Here is a current Wind Surf Review

[Canadiens]

We sailed Rome to Nice Oct 31/2004 and never having cruised before I will offer my opinion on WindSurf. Four of us travelled and none of us has ever cruised before so I am unable to compare ships but will offer you my opinion. FABULOUS! Yes you get a porthole instead of a balcony, but the size of the ship is why I chose WindSurf. I never had a desire to sail on a large ship and this was the perfect way to travel the intimate ports of the Mediterrainian without hauling luggage, and knowing your accommodations were consistant. Sea sickness: one of us felt unwell on our first night, the rest of us were fine, it was quite amazing how quick you adjust. You felt some movement on the ship, but talking to other passengers, few we spoke with were ill from the movement. Sea sickness pills were available at reception and the infirmary, and you are supposed to take them 4 hours before sailing. Staterooms were really nice and servicable, our porthole looked directly at the ocean, that was cool. They do your rooms twice daily which was a treat. The staff were amazing, and yes, within a couple of days, they do know your names. Food was also fabulous, lots of choice without the buffet mentality, choices of salad, appetizer, soup, and usually 4 - 5 entrees to choose from...excellent in both quantity and presentation. We had room service breakfast every morning, ate lunch in port, and dinner on ship. Excursions: we chose to entertain ourselves and rented a car one day and took our time around the island we were on. 50Euro for the car for the day for 4 people. Arranged all our own transportation and transfers via email prior to leaving. Our room was 118 on the lower deck and you really felt very little movement there. Room 220 on the upper deck is adjacent to where everyone gets on and off in port each day so avoid it. The noise of everyone on the stairs at 8:00 am is terrible. The wonderful thing about this ship is you never have to wait for any thing. The tender to and from the port would take 2 people if you were the only ones waiting to come or go! Casual Elegance is the motto and it is correct, everyone was usually dressed nicely for dinner, your choice as to how much you want to dress up, common sense seems to prevail here. Entertainment, the crew did a show one evening that was really cute, the 2 bands were excellent(played every evening), and there were a lot of people dancing, besides it is the others on the ship usually providing the entertainment!! Casino is small but adequate, there are casinos in port in the large cities in Nice,Monte Carlo, etc. Spa was excellent, lots of people using it and the gym always seemed to have people working out, we worked out walking in the ports, putting on miles just walking around. The ship provided you with written material everyday on the next port, so you had some idea what to expect and what were the highlights. Overall it was 1 st. class,very comfortable, relaxing, you could be as organized as you wished, or simply take it day by day. Average age? 45-50 ish....in the Mediterranian. Rating...5 star in my mind! Only thing I would change is more time in Rome before we sailed!

[WeLoveCruising]

Canadiens,

It's a small world! We were in the same cabin 118 the week before you on the Malta to Rome cruise!

 

Glad you enjoyed it as much as we did.

[Kiwifruit]

WeLoveCruising it really is an incredibly small world, we were in cabin 120 on the Malta to Rome cruise so we must have been neighbours. It really was a great cruise and we were so lucky with the weather.

[WeLoveCruising]

Hi Kiwifruit -

Are you the guys from Australlia? If so, we met you on the ship - we are the couple that was eating the lobster next to you out on deck that day at lunch :).

 

Yes, it was a great time and I wish we were still there! Did you get to see Stromboli at night? It was amazing, wasnt it?

[Kiwifruit]

Hi WeLoveCruising,

 

Yeah that was us, really is a small world. Watching Stromboli erupt at night was one of the highlights as was being anchored close to the Wind Spirit, it really was a great cruise. We were pleasantly surprised not knowing what we should expect from a Windstar cruise and the accomodation and meals exceeded our expectations.

 

Fortunately for us we have come back to summer so it hasn't been too hard to settle down. Not sure when we will do our next cruise though we will probably go back to the Med next October and have our eyes on a couple of cruises out of Athens or Istanbul.

