What Are WINDSTAR Playing At ???

Booked ,depositted and confirmed with Windstar for SICILIAN SPLENDOURS 10 day round trip Civitavecchia departing October 11, 2017 some months ago. Now my TA contacts me and tells me Windstar have altered that itinerary to depart 8 days earlier on October 3, 2017 and the vessel is also altered from STAR LEGEND to WIND SURF . BUT I am now told by Windstar that for the same base grade cabin on Wind Surf that I am expected to pay an additional $ 2,000 !!!

Surely if if I am a past traveller with Windstar, and have a confirmed booking if they change the date and I accept that, then they are obligated to match the same price for the base grade cabin that they booked me on . After all it is me that is fitting in with Windstar who dictate the changed cruise date and vessel ? I am not interested in what the fine print may say, I expect Windstar to treat customers in a civil and business like manner, not to RIP them OFF .

Is this normal from Windstar or do they treat all past travellers like this ?

Further their response to my e - mail remains un answered at this time .

Hello Kuldalai:

This does seem odd at first glance, but I think it may sort itself out. You have about 17 months before sailing. First, not sure they can swap things out like that AND charge you more -- I agree there. That amounts to a classic "bait and switch" in marketing. But it is normal for the cruise line to shuffle itineraries that far in advance to improve their position vs. others. I'd be persistent, tell them you won't play ball, and won't fork over more money for something you've already locked in. Be tough. Tell them if they want to move you to a new date on a new ship, then they must honor the price deal AND give you an additional perk. If they don't, threaten to walk away over their breach of contract.

Having said all that, I think Wind Surf is a superior ship, moving up to October 3rd means better weather, and I think you'll love the improved situation all around. Just don't let them badger you. Force them to play ball with YOU concerning the price. That itinerary is not in high demand, so they will drop the price several times between now and your sailing date.

I agree with the previous poster. I am super early booker and have been subject several times to being "bumped" to a different cruise, different ship - if I recall because of charters. In all cases they were very fair with me, (and now I can barely remember what I had originally booked :)) I am sure if you remain firm but fair you'll be fine.

By the way, Kuldalai, don't get distracted by my tough tone. In real life I'm quite sunny, pleasant, and an optimist (way more than "glass half full" outlook on life), and willing to relax when on vacation. But in business dealings, whether you're buying a house or a car, settling a trade deal, or haggling for the best cruise package you can find, just throw away all that pleasantry and be "all business". Be tough, to the point of being annoyingly abrasive if necessary. There's a certain businessman/tycoon running for President, an utter jerk that I loathe with every fiber of my being, but his approach to deal-making is spot-on.

Work through your TA. Tell Windstar they have unilaterally changed the terms of your good-faith bargain, and the deal is off. (I was stretching the truth in my last message. Are they really in "Breach of Contract"? Legally and technically speaking, no, but that's your way of poking them in the eye to get everyone's attention.) Tell the company that you placed a deposit for "Sicilian Splendors" on Star Legend on October 11, 2017, and booked that deal months ago. Your expectation was for a SUITE. They now want to cancel that cruise, and now they want you to consider a new date and ship that you did not want. Rubbing salt in the wound, they have the gall to say they will place you in an Oceanview cabin unless you will pay $2,000 more for a Suite.

Tell them you are insulted and want your money back, every penny. Or, if they want your continued loyalty, then you expect to get the same itinerary on the Wind Surf on October 3, 2017 for a substantial price savings due to the inferior cabin accommodations, OR you will accept the same booking in return for a substantial perk: e.g., free cabin upgrade, free gratuities, or a $500 onboard credit.

BE WILLING TO WALK. You paid way more than a year and a half out for an itinerary that, frankly, they have always found hard to fill. (That's why they want to reschedule it to a more popular ship on an earlier date). Make them treat you with respect, and expect them to always deal in good faith. Their initial offer is ridiculous, so laugh at them. Make them cringe and cower in shame for mistreating you.

Hi Strenz:

Fair enough, I certainly see what you're saying. There's no point in going in with both guns blazing right off the bat. My mom always said, "....you'll attract more people with honey than with vinegar". She could pour on the southern charm like nobody's business, and yet nobody ever took advantage of her. And I can see how you'd get the impression that I can be too eager to be confrontational from my advice. I'm pushier than most customers.

So let me elaborate. I think a measured, but firm approach, always can work wonders. That's especially true with Windstar, because most of the time they seem quite fair. Working in good faith means just that -- both sides avoid the drama and work towards "yes". But it also means you have to say "no", firmly, if the other side is not honoring an original good faith bargain. In this case, I think Windstar has unfairly warped the agreement in their own favor. By contrast, they owe it to the customer to "...make them whole" again, not gouge them for more money.

When both sides agree that a proposed trade is a fair one, then you can declare success. Everyone wins. It's not about exploiting the other party.

