Observations from first time Windstar cruise

[markgray]

Since I spent hours of (mainly at work) time reading these threads before my cruise, I figured I should contribute as well!  Just off September 29th Wind Spirit 7 Day Tahiti cruise.  My wife and I have sailed Carnival and Princess each once the past few years, no other cruising.

 

Of course Windstar is a HUGE improvement from the big ships, except for rough sea crossing.  We had one day with 10-12' swells when it appeared at least half the guests hardly left their cabins. We kept remarking "where is everyone?".  Port call at Huahine was cancelled and it took us the entire day to sail from Bora Bora back to Papeete.  I got sea-sick even with the medication, first time ever.  I would be quite hesitant to book a cruise that involved several days of open-ocean travel.  Curious how folks deal with that.

 

- Food is much better than the bigger ships

- Great experience getting to know people since only 120 pax were on this cruise

- Beach day at Tahaa motu was perfect; sunny and dry

- The on-deck BBQ one evening was significantly better than I expected.  Several people on these threads have been unimpressed with this BBQ.  We disagree, I've never seen so many food choices at a BBQ. Good quality food. Other couple traveling with us thought so too.  

- Polynesian show 2nd night at Bora Bora was fun and food was good.  Not much different than a Hawaiian luau though.

- So many friendly workers, and captain Belinda was great too.

- A smaller ship means very easy to get anywhere quickly

- We almost never heard anyone in the hallways, maybe due to angled design of entry to rooms?

 

One of the few things we didn't like was that dinner seems quite late for such an older and active (morning) crowd.  7-9pm in Amphora and Candles dining spots.  I'd make it 5-8pm or 6-8pm.  We were generally all asleep by 10pm at the latest, even coming from just the West Coast.

 

We'd love to cruise Windstar again and our friends (first time on ANY cruise) are sold on cruising...loved it.

 

One more note.  We arrived at airport 4:45am and paid about $65 for day pass (reserve ahead of time) at Intercontinental Tahiti (IHG) near airport.  That included massive continental breakfast and access to pools.  Relaxing start to vacation.  We also stayed one night at this resort AFTER the cruise.  Expensive food/drinks, but nice hotel

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by markgray

[marinaro44]

Agree on the dining times.  On Pride, Candles opened at 6:45 and Cuadro 44 at 6, so somewhat better.

[milepig]

I've long been struck that dinner is sort of the same times at all locations. I say that I would never schedule a dinner out for earlier than 7, which makes it sort of special and "dining". I do suspect that part of the 7 opening is that WS needs time to reset for dinner, get preparing for dinner and for getting the right staff in the right places (and maybe a break) if you look closely the staff does actual change uniforms before dinner. It also gives 5-7 as a time for various meetings and a time to gather at the bar, which for many people is an important part of the WS experience - a time to decompress, especially if you've had a busy day or a long tour

 

My suggestion would be that now each ship has more options, they change hours at the various locations day by day with something always open at 6. 5 seems to early for me, with the star grill finishing up lunch at 4. 

[marinaro44]

Maybe the reason dining is late is there's little to do after dinner.

[milepig]

19 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Maybe the reason dining is late is there's little to do after dinner.

2nd honeymoons?

[new_cruiser]

I've been on two ocean crossings with Windstar:

Pre-stretch Star Legend Pacific crossing from Tokyo to Seward 

Post-stretch Star Legend Atlantic crossing from Saint Martin to Lisbon 

 

Both crossings were surprisingly smooth. In the Atlantic crossing, there were some very high seas forecast for our original path but the Captain altered the course and changed the one stop to avoid the high seas. Both were Star Collectors with a crossing followed by another segment and in both cases, the heaviest seas I encountered were during the non-crossing segment. On the Alaska cruise, we happened to hit a rough day on the Gulf of Alaska so it was pretty rough for a half day getting from Seward to the Inside Passage. In the round trip out of Lisbon after the crossing, we hit rough seas going from Portimao to the Canary Islands. 

 

I guess that a multi-day ocean crossing allows more options for adjusting the course based on sea conditions than getting from point A to point B in 24 hours or less.

[minabruuke]

Thank you for this great information. 

