sauertea

We are trying to decide between two of the three excursions for the stop in Martinique. One goes north to Le Francois and stops at the Pagerie Museum and from the description Habitation Clement. The second goes to the south and stops at Trois Rivieres with a visit to the distillery and the go towards Diamond Rock, Anse d'arlet and then to the Pottery Village. I am a big fan of rum, so trying to decide which one makes more sense to visit. We can get Clement here so was thinking the visit to Trois Rivieres might make more sense. Has anyone been to Martinique and have any thoughts? Thanks

Apparently St. Bart's is expecting to be able to accommodate visitors after November. This website has been helpful. http://caribbeantravelupdate.com/

Just checked the itinerary on my cruise documents and indeed things have changed. Here is the latest for the Saints of the Caribbean sailing on the 18th.

Saturday, November 18

Sailing

Departure Bridgetown, Barbados 11:59 PM

Sunday, November 19

Sailing

Arrival Bequia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 10:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Bequia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines 10:00 PM

Monday, November 20

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 6:00 PM

Tuesday, November 21

Sailing

Arrival Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 6:00 PM

Wednesday, November 22

Sailing

Arrival Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Nevis 8:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Nevis 4:00 PM

Thursday, November 23

Sailing

Arrival Anse Mitan, Martinique 9:00 AM

Sailing

Departure Anse Mitan, Martinique 4:00 PM

Friday, November 24

Sailing

Arrival St. George'S, Grenada 7:00 AM

Sailing

Departure St. George'S, Grenada 2:00 PM

Saturday, November 25

Sailing

Arrival Bridgetown, Barbados 4:00 AM

Talked to Windstar again today and what I walked about with is that this is a small company trying to deal with the aftermath of not one but two apocalyptic hurricanes. The reps have all been very helpful with limited information. They are currently trying to reconstruct a number of arrival and departure ports for several itineraries. They told me that changes to mid itinerary cruise ports will follow hopefully next week. I think Windstar will do its best to provide the best trip possible in the face of course these extraordinary circumstances.

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The map for Saints of the Caribbean now shows stops in Grenada and Anse Matin in Martinique, however the printed itinerary stills shows Dominica and Grande Anse d'Arlet in Martinique. I think things are still very chaotic at Windstar.

checked with Windstar today about further changes to Saints of the Caribbean sailing on November 18 from Barbados. The itinerary included a new stop at Dominica but that seems unlikely. They had no additional information at this time.

We just heard from our intended hotel in St. Martin. They cancelled our reservation for late November. Unfortunately I think St. Martin will out of commission for awhile

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Here is the revised itinerary for Saints of the Caribbean. https://www.windstarcruises.com/cruise/itinerary-ports/caribbean/saints-of-the-caribbean/?id=222&sid=1390 Keeping my fingers crossed that the hurricanes will abate by November and leave some islands intact.

Interesting. I had better luck with American. I was able to switch without the upcharges. We were staying a couple days after to avoid the post Thanksgiving airport madness. Maybe that is why we skated or it was the kindness of strangers.

Received similar email for our November 18 Saints of the Caribbean trip. I suspect there will be additional changes to the itinerary. Windstar offered to reimburse airline change fees up to $250 per person.

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https://d2xks5907lvzsh.cloudfront.net/media/plan_your_voyage/cruise-documents/guest_packages_gifts_%20services-web.3.17.17.pdf. There appears to be a vow renewal package on the form to order wine etc

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Just talked to WS about our 11/18 Surf sailing. They are formulating their plans and will be calling people starting sometime next week with itinerary changes and options. My assumption would be earlier sailings first and then work through the dates.

 

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Thanks!!! Good to know.

Go on the WS site there is a hurricane notice. I also think if my memory has not failed me that they have started to make port changes. It must be one horrible nightmare in Seattle.

Thanks for the update! Had not checked the website today. Much appreciated

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I really think it's too early to expect WS to know what they're doing...there's so much that has to be evaluated for their season and worrying about what they're doing for our 'luxury cruise' when these islands have been decimated seems inappropriate at this time.

NCL just announced they will not be sailing this area for awhile, I'm sure the other lines will be next although then the challenge is having room to fit ALL THESE PASSENGERS into the few islands that were not impacted in the South and/or to the West.

 

If you have to change your flights due to cancellation of what you planned, the insurance should cover it:cool: with appropriate documentation.

