avalong

That's interesting.  I know that Paul Gauguin and Windstar used to coordinate, but it looks like a whole new ball game.

Hopefully the cruise lines will continue to coordinate so that no more than 1 ship is in any Tahitian port on a given day. 

Some of the best snorkeling of my life was in the "aquarium" in Rangiroa.

Just back from the 2nd deck barbecue of our back-to-back cruises. There were lamb chops on offer, but still no lobster. It was fabulous, nonetheless.

On the Wind Surf now. The food is very good. The deck BBQ is still fantastic, despite the omissions you mentioned. 

Regarding the salt issue: Anyone who cooks can tell you that a dish that is salted DURING the cooking process (sometimes multiple times at different stages), is going to taste entirely different (better) than if it is salted only at the end.

10 hours ago, Sailnsurf said:

Thanks again. Are you able to say what level of movement there has been during meal times and when at anchor? What do you mean by " not bad between most ports"? Is the GDR a better place to eat wgen some motion is likely given it is at a lower level than other dining locations?

 

I really appreciate comments on motion generally because this could be a deal breaker for us-which would be a great pity because we have wanted to cruise FP.

 

Does anyone know whether kinder seas could be expected in late August compared to now?

 

 

Please have your wife try the wristbands. I'm sensitive to motion too, and they work perfectly for me. I thought it sounded like voodoo nonsense until I tried them.

Hey, leave Cher alone. :-)

I wonder how the additional 48 passengers will impact the interior public spaces, especially in cold weather. I seem to recall hearing this was a problem with the triplets after the stretch.

Wow, you really hit it perfect! In contrast, my husband and I had such bad weather in the Med in mid-October that we vowed never to cruise the Med beyond early October. May and September being ideal. 

It seems like these days the weather is even more of a crapshoot than it used to be.

Hey Petoonya.

When you're able, please let us know how you're doing. Hope all is going well.

18 minutes ago, r&rd said:

We have done this twice. Would recommend arriving a day or two early and doing the Golden Circle day tour first. We actually filmed a video with Tours by Locals on this tour which you can see on You Tube - Tours by Locals - 15 years. Last October we went and hit very heavy storms. Ship was delayed 2 days leaving Reykjavik and did miss a few ports (two because of delay and 1 because seas were too rough for ship to navigate harbor. In other words, don’t count on ports not being missed. Some of the excursions are quite a ways by bus but there are also things that don’t require long drives.

Did you find it crowded in the indoor venues during cold weather? I've heard that the stretched yachts don't have quite enough inside space for the increased number of passengers when everybody wants to be inside. Your thoughts?

IF this cruise was cancelled due to a charter at this late date, then it's unconscionable. There are going to be many people in the same situation as the OP. And I question whether it makes "good business sense" in the long run if you end up alienating a lot of customers. There should be a cut off of 9 or 10 months for chartering.

Petoonya my dear,

Best wishes for a speedy and UNEVENTFUL trip home. 

Hate to be a Monday morning quarterback, but from what I've read, it's best to wait 5 - 7 days after a root canal to fly. Maybe your flight and the change in air pressure caused some of your problems? Hope you're feeling much better after your appointment. 

OK, if you've eaten in Stella you must be on the Wind Surf. I think Wind Surf is the only ship with Stella.

Glad to hear you've changed your mind about the food, at least in Candles and Stella. Still not liking Amphora?

The quality of the food can differ greatly from ship to ship depending on who's doing the cooking, so to speak. 4 out of 6 Windstar ships are in the Caribbean currently. I'd love to know WHICH ship the OP is on, so I can manage expectations, if necessary, for our upcoming Wind Surf cruise.

On 3/11/2024 at 6:13 AM, RBCal said:

I am currently on a Windstar cruise in the Caribbean. I previously took a Tahiti cruise which was among the best I have taken of the dozen or so I've done on other cruise lines.  In comparison to my earlier Windstar Tahiti cruise there is a remarkable decline in both the food quality and service. Unless I see a remarked improvement in the next 12 days I doubt I'll take a third.

What ship are you on?

And it's not just the rain that can be an issue in our winter (their summer), it's the humidity. You're much better off going in our summer months: July (altho we found July to be quite windy), August and September for comfortable weather.  It's pretty much always 84 degrees, year-round, but 84 degrees feels much hotter when it's super humid. 

29 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't know about Star Breeze, but we were just on Silver Whisper and noticed that the backwaiters brought food into the MDR through the starboard side and took the dirty dishes back through the port side.  Good for avoiding head-on crashes, and would fit with this deck plan layout.  

 

[Haven't ever had a cabin over a galley, but don't recall any reports on CC about noise from galleys.  They do start working early the morning, but they shut down soon after dinner.  Crew noise seems to come mostly from carts rolling over thresholds and doors slamming, which would not be the issue with pre-breakfast galley activities – so I'm most worried about unlabeled white spaces across the hall from my cabin door.]

I know what you mean. On our last cruise we had one of those dreaded crew doors directly across from our cabin. We heard them bumping carts over the threshold during the day, but never heard them in the morning or at night. They must have gotten the word.

I currently have my daughters booked in 428, which is directly over the tender embarkation area. I'm considering moving them to 446, but that might be worse.

4 hours ago, Redtravel said:

446 is not over the galley.  The galley is aft.  I have stayed on all 3 decks. Never had a noise issue.

Have a look at the deck plans. 447,449 & 451 on the starboard side are definitely over the galley.  There is a mysterious blank space under 446, 448 & 450 which I thought might also be part of the galley. Hoping to find someone out there who's stayed in 446 or 428.

15 minutes ago, DOJO466 said:

She is fine.

Thanks!

I haven't been on the boards for a while and I see that LHT28 (Lyn) hasn't posted since December 31st. She was a regular on here and I wonder what's happened. Anyone know?

Hi Folks,

Does anyone out there have experience in cabins 428 or 446 on the Star Breeze (or any of the other Star ships for that matter)?

Appears 428 is directly over the tender embarkation area, and 446 is directly over the galley.  Any noise issues in either cabin?

Thanks in advance for any info.

I have relatives who were on Riviera's Oslo to Portsmouth cruise. Came down with covid on the last day of the cruise.