 

I am sad to see the dinner times. My husband and I were considering Windstar for our next French Polynesia cruise but these dinner times truly could be a deal breaker for us. We prefer to eat dinner around 5:00-5:30pm. On our previous Paul Gauguin cruises dinner started at 6:30pm and that definitely felt too late for us so 7:00pm would be really unenjoyable. It is not that we get too hungry but rather that our bodies are not accustomed to going to bed so soon after dinner so the later times really mess us up. If the next day is a sea day then it really isn't a big deal as we can stay up later and sleep in a bit but on port days with morning excursions that just doesn't work. 

[Redtravel]

On WS, we adjust to the late dinner by either eating lunch later or having a snack. Lunch options onboard include Veranda lunch ends at 2, grill closes at 2:30, room service 24/7, yacht club open from 6am to 6 pm.  If we are off the ship, we find local places to relax and eat lunch.  Often we enjoy time at the Yacht club in late afternoon.  They have interesting small sandwiches and pastry.  Ate way too many cookies. They are delicious.  

[milepig]

Just have to ask. To how many is 7pm really a late dinner?  

[marinaro44]

Not a statistically significant response but on our two recent Pride cruises there was a long line at Amphora waiting for it to open at 7 and Jean-Pierre finally started seating people at 6:45-6:50 so they didn't have to stand.

[Pudgesmom]

We are ok with the 7 pm dinner. We eat earlier at home, but usually with significant time changes from home, we just adjust.

[3kidslater]

Interesting discussion. We just got off the Pride last month as well and noticed the long line at 7pm. I don't see them ever opening Amphora at 5pm but I do think 6pm would be a good move by WS. I would not be surprised to see a large number of guests go to dine at 6 with the rest waiting untill 7 or later. On our cruise there did not appear to be enough staff in the dining room and at one point we were asked to wait 20minutes and come back. I would think moving the dining time up would decrease the congestion and take some of the pressure off the staff.

[milepig]

Thanks for the observations. For us, we really need that time between 5-7 to get turned around, have a cocktail (or two) catch up on email if needed, probably shower, put on nicer cloths (not fancy, just not what we've worn all day), look at the next day's schedule - reception will arrange to have a print copy delivered each day if you ask - get out tour tickets for the next day, and just relax. By then its time for dinner and we can relax with all the other stuff done. Our normal dinner time at home is 6:30 so 7 isn't really a stretch for us,

Edited October 14, 2022 by milepig

[marinaro44]

45 minutes ago, milepig said:

Thanks for the observations. For us, we really need that time between 5-7 to get turned around, have a cocktail (or two) catch up on email if needed, probably shower, put on nicer cloths (not fancy, just not what we've worn all day), look at the next day's schedule - reception will arrange to have a print copy delivered each day if you ask - get out tour tickets for the next day, and just relax. By then its time for dinner and we can relax with all the other stuff done. Our normal dinner time at home is 6:30 so 7 isn't really a stretch for us,

Could still dine at 7 if Amphora opened at 6.  Azamara's main dining room is open from 6 to 9.

[milepig]

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

Could still dine at 7 if Amphora opened at 6.  Azamara's main dining room is open from 6 to 9.

This is very true, early  conversations were around just moving everything forward to 6, but they could be extended, the question is how that would affect WSs staffing. They move them around on a schedule and they would need to adjust everything to  make the schedule work. That's their problem, I guess.

[IpswichChris]

Really do wish that dining room would open at 6:30, even 6:45 would be better.  At home, we have dinner no later than 6:15, usually right around 6.  My husband is a very early riser and after a hopefully full day of sightseeing, he'll be pretty sleepy by 10.  So to finish a substantial dinner at 8:00 and go to bed maybe 2 or even 3 hours later is not ideal.  

[cruiseny4life]

On 10/13/2022 at 11:25 PM, milepig said:

Just have to ask. To how many is 7pm really a late dinner?  

From a strange Millennial, 7 PM is almost bedtime for my husband and I. I'm researching cruises and if dinner just begins at 7 PM, then I don't think there is any way we would enjoy a Windstar cruise. I know that seems dramatic, but even when we cruise, we're in bed asleep generally by 10 PM, latest 10:30 PM. 

 

On land, and on a cruise ship, we typically eat dinner at 5:30, so we can digest before a 9 - 10 PM bedtime. 

