Nov 2009 Panama Canal cruise report

[bioguy]

Following is an except from a letter sent to our travel advisor at American Express Centurion Travel Services after our return from the fall November 2009 Panama Canal transit cruise. We have sailed on Windstar cruise ships over 12 times in the last 15 years, and this is the first time we have felt compelled to share our personal travel experiences anywhere in cyberspace. And yes, the letter was forwarded onto representatives at Windstar as well. My apologies in advance for the length of the read.

 

Richard

 

 

 

"Let me begin by commenting on what I consider to be some of the positive aspects of the cruise. The ship itself, the Windstar, was in beautiful condition as it had just come from a “wet dock” transatlantic repositioning. Our stateroom accommodations were very comfortable and the public rooms were crisp, clean and polished – never looked better. Since we were last on the Windstar, the Spa has been relocated next to the Lounge and the Bar moved to the rear of the Lounge. A very good decision, as the previous Spa location was dark and cramped and the move of the Bar we felt actually worked better in the room.

 

 

The ship’s officers, specifically Captain MacAry, were gracious and made us feel very welcome to be sailing with them. The Bar and Restaurant service was as good as ever, being very prompt and attentive to detail. The food preparation and presentation was consistent with what we’ve experienced on previous cruises, if not better. We felt that the menu course portion sizes were smaller than remembered but were still ample, and we actually appreciated the reduced temptation to not overindulge. I still used the Fitness Center while onboard, just in case!

 

 

The entertainer in the Lounge and at the Pool Bar, Miss Kim, was simply outstanding. We can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed her vocals and time behind the keyboards. Her repertoire is amazing, spanning everything from standards to jazz to Latin. As you know we have cruised and traveled alot through the years, and she is by far the best lounge singer stylist/entertainer to whom we have had the pleasure to listen. Windstar management would be well advised to note this gem because once the word gets out to other cruise lines, she’ll surely be in great demand.

 

 

One small notation regarding the ships engineering – the temperature in the Lounge needs to be adjusted to a comfortable level before the cocktail hour begins. From the beginning of the first week every evening got increasingly more miserable, even mentioning it to both Graham and Holly, the Hotel Manager. I finally took the occasion when we were dining with Captain MacAry on Saturday to bring it to his attention – I was somewhat reluctant to do so, being his guest and all – but something needed to be done. It was much improved for the remainder of the voyage but still not what I would consider comfortable.

 

 

But with these pleasantries shared, there is a need to express our displeasure and disappointments regarding other aspects of the cruise.

 

 

The first and foremost of that displeasure is related to two areas of the shipboard personnel – the cruise hosts and the water sports team.

 

 

We had the misfortune of having Rese and Graham as our “hosts” for the two week period onboard. If you were to ask any of our fellow shipmates the word used consistently to describe them it would be “useless”, as in Webster’s’ definition - “having or being of no use; ineffectual; not able to give service or aid; inept”. That pretty much sums up our experience with them, as well as others we spoke with onboard. The information that Graham provided each evening in the lounge was either inaccurate or incomplete (the currency in Curacao is NOT the Euro). He provided little guidance regarding what there was to do onshore, except to say that there was “some shopping in town” or “some snorkeling at the other end of the island”, and spent zero time talking about the land tours for the following day. He was so absent from view for the entire two weeks that the few times we did see him were in the lounge during the cocktail hour, which I guess in retrospect probably made no difference.

 

Another couple we met on the ship (Platinum cardholders) asked Rese to help arrange for a simple bottle of champagne and appetizers to be made available for the four of us on the outside deck behind the lounge at cocktail hour. These were the items that Amex provided us as complimentary gifts. To the husbands’ amazement, Rese stated that she did not take care of that kind of thing and that he would need to speak with his cabin steward regarding the arrangements, which he ended up having to do on his own. No concept of customer service, in my opinion. On another occasion, we observed a woman attempting to make a monetary transaction before going ashore at noon. Rese had just locked the door to the Reception Room and was walking away when the woman politely made her request, at which point Rese turned to the woman and told her that Reception was closed until 2:00pm. That of course was problematic since we were sailing at 4:00pm and she needed the money to go ashore, but Rese was clearly not going to make any accommodation whatsoever to the woman. And as an aside, why reception would be closed from 12:00pm-2:00pm while in port still baffles me. Does the entire reception staff have to go to lunch at the same time?

 

But clearly to us the water sports team – April and Craig – were the biggest shortcoming within the entire staff. It was obvious from the very beginning of the cruise that their primary personal motivation for being on the ship was to promote and support those who had an interest in diving – not snorkeling, not canoeing, not sail boarding. Only diving. Period. When the water sports deck was down and made available to passengers, which wasn’t as often as the situation should have allowed, it was manned by one of the other crew members as April and Craig had taken a group out on a dive. In fact on just about every occasion when the sports deck was down, they were out diving which meant that the only “water sport” available was hanging off the tow line – no kayaking, sail boarding, or waterskiing. Nothing.

