Just Back from Windstar 12/13 Barbados RT

[Mike2131]

A wonderful cruise and I will post a full review as soon as I can. A few quick points - food was outstanding, service was friendly but still professional, overall ship condition seems excellent, cabin was very comfortable and well designed, and the itinerary was terrific. If you have any specific questions, please post and I will answer as best I can.

[timandnancy]

I'll be waiting for your review. I'm on the 1/31 itinerary, which is different from yours. Like to hear from anyone out there that's been to Mayreau, Pigeon Island St. Lucia, and Charlottesville Tobago. Not a big beach person. I like to do some exploring in the ports.

Happy Holidays!!

Tim

[rosesplus]

A wonderful cruise and I will post a full review as soon as I can. A few quick points - food was outstanding, service was friendly but still professional, overall ship condition seems excellent, cabin was very comfortable and well designed, and the itinerary was terrific. If you have any specific questions, please post and I will answer as best I can.

Mike I'm looking forward to your review. I'm doing this cruise in Jan, most of the ports are new to me. Is there any 'must do's"?

Thanks,

Mark

[Mike2131]

I'll be waiting for your review. I'm on the 1/31 itinerary, which is different from yours. Like to hear from anyone out there that's been to Mayreau, Pigeon Island St. Lucia, and Charlottesville Tobago. Not a big beach person. I like to do some exploring in the ports.

Happy Holidays!!

Tim

Hi Tim:

 

We visited all the ports you mentioned as well as Bequia, Dominica, and Grenada. Mayreau, Pigeon Island/St. Lucia, and Tobago were three of our favorites.

 

Mayreau - The island is 1.5 miles square and has 6 cars. We took the snorkel excursion to Tobago Keys and it was terrific. There were 2 stops within sight of each other. One was "standard" - a small reef with coral, fish, etc. The second was the highlight - snorkeling with the sea turtles. Sandy bottom with some large star fish, a few small brain coral, and th turtles. That was special. By the tender pier a few ladies set up some shopping and there was a small restaurant and bar on the way to take the catamaran for the tour. Not touisty and that made it a wonderful stop for us.

 

Pigeon Island/St. Lucia - We anchored in Rodney Bay and tendered to the National Park. There are some ruins on the beach, the remains of the fort on the hilltop to explore, some walking/hiking trails, and the beach. There was a map of the park by the pier for orientation. We took the Catamaran to the Pitons excursion. It was a glorious day and the scenery was great. After the sail to the Pitons we headed back and stopped at Grand Anse for a swim. Even though it is not a snorkel excursion, take your equipment - it is worthwhile. Vendors will paddle out and sell to you on the cat since you do not land. When we returned, the WindSurf crew and chefs had set up a great beach BBQ with ribs, chickens, hot dogs, hamburgers, desert, etc. near the dock. A steel drum band was playing and the sports team brought the water trampoline from the ship. Great fun and a wonderful way to end our stay in St. Lucia.

 

Tobago -We took the Glass Bottom Boat and Snorkel tour. You take a van to the Blue Waters Inn on the Atlantic side and depart from there. On the way out you pass over some underwater "gardens" and then anchor outside Angel Reef for the snorkel. There is lots to see - barrel sponges, sea fans, branch coral, and a nice variety of fish including species like cuddle fish and rumpet fish. On the way out we even saw a moray eel. Since we were on the Atlantic side there was more current than you would encounter on the Caribbean side. I suggest that you wear fins. This excursion ran shorter than listed but that might be because everyone came onboard early.

 

Since you are not a big beach person, you might enjoy the catamaran sails - nice scenery. We did not get to Castries in St. Lucia. I was there about 12 years and it was pretty industrial. The estimated cab fare from Rodney Bay was about $30.00 each way. We took a land tour on that earlier visit that was scenic (a good view of the Pitons) and included a stop at the "drive in" volcano. We saw very little of Charlottesville, but it did not seem to be an interesting town to just walk. I think you will need to get out in the island. Man-of-War Bay itself was very scenic.

 

We liked the itinerary very much and i hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Happy Holidays!

[Mike2131]

Mike I'm looking forward to your review. I'm doing this cruise in Jan, most of the ports are new to me. Is there any 'must do's"?

Thanks,

Mark

Hi Mark:

 

In addition to the excursions I listed above, we really enjoyed the other ports as well.

 

Bequia - Weather was not on our side. We took the Northern Grenadine Catamaran tour and there were very rough seas and strong wind. Perhaps 25% of the passengers got sea sick including my DGF. we fought that all the way to Mustique and then had to alter our snorkel stop to Petite Nevis (probably due to sea conditions). The water ws cooler than expected and there was not much to see underwater. We probably should not have left port and the crew told us it had been very rough all week. That said, with good weather it would have been a wonderful exursion since the scenery was terrific and i am sure the original snorkel site would have been great.

 

Dominica - Definitely one of our favorite ports. This is not a very touisty island and they call it the Natural Island. we took the Hot Spots of Dominica excursion and we highly recommend it. The first half is river tubing (1.5 hours on the river) then you drive up further into the rain forest to soak in hot springs pools. The operators (Wacky Rollers) did a terrific job and this excusrion is highly recommended.

 

Grenada - We took the island tour that included a stop at the Douglesdon Spice plantation (very interesting), a lot of sight seeing with a history of the U.S. intervention, and drive through the rain forest with a stop for fresh bananas right off the tree. It ended with a stop at Fort Frederick which offered great views of the old inner harbor, the cruise docks, and the Caribbean. Upon return to he ship we went exploring in the inner harbor (very close) and shopped (spices are a must buy). The excursion was interesting and informative with a very good guide. Recommended.

