Windstar Sea Breeze, Classic Italy and Dalmatian Coast, first-time cruiser questions

Hello everyone, what a terrific resource this is...it's our first time on Cruise Critic and our first cruise. I have some questions I'd love advice on as we prepare for Classic Italy and the Dalmatian Coast in late May.

1. We enjoy good food and wine, often building trips around restaurants we want to visit. I can't seem to find a wine list for any of the Windstar ships (apart from a 'gift' list). Can anyone send a link or post one?

2. Is the drinks package worth it? We are being quoted US$134 per day for two people...would normally have a cocktail early evening and a bottle of wine with dinner. Most previous posts say only consider it if you drink 7 drinks per person per day.

3. We start in Rome...can anyone recommend a good car and driver or bus transfer service from hotel to port? I know many recommend the train but we are on a much longer trip and will have larger cases.

4. Any insider tips on Windstar dining? I've been a bit disappointed with the Saveur recommendations (our own gourmetraveller.com.au has broader, more current ones). For example...

5. We like to travel independently, so think we'll do our own thing unless anyone feels any of the Windstar tours are don't-miss on this cruise.

Many thanks for your advice!

Welcome, words on wings. I just joined recently, and I promise this will be great fun. I can't answer all you questions, because our first Windstar cruise will be Fall 2016 -- same itinerary as yours. Can't imagine you'll get your money's worth on that drink package. That's a ghastly sum for money for an 8-night cruise. I'd stick with the house drinks, but that's just me.:D

Welcome to Cruise Critic and Windstar.

I have several wine lists from previous sailings, however, they are from over a year ago so I hesitate to post them since things could have changed. Pricing for white was $7-11/glass, $26-41/bottle, red $7-15/glass, $26-58/bottle. Again, this is from a year ago so the pricing might not be correct. Maybe someone on a current sailing can get more recent info.

Tom and I have not felt the drink package was worth the cost especially on port intensive cruises since we tend to eat lunch on shore. So, even if we have a cocktail or two in the evening and have a bottle of wine at dinner, we would not justify the package cost.

In Rome, we used Rome Cabs for our transfer and were very pleased with their service. The cost for our transfer was 130 euros.

Have not done this itinerary, so cannot offer recommendations on tours through Windstar. Not sure exactly which sailing you are on, but have you checked out the Roll Calls section here on Cruise Critic? You can see if one is there for your sailing, if not then maybe you can start one. Often that is a great way to find others for suggestions and/or to share independent tours.

Have a great cruise!

Thanks Suzanne, and Dan, your replies help a lot.

The wines on Wind Surf are very reasonable and the package isn't worth purchasing. Also, you can bring your own wine on board. Last year we brought a case of wine on board. You must open your bottle in your cabin otherwise you will be charged a corkage fee. We just kept an open bottle in the cabin and occasionally went back there to refill our glass.

Make sure that immediately after checking in on the first day you go and make reservations for Candles (outside dining) and Stella Bistro. There is no up charge but you do need reservations.

As far as tours, the Taste of Capri and Blue Grotto is great and make sure you go up to the top of the island on the chair lift. Dubrovnik, Messina, and Split can be done on your own. In Dubrovnik get off the ship early and walk the wall around the city. In Kotor take the Bay & Baroque Village tour. In Rovinj take the Seaside and Wine Tour. It's fun to try some of the local wines of Istria.

Great advice Hillskis.

We just returned from a Windstar cruise. The drink prices have not changed for the last few years. With the gratuity, a cocktail or a glass of decent wine costs about ten dollars. You would have to do a lot of serious drinking to make the alcohol package worthwhile. They have apparently changed the policy on bringing wine on board. In the past, you could bring on as much wine as you wanted. Now, they say you can bring on two bottles per person on a one week cruise. I am not sure that there is any mechanism to enforce that, as long as you do not bring more than two bottles with you each time you board.

Thanks Ed and Mary Ellen

Given that we're in a new port most days, and envisage just being back on board for dinner, I think that makes sense. Now we just have to hope the $Aus doesn't slip too much further behind the dollar $A

Hello Words on Wings

Just wondering how you enjoyed your Windstar Cruise and whether you had any tips for us. We are leaving Venice on 24 September visiting the same ports in reverse.

Hello Words on Wings

Just wondering how you enjoyed your Windstar Cruise and whether you had any tips for us. We are leaving Venice on 24 September visiting the same ports in reverse.

We loved it. I wrote about it here

Great itinerary, some fantastic activities and a beautiful ship.

Enjoy!

To Words on Wings, I read your review it was terrific. I am doing my 19th cruise with Windstar in December but on the top of my travel list is taking one of the sail boats into Venice, my favorite destination on earth. Trip sounded great. I have to wait until 2017 due to other engagements. Thank you very much, perhaps you should submit it to Cruise Critic reviews so more people can enjoy it. Happy travels. Susanne

To Words on Wings, I read your review it was terrific. I am doing my 19th cruise with Windstar in December but on the top of my travel list is taking one of the sail boats into Venice, my favorite destination on earth. Trip sounded great. I have to wait until 2017 due to other engagements. Thank you very much, perhaps you should submit it to Cruise Critic reviews so more people can enjoy it. Happy travels. Susanne

Thanks Susanne! Sailing into Venice was pretty special, but then, so was sailing up to Capri, sailing into Kotor...sailing into pretty much anywhere.

Thanks so much for referring me to your article, which was very helpful. We are travelling on the Wind Surf rather than the Star Breeze and I couldn't help but notice that our fare is more than twice the price which you paid. :confused: We did not book a suite. It might be interesting to compare onboard facilities.

Thanks again for the article.

I feel as the ship was new, and perhaps had not filled, we were lucky to get a sale fare. I see the same fare has been available during their recent sale. We thought it was terrific value and the suite, which was the bottom priced offering on the Star Breeze, was lovely and spacious.

Words on wings, I would love to read your review as we are going on the same itinerary on the 25th of Sept. However I can't seem to get that address to work for me- I keep getting a message that it does not exist- any ideas?

Words on wings, I would love to read your review as we are going on the same itinerary on the 25th of Sept. However I can't seem to get that address to work for me- I keep getting a message that it does not exist- any ideas?

Here's a link that should work. Or you could paste the below into your browser. It's a great cruise....enjoy.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2015/08/15/cruise-tips/

http://http://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2015/08/15/cruise-tips/

Thanks Suzanne, and Dan, your replies help a lot.

Just want to reiterate that Rome Cabs were fabulous, Suzanne and Dan. I'd recommend them for Rome tours too.

Thank you for a quick reply, and lovely report-definitely the best I've read yet. We will be on the Windsurf, so should be a somewhat different experience, but getting very excited as it is coming up fast.

Thank you for a quick reply, and lovely report-definitely the best I've read yet. We will be on the Windsurf, so should be a somewhat different experience, but getting very excited as it is coming up fast.

We will be joining you on the Windsurf from Venice on 9/25.

Looking forward to meeting you! I think we got a good fare since 3excursions are included.

We have been on the Surf several times in the Caribbean and really love the ship.

Lorraine and Rudy

Lorraine, looking forward to meeting you as well. We booked back in Nov., so the price was not bad at that time, but unfortunately we are Canadian:eek: sticker shock!

But, can't think about that-just have to enjoy the trip-30% more:)

Debra and Chris

Hello Lorraine and Rudy, Debra and Chris,

We are looking forward to meeting you too. Unfortunately our $AUD is not faring too well against most currencies at the moment, but we still intend enjoying ourselves to the utmost! :D

Heather and Ian