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Inquiring Mind.....help from Windstar Experts


Lois R
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I have been cruising on a regular basis for almost 14 years now.

The majority have been on Celebrity (about 40 of them) with one on HAL, 3 Royal and my one

River Cruise back in April (which ranked in my top 2 cruises ever).

 

I am 58 and I sail solo.....I am now looking to step outside of ocean

cruising again (on the "big ships") and am wanting some information

on Windstar and why you love them?

 

I have done some research and the ships look lovely.....I know they do

offer some special pricing for solos too:)....I know it is small (size wise)

and looks really interesting. I am looking at the spring of 2017.

 

Any help/information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated:D

Edited by Lois R
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Lois,

You obviously LOVE to cruise! And if you loved AMA Waterways, you will love Windstar - both the sailing ships and the motor yachts. The only diference will be that many WS ports are tendered as the ports are generally smaller. Those who travel on WS are very friendly and the seating for meals is very conducive to meeting people aboard.

The cabins on the motor yachts are very well appointed and larger than most of the Celebrity cabins... Celebrity is also our favorite large cruise line - but you might find it hard to go back once you try WS! But alas, no free Happy Hours like you obviously had on Celeb... not too much of a trade-off for the ambiance.

If you have specific ?s, ask away.

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Hi Lois, as many would comment we love WS, have been cruising with them since 1999 and we have our 20th coming up next May. However, we have never been on a large or even medium size ship. What do we love? The service is incredible, lovely, hard working staff, amazingly friendly, the smallness no crowding, respectful, when the motors stop and we are under sail only, people whisper, the food, plenty of choice, healthy, presented beautifully ( we loved the Viking river cruise we went on however, the food was grim in comparison ), we love the informality with elegance but not ostentatious, we love the small ports, we love the sail aways with the music especially coming out of huge harbors, fore we feel apart of the harbor, very exciting. We love that it is very inclusive with friendly, wrlcoming passengers. Actually we love it all. Give it a try, if you have questions write back, most of all Happy Sailing.

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Hi, thank you both for the replies:) No big deal about the Happy Hours

to me anymore really....I was diagnosed with a chronic form of Leukemia

this summer (thankfully it is NOT terminal) and it is treatable. I am

on meds and the Doc isn't too keen on me drinking much (if at all)....

a glass of wine but that is about it. Great service and food would win

out of the Happy Hours for me anyway:)

 

Yes, I LOVED AMA:D......

 

So now I have to look at Windstar Itineraries.....I will be doing the

Caribbean...either of you have a favorite?

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We too love AmaWaterways and Windstar. We have been on 2 cruises on each line and have our third Windstar trip planned next May. We have cruised the Greek Islands on Wind Star, and Tahiti on the Wind Spirit. These are their smallest ships. We loved both trips. There is something special about a deck bbq in the caldera of Santorina. I agree with everything Strenz said about Windstar. You will have a fabulous trip.

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Dear Lois, I am so sorry about your disgnosis, i swim everyday with a lady who has your diagnosis, I have had breast cancer and an very careful about my intake. I can not drink much but I love a glass of red wine for dinner. I only eat organic meat and chicken but I do love the lamb and fish on WS. Great salad bar. As for the Caribbean, my favorite is the Yachtman. Due to my father sailing in the Caribbean my entire life and many times I was with him I just love the BVIs. I think it is in my DNA. We have done it three times with WS. I also love Dominica, when we were there in 2010 with WS we had a great guide who said the island collectively was trying to become the organic vegetable garden of the Caribbean, that went right to my heart. Last year I heard from a person who lives there he said that so far it has been successful. I would love to visit Monserrat as well. The pure beauty the BVIs is luscious. The beach party on the island next to Bitter End is wonderful. I love the Caribbean but I love the BVIs the most. Therefore my vote The Yachtman.

PS I love a day at sea too. Good Luck and Very Hapoy Sailing

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I have been cruising on a regular basis for almost 14 years now.

The majority have been on Celebrity (about 40 of them) with one on HAL, 3 Royal and my one

River Cruise back in April (which ranked in my top 2 cruises ever).

 

I am 58 and I sail solo.....I am now looking to step outside of ocean

cruising again (on the "big ships") and am wanting some information

on Windstar and why you love them?

 

I have done some research and the ships look lovely.....I know they do

offer some special pricing for solos too:)....I know it is small (size wise)

and looks really interesting. I am looking at the spring of 2017.

 

Any help/information/suggestions would be greatly appreciated:D

 

hi Lois, I have been interested in trying Windstar for some time now as well and I was wondering where you saw special pricing listed-I travel solo too. I did notice at 1 time that they offered it on there TA cruises.

Thanks!

I have friends who travel to SM every spring for their vacation and it usually requires a few flights as nothing is direct..from they say. Happy planning:)

Edited by cjcruiser27
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hi Lois, I have been interested in trying Windstar for some time now as well and I was wondering where you saw special pricing listed-I travel solo too. I did notice at 1 time that they offered it on there TA cruises.

Thanks!

I have friends who travel to SM every spring for their vacation and it usually requires a few flights as nothing is direct..from they say. Happy planning:)

 

Hi, if you look under "SPECIALS" on the website.....they have a link to

click on and it will give you a list of sailings that have a lower SS.

 

Oh, I know I would have to fly in/out of Miami.....I was just wondering

if going in/out of St Martin is pretty easy.