In my opinion, it doesn't hurt to be frank right upfront if they have offered something unacceptable. In the original poster's remarks, it seems Windstar really low-balled kuldalai by offering lesser accommodations, and had the gall to ask for $2,000 more. That's not fair in any world.

So, bottom line, kuldalai can and should be polite. And firmly say "...no, this isn't fair. What are you willing to do to make things better?" I tend to be very frank and unequivocal when I'm offered a lousy deal, and usually tell them what I think is acceptable in the alternative. That leads to negotiations, and the final terms are whatever both parties see as fair. I think Windstar will offer something better, and their initial offer was a trial balloon.

With 17 months to go, kuldalai can be patient, because the closer the sailing dates is, the less leverage Windstar will have when cabins are empty. (I'd say the reverse would be true if it was a hot ticket, but that's not the case here.) And they need to negotiate from a position of strength, and that means they have to be ready to walk.

Hope that clears things up.

Onto lovely subjects Cruising with WS. I think if Kuldalai gets a supervisor, is polite he will be satisfied. I think it is better through yourself than a TA more personal. Lately there has been a huge disconnect between central office and the service on the ships. That really bothered me tremendously, then WS cleaned house with upper management and I wrote a long letter with examples. I received very promptly a phone call and had what I felt a great conversation and was listened to so perhaps things will change for the better. Let's hope. I think serving the public is very difficult. What is luxary,what is good food, what is good service, see a piece of rust, bad weather, tendering vs docking on and on. My husband and I feel,so fortunate and luxary for us is kindness, knowing people are well taken care of, sails, nice meals, small ports, interesting sights etc. We love life and our WS experiences. I hope it works out to Kuldalai's satisfaction. Enjoy

PS Trump brags to the world what a great negociator he is, if he has to brag most likely he isn't. Because he tells you so does noy constitute truth. Agree enough.

Well said, all of it, Strenz. I'm glad that you went to the trouble and lodged a diplomatic complaint with management. It started out as a personal issue, persistent failings that were keeping you and your husband from being completely happy with Windstar's service. But it was bigger than that. In a way you became our spokesperson, because the stuff that bugged you clearly had been bothering many other people for a long time. GOOD JOB. You were clear, had a productive discussion with someone that could make a difference, and you had examples.

Basically, you decided to take action and voice your concerns rather than be silently annoyed. You found an approach that worked. We can all learn from that.

I know this isn't a political venue, but I enjoyed the chat about Mister Golden Hair Surprise. I have many other names for this hateful man, and maybe if we are on the same cruise someday we laugh about his escapades, along with other political junkies over drinks in the lounge. And hopefully neither of those terrible candidates (I'm including the Evil Madam Secretary, of course) will have destroyed the country in the interim. :D

Excuse me if I'm missing something here, but iTC Dan, are you not planning your first Windstar cruise? I'm noticing you are sharing quite a few opinions about how to deal with the company, as well as opinions on which ships are "better." Or have you had experience in these areas?

For the record, we have had excellent results dealing with the main office when we have had admittedly small issues. We LOVE the Windsurf, have been on it four times. We're looking forward to our first trip on the Legend in July.

Excuse me if I'm missing something here, but iTC Dan, are you not planning your first Windstar cruise? I'm noticing you are sharing quite a few opinions about how to deal with the company, as well as opinions on which ships are "better." Or have you had experience in these areas?

 

For the record, we have had excellent results dealing with the main office when we have had admittedly small issues. We LOVE the Windsurf, have been on it four times. We're looking forward to our first trip on the Legend in July.

Thanks. Yes, although I'm a newbee, I did have one situation with the booking folks, and it was resolved. They booked us on the wrong cruise after I had spelled out the particulars in writing. :) But we resolved it with no drama. I do have opinions about negotiating based on my career experience. My opinion about Windstar is sky high, that silly mistake notwithstanding. I think everyone has their own style for resolving issues, mine is not perfect but it has served me well when dealing with contracts and resolving disputes. I think the original poster has a legitimate beef, and I suggested one way to stand firm and get a fair deal.

And Pudgesmom, I did make some judgments regarding the ships and itineraries, which are based on many reviews from folks like you on Cruise Critic. Come October I'll be able to speak from personal experience. The reviews for Wind Surf are really good, so I'll make sure to try it out as soon as we can.

Opinions are easily disregarded if you want to do that. Take care.

OP is in Australia. We (also in Oz) have sailed with Windstar twice and both times it has been very hard to contact them. Their website is very difficult and they just don't answer emails. I even tried to call them (expensive and difficult due to time difference) and was told to send an email! Our TA had problems also - eventually everything was sorted and we loved our cruises, but from here it is hard to negotiate. Good luck.

