Question on Windstar Pricing

Hi

I am a first time - or hope to be - windstar traveler. My TA gave me a price of $4000 pp for the windsprit 7 day Tahiti cruise, cat A, with air from LAX and hotel 1 night pre/1 day post. My question is ... is this a decent price? We would be traveling in Sept. Does windstar have better pricing the closer to the sailing dates? Thanks for the insight.

I see sailing date of Sept 14, 2017, price is $1799 pp.

Airfare, if there's no sale, LAX-PPT can run around $1700 pp RT.

Prices will go lower if they have to fill cabins.

Thanks for the input : )

The $1799 noted by 6rugrats doesn't include taxes, fees, and port expenses - it is the posted price on Windstar's web page and in small print notes that taxes, fees, and port expenses are not included. The quote from your TA probably does include these types of fees.

Fare sounds reasonable. I'd get TA to break it down so if WS has a crazy reduction before you sail you can get TA to get OBC for you. If you wait then you may not get airfare deal. We book when we think price is fair and then monitor for drastic changes.

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The $1799 noted by 6rugrats doesn't include taxes, fees, and port expenses - it is the posted price on Windstar's web page and in small print notes that taxes, fees, and port expenses are not included. The quote from your TA probably does include these types of fees.

I checked with my TA and the price she quoted does include all taxes and fees. Thanks for heads up.

Fare sounds reasonable. I'd get TA to break it down so if WS has a crazy reduction before you sail you can get TA to get OBC for you. If you wait then you may not get airfare deal. We book when we think price is fair and then monitor for drastic changes.

 

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Thanks for the great advice. I will book now and get a break down and keep an eye on the price.

Thanks for the great advice. I will book now and get a break down and keep an eye on the price.

Once you book, do keep an eye on the price. We're doing this cruise on 8/24/17 and did receive a $600 drop in price several months ago. You'll also note on the Windstar website that several cruises, with this itinerary, have some current significant price reductions. I am assuming that these dates have not sold as quickly as others.

In addition, I learned on CC that if there is a price reduction even after your final payment, Windstar does have the option to upgrade your cabin (deck one to deck two, or offer OBC, a nice touch not usually offered by other cruise lines.

Once you book, do keep an eye on the price. We're doing this cruise on 8/24/17 and did receive a $600 drop in price several months ago. You'll also note on the Windstar website that several cruises, with this itinerary, have some current significant price reductions. I am assuming that these dates have not sold as quickly as others.

In addition, I learned on CC that if there is a price reduction even after your final payment, Windstar does have the option to upgrade your cabin (deck one to deck two, or offer OBC, a nice touch not usually offered by other cruise lines.

Thanks. I'll definitely check the website weekly.

Agreed that is a nice touch to offer options after full payment. The last cruise on a larger line I booked with dropped the price 1 day after final payment was made and offered nothing. To cancel and rebook would have negated any savings. : (

Thanks. I'll definitely check the website weekly.

Agreed that is a nice touch to offer options after full payment. The last cruise on a larger line I booked with dropped the price 1 day after final payment was made and offered nothing. To cancel and rebook would have negated any savings. : (

Take a look on the Windstar website and in the Terms and Conditions, it explains what their Price Assurance Policy is, the number to call and what different options Windstar can choose to offer you.

Windstar chooses.

This way, you can book a cruise early, get the cabin etc. you want, and they will honour any price-drop with this price assurance policy.

You just have to be aware that you may lose some of the initial offers given at the time you first booked.

It's worked for us regarding the cruise we have booked.

Take a look on the Windstar website and in the Terms and Conditions, it explains what their Price Assurance Policy is, the number to call and what different options Windstar can choose to offer you.

Windstar chooses.

This way, you can book a cruise early, get the cabin etc. you want, and they will honour any price-drop with this price assurance policy.

You just have to be aware that you may lose some of the initial offers given at the time you first booked.

It's worked for us regarding the cruise we have booked.

Thanks. I just printed out the info. Fingers crossed for a price drop but either way I am ecstatic that I am going to take this cruise :D

Am first time CC poster also. I think your pricing is "retail" [regular pricing for a B category cabin is $3,799 +$101 for taxes (port charges are included)]. However if you've already booked, your price is what it is. We booked air 4 months ago when Air Tahiti Nui offered LAX/AKL fares for under $1K w/free stopover in PPT for up to 25 days (this length of a free stopover has only happened twice before to my knowledge). Thus we were able to build in enough of a PPT stopover to take advantage of the Sep. 14 W/S cruise if cruise only pricing dropped (regularly $2.999 for a B category cabin). And then it did, as you know, on May 11. Unfortunately for us there were no B category cabins available at the time. But there were BX cabins, and that's what we were able to book. $200 more/person but our agent was able to give us $100/person in on board credits. The W/S package doesn't give you a last night's hotel room. Rather, you get day use of a room pending your normal P.M. departure back to LAX (assuming that's what you are doing). But it does give you a first night's hotel room we had to purchase. But given your arrival time in PPT, all you need is a clean room close to the airport so you don't have to pay $45 or so in round trip transfers. We were able to book the Tahiti Airport Motel for $93 including a continental breakfast for two. So hopefully this should give you some idea of pricing for comparison. Did you book Sep. 14? If so we'll see you on board!

