Hello Windstar folks :)

My Wife and I are considering a cruise on Windstar. I have looked at some options and have a few questions.

1. Is the current pricing normal? Some of the cruises I am looking at are equal or even less than Cruises on Princess or NCL.

2. We are used to mini suites on Princess or NCL,How are the room sizes on Windstar in comparison? I understand most rooms don't have balconies.

3. Dining seems to be pretty casual. Is there a formal night? Would khaki's and a golf shirt be ok most nights for dinner?

4. In the Casino, is there a craps table? 3 card poker?

Thanks

1. Not sure what pricing you're looking at, but there are some "mark downs" right now.

2. You can check room sizes on WS webpage and compare.

3. No formal nights, dress code at night is "country club casual". Your outfit would be fine all nights.

4. Don't gamble, so I've never paid any attention.

1. Not sure what pricing you're looking at, but there are some "mark downs" right now.

 

2. You can check room sizes on WS webpage and compare.

 

3. No formal nights, dress code at night is "country club casual". Your outfit would be fine all nights.

 

4. Don't gamble, so I've never paid any attention.

I am seeing 1500-1700$ per person.

Price depends on inventory and itinerary. Just be aware the price you are seeing isn't the true total; they don't show the fees and taxes.

We had never done anything smaller than a one bedroom suite with two bathrooms, walk in closet, dining table, etc. before sailing Windstar. Needless to say we were concerned about two weeks in a 188 s/f cabin.

It was cozy, but we had plenty of room. We found we spent very little time in the cabin, there were so many things going on, great ports, plenty of great space in the ship to either be alone or with others. The layout was great and we never felt that we were cramped.

We liked the his and her closets and found we had plenty of drawer space as well.

The surd and spirit are mainly smallish cabins with two portholes. The surf has those as well as some suites that have been converted from 2 cabins. The Pride/Breeze/Legend has larger cabins with a walk in closet and a nice sitting area with a couch and a couple chairs. Some of those rooms have a French balcony with doors that open but no actual balcony. The other rooms have large fixed Windows. We've found all to be comfortable.

Don't forget to add trip insurance and daily gratuities when estimating costs. 'Little' extras you might want like an All Inclusive Beverage Plan, a few land tours and perhaps a laundry package start to add up.

Never done a Windstar sailing ship but I'm very familiar with their 'yachts'. The standard cabin on one of those three 212 passenger 'yachts' (277 sq ft) will make it very tough to be satisfied with anything short of a full suite on almost any main stream line. Scrape a few more dollars together and book a French Balcony cabin if you think you'll be spending a lot of time in your cabin (if you're active - you likely will not).

Windstar takes you places to see things. Its passenger book Windstar not just for the outstanding service and great food they book Windstar to see sights on land not cruise ports while in your cabin.

I've traveled in both balcony and non balcony accommodations on these ships and while I enjoy the balcony suites I'd rather spend the extra money I paid for the French Balcony on land tours or pre or post hotel stays.

Windstar might seem a bit more costly than the other lines when you first add everything up but I also think that Windstar offers great value for what they charge.

The casino on these ships is more of an amusement than what most casinos on the larger ships look like. No craps tables just Black Jack and several slot machines and the dinner outfit you described is fine.

Pathi, I thought I'd mention one more thing. Being connected to the military, I'm sure you can appreciate the pros and cons of a formal night. In the military, we have our times when it's fun to get dressed to the nines, such as a dining-in, regimental ball, military gala, or whatnot. My wife and I are rather no-nonsense in the scheme of things, but once in a blue moon it was cool to wear the dress mess uniform (and the wife would slip into a nice evening gown) and we'd schmooze with the other military folks. By the end of the evening we'd be really happy to unwind and get out of all that upscale gear. But it was fun along the way.

As you know, some cruise lines still adhere to that formality, more or less. (Cunard, Crystal, Silversea, and some others like those traditions a lot.) On both Holland America and Carnival, I opted to wear my dress mess uniform on formal nights, which is an entirely permissible custom. (One kind lady came up to me and gushed how much she was enjoying the cruise, and I had to thank her for her enthusiasm and confess that I was not the ship's captain.) So if you choose a cruise line with a traditional approach, that's something that might be up your alley. Windstar's relaxed nature is opposite from that.

Now that I'm retired, I'm relishing the idea that the Windstar experience will be so laid back. Sunglasses and sunscreen will be the required equipment. (We're going on our first WS experience in late September.)

So choose what floats your boat.

Like you guys I served (1965-1967, US Army 101st Airborne). I recently used a military credit/discount with Princess on an Alaska cruise. It wasn't huge but I smiled and happily took it.

My wife and I are off on another Windstar cruise to the Med the 27th of this month. I booked this cruise a year ago but Windstar hasn't offered a military discount all year. While it would have been nice it mattered little as I was going to book the cruise one way or the other.

I check the Windstar site every few days looking for that elusive credit - just in case.

It sure has been a long time since I've seen military men or women dressed in uniform on formal night. That's a shame, those that dressed certainly added real class to the evening.

As a side note - my dress uniform still fits -------- as long as I pay attention to my gut (ha!)

As a side note - my dress uniform still fits -------- as long as I pay attention to my gut (ha!)

Magnum60, you are too funny! Sadly, I do not still fit in my dress mess uniform. Too many post-retirement lattes I guess. :D:p And oh by the way, thanks for being a Vietnam-era veteran. My dad served in Vietnam in the very earliest days (1963) -- roommate in Saigon with none other than LTC George Patton Jr., who was a rising star in the Armor community and an arrogant egotist in his own right. Sadly a lot of Americans disrespected our war heroes during that era, but I appreciate your service.

Reminder:

From our guidelines: "Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards."

General discussions are fine. Just no references to your own cruise agent or PCC.

Thanks.

Hi folks, me again. I was over-exuberant in one of my last posts, and stepped over the line. I forgot the cardinal rule that one must not endorse a specific product. :o That wasn't my main point anyway, so let me clarify.

To Pathi: The point I was trying to make is that you can qualify for a lot of good deals because of your prior (or current) military status. There are many good places to go, and some helpful sites can keep track of all your demographics and list the best offers based on what works best. My wife is a teacher, I'm retired military, we both have been on cruises with other companies so we can get "loyal customer" status, and she used to work as an employee with an airline.

Each cruise line will make offers based on the demographics they are pursuing, and they start to happen quickly when the sail date is on the close horizon and they have unused inventory. So have fun, and see what kind of great deals are out there based on your own qualifications.

Thanks for the replies folks. It looks like I will book something for fall of 2017, as soon as they are available.

LTC Dan, One of the things I like about Princess is their Military OBC. And the fact that it stacks with other OBC.

The Military OBC and a few other OBCs that Princess was handing out for an end of season Alaskan sea and land cruise (aboard the Pacific Princess last Fall) put a very nice dent in the cost of their AIBP offering. We normally save a few dollars buying AIBPs even when we don't have any OBCs but we came out way ahead on that cruise.