 

I'm stunned that Windstar has a 7 PM start to dinner. I would definitely think it would be at a more appropriate hour of 5:30, or so. Unfortunately, this really does call into question whether Windstar is appropriate for us. I'm really hoping for a smaller ship experience - we've only sailed NCL as a couple, and Windstar seems like a lovely line! 

[marinaro44]

16 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

From a strange Millennial, 7 PM is almost bedtime for my husband and I. I'm researching cruises and if dinner just begins at 7 PM, then I don't think there is any way we would enjoy a Windstar cruise. I know that seems dramatic, but even when we cruise, we're in bed asleep generally by 10 PM, latest 10:30 PM. 

 

On land, and on a cruise ship, we typically eat dinner at 5:30, so we can digest before a 9 - 10 PM bedtime. 

 

I'm stunned that Windstar has a 7 PM start to dinner. I would definitely think it would be at a more appropriate hour of 5:30, or so. Unfortunately, this really does call into question whether Windstar is appropriate for us. I'm really hoping for a smaller ship experience - we've only sailed NCL as a couple, and Windstar seems like a lovely line! 

Try Azamara.  Dinner at 6.  600+ passengers.  Small ship vibe.

[debbie311]

We're on the Pride right now, getting off tomorrow.  By the way, Amphora opens at 6:30.  People are already lined up.

We sailed out of Montreal.  It was pretty calm while we were on the St. Lawrence River, but when we reached the Atlantic, it was terrible. Extremely rough and rocky. I've sailed on several cruises before, all larger ships, and I have never experienced anything like this before.  It was difficult to even just walk across the stateroom and felt at times like we would be thrown off the bed.  I am not kidding. Our stateroom is mid-ship. Can't imagine what it must be like for staterooms that are not. I would never do this again. I like the stability of a larger ship.

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 minutes ago, debbie311 said:

We're on the Pride right now, getting off tomorrow.  By the way, Amphora opens at 6:30.  People are already lined up.

We sailed out of Montreal.  It was pretty calm while we were on the St. Lawrence River, but when we reached the Atlantic, it was terrible. Extremely rough and rocky. I've sailed on several cruises before, all larger ships, and I have never experienced anything like this before.  It was difficult to even just walk across the stateroom and felt at times like we would be thrown off the bed.  I am not kidding. Our stateroom is mid-ship. Can't imagine what it must be like for staterooms that are not. I would never do this again. I like the stability of a larger ship.

If the waves were coming straight on, the stabilizers would mitigate the pitching.  But if they are coming from the side or even 45 degrees, small ship or large it will roll.

[cruiseny4life]

On 10/22/2022 at 7:04 AM, marinaro44 said:

Try Azamara.  Dinner at 6.  600+ passengers.  Small ship vibe.

Thank you! Definitely one that is on the list. I was just stunned by the conversation above! 

 

Happy sailing! 

[flygod]

Well, if your wife is Spanish, then lunch is about 3pm and dinner about 11pm!

 

Seriously, we now have a c2pm good lunch and then a very light dinner. Maybe two appetisers. And a dessert - if I'm lucky and Flygoddess is in a holiday mood 😉        

[Cometman]

For the later dining time- there is also 24 hour room service.

 

My wife and I order room serve once or twice per cruise then bring the food to the top deck with a bottle of wine to enjoy a quiet dinner together....

[GottaKnowWhen]

Recently off the Pride. Some have suggested a 6:00pm dinner start time, and those of us who prefer not to rush, we should wait until 7:00 or whenever. The problem is that Amphora is not large enough. In order to get a table-for-two, one needs to be near the front of the line. So if the line starts at 6:00pm, then we would either need to eat too early or wait too long, the early diners would not be leaving their tables by our preferred 7-7:30pm dining time. Cuadro 44 was not a good option, way too noisy. Candles was ok. 

[GottaKnowWhen]

With respect to Covid etc, our experience on the Pride was that the staff was quite conscientious with cleaning, masking, etc., passengers not so much. Fortunately the elevators are too small for there ever to be much close contact with a crowd there! We didn’t contract any disease, sorry for those that did. I very much enjoyed the rough seas, it felt like we were sailing, not driving on a highway. My wife and several others found it uncomfortable and complained of poor sleep.