Windstar special event on each cruise?

[stromer]

I just got off the Star Breeze and they had 2 special events in Tahiti for lunch and dinner on a motu.  Does Windstar have similar events at a special port on all their cruises or just Tahiti?

Rick

[RlyLvn]

How was your cruise?  Did anyone test positive at the Pier?  Did you get tested during the cruise?  If so anyone positive?  How was the weather?

 

we were on the New Year Cruise that was cancelled and would like to return. Any info. Is very much appreciated. 
 

Thanks. 

[stromer]

The cruise was great. We were the last to get on the boat at about 3:30 pm and got tested and had to go to our room for about 2 hours until the results were negative.  I did not hear anyone who tested positive at the pier.  Several employees in the spa tested positive a few days in and they had to close the entire spa for 5 days when employees were quarantined for 5 days.  Several other crew members tested positive but there was no effect on the cruise or itinerary.  We all got tested about 5 days in with no postitives.  The weather was rough the first 2 days with a little rain but got great the last 6 days.  We hit the tail end of the typhoon/cyclone on the first part of the cruise. 

The shows were good for what they were-just the house band doing tributes to the Beatles or Disco, etc. Per other posts we were not happy with the limited times of food compared to other cruise lines, but liked the food a lot.

Rick

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, stromer said:

Per other posts we were not happy with the limited times of food compared to other cruise lines, but liked the food a lot.

Rick

I see a link between these two aspects.  Windstar takes its reputation for good food very seriously, and steam table food doesn't cut it.  No cruise line can be all things to all people successfully.  I'm glad there are a few cruise lines that understand this and have chosen to do what they do well, even if that means some people can't get what they want (when they want it).

[RlyLvn]

Thanks Stromer for the report. I guess we just have to accept the fact that someone on every cruise is going to test positive these days.  So glad that Windstar was able to contain it. On our cruise they had Covid for the first time and didn’t quite have their Protocol down. Hence the Cruise was cancelled after 2 nights. 
 

Good to hear you had good weather. Always a gamble during rainy season. 
 

Really appreciate your post!

[Pudgesmom]

A beach barbecue day is typical in the Caribbean. Weather permitting, there is always a fantastic on deck feast every cruise. 
 

For a brief while, I remember there was a special shore event excursion on every sailing. That didn’t seem to stick. We didn’t have one on our last (pre-Covid) and I don’t see one for our upcoming in July

[6rugrats]

On a cruise leaving/returning to San Juan, we had no deck barbecue.  They don’t have them on every cruise.

[Pudgesmom]

1 hour ago, 6rugrats said:

On a cruise leaving/returning to San Juan, we had no deck barbecue.  They don’t have them on every cruise.

I did not know that. I guess we have just been lucky on the cruises we have chosen.

[r&rd]

We’ve been on 40+ Windstar cruises and only not had a deck barbecue once. We were told it can sometimes depend on weather or itinerary but the norm is to have a deck barbecue.

[6rugrats]

For us, it was the itinerary, never explained well though, it was as if they were trying to avoid answering.  

[RemPuck]

I thought I saw something once that the deck BBQs were an issue with cruises touching a US port (like San Juan). 

 

Do they occur on the Alaska trips? I realize weather may be an issue there.

 

See this thread: 

 

[ridethetide]

We had the deck barbecue on our two Alaska cruises and on our cruise round-trip San Juan.

[milepig]

We've had the "deck BBQ" in the main dining room a couple times, but never not had one at all. This was due to bad weather.

[Redtravel]

Sadly, special events are not on every cruise. We have enjoyed several.  My favorites include

Copenhagen: canal boat tour and history museum reception tour

Portofino:  villa Dorazo. Pesto demo and reception….think fabulous home with elegant food and wine

Majorca: Folkdancing at a fantastic museum with wine and cheese. The artwork was amazing.

 

Bbq deck party is excellent.  Love it when it can be held outside. Still very nice when it’s inside.

[BruceMuzz]

The US Public Health Service has very strong views about Deck BBQs on Foreign Flag ships. If the ship is calling at a US Port during the itinerary, there must be handwashing stations with hot water, soap, towels, and proper signage within 25 feet of all food preparation staff and all diners - and there cannot be a door between them and the handwashing station. Further, all food at the BBQ must be under cover. Windstar's sailing ships cannot meet these regulations on the open decks.

 

Windstar's Star Class ships all have new approved handwashing stations and new approved BBQ equipment installed after their stretch.

[Pudgesmom]

4 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

The US Public Health Service has very strong views about Deck BBQs on Foreign Flag ships. If the ship is calling at a US Port during the itinerary, there must be handwashing stations with hot water, soap, towels, and proper signage within 25 feet of all food preparation staff and all diners - and there cannot be a door between them and the handwashing station. Further, all food at the BBQ must be under cover. Windstar's sailing ships cannot meet these regulations on the open decks.

 

Windstar's Star Class ships all have new approved handwashing stations and new approved BBQ equipment installed after their stretch.

Interesting, thank you for that explanation. I guess in  all of our Windstar cruises, mostly on the Wind Surf, we have never been to a US port, and thus have always had the Bar-b-Que, weather permitting.

[Nearpost345]

We had our outdoor bbq on the windspirit two nights ago, was excellent

[patty1955]

We didn't have the deck BBQ for dinner on our cruise. We did have a grilling station (hamburger, hot dogs, ribs and kebobs) with salads on two days for lunch. 

[milepig]

I think there was a period where WS had a special event on every (or most) itins. I assume they were ghastly expensive, in Majorca we were bused from the ship to a museum where there were local dancers and nibbles outside then we got into the museum and then we were bused back to the ship. IT Was so so at best and they still served regular dinner on board. I hear others, like Ephasus are smashing.

 

The don't think of the deck BBQ as a special event, it's just a nice dinner on deck one night, and we've never not had one - albeit a couple times it was inside due to weather.