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NCL VS Windstar


Stateroom_Sailor
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We're looking at two potential itineraries, but unfortunately, neither will be released for another 6+ months. On one hand, a rep from NCL told me that they may not continue sailings to Japan after 2019, and on the other, I'm not sure if Windstar repeats itineraries year over year. Here are the 2018 examples:

 

Norwegian Jewel, $1,500 for an Inside Cabin, $2,500 for a balcony (at least they were before final payment)

 

2130520852_ScreenShot2018-03-01at2_51_11AM.png.d416768d4b02ede50f766ac2df2a84f4.png

 

 

Winstar Legend, $2,000 Ocean View, $2,700 Balcony

 

784766763_ScreenShot2018-03-01at2_55_25AM.png.163fe187fa5207bd72af39467f577eb2.png

 

 

We've never sailed either line, and I know it's an apples to oranges comparison. I personally like option #2 for exotic ports and value, and knowing there's 0% chance of repeating any of our last 14 day Carnival experience :eek:. At the same time, the NCL itinerary includes an extra port in Japan, and hits Russia, that includes and matches, the veranda prices for their 7 day Alaska itinerary. It may be the last hurrah, and as fond as I am of Celebrity, maybe it's too soon to get hook on Windstar... a line we typically won't be able to afford. Any thoughts?

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We have traveled celebrity and ncl no comparison take windstar we like the ports the etc. we have not been on an Asia cruise but I think if you like the smaller ships you will enjoy windstar

 

 

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there's more to a ship than ports so coming from Carnival I would be cautious in directing you to windstar, but

 

Windstar is amazing in service, food, port time, and sheer thoughtfulness for the comfort and enjoyment of their passengers. You will get to know your shipmates and your crew and your entertainers. There was a lot of tendering on my cruise in the Caribbean but that made for longer days in port and different ports. The entertainment is low key. The casino even lower. But honestly, after full port days you may not miss it. You definitely won't miss paying for water and speciality coffees and soda. I say windstar all the way. It was the best cruise "experience" I've had.

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We're looking at two potential itineraries, but unfortunately, neither will be released for another 6+ months. On one hand, a rep from NCL told me that they may not continue sailings to Japan after 2019, and on the other, I'm not sure if Windstar repeats itineraries year over year. Here are the 2018 examples:

 

Norwegian Jewel, $1,500 for an Inside Cabin, $2,500 for a balcony (at least they were before final payment)

 

[ATTACH]415443[/ATTACH]

 

 

Winstar Legend, $2,000 Ocean View, $2,700 Balcony

 

[ATTACH]415444[/ATTACH]

 

 

We've never sailed either line, and I know it's an apples to oranges comparison. I personally like option #2 for exotic ports and value, and knowing there's 0% chance of repeating any of our last 14 day Carnival experience :eek:. At the same time, the NCL itinerary includes an extra port in Japan, and hits Russia, that includes and matches, the veranda prices for their 7 day Alaska itinerary. It may be the last hurrah, and as fond as I am of Celebrity, maybe it's too soon to get hook on Windstar... a line we typically won't be able to afford. Any thoughts?

 

It's more like an apples to cantaloupes comparison. :) Apples and oranges are too similar.

 

I think that the 2019 Alaska schedule will be released sooner than 6 months. Windstar does often repeat itineraries from one year to another (e.g. Europe, Caribbean, Tahiti) but they are just finishing their first season in Asia and the upcoming season will be their first in Alaska. So I guess they may be waiting to see how at least the first of the Alaska sailings goes and whether any tweaks are needed before releasing Alaska itineraries for 2019.

 

2018-2019 Asia itineraries for Asia are released and that looks similar to me (though I didn't follow them in detail being more interested in the Alaska sailing this year).

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there's more to a ship than ports so coming from Carnival I would be cautious in directing you to windstar, but

 

Windstar is amazing in service, food, port time, and sheer thoughtfulness for the comfort and enjoyment of their passengers. You will get to know your shipmates and your crew and your entertainers. There was a lot of tendering on my cruise in the Caribbean but that made for longer days in port and different ports. The entertainment is low key. The casino even lower. But honestly, after full port days you may not miss it. You definitely won't miss paying for water and speciality coffees and soda. I say windstar all the way. It was the best cruise "experience" I've had.