I think this is just the wonderings of people trying to figure out how to plan and others offering suggestions. Hardly think that trying to sort out details is insensitive. I am sure that everyone on this forum is thinking about those who have lost. The photos are horrific, especially to those who have visited these locations. I am sure most are doing there bit by donating to the charity of their choice. I know I have and would urge other to do the same. That being said, I don't think it needs to preclude the sharing of information, however sparse.

I spoke to American as well about my flights. Their response was that everything is on schedule for those dates. Makes me wonder what they know that I don't. I have trip insurance for the tickets, but after talking to the insurance company on a theoritical basis, I felt as if I had fallen down the rabbit hole.

I emailed Windstar today about our November Saints of the Caribbean Trip. They responded fairly quickly but indicated that they are assessing things and will reach out when they have answers or proposed changes to existing itineraries. I think at this point, things are such a hot mess there are many things to sort out. Our hotel in St. Martin appears to be in the same situation.

I had a similar experience. As I mentioned, I booked in January for a November Caribbean sailing. The same cruise was shown "on sale" for$200 more than the list price at the time of my booking. All that was offered was $100 of shipboard credit. Significantly less generous than the name your perk and the other benefits from having previously sailed with Windstar.

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I booked our November trip in January of this year. I received a discount on the fare because I had sailed before. This was in addition to the Yacht Club discount. We also had the option to choose a free perk. I opted for the free unlimited wifi.

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We used our on board credit for excursions to Delphi and Olympia. I had looked into booking our own or renting a car. In the end we opted for the ship's excursions. The guides and the tours were excellent. For our upcoming trip to the Caribbean, I think we choose a couple of the ship's excursions on the smaller more remote islands. In St Lucia, I have booked our zip line directly with the zip line company as it was cheaper than the one offered by the cruise line. In this case it appears to be the same company as the cruise line. I would say do your homework and book strategically.

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We also sailed on the Breeze from Athens to Venice. We were passed by the QEII while docked in Venice. To say it dwarfed the Breeze is an understatement. We were really lucky on this trip. As it was the end of the season, it appeared as if we were behind most of the big cruise ships. None of our stops on the trip were overcrowed. We had great weather. The walls of Dubrovnik were not overcrowded. When we visited Olympia, there were just a handful of tourists on the field of the first Olympics. In Venice, we just avoided the major tourist spots between 10:00-2:00. We had a great time after the day trippers cleared out. We went to Murano, Burano, the Giudeca and just wandered around. Venice is truly magic. The next time I go, I will certainly choose late October or early November.

We took the Breeze for 9 days in 2015. I think they may have had a wine package, but I believe you they might only offer that on board. The alcohol package only includes glasses of wine and champagne. We opted out and went with pay as you go because we are fairly moderate drinkers. You would really have to drink all day every day to justify the cost.

We stayed in cabin 205 on the Breeze and have booked it again for the Caribbean. Very quiet, no noise. The cabin was very spacious. It has a sitting area, next to a very large picture window. We had one night of rough seas on the Athens to Venice trip. I am more prone to motion sickness so it certainly affected me more so than my husband. Other than that, sailing was smooth and uneventful.

Oops, I meant 105. Sorry for any confusion.:)

We took the Athens to Venice trip and did not do excurions in Dubrovnik or Kotor. Both are great walking cities. We walked the walls in Dubrovnik and also took the cable car ride above Dubrovnik. If you are a Game of Thrones fan, there is plenty of opportunity to spot locations. I think there is also a Game of Thrones tours. There is an old Franciscan Church and medievel pharmacy that is very beautiful. We wandered around Kotor but whimped out on the climb up to the sanctuary. It is 1320 steps. I am sorry we did not do it, but it looked pretty tough. I found a couple of books on Amazon on Dubrovnik and Kotor. Had them on my Kindle which I stuffed in my back pack. https://www.amazon.com/Dubrovnik-City-Walk-2016-Palaces-ebook/dp/B00CYQDM08/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502732911&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=dubrovnikc+city+walks and https://www.amazon.com/KOTOR-OLD-TOWN-Kotor-Montenegro-ebook/dp/B00CXSR95Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1502733007&sr=1-1&keywords=kotor+old+town

We stayed in cabin 205 on the Breeze and have booked it again for the Caribbean. Very quiet, no noise. The cabin was very spacious. It has a sitting area, next to a very large picture window. We had one night of rough seas on the Athens to Venice trip. I am more prone to motion sickness so it certainly affected me more so than my husband. Other than that, sailing was smooth and uneventful.

When we sailed from Athens to Venice, I bought some champagne in the duty free. They did not even check my back when I came back on board. Not sure how diligently they search bads