acruisefan

One other difference - this is a pre-Covid one - on Windstar, when you walk into dinner in the main dining room (as a couple) they ask if you would like to share a table or have one to yourselves. We always like to share and meet new people if haven’t already arranged to dine with someone. The exception is the outdoor grill where you do need to make a reservation with the number in your party and can usually just do this once in a 7 day sailing.

On Silversea this is not the case so if you want to dine with someone else you do need to pre-arrange. Also, everywhere but the main dining room does require a reservation since the other dining venues are small .  

I have not been on that cruise as of yet but I have taken 7 cruises on Windstar and am about to book another. I’ve taken a Baltic cruise on Silversea on their largest ship which I think holds 600 people. You are comparing yacht to yacht for this cruise as Windstar sailing ships do not do this route.
Here are a few differences/ similarities:

Silverseas:

-a true luxury ship complete with room butlers.not that you really need a room butler …

-definitely more formal with some venues requiring a jacket. It is a ship that you will want to bring a cocktail dress or two.  

-Staff is amazing 

-With the larger ship (600 capacity ) there were numerous dining venues and areas to hang out. A few required an extra cost - all the meals were excellent though. They do have smaller ships (300 capacity?) so I can’t speak to those.

-food is amazing

-alcoholic drinks are included in cost - nice variety of wines to choose from

- it’s a very expensive cruise line. We got an amazing deal that included airfare with a very reasonable cost for an upgrade to business class and enough on board credits to cover our excursions 

-I’d go back in a hot minute but it’s usually really expensive.

-I was afraid that with the more formal atmosphere it would be a ‘stuffy’ less friendly feel but that was not the case.

- we went in a 7 day cruise and I really wished we had signed up for a longer cruise. I did not want to leave.

Windstar:

- it is a really nice line but is not the true ‘luxury’ class.
- the sailing ships are great - particularly in the Caribbean where they get to sail a lot. I have only been on one of their yacht once and it was before they were refurbished. T (which were purchased from Seaborne- another luxury line) 

- The atmosphere is casual, relaxed, friendly. No need for jackets, ties, cocktail dresses. Think country club casual with shirts, polos pants for men, and sundresses/ casual dresses or nice top & pants for women at night.

- wonderful friendly staff

- very good food, better than most of the big cruise lines - Princess etc.

- smaller ports to explore that big commercial ships cannot get into - might be true of the smaller Silversea ships, I’m not sure.

The choice for me it would come down to cost ….if pretty close I’d go for Silversea

I saw the Europe specials and think we might be ready to cruise again. I’m still a bit worried about Covid though.
We are looking at a last minute cruise the Dublin/Scotland on one of the yachts or the Dalmatian Coast on the Windsurf in July. 
Pros: Gaelic:

-never been to Ireland/Scotland

 -I’m sensitive to heat- it will be cool

- like the larger room size on the yachts

   Cons:

- is this the best way to see this area? I have thought about an escorted land tour with Tauck instead for Ireland/Scotland

- it’s a lot more expensive cruise

Pros: Archipelago cruise:

- never been to Dalmatian Coast & it’s on my bucket list

- Windsurf is my favorite

Cons: 

- it will be hot! 
- don’t care about visiting Athens - been there several times

any thoughts on these 2 cruises? They are both new routes for us. 

Thanks for all of the great advice!

MHF - I had to laugh at the thought of those outfits! What a sight! I was on a Windstar cruise a few years ago & there was a group of 12 friends from South Africa celebrating a 50th birthday - they were a wild and friendly group! One night at the Captains Dinner which is a a bit more dressy but still pretty casual, one of the women showed up in a mini skirt that had tiny beading in an intricate pattern - stunning and very expensive looking, if quite short! She paired it with gladiator sandals With straps up to her knees . 99.5% of the population could never pull off this look - but she could! It was just ....Wow! A traffic stopper ....but in a good way. 

I’m less concerned with the look of my husband not in a tux and me in a long dress. I agree with a true ball gown it looks best with your partner in a tux. I’m concerned about being the only one in a long dress and feeling out of place. I’ve heard the 7 day cruises are a bit more casual even on formal night. Actually I’m more comfortable in this particular long dress than one of my cocktail dresses because it’s more flowy, and not clinging to my rear (agreed JollyJones!) . 

