Live from the Star Legend by a brand new to Windstar sailor. Menus, wine lists, bar menus included. Istanbul to Athens Oct

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@mxpI am by no means an expert on WS itineraries but that night at Ephesus with the orchestra and formal dinner (not formal clothing, just an elegant meal with white linen table cloths ) was stunning. 
‘I booked the 17 day Tahiti sailing in part because of the 10 days we are at anchor with the water sports deck out and it also has the beach bbq and fire show which sounds equally amazing.
 

I hope others start posting live reviews with lots of pictures, menus of food and drinks and room service offerings. 

[Stem to Stern]

On 10/20/2023 at 10:10 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I hope this thread has been helpful (well for everyone) but particularly for those who are Windstar curious and haven’t been able to find as much information as they’d like. 

Thank you for this thread.  Your writing has been an immense help.  I'm sold.

[new_cruiser]

On 11/21/2023 at 7:15 AM, mxp said:

Thank you so much for your very thorough review and wonderful pictures. We haven't sailed on Windstar yet, but are tired of giant ships, so this information is very helpful. Now I just have to decide which itinerary to try first 🙂.

The Panama Canal itineraries are also great.

[MizMoon]

OMG - what a wonderful read this was - sorry I am so late, have just started to look at Windstar.  Did a 14 day Med on Celebrity years ago which stopped at Mykonos and Santorini - fantastic experience at both - I rode the donkey up (don't judge me!) and met my friends at the top.  Love Shirley Valentine too!  Did Ephesus on a Gate One Turkey tour and it was fabulous - truly a magical feeling.  So your pictures and stories brought it all back - incredible -- enough about me - glad you and Adam shared this adventure and hope you keep on cruising - thank you so much.  

[Cruisedreamer1]

Wonderful, informative review for those of us who have not sailed on Windstar yet but dream to do so some day. Thank you for the time put into making this report.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I’m glad you found this useful. Thank you for saying so. 
We are just finishing up 34 days on Sapphire Princess LA to Buenos Aires. We are finding that we really miss the food and level of service we received on WS. In fact we are missing it so much we booked another WS sailing for this coming October on one of the sailing ships from Rome to Barcelona. 
 

[Mike B Landlubber]

Hello, I’m in the process of booking my first Windstar cruise and this thread has been incredibly helpful and confidence-building!  My cruise should include the Corinth Canal and like you I’m looking forward to that especially, so seeing pics from a customer was really excellent. 

[medskis]

Hi.  Just found your thread today.  By coincidence we are booked for Cabin 525 on the Legend in Mid March for its Rome to Barcelona 7 nt itinerary. Dont think we’ll want the balcony door open too often so the tender mention should not be an issue.

 

  We first cruised Windstar on Wind Spirit, for our honeymoon in Sept 2009 - YOUR itinerary.  I found the very small size a bit too boring to book for future voyages.

 

Well we more recently discovered the Motor Yachts and cruised Caribbean on Pride in Nov. 22, then Miami to Central America Easter week 2023.  Was a bit let down on Legend vs Pride ….perhaps the difference between last cruise of a season vs 1st.  We had a very tired Cabin attendant who was lacking but I did not want to report him to friendly Wilhelm (with whom I enjoyed some friendly German conversations),  even when we found a pair of red lacy panties under a cushion on an arm chair.  Also, our cruise director on Pride, Sin, set the bar so high and was so much fun that the one on Legend just could not compare for interest / engagement with passengers.   I am not sure I caught who your Cruise/Entertainment director was?  I don't think ours from April was going to continue once the ship was back in Europe. He was a “star” vocalist who prefered performing   🥴  vs hosting.  I sure would love to know who to expect in March, 

    But those Motor Yachts and Windstar in general will spoil you. When I saw the unfortunate, but wise, notice that Legend’s scheduled mid-east season was being replaced by 7 night very well priced Med itineraries it was a No Brainer for us because we will already be in Europe. We are skiing in Switzerland the first 2 weeks in March and the 3/17 sailing was perfectly timed to fly from Zurich to Rome.  Packing will be tricky …we’ll be the ones wearing apres ski clothes …talk about APRES Ski fun….. add a Windstar cruise!! 