I recently did a post asking why people use a ta, something we did once on a $25,000 trip to New Zealand and it was a disaster. This situation sounds like an example of when a ta should come in handy. The initial poster has been on Windstar once, but my guess is their ta has had a number of dealings with the company and should take the lead in resolving the issue. Booking directly with Windstar is easy and if you choose to use a ta, who is being paid for their service, they are the ones who should resolve any problems. This situation should have been resolved between the ta and Windstar initially and the customer should have been presented with the solution or options. I think your fight should be with your ta.

We recently had a change in ship, itinerary, and date. Dealing directly with our planner resulted in an excellent resolution to the extent that some of the adjustments we would have requested, cabins etc., were anticipated by our planner and already put in place.

If all else fails, cancel and start over.

TAs have a special line to a different set of agents who have more experience and the ability to clear away some shrubbery when needed.

I think a lot of this goes to show how WS has lost contact with its customer. Some months ago we had an issue with our cruise and I sent an email to Mr. Birkholz and the Captain. Never heard back from the Captain or Mr. Birkholz. It was only when I sent a followup email to customer service that I received any sort of a reply - and the reply did not really even address the problem. As a comparison, I once had a situation with American Airlines where they did a significant flight reschedule and their agents would not find me a suitable alternate flight (was using points). Sent an email to the CEO of AA and received a phone call the following morning. Everything was resolved in 5 or 10 minutes. That was customer service.

I know if WS did a change such as was done to the OP, I would have significant issues because of the problem in changing flight and hotel reservations. It appears that rescheduling has become more and more common with WS - which, to me, is a major issue.

Not to be blindly defensive of Windstar, but let's keep in mind that the incident that started this conversation was for a cruise seventeen months from now, that's October 2017. There are no flights arranged, no baby sitters scheduled, the car is not gassed up, probably nothing except the cruise. It's not like they waited until the last minute.

I don't agree with the company boosting the fare by $2000 but we are not aware of the details, cabins to suites etc. Things change, there are a bunch of new managers at the company, they are still without a president, and I would anticipate more changes ahead. Hopefully they will be positive.

Not to be blindly defensive of Windstar, but let's keep in mind that the incident that started this conversation was for a cruise seventeen months from now, that's October 2017. There are no flights arranged, no baby sitters scheduled, the car is not gassed up, probably nothing except the cruise. It's not like they waited until the last minute.

I don't agree with the company boosting the fare by $2000 but we are not aware of the details, cabins to suites etc. Things change, there are a bunch of new managers at the company, they are still without a president, and I would anticipate more changes ahead. Hopefully they will be positive.

Barrycat, The OP stated that the Surf cabin was the same "base grade" cabin as on the Legend. We all know that the "base grade" cabin on the Surf is much smaller than any of the cabins on the Legend. Based on this alone, if I were in the OPs shoes, would expect a Surf "suite" at the same price as I was paying on the Legend. Remember, this was a change made by WS - not the OP so WS should go out of their way to make things right with the OP.

Does anyone at WINDSTAR HO read these threads ? Still no response from Windstar Reservations to my e mail of near 2 weeks ago .

Now e mailed WINDSTAR Guest Relations, still waiting for a response .

Why are Windstar always so pathetically slow in responding to e mails ? customer service certainly does not appear to be a priority to them .

(I am original poster and starter of this thread .)

If anyone at Windstar does read this then please get Guest Relations off their backsides and give me a response to my recent e mail .

Failure to get some action from Windstar will leave me no other choice than to take my business elsewhere .

I guess they're too busy with this.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Windstar-Cruises-steps-up-its-agent-outreach

They don't need anymore TA freebees. Latest cruises prices special for some cruises are more decent lately. All they need is good communication skill.

dandee2

In that article they're saying they will respond to TA's no more than one business day after the inquiry. Shouldn't they take that to the next level and do that for their direct customers as well? I never use a TA and would like the same consideration.

I like the free cruise part. How do I become a TA? 😎 My TA takes a week to get back to me. This could be my ultimate win-win.😂

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

it sound like Kuldali has let their ta off the hook in their last post by stating that they are still waiting for two weeks for a response from Windstar customer relations. This is the ta job.

I always deal directly with a Windstar planner. When I have a question or problem I have a name and number to call and my issues are resolved quickly.

It sounds like this ta booked the cruise, collected their commission, and bailed on this couple.

it sound like Kuldali has let their ta off the hook in their last post by stating that they are still waiting for two weeks for a response from Windstar customer relations. This is the ta job.

I always deal directly with a Windstar planner. When I have a question or problem I have a name and number to call and my issues are resolved quickly.

It sounds like this ta booked the cruise, collected their commission, and bailed on this couple.

And, in my experience, WS won't give you any firm information if you've used a TA. They may give a specific answer to a known question like "what dock does WS use in a specific port" but for anything that involves any sort of post-booking changes they'll tell you the TA must contact them.