 

Must do's are hard since everyone has different interests. I would also check the individual port boards for advice. Have a great cruise and Happy Holidays!

[panam22]

Thanks for posting your trip report. We are on the Wind Spirit out of St. Martin in 10 days and I'm so excited!

[timandnancy]

Mike:

Thanks for your review. Just a few more questions, please??

Is there anything in Rodney Bay, shops or bars, or is it just a bay to anchor and swim? In Tobago, did anyone rent a car and drive to Scarborough? And was there anything to do there?

Appreciate your help tremendously.

Thanks and have a Happy New Year!

Tim

[Mike2131]

Mike:

Thanks for your review. Just a few more questions, please??

Is there anything in Rodney Bay, shops or bars, or is it just a bay to anchor and swim? In Tobago, did anyone rent a car and drive to Scarborough? And was there anything to do there?

Appreciate your help tremendously.

Thanks and have a Happy New Year!

Tim

Hi Tim:

 

Happy New Year to you and your family as well. To answer your questions:

 

1) Rodney Bay/Pigeo Island is at the Northwest tip of St. Lucia. There is a beach bar/restaurant (popular and crowded) as well as walking/hiking trails into the hills. We did not see any shops, but we were not looking for any either. There could be some, but we just did not notice any. The ascent to the fort appears pretty steep and we stayed close to the beach for the BBQ when we returned from the excursion. I am not sure, but it might require a taxi ride to get anywhere outside of the park area. The St. Lucia board might be a better place to post specific questions about the area since we did not venture outside of the park after the excursion.

 

2) In Tobago we took the snorkel excursion and then returned to the ship. The Wind Surf anchored in Man-o-War Bay and I think Scarborough is on the Atlantic side north of where we snorkeled. There did not seem to be too much in Charlotteville so I am not sure how easy a car rental would be. You might have better luck arranging an independent taxi tour. We did not visit with anyone onboard, however, who did that.

 

There are brief port overviews each evening about 7:15 in the lounge to bring everyone up to speed. It did not seem necessary to have booked and paid for excursions in advance since the ship sailed only about 2/3 full. You cruise might be different, however.

[Mike2131]

I am not sure when it will be up, but I sent it earlier this afternoon. I hope it proves helpful.

[timandnancy]

Mike:

Where will it show up?? Here, or in another section of cruisecritic?

Thanks,

Tim

[Mike2131]

Mike:

Where will it show up?? Here, or in another section of cruisecritic?

Thanks,

Tim

There is a complete section for member as well as professional reviews. Go to the CC home page and look about half-way down for the Review drop down menus. Select Wind Surf and click on it. A word of caution - even spell check could not eliminate a couple of typos - LOL. I hope it is helpful.

[DISNEY GIRL]

Good morning Mike - yet another question, if I may...

 

Hubby and I are sailing on 17 January - our first time on Windsurf. Question - If I board at the specific time, ie around 2pm - am I able to take my cases straight to my room or is it like any other large cruise ship, where you board and your case arrives at your cabin about 5 hours later?? Just wanted to know what to pack in my hand luggage? Many thanks.

Sandy

[rosesplus]

Good morning Mike - yet another question, if I may...

 

Hubby and I are sailing on 17 January - our first time on Windsurf. Question - If I board at the specific time, ie around 2pm - am I able to take my cases straight to my room or is it like any other large cruise ship, where you board and your case arrives at your cabin about 5 hours later?? Just wanted to know what to pack in my hand luggage? Many thanks.

Sandy

Sandy you'll probably have you're bags within the hour. Windstar is more like boarding a private yacht. See you onboard

Mark

[Mike2131]

Good morning Mike - yet another question, if I may...

 

Hubby and I are sailing on 17 January - our first time on Windsurf. Question - If I board at the specific time, ie around 2pm - am I able to take my cases straight to my room or is it like any other large cruise ship, where you board and your case arrives at your cabin about 5 hours later?? Just wanted to know what to pack in my hand luggage? Many thanks.

Sandy

Hi Sandy:

 

Our flight landed about 2:50 PM Barbados time (EST+1 hour) and we were at the cruise port by perhaps 4:00. Our bags were scanned and handed over and we were taken by shuttle to the Wind Surf. We could see it and it was perhaps a 5 minute walk, but that was the process. By the time we checked in (quick and painless) our bags had beaten us to the cabin. What a treat vs. the usual wait!

[Kayceeoh]

Mike, thanks for posting your experience; I'll be off to read your review shortly. My question regards selecting the shore excursions. My husband and I are debating which ones to book, and in which ports should we just choose our own strolling itinerary?

 

We would be into snorkeling, I'm physically fit and like to walk and can do so for long periods of time (I did the 3 day breast cancer walk in October, 20 mi/day over 3 days), checking out the islands (we have never been to the Caribbean), doing whatever seems best on each island.

 

My DH wondered if he would be happy getting on a catamaran after having been on board the Windsurf, sort of going boat to boat didn't appeal to him but if the views are stupendous, I would like to consider those excursions as well.

 

He is also thinking that we should book 3-4 excursions and just find our own entertainment the other days; do you have any thoughts regarding that approach?

 

Thanks so much for your help and expertise! (I also posted this question over in the Windstar boards.)

 

Karen