We will be going on a 7 day Baltic cruise soon. Will a long black fancy dress for Formal night be too much? My DH will be wearing a black suit & white shirt - no tux. Thanks! 

Thanks for the reply Missy! We will be sure to bring some snacks for the day that we have 2 tours. We got cleared off the waitlist for the Hermitage/Faberge museum on our 1st day in St Petersburg so I'm excited about that! 

Thanks for the replies. Since we have so much on board credit that we won't use up otherwise and DH is nervous about St Petersburg with an independent tour, we will be doing the ship tours at least for that stop. 

MHF- What happens when you do 2 half day tours? Do you return to the ship and go through immigration again? Or is there a wait area outside the ship between tours? 

We are waitlisted for early entry Hermitage & Faberge tours. I hope we can do that one. Our back up that day is St Petersburg in depth. Day 2 is Catherine's Palace, Parks & Pavlovsk Palace. All 3 of these are all day tours. Day 3 I have only booked an afternoon tour of St Petersburg cathedrals which I will cancel if we don't get the Hermitage tour on day 1. I'm thinking of adding a morning tour if the logistics work out on it.

Has anyone taken the ship sponsored excursions in St Petersburg? We will be on the Spirit this summer for a Baltic cruise with 3 days in St Petersburg. I planned to book at least some of our tours with an outside company - either small group or private. However my DH is very worried about taking an independent tour there - he is not a very adventurous traveler & says "But we will be in Russia!" .

We have a lot of onboard ship credit to use so I had planned to book at least 1 day or evening event with the ship. My main concern is relative quality of the ship's tour and trying to avoid waiting in long lines which the smaller tours apparently can do. 

For anyone who has taken the ship's tours in St. Petersburg - what did you do and what was your experience with them? We do not plan to go to Moscow - maybe next time!

I'm also interested in what night time event you did ( ship sponsored event or not)  and how you liked it. Thanks! 

Thanks for your responses! The 2 ships are the Ovation on Seabourn and Silver Spirit, both 600 passenger ships. I’ve gotten so used to the intimacy of 145-300 person ships on Windstar that the size of these ships seems so big! 

I made an error on my 1st post - I know that it’s Silversea that has an upcharge for 2 of the restaurants, just switched the names. 

I am am also putting Crystal 10 day cruise back in the mix although it’s a bigger ship and the timing is not ideal for us. 

Thanks for the tip on visiting Moscow. I was debating about that but it we will definitely do that excursion! 

Wow, thank you all for the quick and thoughtful responses! I did know that it is Silversea and not Seabourn that has 2 restaurants with an extra fee. I didn’t realize I’d switched the cruise line names until I saw the responses. I do think we will like Seabourn a little better given your comments about formality. 

To answer a few questions, the ships are the bigger ones, Silver Spirit and Ovation for Seabourn. We don’t smoke and don’t like smelling it. Windstar has a tiny location for smokers and I try to avoid walking past it.

My DH would like to stop in Helsinki which Silversea does not - it’s curious because it seems there is time for it, but they arrive in the evening in Stockholm vs. early morning for the other ships for disembarkation. 

Maryogreen- thank you for the link to your travel blog, I will read it today. I eliminated Crystal from consideration due to the longer sailing, but I will re-consider. For whatever reason I have always felt that more than 8 nights and I would get ‘antsy’ about being on a cruise but I’m not sure why and DH is fine with it. I think the Crystal timing for the cruise was also a factor  for us but I will re-check. Thanks everyone! 

We have been very happy on Windstar for our past cruises and have come to love the small ships after years of family and friends cruises on the big ships with kids. The Windstar yachts are showing their age and going in for major renovation and expansion starting in November so I'm not so thrilled with being on one them that close to dry dock. 

We are thinking of doing something different this year though and trying Seabourn or Silversea for a 7 day Baltic cruise in July. I looked at Crystal Cruises as well but they were longer, more expensive and had a few stops that I did not care about.

Silverseas has a sale right now including airfare, and on board credit that makes it pretty attractive.

Cost is close to the same for these, factoring in purchasing my own airfare for Seabourn.

Silverseas does not have a stop in Helenski and Seabourn does. Will I miss a lot by not stopping there? Is this a deal breaker?

I did notice that Seabourn charges for 2 of their restaurants, which I have to say is annoying.