[BellaBay]

HDWT: You have more readers than you may realize, enjoyed every detail of your cruise and appreciate your time and effort posting photos and information…. from a Windstar alumni but haven’t sailed since the Star ships’ stretch, sailed twice on the Star Breeze. Lots of changes since then, thank you.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Thank you so much for the kind words @BellaBayi truly appreciate them. 
 

@medskis The tender issue was only that one time and on subsequent tender days they used the other side of the ship or the prevailing winds were in our favor. We simply loved having that balcony door open with fresh air and sound of the sea. 
 

Packing for your trip will be a challenge with the skiing part first, but how wonderful!  We just returned from 39 days….LA to Buenos Aires with 4 days scenic cruising in Antarctica. We actually sailed by the largest iceberg in the world (A23a) that recently dislodged. It was massive and quite a treat. Anyway our weather went from high 80’s and humid to 28 degrees F with 40-50 km winds so biting, freezing cold.  As we were determined to be on the outer decks for these spectacular scenic days we brought all the gear and were not disappointed that we went to all that trouble. Our days in BA were hot and humid which meant a change of clothes needed before dinner after being out in it. It was a horrific amount of luggage. I keep swearing that I am going to pack less and someday I hope to succeed. 
 

I don’t really engage with the entertainment staff on cruises. A combination of port intensive itineraries and cruising style mean events don’t usually align with what we want to do. 
 

‘’That said we did wonder up decks for a beer one day and found our ED just starting a lively game of Beer Trivia. Adam is a home brewer so we thought oh boy finally a trivia game where we don’t feel like complete idiots!  We soon found out we know nothing about beer but it was a good time. The beer was cold, the skies were clear, the seas were calm and the other guests were fun. We thought she did a good job of it. 
 

She would also be up decks with Willhelm scooping out fresh ice cream some afternoons. I’ll attach some pictures. 
 

I just booked the Wind Spirit, 7 day Med Is mosaic, for Oct 27 this year.  The itinerary looked very interesting and it gets us back to Barcelona from Rome after taking the Oceania Vista Barcelona to Rome Oct 3rd followed by 2 weeks in Italy on land. I read the reviews of the Wind Spirit cabins and picked 127.  The tiny cabin will be a new experience for both of us and we figure we can do anything for 7 days. But again there’s only one sea day and we have 2 very late nights in port. 

[NoaH-Town]

@HaveDogWillTravel Thank you so much for posting your live cruise reports.  It was so great to read and see your experiences. 
 

I just booked my first Windstar cruise on StarLegend from Barcelona next month.  After seeing a preview of what to expect, I’m even more excited!

Edited January 20 by NoaH-Town

[HaveDogWillTravel]

16 minutes ago, NoaH-Town said:

@HaveDogWillTravel Thank you so much for posting your live cruise reports.  It was so great to read and see your experiences. 
 

I just booked my first Windstar cruise on StarLegend from Barcelona next month.  After seeing a preview of what to expect, I’m even more excited!

I hope you have a wonderful time like I did. If you are up for a review of that sailing would be great as we are in that area this fall on Wind Spirit. 

[NoaH-Town]

3 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I hope you have a wonderful time like I did. If you are up for a review of that sailing would be great as we are in that area this fall on Wind Spirit. 

Thank you so much!  Will try to writeup my experience as well. ☺️

[Nearpost345]

Wilhelm the hotel manager greeted us when we embarked in Miami back in April ‘23. He came half way down the gangplank to grab our bags, we politely demurred, so he said “But I must !”

 

He was an utter diamond, we were sorry to lose him when his contracted ended (In Lisbon I think). I’m glad to see he’s back making everybody happy.

[LN50]

Thank you for taking the time to write all this. It is so very helpful as I do my research of windstar we hope to do an April sailing, We have done many Seabourn trips and one Seadream. It will be interesting to compare if we do take the booking

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, LN50 said:

Thank you for taking the time to write all this. It is so very helpful as I do my research of windstar we hope to do an April sailing, We have done many Seabourn trips and one Seadream. It will be interesting to compare if we do take the booking

You’re welcome. Thank you for letting me know I appreciate the feedback. We added a sailing on Wind Spirit Oct 27 Rome to Barcelona this year. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Long ago (1975) I sailed a 131 ft tall ship, Brigantine Enchantress’ when it first launched out of Port Jefferson harbor Long Island.  My brother and boyfriend helped build her so I was invited to that first sailing. It was amazing. Sailing in Long Island Sound is a far cry from the Med. And the Spirit will be much bigger. 
 

