On the Star Pride

i know many of you are concerned about embarking from San Juan. No worries! Flew in yesterday and airport has electricity, Starbucks had a line, taxis easy to get. roads are great, stayed at Sheraton wonderful!! Ship is clean, food great, no problems!! I have been on countless cruises and the embarkation rates a 10! Will post more when I get back:)

Have a great trip!

Bon Voyage.

Keith

We're doing the TA in April. Would love to hear your thoughts on the ship when you get back!

We too just got off the Star Pride. Had a relaxing and enjoyable time. I loved the size of the staterooms aka suites. In fact, I am now spoiled for anything smaller. Also will not be able to go back to a "big" ship, I don't think. I thought I would see the Sail Away ceremony as corny, but found myself fairly emotional. I was amazed how many people do a LOT of cruises.

Were the hot tubs working?

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Were the hot tubs working?

Hot tub by mini-pool worked but was not very hot. Mini-pool jets that are supposed to create a flow to simulate swimming did not work.

We had a wonderful cruise. The rooms are spacious and we really liked the little walk in closet. Food was great, the ports were small and interesting. The staff was very friendly and so helpful. We especially liked Montserrat and our excursion to the city covered in ashes. The hot tub worked. I never saw the pool with the jets in action. We liked the small ship feel and not being hounded to purchase over priced jewelry or gold by the inch. As stated before, San Juan is rebuilding, but taxis and hotels are open and running.

We were the only people in the hot tub at the bow one day. :D

We did not get the drink package. Had wine or beer at lunch, cocktails, a bottle of wine with dinner, and occasional after dinner drink and still did better than the package price. I think you would have to drink all day long to make that work!

One thing that took us a while to figure out was to look at the menu on the table at breakfast and lunch each day before going to the buffet. Maybe we just aren't big eaters, because I could only have one or the other. Also, they would fix just one egg or pancake if you asked.

These are things I had not seen on this board, so I thought I'd speak up. ;)

We too just got off the Star Pride. Had a relaxing and enjoyable time. I loved the size of the staterooms aka suites. In fact, I am now spoiled for anything smaller. Also will not be able to go back to a "big" ship, I don't think. I thought I would see the Sail Away ceremony as corny, but found myself fairly emotional. I was amazed how many people do a LOT of cruises.

When we sailed on the Windsurf they played the Vangelis piece from 1492 "Fanfare". Is that piece they played? We are on the TA so will only have one sailaway, so I don't want to miss it. That is unless the Captain decides to play it each night at sunset or something equally moving. Who knows....

Yes, they play it on the Star Pride

i know many of you are concerned about embarking from San Juan. No worries! Flew in yesterday and airport has electricity, Starbucks had a line, taxis easy to get. roads are great, stayed at Sheraton wonderful!! Ship is clean, food great, no problems!! I have been on countless cruises and the embarkation rates a 10! Will post more when I get back:)

Thanks kkbay, nice to hear San Jaun is getting back in its feet. We are booked at the Sheraton Old San Juan in Feb. Is that where you stayed ?

I know I sound like I have stock in the place, but I don't... For a pre or postcruise stay, look at El Convento in Old San Juan. It is a boutique hotel, the old convent for the cathedral next door. Easy walking distance to the Old San Juan pier. Wonderful customer service, great happy hour on the roof garden/pool/hot tub. You will feel that you are in old Spain.

While San Juan (and all the main towns in the Caribbean hit by Irma and/or Maria) are back to business, remember that the folks living in the outlying areas may still be without services and rely on tourist revenue. I was appreciative that they thanked the guests on the Star Pride for coming to the Caribbean during reconstruction. :halo:

What time did you have to leave St Bart’s, and how early could get on the island?

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We were also on the Dec 9 sailing. San Juan is functional, still has a ways to go before normal. Outside of San Juan is still a mess.

After 30+ cruises, all on bigger ships, we fell in love with WindStar. We are planning on booking 2 weeks on Wind Surf next December, and the 11 day Tahiti cruise for May of 2019. The food, service and atmosphere does not even begin to compare with the larger mainstream cruise lines.

We live in FL, and cruise a lot, and will still sail on the larger ships, but I think WindStar may very well have become our favorite.

Kat

We were also on the Dec 9 sailing. San Juan is functional, still has a ways to go before normal. Outside of San Juan is still a mess.

 

After 30+ cruises, all on bigger ships, we fell in love with WindStar. We are planning on booking 2 weeks on Wind Surf next December, and the 11 day Tahiti cruise for May of 2019. The food, service and atmosphere does not even begin to compare with the larger mainstream cruise lines.

 

We live in FL, and cruise a lot, and will still sail on the larger ships, but I think WindStar may very well have become our favorite.

 

Kat

Just remember the Wind Surf is not as nice of a ship as the Pride. The cabins are much smaller. The service is the same.

Just remember the Wind Surf is not as nice of a ship as the Pride. The cabins are much smaller. The service is the same.

I wouldn't say that the Wind Surf is not as nice a ship. I quite like the sail ships. The regular cabins are adequate size as compared to the large suites on the motor yachts. Still they are well designed and comfortable. IMO, the public spaces are just as nice. Windsurf has some suites which are twice the size of the regular cabins.

Tahiti will also be one of the sail ships - Wind Spirit - it is smaller and doesn't have elevators.

Beg to differ. We love the Sailing ships, beautiful, great deck space, lovely rooms, more outside space. It is very subjective sail vs motor. We have completed 19 sails and 1 motor. We loved the motor yacht but our preference is is the sails. What is superb on both food, service, ambience, comfort, itinearies, and the joy of small ship sailing. Happy Sailing

Just remember the Wind Surf is not as nice of a ship as the Pride. The cabins are much smaller. The service is the same.

We know the cabins are smaller, and honestly, the ship itself doesn't matter. It's more about the food, service and overall ambiance of the ship. And the Pride is old, and showing her age, but that did not affect our cruise.

What time did you have to leave St Bart’s, and how early could get on the island?

 

 

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We left St Bart's at 1:30 pm, and got there around 7 am. We did the 1 hour island tour, and a little shopping. I would say about 50% of the stores were still closed due to hurricane damage.

Beg to differ. We love the Sailing ships, beautiful, great deck space, lovely rooms, more outside space. It is very subjective sail vs motor. We have completed 19 sails and 1 motor. We loved the motor yacht but our preference is is the sails. What is superb on both food, service, ambience, comfort, itinearies, and the joy of small ship sailing. Happy Sailing

We were in Les Saintes with Wind Surf, and the captains arranged to leave at the same time. We went out first, then waited for Wind Surf, and we sat there and watched as she raised her sails. Impressive! (We were also treated to a meteor shower at the same time!!) Quite a magical night!

Loved the Star Pride. I will say this - if you have any type of problems walking or getting into a tender, this is NOT the ship for you. Many people need to be aware of this situation before they book a cruise on this ship. Every port is a tender. There might be an elevator to get to the lower deck to tender, but I never saw one.