It does seem that Silversea is a bit more formal. We have become very used to the casual ambiance of Windstar and are happy not to have to drag the more formal wear on vacation, but we can manage it as it looks like we will need it on both Silversea and Seabourn. 

Any thoughts on which you would choose and why? Thanks!

We have been very happy on Windstar for our past cruises and have come to love the small ships after years of family and friends cruises on the big ships with kids. The Windstar yachts are showing their age and going in for major renovation and expansion starting in November so I'm not so thrilled with being on one them that close to dry dock. 

We are thinking of doing something different this year though and trying Seabourn or Silversea for a 7 day Baltic cruise in July. I looked at Crystal Cruises as well but they were longer, more expensive and had a few stops that I did not care about. Seabourn has a sale right now including airfare, and on board credit that makes it pretty attractive.

Cost is close to the same for these, even factoring in purchasing my own airfare for Seabourn. Silverseas does not have a stop in Helenski and Seabourn does. Will I miss a lot by not stopping there? I did notice that Seabourn charges for 2 of their restaurants, which I have to say is annoying. It does seem that Silversea is a bit more formal. We have become very used to the casual ambiance of Windstar and are happy to not have to drag the more formal wear on vacation, but we can manage it as it looks like we need it on both Silversea and Seabourn. 

Any thoughts on which you would choose and why?

Thank you for the replies. Windsurf is my absolute favorite! However, they no longer sail the Baltic. I am also looking at Silverseas now, although their itinerary does not include Helsinki. It is a partial day on Seabourne amd a full day on Windstar which also includes Mariehamm which is a 1/2 and looks like a lovely seaport. 

On Silverseas, there are 3 days in St Petersburg instead which could be a really good idea to have more time there.

We love Windstar and have been on about 7 cruises with them. We are thinking about a Baltic cruise this summer, including St. Petersburg, but I'm concerned about going on one of the Yachts before the go into dry dock for the expansion. There have been several reviews complaining about the rundown state of things on these ships. 

I am thinking maybe it's time to try another line, especially for this cruise. I do not want to go on the bigger lines like Princess or Celebrity. I have been looking Seabourne (Ovation) and Crystal (Serenity).

Is there another line I should look at? I prefer a 7 day cruise, which Crystal is 10-12 and way more expensive, so I'm leaning towards Seabourne if we don't do Windstar for this cruise. I do love the casual feeling of Windstar but still feeling pampered. I know that Crystal is a fancier feeling at least at night with more dressing up for dinner, etc. Any suggestions or experiences with these other lines?

I agree with the other posters who recommended a shorter river cruise for your first experience and additional time on land both ways. Personally, I am happy with a 7-8 night cruise in general though. I always allow several days pre and post for exploring on our own, although we did buy a pre and post package with the Danube cruise through AMA and were happy that we did. It was a Budapest to Prague trip and we added 2-3 days on either end of the trip. Both cities are so beautiful and have such a rich history that I found myself wishing for an extra day or two in each location.

We have done numerous ocean cruises, big and small and agree that a river cruise is different. We have done the Rhine and Danube with AMA and a land/river cruise to China (Yangtze) with Uniworld.

I have some concerns about using Viking because of their poor handling of the flood several years ago. I was not on a cruise then, but paid attention to numerous posts by cruisers who had different experiences with their cruise company in the same situation. AMA handled it well as did several other lines, Viking did not.

My favorite cruise was the Danube, both for the beauty of the cities, the river and the 20th century history of the area.

We were on this cruise in July with AMA - most were nice casual at night - my DH brought a sports jacket but never wore it - mostly button down shirts and polos with khakis or black or navy travel pants. I wore black or navy pants with nice tops. Most everyone else wore similar clothing - a few casual dresses, short and long.

Thanks for all of your replies. My DH is not a fan of changing hotels each night and I am not a fan of long days on a bus - so this is not sounding like a land tour plan for us! Sounds easy to do a DIY for the Rockies!

I have only sailed on Windstar so I can't compare. However, before our first Windstar cruise (we have been on 7 now) we met a couple at our hotel who were sailing on a Royal Clipper. He had considered Windstar but was an avid sailor himself and was looking forward to observing the technical aspects of a true sailing ship vs. Windstar's motorized sails. So that is something to consider if you love to sail yourself.

