My Windstar down for refresh

I just had an email that MyWindstar is going down for 2 weeks beginning October 14 (TODAY, thanks for the warning!!) for a new version of the reservation system. 2 weeks to do an upgrade with zero notice. Really??

Yes, me too. I thought Windstar was getting its act together...but in this day and age and "outage" of more then 24 hours is unacceptable. Easy way to lose business.

Another perspective I have no problem, thankful for the warning. Happy Sailing

Another perspective I have no problem, thankful for the warning. Happy Sailing

Yes, we all know you are a WS cheerleader but aside from that...do you not think that a minimum requirement of any cruise line is to provide excellent client service via all channels whether that is online, phone or via an agent. And that would include access to those channels without interruption. Perhaps another perspective in a very competitive industry.

Another perspective I have no problem, thankful for the warning. Happy Sailing

Yeah. We know. You love everything. But there was NO warning. Today is the 14th and they send the message the day then system goes down for two weeks??

I also got this email, and was surprised how long this is going to be down, and the late notice.

I didn't get the email but I just went to the web site and it is working.

I'm in IT. How this should work is:

Old system up and available

Design and code new system

Beta test internally

Roll out for early users

Switch to new system - 5 minutes down time.

Milepig is spot-on.

My husbands owns his own company and has done this countless times for major companies and it all boils down to this -- you never NEVER have the site down for more than a few minutes...in the dead of the night...when the fewest users are online...and only after doing demographic research to ascertain when the fewest number of users are on the site. Very rarely a gremlin pops up and it may take...gasp...an hour, but that's it. If we told one of our clients their site and booking system would be down for 2 weeks, we'd be fired in a New York minute. Plain and simple.

In my husband's humble opinion, something else is going...

Hmmm......I booked my first Windstar cruise (Wind Surf) on Saturday (yipeee!!), after a few years of trying to coordinate my schedule with their schedules. At that time the agent told me that I should go on the website and look at shore excursions, transfers, etc., and book anything I'm interested in. You would think she could have given me that information at the time.

My sailing is at the end of November so of course I had to make full payment. Because an earlier post stated that somebody that works in "IT" thought something else was going on, I hope they aren't experiencing some kind of financial problem. I haven't purchased travel insurance yet, but planned to do so today, but if I recall correctly from past plans purchased, I believe if a travel provider goes insolvent within at least 90 days from purchase, it's not covered. Hopefully I'm not the cause of any RUMOR getting started. If Windstar has an individual who will occasionally post something on CC, as some other lines do, it would be helpful if they would post a short explanation.

Do you think they may finally be updating their system to allow passengers to book on their own cruise online? I definitely think they should, and I could see how that might take some time.

I attempted a couple of months ago to get a quote through one of their call center representatives but finally gave up. I think she may have been new, but I was either not getting a response or getting a quote for the wrong ship on the wrong sailing date. The person I reached this time, was much more competent. I have booked at least 14 cruises online in the past and find it so easy.

Hmmm......I booked my first Windstar cruise (Wind Surf) on Saturday (yipeee!!), after a few years of trying to coordinate my schedule with their schedules. At that time the agent told me that I should go on the website and look at shore excursions, transfers, etc., and book anything I'm interested in. You would think she could have given me that information at the time.

 

My sailing is at the end of November so of course I had to make full payment. Because an earlier post stated that somebody that works in "IT" thought something else was going on, I hope they aren't experiencing some kind of financial problem. I haven't purchased travel insurance yet, but planned to do so today, but if I recall correctly from past plans purchased, I believe if a travel provider goes insolvent within at least 90 days from purchase, it's not covered. Hopefully I'm not the cause of any RUMOR getting started. If Windstar has an individual who will occasionally post something on CC, as some other lines do, it would be helpful if they would post a short explanation.

 

Do you think they may finally be updating their system to allow passengers to book on their own cruise online? I definitely think they should, and I could see how that might take some time.

 

I attempted a couple of months ago to get a quote through one of their call center representatives but finally gave up. I think she may have been new, but I was either not getting a response or getting a quote for the wrong ship on the wrong sailing date. The person I reached this time, was much more competent. I have booked at least 14 cruises online in the past and find it so easy.

I see no reason to support your concern. WS IT has always been terrible so as sad as it is I'm not surprised they don't know how to accomplish a quick reset. In any case, assuming you paid with a CC you'll be covered.

Zoey, they are definitely switching over to a new system. We just booked a cruise for next April and the reservation agents were struggling with the new system (perhaps partly learning curve). It seems that the new system isn't terribly user friendly so it probably isn't a start on one where consumers book for themselves.

For what it's worth, I was told today that they HOPE to have it up by the beginning of December. Meanwhile, all bookings can still be made through your travel agent or over the phone.

(I'm a long time member, travel agent, and lurker on many forums, but I think this may be the first in Windstar!)