 

If I recall correctly you were from New York? How's the weather there this time of year?

[WeLoveCruising]

Yes, we are from NY State and it's aleady below freezing temperatures here. We were lucky to get in all those warm days in the Med before coming home.

 

We had a great time on the cruise, too - and also a wonderful time afterwards staying on in Rome.

 

Windstar has some nice cruises between Istanbul and Athens that you should consider next year. We're hoping to do the WindSpirit in 2005.

 

Enjoy your summer,

Joanne

[CoachTerry14]

Thank you for your review!

[johnnycruise]

We sailed Rome to Nice Oct 31/2004 and never having cruised before I will offer my opinion on WindSurf. Four of us travelled and none of us has ever cruised before so I am unable to compare ships but will offer you my opinion. FABULOUS! Yes you get a porthole instead of a balcony, but the size of the ship is why I chose WindSurf. I never had a desire to sail on a large ship and this was the perfect way to travel the intimate ports of the Mediterrainian without hauling luggage, and knowing your accommodations were consistant. Sea sickness: one of us felt unwell on our first night, the rest of us were fine, it was quite amazing how quick you adjust. You felt some movement on the ship, but talking to other passengers, few we spoke with were ill from the movement. Sea sickness pills were available at reception and the infirmary, and you are supposed to take them 4 hours before sailing. Staterooms were really nice and servicable, our porthole looked directly at the ocean, that was cool. They do your rooms twice daily which was a treat. The staff were amazing, and yes, within a couple of days, they do know your names. Food was also fabulous, lots of choice without the buffet mentality, choices of salad, appetizer, soup, and usually 4 - 5 entrees to choose from...excellent in both quantity and presentation. We had room service breakfast every morning, ate lunch in port, and dinner on ship. Excursions: we chose to entertain ourselves and rented a car one day and took our time around the island we were on. 50Euro for the car for the day for 4 people. Arranged all our own transportation and transfers via email prior to leaving. Our room was 118 on the lower deck and you really felt very little movement there. Room 220 on the upper deck is adjacent to where everyone gets on and off in port each day so avoid it. The noise of everyone on the stairs at 8:00 am is terrible. The wonderful thing about this ship is you never have to wait for any thing. The tender to and from the port would take 2 people if you were the only ones waiting to come or go! Casual Elegance is the motto and it is correct, everyone was usually dressed nicely for dinner, your choice as to how much you want to dress up, common sense seems to prevail here. Entertainment, the crew did a show one evening that was really cute, the 2 bands were excellent(played every evening), and there were a lot of people dancing, besides it is the others on the ship usually providing the entertainment!! Casino is small but adequate, there are casinos in port in the large cities in Nice,Monte Carlo, etc. Spa was excellent, lots of people using it and the gym always seemed to have people working out, we worked out walking in the ports, putting on miles just walking around. The ship provided you with written material everyday on the next port, so you had some idea what to expect and what were the highlights. Overall it was 1 st. class,very comfortable, relaxing, you could be as organized as you wished, or simply take it day by day. Average age? 45-50 ish....in the Mediterranian. Rating...5 star in my mind! Only thing I would change is more time in Rome before we sailed!

Your review makes me excited about my cruise on Wind Surf in a week ... you should expand it just a bit and add it to the REVIEWS page. No one has reviewed the Wind Surf there for nearly two years. You seem to focus on the positive which makes for good reading (less regretting!).

[Goofballs]

Canadiens,

 

Thank you for an excellent review. As someone who has only cruised 2000+ passenger ships, I am eyeing a smaller line and your review was perfect. It gave me a glimpse into what cruising on a smaller ship is like. I will continue to monitor this thread to see if others add to it, but thanks again for taking the time to inform those of us who haven't experienced this sort of cruising yet.

[FANCYPANTS]

Canadians,

Thank You For The Review, I Am Taking This Cruise July 10.

Can You Remember What Time You Got The Ship In Nice?