In general I think that Windstar passengers are well traveled, adventurous, friendly and open to meeting others whether a 1st time or 20th time cruiser. The casual nature of the cruise lends itself to that. What I worry about is getting on the ship with a very large group who might take over some of the ship areas and just not really mingle - like a corporate group or something.

Re: Allergies - We took my stepdaughter on the Windsurf once and she had many health restrictions - no gluten, soy, grains and other things. I did alert the cruise ahead of time about the gluten issue. She was so worried that she brought protein powders and bars she could eat in case she had trouble finding anything to eat. They took wonderful care of her, She met with the dining manager (his name is Daddy and everyone loves him) after checking in and he advised her on what would be safe from the menu for the first night. After that he had a menu delivered to her room each morning and had her call with her choices so that they could be sure to modify them if needed, or if they could not, they would tell her. The morning and lunch buffets had plenty of good choices for her. She was really happy about the care and concern that was shown to her.

I like the B level because I think it is a bit more stable. I choose it over A unless I am on the Windsurf and can get a suite. I do not think I have stayed in BX129, but unless there is something I am not seeing, it looks like a standard room. What I do not like is the last 4 cabins 101-104. They are curved so that the bed is pushed against the wall and there is only one side access into and out of the bed.

No offense but I think this is a very crazy risky and foolish move! So much could go wrong with a late flight, waiting for luggage, traffic! No way! Generally they require you to be on board one hour ahead of departure at the start of the trip - so that means that you have even less time to make it.Think of the money, angst and time you will spend catching up with the ship at its next port if you miss it.

Come a day early at least - plenty to do in St. Maarten ahead of time!

We are thinking of joining friends on an Alaska cruise and land package next September (2019). We went to Alaska on Princess about 8 years ago but would be happy to go back. I am a little concerned about the land cruise - it raises the price considerably and sounds like there could be a lot of time on the bus and a different hotel each night - albeit lovely Fairmont hotels!

We gave up bigger cruises years ago and have been quite happy on Windstar and River cruises since then, however, we are happy to spend time with our friends and this would be a great way to do it! We cruised with Celebrity once in the Caribbean many years ago with other families when our son was young - it was our favorite of the big cruise lines.

The land tour is the Canadian Rockies tour including a day in Vancouver, overnight train, then Jasper, Banff, Calvary.

A few questions - I'm trying to figure out additional costs:

-Is breakfast included at the hotels? It is on the train but no mention for the hotels. I know that just a few other meals are included.

-There are some included excursions, but otherwise, are other optional excursions a 'don't miss' ?

-Did you spend many hours on the bus each day? I'm not a huge fan of that.....

-I thought it seemed rather pricey vs. cost of the cruise for 7 days - is it worth it?

-Were you happy you did the land portion or would you have wished you had chosen something else?

Thanks!

By fixed windows do you mean the porthole type windows that are on the bottom floor? Or a floor to ceiling type window that cannot be opened? Is the square footage of these rooms the same?

Yikes!! Do you have any idea where/how you might have contracted the scabies? And I don't think there is a vaccine for that!

We were just on a Rhine cruise with AMA from Amsterdam to Basel - July 15-23. Although there were low water levels in some areas that caused some vibration and noise, particularly during our dinner at the special restaurant - the table was shaking a lot - it did not affect our port stops or schedules at all.

We went from Rome to Athens last summer with Windstar. In Sorrento we took a windstar excursion to Pompeii and were very glad we did! We had an excellent guide and on the way back our bus broke down. Since we were on the Windstar tour the ship waited for us - we were about an hour late, past our ship departure time. Our tour guide (not the driver) got the bus working temporarily so that we could make it to a little cafe with a view of the coast . Then he bought us drinks - not a bad way to sit waiting for a new bus! and we were relaxed, knowing that the ship would not sail without us!

We spent a few days in Rome prior to our cruise. We took an excellent food tour with Eating Italy. We took the night tour of the Traverstre neighborhood. I would highly recommend it. We also toured the Borghese museum - which was excellent. You must book this museum in advance. We book a group tour with them as well and it was excellent. This museum is a jewel with amazing sculpture.

We took a tour of the Vatican and had a terrible tour guide - do not use City Wonders! Years ago we used another tour company that was excellent - so I had a comparison of what it should have been.

Enjoy your trip!