Thinking of trying

[roosterhead]

Thinking of taking my first Windstar cruise, the itinerary from St. Thomas.

A little back ground on us, mid 30's, 11 other cruises. Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival and NCL. All good in there own way, I am on vacation.

 

From what I have read, negative reviews have been coming in, that's OK, they always do.

 

My questions:

Is food always available? Either by room service or dining room?

Easy to get on and off the ship for the ports?

I like to have a few "pops", price? Can I order this by room service? Am I allowed to bring on drinks, whether it be alcohol, water or soda?

How much clothes do I need to really bring?

 

The ports seem to be exciting, fun and new. Can I possibly have a bad time?

[6rugrats]

When meal service is not available, you can get room service 24 hours a day. Soda is readily available. Windstar allows you to bring wine or champagne only on board, no other alcohol. If you bring this into the dining room, you will be charged (maybe) a $15 corkage fee. You can bring on water or soda from what I remember.

 

It is easy to get on and off the ship; our last cruise we mostly tendered, but this was in the Med. It is not as long as a wait, of course, as the big ships!

 

For a Caribbean cruise, you don't need to bring lots of clothes. Very casual during the day and there are no formal nights. Dress at night is "casual elegance".

 

Can you have a bad time? Sure, if you expect perfection!

[Surfgirl]

Thinking of taking my first Windstar cruise, the itinerary from St. Thomas.

A little back ground on us, mid 30's, 11 other cruises. Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival and NCL. All good in there own way, I am on vacation.

 

From what I have read, negative reviews have been coming in, that's OK, they always do.

 

My questions:

Is food always available? Either by room service or dining room?

Easy to get on and off the ship for the ports?

I like to have a few "pops", price? Can I order this by room service? Am I allowed to bring on drinks, whether it be alcohol, water or soda?

How much clothes do I need to really bring?

 

The ports seem to be exciting, fun and new. Can I possibly have a bad time?

 

Go for it, Rooster! I've done lots of cruises, but after Windstar, I'm sold. I did the St. Thomas trip and loved it.

 

Soda, as on other cruise ships is extra. I had a club soda one night and it was $2.50 plus tip. I brought my own bottled water aboard and drank that.

 

I would bring two swim suits, some shorts, t-shirts, some resort casual clothes for meals, and a sweater (it can get cold in the dining room). You really don't need much.

 

Can you have a bad time? Well, sure.. if you're determined to have one! :D

 

It's quieter and more relaxing. If you're looking for neon lights, crowds, and lots of loud music, this isn't for you. But if you're looking to veg out for a week, and meet some really nice and interesting people, you'll love it.

[roosterhead]

Thank you both for your replies.

 

I am going back and forth on this line for the simple fact people are complaining about the food. I know I should not worry, as for the last 2 cruises, the same things were said and the food was fine.

 

One thing that seems a little disturbing is the 6 am disembarkation, is it that bad?

[chicagogal]

We just got off on Jan 6th in Barbados at about 8:45. They don't force you to get off at 6 am. Since many flights from Barbados back to the states leave around 9 you may have to leave then to make your plane. We took a 3:30 flight instead.

[Xoe]

from Wind Spirit R/T St. Thomas. It was marvelous in all ways. Food was superb -- how can anyone complain??

 

The absolutely only thing that wasn't wonderful was the disembarkation day at STT. You must be off the ship by 8:00, after having retrieved passports and gone through customs/immigration shortly after 6:00.

 

This day can be managed through knowledgeable planning. Either book your return flight home in the late morning Saturday (11 would be ideal), or book a hotel overnight in Charlotte Amalie and fly back home on Sunday.

 

We had a 3:30 pm flight out of STT on Saturday, which was awkward, as we were stuck with our bags. Can't check them at the airport unless/until you're going to stay in the airport until your flight leaves -- and it's a small airport, not good for entertaining yourself for 4-5 hours. Crown Bay, where the ship docks, is a quick taxi ride to the airport.

 

Wind Spirit offers a St. Thomas tour & transfer to the airport for (I think) $59 but we'd had a great pre-cruise tour and didn't want that. We ended up taxiing to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef, checked our bags with the porter, had a leisurely lunch and a walkabout (can't use their pools because we weren't staying there -- fair enough and fine with us), then taxied back to the airport around 1:00. It worked out okay, but had I known that schedule and how close the ship dock is to the airport, I'd have scheduled things differently -- either a late morning flight out, or a hotel overnight and flight out next morning. I met people at the Marriott who had done just that -- disembarked Wind Spirit, taxied to the Marriott, and would be flying out Sunday morning.