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New San Juan Itineraries (Star Pride, Dec. 9)


jims01
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I logged into my account on Windstar's website today and there was an updated itinerary posted. Nothing was announced on the public facing website, but I think this is probably what the new ports will look like. Very surprised to see that St. Barts is still on apparently. This is for the San Juan sailing on December 9 on Star Pride:

 

Saturday, December 9

Sailing

Departure San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:00 PM

 

Sunday, December 10

Sailing

At Sea

 

Monday, December 11

Sailing

Arrival Anse Mitan, Martinique 9:00 AM

 

 

Sailing

Departure Anse Mitan, Martinique 10:00 PM

 

Tuesday, December 12

Sailing

Arrival Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM

 

 

Sailing

Departure Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 5:00 PM

 

Wednesday, December 13

Sailing

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

 

 

Sailing

Departure Les Saintes Terre-De-Hau, Guadeloupe 10:00 PM

 

Thursday, December 14

Sailing

Arrival Little Bay, Montserrat 8:00 AM

 

 

Sailing

Departure Little Bay, Montserrat 4:00 PM

 

Friday, December 15

Sailing

Arrival Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 7:00 AM

 

 

Sailing

Departure Gustavia, St. Barthelemy 1:30 PM

 

Saturday, December 16

Sailing

Arrival San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 AM

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Not happy with this one. The only reason we got this cruise is because there were no sea days and going to BVI. Now there is a sea day and that last stop in St. Barth's is only until 1:30, doesn't give you much time at all. We could have booked a similar cruise for < 1/2 the price on Celebrity.

 

Of course no mention of an updated cancellation policy...

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Celebrity Cruises do not visit St Bart's. we will be on this sailing and I am thrilled that we will be able to go to St Bart's. our third time there. Considering all the damage, I feel fortunate to be able to travel to the Caribbean

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I think the new itineraries were well done under the circumstances, they managed to keep air fares intact by keeping San Juan. I'm not too excited about the new sea day and the short last day, but I would assume they will provide some onboard gestures to make up

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Not happy with this one. The only reason we got this cruise is because there were no sea days and going to BVI. Now there is a sea day and that last stop in St. Barth's is only until 1:30, doesn't give you much time at all. We could have booked a similar cruise for < 1/2 the price on Celebrity.

 

Of course no mention of an updated cancellation policy...

 

 

I called Windstar today to try and cancel my Christmas/NYE sailing for similar reasons as yours and they told me they were not changing the cancelation policy. I could either pay the penalty ($699 per person) or suck it up and go. Very unhappy with that decision as I booked the cruise specifically for the overnight on JVD over New Years Eve and now I'm just "at sea". Pretty surprised at Windstar's decision to stay firm despite the changes in itineraries. I work in the travel industry and when land-based resort vacations were effected by the hurricanes, those companies allowed either cancelations at no penalty or to move the booking to a different date. Its disheartening that Windstar wouldn't allow either.

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I called Windstar today to try and cancel my Christmas/NYE sailing for similar reasons as yours and they told me they were not changing the cancelation policy. I could either pay the penalty ($699 per person) or suck it up and go. Very unhappy with that decision as I booked the cruise specifically for the overnight on JVD over New Years Eve and now I'm just "at sea". Pretty surprised at Windstar's decision to stay firm despite the changes in itineraries. I work in the travel industry and when land-based resort vacations were effected by the hurricanes, those companies allowed either cancelations at no penalty or to move the booking to a different date. Its disheartening that Windstar wouldn't allow either.

Yep. My TA called them up, and they are not offering any on-board credit either to make up for the negative itinerary changes. They are hiding behind their T&C that allows them to basically do anything to the itinerary at any point in time.