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Hi again, we leave out if Boston and to get to St. Maarten we have to change in Charlotte, Atlanta or Miami. Nothing is easy out of Boston. St. Maarten itself small, not difficult, they have a good systen for the taxi service. The only problem is that sometimes there us traffic getting into Phillipsburg. I also go in the winter so we come in a minimum of 1 day earlybut mostly two days early. We stay at The Holland House, not inexpensive but we like for I canvswim early morning, nice bar, good restaurant. I am well thank you I am now mostly organic, I exercise and generally a very positive, easy person. No secrets for staying wrll just trying. Enjoy. Happy Sailing

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Hi again, we leave out if Boston and to get to St. Maarten we have to change in Charlotte, Atlanta or Miami. Nothing is easy out of Boston. St. Maarten itself small, not difficult, they have a good systen for the taxi service. The only problem is that sometimes there us traffic getting into Phillipsburg. I also go in the winter so we come in a minimum of 1 day earlybut mostly two days early. We stay at The Holland House, not inexpensive but we like for I canvswim early morning, nice bar, good restaurant. I am well thank you I am now mostly organic, I exercise and generally a very positive, easy person. No secrets for staying wrll just trying. Enjoy. Happy Sailing

thanks for the info! I would also fly out of Boston and have read reviews about the Holland House. I think that I read that someone had mentioned that the swimming was not so good??? Are you in a pool or the swimming at the beach?

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There is no pool, the beach is busy because the Holland House is in the middle of the town. It is perfect for the night before a cruise because taxis are expensive in St. Maartens. The hotel is very nice, a very good restaurant and beach/patio bar, people are nice, the rooms have all been remodeled with nice baths. The water and beach in front is clean, the HH keeps it nice, for me and a bad back I at least can swim laps early morning at the beach. If the ferry is working and by that I mean if they are taking passengers to the cruise terminals which are right across the bay from the HH, you can take the ferry (10 minutes max) to the passenger terminal. The ferry is a minute walk down the board walk from the HH. However, I have been there in December, March and January and the ferry will take passengers and the same months and they don't who knows! Cab ride is cheap from hotel to passenger terminal. Also, there is a very good liquor store to buy a bottle of wine/champane for the boat. It is a 5 minute walk from the HH. We like the HH for the night before. Happy Sailing

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We looked at both Yachtsman and Classic Caribbean for our cruise in January 2016. Both left out of St Martin. We choose the Classic Caribbean mostly because of the week it sailed. We loved it!

 

We arrived one week prior to our cruise and spent it on the beach in Grand Case. It was lovely.

 

We flew non stop from Minneapolis to St Martin and back again. It was very nice having the non stop. That being said, the non stop was not offered everyday and we had to search to make it work.

 

Good luck and enjoy!

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To CJ Cruiser 27, I live on Cape Cod as well. Orleans, we love Windstar.

Could I ask if you book directly with Windstar or some other TA? I know if you use a TA, you are unable to name. They had a ship in port while recently in the Med and I would have loved to go on board for a tour!

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  • 2 weeks later...

we are thinking about windstar march 25th....chose it because our daughter will be in St B for a year and it would be fun to "stop by" as St B is one of the ports on the classic carib trip.

 

we have cruised a lot over the years...mainly on HAL and princess....also have bare- boated several times years ago in the BVI's. so small ships are a favorite for us.

 

does not seem there is much flexibility in price (due to small size of ship) but wonder if going directly thru windstar is better than using a TA. any thoughts?

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We used to book through TA but we cruise on WS so frequently now that we are booking ourselves. The main reason is that once booked with TA, WS will not deal with you directly about any pricing changes or much else other than tours and it became very frustrating for me. I am a 100% total control freak and not being able to deal directly with WS gets too frustrating. Now - please understand my TA has taken on too many clients, travels almost excessively, and has become very hard to reach at various times. She is an encyclopedia of travel and if I were going to Africa or someplace that I have no knowledge of, I would not hesitate to use her. Don't know if that helps. I have never found a difference in pricing but some TA's might have better connections or be able to negotiate some type of OBC. I've found that I can do it just as well myself. This doesn't help at all, does it? :)

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it does help.....thank you !

 

i have a question about the swim platform....sounds intriguing as we love to snorkel, kayak etc. going to the caribbean, i wonder if we are berthed more frequently than anchored out...and if berthed, i assume the platform won't be in use.

 

we are looking at a 7 night sail out of st maarten.....very port intense...would be nice to just have a day of swimming off the ship ! as we have been to several of the ports on other cruises. i just don't know how often the platform is available....i did call WS but did not get a real answer about that.

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They will have swim platform out whenever they anchor unless sea conditions don't permit. Caribbean is mostly anchoring so you'll have lots of time to swim, snorkel, etc.both using the platform or just going to the beach. Lots of options. Day of beach party platform will not be available as they take the water toys to the beach. Take lots of sunscreen and bug repellent.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Edited by sb44
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sounds super ! our daughter and hubby are renting a villa in St B for the year and it would be fun to "pop over" for the day the ship is in St B ! hence the itinerary....

 

thanks for your advice. if i have more questions, i will be sure to find this thread again and

ask !

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They do not allow snorkeling off of the swim platform due to currents. They have a trampoline and swim mats along with some water toys. It is a great feature of Windstar. The weather is the determining factor as to whether or not the platform is open. Windstar takes passenger safety seriously, which is a good thing.

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We too love WINDSTAR and will be aboard Windsurf in February for back to back trips in the Caribbean; Yachtsman and Classic. Our 19th and 20th trips. We have stayed at Holland House as well as Divi and Sonesta Great Bay. Holland House is the most convenient, and their restaurant is very nice, breakfast included. Take a look at the blog section on the WINDSTAR site. I posted a review on the WINDSTAR blog last year on our "back to back in the Caribbean" . A real treat to be aboard for 2 weeks!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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  • 1 month later...

Just bringing this back up front.....I never did book a Caribbean Cruise

with Windstar but.....I am looking at something else to Europe......

possibly in June/July......my plans are up in the air but there is a good

chance I will have this opportunity......:)

Thoughts from ya'll?

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