The Spirit sailing is part  of a 7 week land sea adventure and I am uncertain what access I will have to internet. I do plan on a live from if possible. 

[jagger16]

@HaveDogWillTravel Thank you for your review and also for the wonderful pictures. We have sailed Windstar but it’s been awhile. We have an upcoming cruise with them. We are trying to sort out the all inclusive package. Sounds like you didn’t have the package and don’t think it’s necessary. I know it covers internet and gratuities so the unknown variable is the drinks. Would love to hear your thoughts.  Do you feel you still make out better paying for drinks, internet and gratuities a la carte? Thank you!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

30 minutes ago, jagger16 said:

@HaveDogWillTravel Thank you for your review and also for the wonderful pictures. We have sailed Windstar but it’s been awhile. We have an upcoming cruise with them. We are trying to sort out the all inclusive package. Sounds like you didn’t have the package and don’t think it’s necessary. I know it covers internet and gratuities so the unknown variable is the drinks. Would love to hear your thoughts.  Do you feel you still make out better paying for drinks, internet and gratuities a la carte? Thank you!

Thanks for reading my review. I’m so happy to see more live froms on the Windstar page. 

We were on a very port intensive itinerary.  Our T-Mobile plan worked on our iPhones everywhere. We did not need the internet and didn’t miss it at all.

 

 I am picky about my wine so brought on some very lovely wines we purchased quite reasonably in Istanbul.  I think I posted the prices for bottles/glasses of wine and bars drinks and beers. My goodness what a great selection and great prices.  So you’ll just have to evaluate your drinking habits.  Do the math using those prices and see if it’s more or less expensive than getting the package.  FWI if you click on the bar and wine menus the picture gets much clearer making the prices easier to read. 
 

We drank as much as wanted whenever we wanted and found that it was way less expensive for us to have no package. It all comes down to your drinking habits & internet needs and only you know that. 

Edited March 3 by HaveDogWillTravel

[Host Jazzbeau]

My calculation was that if you want the internet and gratuities, the drinks cost very little in the package.  So I'm planning to get it for me.  DW doesn't drink, so I plan to pay the internet and gratuities à la carte for her.  Thanks for the reminder about T-Mobile – maybe we won't need the internet – but we'll be in the Caribbean with several sea days and stops off small islands (San Blas) so we may need it.

[jagger16]

Thank you @HaveDogWillTravel for your feedback. Do you know if there is a charge for specialty coffee or a bottle of water? Is water supplied in the cabins?

 

@Host Jazzbeau You bring up an interesting option, because only one of us really needs internet. Is it the case that both people in the cabin do not have to buy the package?
 

Again thanks for all of the information as it has made us very excited to go back to Windstar again!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

14 hours ago, jagger16 said:

Thank you @HaveDogWillTravel for your feedback. Do you know if there is a charge for specialty coffee or a bottle of water? Is water supplied in the cabins?

You’re welcome. The wonderful thing about WS is that bottled water, soda, juices, mocktails and all specialty tea & coffees are free.  There’s carafes of filtered water in your room and the barista made delicious coffees. The barista opened at 6 am. Your cabin also comes equipped with high quality stemware. Thin lipped wine glasses, cocktail glasses water glasses….

 

The all in package is $100 pp/day if purchased on board or $90 if bought a week or more before sailing. Gratuities are $16 day/person and I don’t know what internet costs. Fill in that blank and add up what you’d spend on drinks and there you go. Then you will know if the package makes sense for you. 
 

I found this on the web from WS for travel gents. It explains that not all passengers in the same cabin have to buy the all in package. 
https://advisorhub.windstarcruises.com/Cruising-Transformed

[HaveDogWillTravel]

19 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for the reminder about T-Mobile – maybe we won't need the internet – but we'll be in the Caribbean with several sea days and stops off small islands (San Blas) so we may need it.

We sailed thru the Greek Islands and often had reception on the ship. We were so engaged with our surroundings that we never missed the internet. We did all our research on the sights we were going to before embarking.  When we needed it for changes to tours or in our case new research into Lemnos, which was added after one of our ports was cancelled we were close enough to land that we had reception. It just worked out for us. 

Edited March 4 by HaveDogWillTravel