresses.

[wesport]

2 minutes ago, JJGOLD said:

Thanks for the great review, we are on board Star Breeze now, week of 7/24.  Arrived into SXM Friday, lines to get through the COVID documents check were very long, took about 45 minutes.  Be prepared and bring printed copies of your COVID test, even though you have to upload it to get the admission document, they want to see it.  Way too many people fumbling with their cell phones to show them a copy on the phone, and it delayed the lines.  Make sure you have printed copy of the clearance document as well, they need to stamp it.  Heard that Saturday departures are long lines as Wesport said, taxi driver said Sundays are better.  Tents were set up just outside the cruise terminal for Windstar passengers.  We got there early, and they did not start the process until 11:30.  After a quick passport check they shuttle you to ship.   Once onboard, you fill out a health form, get the nasal swab, then check in, dining reservations, and good to go.  RCCL has three ships sitting at the port with just limited crew. The usually bustling shopping area was dead empty.  It looked like Diamonds International and Sharkeys bar were the only things open, and no one in sight but the store workers.  It was a ghost town with several ghost ships showing some signs of reduced up keep, quite sad.  

 

The Star Breeze looks great, the Star Bar is further back from where it used to be due to the stretch.   The bar stools are off limits, no sitting at the bars at all.  I believe there are about 150 passengers and the CEO, President, and some other senior management are onboard for the week.  Service so far is wonderful.  

 

We are in a new suite, its very nice, but we could not fit our suitcases under the bed, we needed another inch for our full size hard sided suitcases, so they are in the closet.  There are two USB ports and plenty of electric

outlets.  I’m happy to answer any questions as the trip progresses.

If you go to the yacht club for coffees, say hello to YOGI. He was so good. 

[wesport]

I miss not being on board already .

[JJGOLD]

5 minutes ago, wesport said:

If you go to the yacht club for coffees, say hello to YOGI. He was so good. 

I will!

[LTCOP]

Wesport:  Why does a cruise go by so fast???  Always hard to readjust to real life!

 

JJGOLD:  Have a good cruise!  I will enjoy your updates this week too!

 

Sounds like the airport is not fun arriving or departing.  We went through this airport craziness during a recent trip to Aruba and were certainly glad to have paper copies of everything there!  I was so surprised at how long the lines were there too - even without cruise ships in port!  Lots of people traveling!

[MNgardens]

@wesport@JJGOLD If you would feel comfortable doing so, could you add your cabin information to the pinned thread about staterooms in the renovated yachts?Other travelers would then have access to your opinion on things like convenient location, noise from the lounge/tender station, whether you prefer the bed by the window or the sofa, etc.

Thanks for all the photos that you both posted!

[adomatic]

Enjoy your trip! Our July 10th cruise was awesome, though i wish we were able to have a beach day on Pigeon Island! Does anyone know if there's a lost and found on the ship? I might have left my eyeglasses on board. I will call Windstar tomorrow.

[JJGOLD]

I just checked and they do not have any glasses in lost and found.

 

[adomatic]

10 hours ago, JJGOLD said:

I just checked and they do not have any glasses in lost and found.

 

Thank you for checking!!!

 

[JJGOLD]

Last day of the cruise…the crew is awesome, the food has been very good. Amphora was open most nights except for Wednesday which Star Grill was the main dining venue and Thursday was the deck party.  The star grill has been serving mostly smoked meats and fish from chef Stephen Raichlin.  The pastrami for lunch one day was among the best I’ve had, and at the only dinner there was smoked beef ribs (sliced) and duck.  The offerings were limited to those 2 choices along with salad bar.   Cuadro 44 and Candles were also open but require reservations.  Cuadro is quite small and they are not filling it up due to social distancing.  The food there was quite good, I’ve attached the menu. It’s a nice choice of small plate tapas and a few entrees.  You can order all you want.   The meats at Candles are fantastic and if you choose the 40 oz tomahawk rib eye for an extra charge you better have a big appetite! They also had a $20 30 oz porterhouse. Everything else was included at no extra charge.  Everything was great, as you would find at a fine steak house.  

 

We spent one day at sea, one day in Barbados, two different stops in St Lucia, and two stops in Antigua.  In Castries St Lucia we were allowed to walk around but there was only a few shops open and no taxis in sight.  A few people walked to a nearby restaurant.  We mostly did the beach excursions as there was not much else that worked for us.  They had zip lining in Antigua, but I’m not fond of hanging from cables,  swim with the sting rays, an island tour and Segways in both St Lucia and Antigua.  

 

Masks were required almost everywhere except when in the beach lounge chairs.  If you are looking to shop, it’s not happening. They offered a shopping excursion, but most stores were closed.  As the ship was only half full, there was no problem getting lounge chairs and the deck bar service was good.  Lunches were at the veranda and Star Grill.

 

The ship has all new much larger life boats and tenders, way better than the older ones.  I’ve attached a few photos of the stateroom in the new section.  They are going through the ship daily with disinfection fogging machines as you can see in the photo.  The cleaning is constant and we felt quite protected.

 

I’m glad we got away before the COVID situation potentially gets worse!