I Would Like To Catch A 10:00 Am Flight....is This Possible?

[FANCYPANTS]

Canadians,

Thank You For The Review, I Am Taking This Cruise July 10.

Can You Remember What Time You Got The Ship In Nice?

I Would Like To Catch A 10:00 Am Flight....is This Possible?

 

 

I MENT TO SAY "GOT OFF" SHIP IN NICE...SORRY

[Canadiens]

Hi, We arrived in port the night before as the Mediterranian was expected to be rough overnight so they sailed early from MonteCarlo/Monaco to Nice at 6:00 pm and we actually went into Nice and toured around that evening about 9:00 pm when we arrived. Most people were off the ship by 8:30, taxis line up and your luggage is already outside...under a tent...( you put it in the hall the night before) so as the taxis arrive they take you in order of your arrrival off the ship. There were 4 of us travelling so we needed a van, but a taxi to the airport was around 30Euro, and about 30 minutes or less to get there. I don't think you will have a time problem as you can probably disembark as soon as they arrrive in port, typically 6:00 am....Feel free to email me at monalahaie@telus.net if you have any questions, I am happy to answer them for you!

[Ya Ya Cruiser]

Thank you for a great review Canadiens, and it was good to hear from others who have positive comments about Windstar. I am looking for a "soft adventure" sailing cruise for my husband's birthday and have been researching Star Clippers, Windstar and Windjammer and to be frank, yours is the first positive Windstar review I have found!

 

My TA has recommended Windstar, but if you don't mind I have a couple of questions - hubby is very allergic to cigarette smoke and wondered where on the ship smoking is allowed. Also, when you say "common sense prevails" about dinner attire, are you talking the "resort casual" from casual nights on a large cruise ship, jackets, no ties or jackets and ties?

 

One of the criticisms I have read about Windstar is that the sails are all computer controlled and therefore you lose some of the ambience of "real" sailing - did you actually sail much or were you motoring most of the time?

 

hope you don't mind the questions, but it's always really helpful to talk to someone with direct experience.

 

Cheers,

Deb

[Joanandjoe]

The tread regarding our Wind Surf review (Nice to Lisbon, 11/7-21/2004) seems to have died; so here is the url: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=7746

 

We apparently got on when Canadiens got off.

 

We're both sensitive to cigarette smoke (especially Joe), and it was not a problem on the ship. We saw smoking in a small portion of each lounge, and the only smoking problem was a boorish cigar smoker who kept planting himself in the nonsmoking section of the Compass Rose. That occurred on the second week of the cruise. During the first week we didn't notice any smoking problem.

 

Since we were in Europe, smoke was difficult to avoid off the ship; but that had nothing to do with Windstar.

 

There is no dress code for dinner other than dressing neatly. In two weeks Joe never once wore a tie, and he only wore a jacket two or three times. Joan's clothing was dressier; but that's because she wanted to dress up a bit, not because she had to do so.

 

Yes, the sails were computer contolled; but that didn't change how great it felt being under sail. In the Caribbean, you're likely to have more sailing time in one week than we had in two. Yes, there are cruise lines that put their sails up and down by hand (in some cases with passenger assistance); but, from what we've heard, they don't have the luxury and comfort of Windstar.

[willco]

To Ya Ya:

 

I have sail both Windstar and Windjammer Barefoot. They are 2 totally different experiences.

 

Windjammer is a "make your own fun" cruise. They love the help of cruisers to lift the sails; they have no nightly entertainment other than various theme parties, the bar, and the library. It is completely casual (shorts and t-shirts) and they truely recommend going barefoot. There are no deck chairs. They give lectures about sailing and sailors. Dinner is almost a family affair as everyone typically eats at the same time. These are true sailing vessels. They also are much smaller ships and do sail under sail power some of the time. They also use their engines. I loved that experience as well as my Windstar experience.

 

Looking forward to sailing the Windsurf this Sunday (January 16th).