 

We have very little bad to say about our first Carnival cruise in 2011, other than some integrity issues (financial advice in flipping tanzanite given from the shopping seminar), but over the last couple cruises, things have gone downhill fast. The condition of our cabin and general maintenance, food, bedding, and corporate decisions... unacceptable. I actually got laughed at by my stylist after a botched haircut, and had to file a BBB case, 4 months after disembarking, on an unrelated returned purchase. That's besides the fact that not all Carnival passengers can handle 14 days at sea. Once the main ports were behind us, and all the shows had been performed, a restless attitudes set in. The F bomb became common discourse around the pool, and spousal abuse (verbal and even physical), went public. By day 14, pushing and shoving became tools of line cutting, some people were all too eager to sneeze and cough on each other, and someone threw a plate at staff.

 

I would say that we'd be coming from Celebrity, more than Carnival, at this point. We're at least novice foodies, and enjoy comforts when the value is right. As long as the cruise is port heavy, I don't mind entertainment being low key. A Transatlantic however, Windstar probably wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Thanks also to barnhand and new-cruiser, every helpful info.

Edited by Stateroom_Sailor
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Windstar tried Asia/Japan when they first took over what are now the Pride/Legend Breeze and then had a hiatus. They are back for 2018 using the Legend, and we booked the day it was announced. I think whether they repeat will have a lot to do with how successful they are this time, I'm told that loads were low the first time they tried. I note that the itin you show is certainly a repositioning cruise from Alaska to Japan and so will have a number of days at sea.

 

Also note that there are no balconies on the triplets (unless you bump up to an owners suite) they are french balconies so you have operable doors but no actual outside space.

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. As long as the cruise is port heavy, I don't mind entertainment being low key. A Transatlantic however, Windstar probably wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Given that, I'm surprised you are considering the Aleutians and North Pacific Crossing cruise. Generally, I'd call a cruise port intensive if it has around 1 sea day for 6 port days. The Seward to Tokyo cruise is an ocean crossing with ports on either end. It has 6 sea days in a row (7 days on the calendar, but one of them is lost to the date line crossing). That's similar to some Transatlantic cruises (though the Windstar Transatlantic cruises tend to have more consecutive sea days than that). Overall, there are 6 ports in a 16 day cruise.

 

If you are looking forward to leisurely comfortable days a sea with some activities but plenty of time to amuse yourself doing your own thing, it would be a great cruise to try out Windstar. But if you will miss large ship entertainment with consecutive sea days, it would be better to look at a different Windstar itineraries. There have been some great deals on more port intensive cruises this year like some of the Costa Rica and Panama Canal and Tahiti ones.

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Given that, I'm surprised you are considering the Aleutians and North Pacific Crossing cruise. Generally, I'd call a cruise port intensive if it has around 1 sea day for 6 port days. The Seward to Tokyo cruise is an ocean crossing with ports on either end. It has 6 sea days in a row (7 days on the calendar, but one of them is lost to the date line crossing). That's similar to some Transatlantic cruises (though the Windstar Transatlantic cruises tend to have more consecutive sea days than that). Overall, there are 6 ports in a 16 day cruise.

 

If you are looking forward to leisurely comfortable days a sea with some activities but plenty of time to amuse yourself doing your own thing, it would be a great cruise to try out Windstar. But if you will miss large ship entertainment with consecutive sea days, it would be better to look at a different Windstar itineraries. There have been some great deals on more port intensive cruises this year like some of the Costa Rica and Panama Canal and Tahiti ones.

 

True, something worth considering. The exotic ports are still tempting, but a 7 day stretch of sea days is not my first choice. The Windstar itineraries in Tahiti have definitely caught our eye as well!

 

I think we'll do NCL first, and have Windstar as a backup, if not followup cruise down the road. 3rd choice would be a cruise between China and Japan. It blows my mind that NCL only gives passengers 6 months to book some of their Asian cruises, on such a large ship, and wonders why it's not going so well. Half the year, nobody can even see that they exist... :confused:

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BTW, I'm very much looking forward to the sea days on the Windstar Tokyo to Seward crossing (just 2 months away now!). When working, I wanted to make every vacation moment count, but I'll be retiring in a month and I'm looking forward to the cruise to decompress and shift gears. The Eastward crossing doesn't make stops in the Aleutians so it has even more sea days 8 consecutive plus a bonus day from crossing the dateline. I'll be staying on for the Wonders of Alaska and Canada cruise following the crossing so I'll get my port and activities fix then.

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