Cabins do go on sale as you get close to the sailing date, but then you're (a) taking the risk that airfare will be expensive or flights unavailable, and (b) taking the risk that you;ll be stuck with a less desirable cabin that's right by the engine room, staircase, etc.. It's also an inconvenience and added expense to have to arrange your own transfers, and those can add up. Just food for thought.

Am first time CC poster also. I think your pricing is "retail" [regular pricing for a B category cabin is $3,799 +$101 for taxes (port charges are included)]. However if you've already booked, your price is what it is. We booked air 4 months ago when Air Tahiti Nui offered LAX/AKL fares for under $1K w/free stopover in PPT for up to 25 days (this length of a free stopover has only happened twice before to my knowledge). Thus we were able to build in enough of a PPT stopover to take advantage of the Sep. 14 W/S cruise if cruise only pricing dropped (regularly $2.999 for a B category cabin). And then it did, as you know, on May 11. Unfortunately for us there were no B category cabins available at the time. But there were BX cabins, and that's what we were able to book. $200 more/person but our agent was able to give us $100/person in on board credits. The W/S package doesn't give you a last night's hotel room. Rather, you get day use of a room pending your normal P.M. departure back to LAX (assuming that's what you are doing). But it does give you a first night's hotel room we had to purchase. But given your arrival time in PPT, all you need is a clean room close to the airport so you don't have to pay $45 or so in round trip transfers. We were able to book the Tahiti Airport Motel for $93 including a continental breakfast for two. So hopefully this should give you some idea of pricing for comparison. Did you book Sep. 14? If so we'll see you on board!

Yes we did book for the 14th. See you on board :)

Cabins do go on sale as you get close to the sailing date, but then you're (a) taking the risk that airfare will be expensive or flights unavailable, and (b) taking the risk that you;ll be stuck with a less desirable cabin that's right by the engine room, staircase, etc.. It's also an inconvenience and added expense to have to arrange your own transfers, and those can add up. Just food for thought.

Yes, flights were a major concern for us. We also need to book a flight from the east coast to get to LAX. I was able to get the flight to LAX for a good price so we booked the cruise with the air/hotel package. This will be our first experience cruising with having multiply flights and hotels involved.

Have a wonderful trip!! And since I'm booked on the Wind Spirit's 11/16/17 Dreams of Tahiti sailing, I'm going to want LOTS OF DETAILS from those of you taking this cruise before me! :)

I'm on the July 20th sailing.

Please note that there is a strike with some airport employees in Papeete for the last 2-3 weeks and some planes have been delayed going there and coming back. Make plan accordingly if you are travelling by yourself. If you took the WS offer, they will probably take care of any issues arising from this.

Lodging is scarce in Papeete and authority had to provide and area within the terminal for those staying overnight because of this.

See the local TV for updates: http://www.tntv.pf/Frustres-et-en-colere-les-touristes-americains-estiment-etre-pris-en-otage_a19131.html

Let's go back to the topic (i.e., pricing). When surfer-girl first posted her thread, W/S had just published a "flash sale" for its Sep. 14, 2017 seven day Tahiti cruise starting at $1,799/person for the cruise only w/o air or the first night's lodging. I wondered at the time why an all inclusive (air/first night's lodging) price was not offered given air was part of W/S' other dates' all inclusive pricing, but for whatever the reason (maybe discounted bulk air was not available to W/S from Air Tahit Nui?), it was not offered.

So I have been monitoring pricing and today I learned that the price for this cruise has "crept" up to $4,599/person for the cruise only; at least on the W/S web site. This tells me that the only cabins available for this cruise must be the upgraded owners' ones. It also tells me that there likely won't be lower priced future flash sales closer to departure (but of course, what do I know?).

Then I went to the Vacations-to-go web site and learned that this cruise is "sold out."

I then took a look at all of the other 2017 dates' pricing for this cruise on the W/S site and learned the lowest price is now $2,499/pp (although Vacations-to-go is offering the Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 Tahiti cruises at $1,879/pp for the cruise only). The lowest pricing for the cruise including air and first night's lodging (Sep. 7, 2017) is now $4,099/pp.

So what's the point? If surfer_girl's (or my for that matter) travel dates were restricted to mid-Sep. of this year, then we were fortunate to book when we did. Had we not booked when we did and were waiting for massive price drops closer to departure [like June 8 (see below)], we might be very disappointed. After all, pricing for W/S's June 8, 2017 departure (a scant three days from now) for the cruise only is still priced higher at $2,499.

Or maybe my conclusions are totally out to lunch and it just doesn't matter? In any event, I'm feeling pretty good about our Sep. 14 departure as I am sure surfer-girl is as well.