 

Lessons learned:

 

1. Our first and last cruise with Windstar.

2. Always book at the last second.

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I think sea days, like food, is very subjective. We love sea days. I think that WS has done a yeoman’s job in developing these new itineraries. It must have been really difficult. I adore the BVIs, disappointed yes in the weather! Happy to be able to go on an interesting cruise to islands that were lucky not to have been affected by the hurricanes. Moral of the story buy travel insurance, my sister could not get to Barbados, had insurance she has not lost a dime. I do not think WS owes me one dime due to the hurricanes, an act of nature and I think WS has been terrific in finding new and interesting islands. Life is to short to be angry, appreciate what you can do. For all those happy sailors out there Happy Sailing.

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Not happy with this one. The only reason we got this cruise is because there were no sea days and going to BVI. Now there is a sea day and that last stop in St. Barth's is only until 1:30, doesn't give you much time at all. We could have booked a similar cruise for < 1/2 the price on Celebrity.

 

Of course no mention of an updated cancellation policy...

 

It would not have been a similar cruise. Celebrity is a mass market mega ship line. The experience is NOTHING at all like being on Windstar.

 

It's hard when ports are missed and in this case, itineraries change. That's what insurance is for.

 

I've read this as well as some of your other posts and can tell you're very unhappy with the schedule changes and that Windstar won't return your fare.

 

I'm going to suggest that even if you don't have insurance that will pay, cancel. The only other thing you can change is your attitude; without that you're not going to enjoy it anyway.

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It would not have been a similar cruise. Celebrity is a mass market mega ship line. The experience is NOTHING at all like being on Windstar.

 

It's hard when ports are missed and in this case, itineraries change. That's what insurance is for.

 

I've read this as well as some of your other posts and can tell you're very unhappy with the schedule changes and that Windstar won't return your fare.

 

I'm going to suggest that even if you don't have insurance that will pay, cancel. The only other thing you can change is your attitude; without that you're not going to enjoy it anyway.

 

You sound like you have more experience with this, I have only been on a couple of cruises (large ships). It sounds like the kind of insurance we were being offered wouldn't have paid for port changes in any case, only travel issues. We live an active lifestyle and the reason we picked this cruise is because every single day there was a stop. Also, when I was on the larger ships, I did not really enjoy the whole embarkation/disembarkation experience at ports. It sounded like a great opportunity to visit some places where the large ships don't stop and are not crowded.

 

Now, the replacement ports seem like ones that are visited by large cruise ships, so much of the uniqueness of this cruise and the reason of why we decided to pay a premium price of this cruise is gone. I don't mind a sea day on a large ship, but on this kind of ship it doesn't seem like there is much to do.

 

If you are happy with the changes, I am genuinely happy that it worked out for you and respect your opinion. As for me, I realize that it isn't Windstar's fault that the original itinerary is not longer possible, but neither is it ours. It sounds like there are people in both camps here. I am sure the cruise is still going to be enjoyable, and will have a good time either way, but if the current itinerary was the original itinerary, we would have never purchased this cruise in the first place. To me it's like pre-paying for a Corvette, but having Chevy deliver me an Impala instead because the Corvette factory got flooded. I should be happy it's still a Chevy, right?

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The replacemnts ports are small: Pigeon Islsnd St. Lucia tiny, away from the main port and huge crowds. I have been here three times WS was the only ship there, Ils des Saints tiny, no room for big ships, again been there three times never another ship, beautiful French town, walk to a great beach with the cows and goats, great views, Montserrst has a population of 4,000 people that is it, spoke to a lady there today she said they can only handle one small ship at a time, never been there, Martinique Anse Mitan, you anchor off a beach, not Port de France, never been there, looks lovely and interesting, large ships do not go into St. Barts been there 3 times, once saw a Seabourn when we were there. All my trips have bern with WS.

We get our insurance from a compsny we researched to make sure it covers everything, less than $500 for the two of us. We have a b2b on 1/6. Guaranteed never lines on WS. Embark/Disembark never an issue. We have never been disppointed in WS.