 

But that is not the biggest failure we noted of their presence, or perhaps I should say lack of presence. While on Isla De Coiba, Panama, we spent a day which included a beach barbeque and the first potential of good snorkeling. April and Craig were responsible for tendering the passengers from the ship over to the beach on the Zodiacs. The first group landed and after settling on the beach headed out to one point of the cove for snorking. Within a short time the ship’s Chef, who was onshore arranging for the barbeque, noticed where several of the snorkelers were headed. He called them all back in saying that they would have to wait for either April or Craig to escort them out and stay with them to monitor their snorkeling since sharks - yes sharks - were known to frequent the area. So they waited, and once April was available, a group of 5 which included Layne swam out to the reef at the edge of the cove, not a short distance away I’d like to note. After some time, maybe an hour or so, one of the members in the group decided to come back to beach by herself, which in itself should not have been allowed. Layne decided to follow about 5-10 minutes later, while noticing that the April and the Zodiac which had been there earlier was nowhere around. He got close to shore when he was caught in a riptide. At the point of exhaustion and realizing that he would not make it, he called to shore for help. One of our fellow passengers and the ship’s doctor rushed to his rescue and fortunately knew what to do in the situation. Another passenger close by with a small inflatable raft swam over and helped the others get Layne on the raft and to shore. He was completed spent and noticeably shaken by the time I got to him. As we got him seated and wrapped in towels, I looked out to the beach and there was Craig sitting on a beach chair visiting with one of the other crew members, totally oblivious and clearly not paying any attention to the surrounding activities. April was on the Zodiac at the other end of the cove with other snorkelers.

 

I’ll be clear about this – had it not been for those three who came to Layne’s aid, the situation would have played out much differently and most like tragically. As you know Layne is a very healthy, strong man and a very competent swimmer. He simply got into a dangerous place with no supervision or support from the “trained professionals”. Sure, I know all about the disclaimers and waivers we signed when we received our snorkeling gear, and I’m aware that the water sport staff are not lifeguards or babysitters. But I’m certain that even with all that said it would be of little comfort to the cruise line and their personnel AND the other passengers if there had been a deadly accident.

 

Finally, let me make a few notes about the itinerary. We booked this cruise two years in advance with full knowledge then of the then ports of call but also knowing that they could be subject to change. What we didn’t expect was that on this particular voyage we’d be spending the better part of the first week in a country, albeit on islands, which has a vile dislike and distain for the United States, and in most probability any ally of the US. All one has to do is read or watch the news to be aware of that fact – no in-depth research required. Simply check the headlines about what Chavez stated about the United States within a week or so after our return. At each of the three posts where we encounter the Venezuelan government and their representatives we felt neither welcome nor safe. Having officials roaming the public spaces onboard, sitting in the Veranda as we lunched, having the ships’ pool deck buzzed by a helicopter, watching watercraft circling and filming the ship continually, and having locals shove cameras in our faces as we came ashore was nothing short of intimidation and disrespectful. And the three port choices were huge disappointments to us – the land tours were not well organized and in more than one instance misrepresented. Note to Windstar - a “catamaran and snorkeling tour” without snorkeling is just an overpriced boat ride in our opinion and a sham. Here again, the information Graham provided was non-existent or short on detail. Based on what we were told by a crew member, the parent company is apparently trying to market their product to the Venezuelan cruise industry and by changing the Panama Canal transit cruise to include ports in Venezuela was an opportunity to do so. We feel as though it was a bait and switch on Windstar Cruises part, and they clearly had done little research regarding the port experience. My money is on that they won’t be returning these places any time soon. And I’ll go on record to state that we have advised all of our friends and business colleagues, and anyone else that is willing to listen, to avoid ANY cruise line that includes ports of call in Venezuela.

 

In closing, I can say that we have found Windstar cruises to be a unique experience that we have generally enjoyed. We always meet interesting people and the relaxing pace of the ship makes for a pleasant trip. But we feel that we have pretty much exhausted all the itineraries, with the exception of the few additions or changes to the ports of call, so our feeling is that Windstar definitely needs to develop new itineraries if they intend to keep their alumni returning in the future.

[mexicobob]

We have only cruised on Carnival but look forward to our next cruise on a smaller ship. We have planned this to be on Windstar. Your review raises questions as to whether this is a good decision, but at this point, we are going forward. I will not go to Venezuela on any cruise line.

 

MexicoBob