LAFFNVEGAS

I can log in using incognito but I am not sure I like the new format. I am not sure I would call it an improvement. I could not log in not using incognito and trying it with my normal Chrome.

I got this offer for our last cruise on the Koningsdam that was booked rather last minute. No way to get Club Orange. I had booked VH guarantee but really wanted the VB deck 4 with the extended balconies. There are way too many VB staterooms that do not have a good location, so when I got the offer for $99 pp I jumped. HAL wanted about $500 more pp to book the VB. To be it was worth doing and not waiting for the Upsell Fairy who may end of having a bad night of drinking and just through out all kinds of bad cabins 😂

Ger, you know I had to google to see if I could find out what pricing was for that watch lol. I found a website ashford.com selling the watch pictured for US$85.99 stating 98% off stating List price $3625.00 US 😲Several other websites list it pretty low, bet the shops on HAL are stating the cost of about $925.00 with list price of $3625.00 Editing that I just found it at Macys for $63.75 😂

I have to second that, we had done Le Cirque 3 times and enjoyed each one of them. The best was on Westerdam to Alaska several years ago.

My DH only uses the Navigator for looking at menus lol But has had it on his iPad mini for several years, the iPad it not the most recent generation of iPad mini but the one previous to that and is about 6 years old. It started in with the spinning,no matter what we did it would not go away. From looking at his iPad it had the most recent update. So we removed and reinstalled and now it still will not sign on, it would not except his password so we changed that and it still says does not match, this has been attempted 4 times now, and I think he is about to give up.

Thanks so much and Bon Voyage to those sailing on the Volendam!! I plan to do my What's for Dinner, this time we are in Club Orange, it will actually be our first time cruising with Club Orange that has the dedicated CO venue. Also oddly as many times as we have had the corner aft suite this is the first time to have it for a Caribbean cruise.

Jacqui, we have booked yet another cruise coming up very soon and this one will be a shocker to many and I look forward to doing a Live From and What's for Dinner. March 2, 2024 7 Night Windstar on the Wind Surf Classic Caribbean out of Philipsburg, St Maarten DAY DATE PORT OF CALL POSITION ARRIVAL DEPARTURE 1 03/02/2024 PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN BERTH 1:00 pm 7:00 pm 2 03/03/2024 CHARLESTOWN ANCHOR 8:00 am 5:00 pm 3 03/04/2024 ROSEAU, DOMINICA BERTH 8:00 am 5:00 pm 4 03/05/2024 PIGEON ISLAND, ST. LUCIA ANCHOR 8:00 am 5:00 pm 5 03/06/2024 LES SAINTES, GUADELOUPE ANCHOR/WATERSPORTS 8:00 am 6:00 pm 6 03/07/2024 BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS ANCHOR 8:00 am 10:00 pm 7 03/08/2024 GUSTAVIA, ST. BARTHELEMY ANCHOR/WATERSPORTS 8:00 am 10:00 pm 8 03/09/2024 PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN BERTH 6:00 am 7:00 am We have been wanting to sail Windstar for a long time especially since a good friend will be on board as HM.

Most definitely I will do that. My last two Live Froms was in September HAl Westerdam and November HAL Koningsdam. What became extremely popular was I would post the menu each evening and say What would you order this evening allowing everyone to review the menu. I plan to do that for my Wind Surf cruise. We are in a Neptune Suite Corner aft for Eastern Caribbean on HAL Nieuw Statendam a week from tomorrow and planning on doing another Live From.I will definitely do a comparison with Wind Surf, although I already have a good idea who will come out on top 😉

Thank you all so very much, you have all answered my questions. Three months from today cannot come soon enough, thankfully we do have a cruise coming up next weekend with HAL to tide us over till we get to cruise Windstar. 🙂

Hi, We have recently booked Wind Surf for March our of Sint Maarten.We have watched a lot of videos but a few questions come to mind. First is the Yacht Club Cafe Specialty Coffees included if you do not purchase the All-In Package? We are very frequent cruisers with Holland America (5 star Mariner) and NCL (Sapphire Latitude) with both we always get the full package for drinks although like with HAL often it will include Specialty Dining, Wifi and gratuities. We always pretty much break even so definitely purchase it, same with NCL But I am a bit confused with Windstar. I wish there was somewhere on their web site that stated what is included with your fare. I have heard mention that sodas are included but is this only in the evening in the restaurants? Or is it all day and where? We are not big drinkers our last several cruises even with a beverage package we would always have one to two mimosas at breakfast, DH may have a beer in the afternoon and I might have a Margarita, then for dinner we would each have a glass (once in a while 2 glasses) of Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling which Windstar has and sometimes in the evening a cocktail but not every night. I have done the math and added the 18% gratuity and I just do not come close to what we would pay for using just the one Wifi, gratuities and what we would drink for the $89 per person per day. If it was close I may consider this. Am I missing something?? It is not a question of money it just seems high. Does everyone buy the package? If the speciality coffees are not included and only sodas at dinner then it may turn the table to being close to breaking even. Next question? Does Windstar send out Luggage Tags and documents or do they come up on their website to print? We just paid final and are at 90 days. Next question does Windstar do like other cruise lines where your last night on board you set out your luggage for porters to pick up so you can retrieve it upon disembarkation. I totally understand the dress code and it is not much different than cruising any other cruise line with Country Club Casual in the evening, that is basically the norm now with all of them So far from what I have seen the food looks amazing and we cannot wait to enjoy cruising with Windstar. We do not go to shows much but enjoy a bit of live music in the evening in a lounge. I would appreciate any helpful hints. Thanks so much!!