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The replacemnts ports are small: Pigeon Islsnd St. Lucia tiny, away from the main port and huge crowds. I have been here three times WS was the only ship there, Ils des Saints tiny, no room for big ships, again been there three times never another ship, beautiful French town, walk to a great beach with the cows and goats, great views, Montserrst has a population of 4,000 people that is it, spoke to a lady there today she said they can only handle one small ship at a time, never been there, Martinique Anse Mitan, you anchor off a beach, not Port de France, never been there, looks lovely and interesting, large ships do not go into St. Barts been there 3 times, once saw a Seabourn when we were there. All my trips have bern with WS.

We get our insurance from a compsny we researched to make sure it covers everything, less than $500 for the two of us. We have a b2b on 1/6. Guaranteed never lines on WS. Embark/Disembark never an issue. We have never been disppointed in WS.

 

I agree. We took the San Juan cruise last year on the Legend just for the stop in Montseret. Due to high seas, we could not tender in. Went to Antigua instead. I immediately booked the same cruise for 2018 but this time on the Pride. We are still going to Montseret so we are happy.

 

Love the sea days on any of the old Seabourn Little Sisters. They are the best cabins at sea - even in the cheapest cabin - which is what we always book. We don't like what Windstar did with the pool but if the ship is moving, the breeze will keep you cool. I would bet you will never want to go back to the big ships.

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The replacemnts ports are small: Pigeon Islsnd St. Lucia tiny, away from the main port and huge crowds. I have been here three times WS was the only ship there, Ils des Saints tiny, no room for big ships, again been there three times never another ship, beautiful French town, walk to a great beach with the cows and goats, great views, Montserrst has a population of 4,000 people that is it, spoke to a lady there today she said they can only handle one small ship at a time, never been there, Martinique Anse Mitan, you anchor off a beach, not Port de France, never been there, looks lovely and interesting, large ships do not go into St. Barts been there 3 times, once saw a Seabourn when we were there. All my trips have bern with WS.

We get our insurance from a compsny we researched to make sure it covers everything, less than $500 for the two of us. We have a b2b on 1/6. Guaranteed never lines on WS. Embark/Disembark never an issue. We have never been disppointed in WS.

 

I'm pretty happy with the changes too, largely because these do seem like smaller ports that are a little off the beaten track (I hope it recovers quickly from the hurricane but my original reaction to Phillipsburg as a tourist going there was <shrug>).

 

Has anyone on here been to the new ports in the past and able to suggest cool/unusual things to do? Took a quick look on Tripadvisor but the suggestions for our specific areas (e.g., Anse Mitan, as opposed to Martinique in general) are limited. For example, Anse Mitan is described as a great beach, but there's not much else on Tripadvisor about it.

 

My overall concern is that all 3 new locations seem to be beaches or nature-focused islands, and generally distant from the towns where there's (I assume) better food, shopping, attractions. Nature is great, but 3 in a row (+ Monserrat, also nature-y) might be a little repetitive after a while.

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In January 2016 we cruised WS Classic Caribbean which stopped in St Bart's, Pigeon Island, St Lucia, and Ile des Saints, Guadalupe.

 

We had the beach BBQ on Pigeon Island. They brought all the toys over and the food and drink. We walked around the area (it's in a national park) and found the coolest little bar that we had a terrific rum punch and enjoyed chatting with the bartender.

 

On Ils des Saints we took the tender over and walked the very small town. The architecture was very fun to look at and we saw fishermen hauling in their catch. There are some delightful shops including several artists who loved chatting with us (and us with them). They rent scooters there but you need to go over quickly to get one of those. We did take a WS catamaran tour in the afternoon.

 

St Bart's was a fantastic day! We had made new friends on board who had been to St. Bart's before so we all rented a convertible for the day and drove around the island beach and bar hopping. We found a fabulous restaurant on one of the beaches where we had the most memorable lunch. We loved St Bart's! We did a little shopping but ran out of time (much to my husbands relief!). I would love to return!

 

 

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