Where's the Pride? - late fall 2015

[milepig]

Did I miss a posting about what's happening with the Pride?

 

It's very hard to search for cruises that already happened since they seem to drop off all the online sites quickly, but there's a huge gap for the Pride from late October until mid December.

 

Clues are:

 

The last I can find her in the 2015 WS printed catalog is a 10/20 IST-ATH itin.

The next I find is a 12/12 Panama Canal itin.

 

There's reference in the Roll Calls to an 11/5 BCN-LIS having been cancelled, but I can't find that in the printed brochure, so I'm not sure it ever existed.

 

There's another active thread on the Roll Calls about an 11/28 Aruba-Costa Rica itin, but that isn't in the catalog either.

 

No xATL crossing this fall in the catalog either.

 

Is she getting the rest of the retrofit WS didn't do originally and then doing the xATL crossing empty, or is there something else going on?

[milepig]

Did I miss a posting about what's happening with the Pride?

 

It's very hard to search for cruises that already happened since they seem to drop off all the online sites quickly, but there's a huge gap for the Pride from late October until mid December.

 

Clues are:

 

The last I can find her in the 2015 WS printed catalog is a 10/20 IST-ATH itin.

The next I find is a 12/12 Panama Canal itin.

 

Adding: the December Panama Canal itins also aren't in the printed catalog but are online at WS.

 

There's reference in the Roll Calls to an 11/5 BCN-LIS having been cancelled, but I can't find that in the printed brochure, so I'm not sure it ever existed.

 

There's another active thread on the Roll Calls about an 11/28 Aruba-Costa Rica itin, but that isn't in the catalog either.

 

No xATL crossing this fall in the catalog either.

 

Is she getting the rest of the retrofit WS didn't do originally and then doing the xATL crossing empty, or is there something else going on?

 

Since none of the Pride Itins for Nov/Dec are in the printed catalog but they're apparently now running 11/28 (14 day) Aruba Costa Rica followed by Costa Rica to Panama on 12/12 12/19 and 12/26, I'm suspecting that WS was originally uncertain how long the Pride would be off line and added the Nov/Dec itins after the brochure was produced?

Edited December 10, 2015 by milepig

[aquidneck1]

You must mean 2016. We were booked on a November cruise. It was cancelled. Not sure what is happening with the ship but I was told that it was coming across the Atlantic in October.

[milepig]

You must mean 2016. We were booked on a November cruise. It was cancelled. Not sure what is happening with the ship but I was told that it was coming across the Atlantic in October.

 

No, I was looking at 2015.

 

I found a site that had some past listings, and the last trace I can find of the Pride is a 7 day Rome to Barcelona on 10/29/15.

 

The next appearance is a Barbados to Aruba itin. on 11/21/15 after which the schedule picks up again.

 

That's a gap of just under a month.

 

I also remembered that the Pride schedule for late 2015 was originally a return to Asia, so this is probably why some of the printed catalog sailings don't match the current plan.

[rafinmd]

Why do you care where the Pride was in the past. Cruise timetables has it today in Bahia Drake, Costa Rica, (apparently not covered by AIS) headed for Puerto Caldera.

 

Roy

[milepig]

Why do you care where the Pride was in the past. Cruise timetables has it today in Bahia Drake, Costa Rica, (apparently not covered by AIS) headed for Puerto Caldera.

 

Roy

 

Because a 4 week gap, including apparently an empty trans Atlantic hop, means there's something going on with the Pride and those of us who have bookings would like to know if this is maybe for more refurbishment, and what those might be.

 

A gap in the Surf schedule last fall when she was in Cadiz dry dock for a bunch of work led to some discussion here. I'm just surprised that I can't find any report anywhere on the web about scheduled work for the Pride this fall.

 

And I guess some of us are just curious about such things. There's an entire thread on the United board at Flyer Talk that documents every time one of the birds goes in for work, when it entered, when it exited, and what was done.

Edited December 10, 2015 by milepig

[lovecruisingtoo]

Possibly booked for charters?

[Host Walt]

Here's a post made by Hans Birkholz, Windstar President, that could be, at least, a partial explanation.

 

Hi FPARDO87, thanks for joining us once again! We are happy to hear that Windstar feels like home.

 

There is quite a lot of work that goes into keeping the sailing ships in good shape. The vessels go into dry dock (where the ship is taken out of water) every two and a half years. During that time major updates are made, anything from putting on new sails, to new teak deck, to a new stateroom layout.

 

Additionally, we occasionally use the ocean crossings as a ‘wet dock.’ We will do the Atlantic crossing with just crew and contractors on board. This gives us the chance to do some regular maintenance: checking the hydraulics on the sails, checking the masts, polishing the floors, basically sprucing up the ship for the next season.

 

And of course, there is regular maintenance happening every day to ensure that each ship is in great condition. Our deckhands are constantly painting the hull, polishing the brass, cleaning the windows, to name just a few of the ongoing tasks. Additionally, we have a full housekeeping team who are responsible for keeping the staterooms, suites, and public areas clean.

 

As you can see, it’s a large job. However, one of the things that is really unique about the maintenance on small ships is that the communication between our office and the Officers onboard is much more streamlined. We are able to quickly implement changes and the results can be seen almost immediately.

 

As for your wife’s question, we have listened very closely to our guests’ feedback over the years and have tried to adjust our product to their requests. We strive to deliver excellent service and bring our itineraries to life.

 

Thank you both FPARDO89 and JDCruisers32 for your Windstar loyalty!

 

Here's a link to the thread. The thread is a part of the open forum with Mr. Birkholz on Cruise Critic this past October.

 

Here's a link to the entire session:

 

Q&A with Hans Birkholz, President & CEO of Windstar Cruises