I have been saying this for a couple of weeks, to me it makes no sense having 2 Asian Themed venues each having seafood. HAL would be better putting in a French or Mediterranean Themed Restaurant. Just my personal opinion Pinnacle is definitely not what it use to be either and also needs some revamping.

My experience even though my AARP card was verified in June when this program started is that even as of a few days ago one must have HAL Manually apply the credit, I have never seen it automatically appear. Military Credit is the only one that occasionally appears automatically. The biggest problem is the MIS communication from those that work in the Call Center. Because they know it has to be applied and do not want to call a Supervisor you get told all kinds of things that are not true. As of a few days ago I was told that AARP did have to be applied manually by a supervisor and they do not have it set to be automatic. The AARP does not have a limit of number of cruises per year. That is just another excuse given by the Call Center.

Bon Voyage!!! Wishing you an Amazing Voyage!!

We board when you get to Ft Lauderdale on December 10th, I am hoping it will not be crazy that first night for CO. We are expecting embarkation to be crazy and very delayed since NS is just arriving back in the US. Boarding times are extremely late. We go Boarding Group A states Priority but time assigned is 1:00 pm some people on our sailing have 2:00 pm boarding time. Pretty sure they are expecting USPH Inspection along with all the crew needing to go through immigration.

@Haljo1935 Thanks so much, I wonder if it was crazy the first night? Do you know if Club Orange will let us make reservations for a set time? Our biggest problem is that we will be a group of 7 traveling together so may make it a bit difficult.

Did you dine in Club Orange the first night? Was it a crazy long wait to get in? Thanks!!

While this is what is published on websites such as Cruise deck plans below is what was given to for our little Journeys Booklet.

@cbr663 I totally agree with everything you wrote and your cruises mostly mirrors our Koningsdam cruise. Just my personal opinion is a lot of this is the Pinnacle Class Ships and how they are managed. Oddly to my shock in September on the Westerdam everything was so different from our previous HAL cruise which had been Rotterdam in July 2022. Dining Room was a pleasure with a Main Server and an Assistant Server. When we were on our recent Koningsdam and spoke with Crew many admitted they wanted to go back to the Vista Class ships. I remember reading a few months ago and I could be mistaken but the number of crew on the Pinnacle Class ships was the same as it is for the Vista Class Ships yet the Pinnacle Class has 700+ more passengers and several more dining venues that need to be serviced such as Rudi's, Club Orange and the NY Deli and Pizza. They are just spreading crew much thinner. There were no Assistance servers in the MDR and things we asked for were seldom remembered.In 13 days we will be n the Nieuw Statendam this time we have Club Orange so we shall see.

You are correct, I was told several times in phone calls yesterday that the Cyber Sale did not include the Prepaid Crew Incentive I actually did not get the email from HAL.

They may have had to change your promotion, my understanding was that the Cyber Sale is reduced deposit ONLY and the Black Friday was the Pre paid Crew Incentive, On Sunday these two promotions over lapped and you had to let them know which promotion you wanted.

I am also waiting for the Fall 2025 Trans Pacific, it is leaving from Vancouver in 2024 an was hoping it would return to Seattle for 2025.

Question, I want to say I read that someone had the regular WiFi package with HIA and waited till they were on board to upgrade to the Premium Wifi and in doing that they go their 5 Star $30 credit. Is that correct? I would definitely look to do that if that was the case in 2 weeks. Thanks!!

Bon Voyage!! Wishing you an Amazing Voyage!!

Yes both 7 day 🙂

Thanks Jacqui 🥰 Tom and I will be on the Norwegian Joy to Bermuda April 14, 2024 (our first time to Bermuda and sailing out of NYC) and then Tom and I will be cruising with Dobiemom on the Norwegian Bliss Mexican Riviera November 10, 2024. Thanks so much!!!