Just back from Windsurf

We just returned from a lovely two week adventure in Madrid, Portugal and on the Windsurf's Treasures of Morocco and Southern Spain.

This was our first Windstar experience, and hopefully not our last!

Overall the service was very good and attentive without being over the top or subservient. Food (always subjective, of course) was for the most part very good to excellent, particularly if you take your server's suggestions for the evening.

We did all of our tours independently and would not hesitate to do so again.

The private function in Tarragona was well done.

The deck BBQ was fantastic!

The officers, including the captain, freely mingled with the passengers and were friendly and approachable. The open bridge was a nice touch.

Thanks to those on these boards that recommended the laundry package, it was wonderful! And also thank you to the poster that gave us a heads up about the fact that OBC cannot be used for gratuity. I will add that on the last day (we didn't leave Tarragona until 10pm) the gift shop was only opened for a short time after sail away and there were many folks trying to use up their credits...I didn't have much trouble given the laundry package, spa visits and decent wine list!

As a whole we enjoyed the Windstar experience, and will likely cruise again, perhaps on one of the motor yachts to Italy, Croatia and Greece. Our group skewed on the younger side of the average age range aboard but since I'm not a night owl, the lack of evening entertainment didn't bother me...I even missed the crew show!

I was a little disappointed that our itinerary didn't really include any out of the way ports or small ports that are not accessible to the average large cruise ship, but I guess that is itinerary dependent. On most of our stops we were accompanied by other large ships. It was great when we were able to tie up close to the city centers, but this did not anyways happen. When we were diverted to the outlying commercial piers a shuttle bus was available gratis to the city centers but you had to keep track of the schedule, so this was more of a mass market feel than private yacht feel.

I also had mixed feelings about the sails. It was very moving to see them unfurl to the music of 1492 (and I watched every time...never got cheesy for me! ) but they are really just for show, and we were always under power. Again this is probably itinerary dependent. The Windsurf is a beauty to look at though!

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions, especially since so many have helped me in the past months of pre trip planning.

The sails on the ships are to me equivalent to solar panels on the house. When conditions are right they reduce the amount of fossil fuels required to power the ship. The ship can either go faster or reduce the amount of fuel used.

When the winds are from the wrong direction, it is similar to having a house in Minnesota experiencing a December snow storm - not going to have much of an impact on the heating system. Same house in June on the solstice- lots of energy being generated.

I am interested in this itinerary. What kind of independent tours did you arrange in Morocco? What did you feel were your favorite/least favorite ports?

If you are interested in more of a sailing experience, consider Sea Cloud. Of course, it is also motorized; but once we were underway and conditions permitted, it was sail power only. We sailed from Curacao to Costa Rica last year and found it to be a very different but enjoyable experience.

MNgardens: we used toursbylocals.com in Morocco. The name of the tour was Explore Tetuan and Tangier. We enjoyed Tetuan much more than Tangier, which was pretty much a tourist trap. I think of we had to do it again we might actually book through Windsurf for Morocco.

All the ports had something that we found worthwhile, but honestly after Almeria I was tired of climbing to Moorish fortresses and looking at cathedrals!

In Cartagena we just went to Cala Cortina and had a beach day. Same thing in Ibiza. Tarragona probably would have been our least favorite stop if it wasn't for the private event.

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Babr: we are actually considering a bareboat sailing trip in the Caribbean early next year... but will definitely take a look at the Sea Cloud!

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We are signed up for this trip next summer, and there are 6 of us, so private excursions are very doable.

Did you go to the Alhambra? Was it worth the drive?

Any other local tours/guides you used that you can recommend?

We went to the Alhambra from Almeria and used Spain Day Tours for a private tour. It was 159€ per person, but I had to purchase timed tickets for Alhambra online. Both the driver and our tour guide were excellent!

We were glad we went, the drive through the desert landscape was stunning, and we had time to explore Grenada as well.

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We did Malaga on our own, visiting the Automobile Museum, Picasso Museum and climbing to the Alcazaba (this was a challenge! )

In Morocco used Tours By Locals to visit Tetuan and Tangier.

Cartagena just went to the beach , same in Ibiza.

Used TripAdvisor and the ports of call board here on Cruise Critic to do my research!

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We went to the Alhambra from Almeria and used Spain Day Tours for a private tour. It was 159€ per person, but I had to purchase timed tickets for Alhambra online. Both the driver and our tour guide were excellent!

We were glad we went, the drive through the desert landscape was stunning, and we had time to explore Grenada as well.

 

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We are planning to book with Spain Day Tours for this excursion in May. They are advertised at half that price. Did you mean per couple? Thank you for the info!

Awesome! Thank you very much for that information. :)

We did Malaga on our own, visiting the Automobile Museum, Picasso Museum and climbing to the Alcazaba (this was a challenge! )

 

In Morocco used Tours By Locals to visit Tetuan and Tangier.

 

Cartagena just went to the beach , same in Ibiza.

 

Used TripAdvisor and the ports of call board here on Cruise Critic to do my research!

 

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We also did both Malaga and Cartegena on our own. In Malaga,, the Picasso museum is easy walking distance and worth the trip. In Cartegena you dock right next to a nice park, the Burger King has free Wifi, and there's a tourist office right there. Both places offered easy walking to the main shopping area.

3kidslater: make sure you are not joining a larger bus tour. Our tour was private for just the 6 of us. Also are you leaving from Malaga or Almeria?

Milepig: in Cartagena we docked at the commercial pier that was further away from the city center. It was very close to the beach but we would have had to take a shuttle to get to the city. This helped us to decide our plan for the day

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Thanks for the feedback.

Milepig,

We were supposed to be on the trip you took last year but had to cancel. Still have much of your original information. Are booked sailing this October 26th, Splendors of Southern Spain with a similar itinerary. Any further wisdom you could provide for this voyage much appreciated.

Laurie