Departure from San Juan

[Floridastorm]

Yes, you are right - Amphora is open only for dinner. Breakfast and lunch is in the Veranda/Candles with tables inside or outside. Dinner at Candles is by reservation only, with everyone having an opportunity to eat there once - no charge to eat there. After everyone has had their one Candles dinner, you may be able to eat there again. There is a different menu (compared to Amphora) with excellent steaks and other entrees; the Candles menu is the same every night. I just got off the Pride yesterday. We had dinner at Candles twice. Our sailing was not booked at capacity (130 passengers), so people were able to get a second Candles reservation if they wanted. Overall we enjoyed the food in all venues.

 

The literature in our room indicated that the Veranda was open until 10am for breakfast, but while eating breakfast, we were advised of "buffet last call" at 9:30am while dining there. There is a breakfast and lunch menu every day and/or you may do the buffet. Room service is excellent and we did room service a couple of mornings - once when we slept in and another day when we had a early excursion planned.

 

Sky Bar is just a bar - no food. If you're familiar with HAL's Explorer's Lounge, the Yacht Club is similar, just on a smaller scale, with coffee, sandwiches and light snacks available all day until 6pm. The Compass Lounge is somewhat like a piano player lounge with a young duo who perform with the piano and he plays guitar. There is another couple who perform outside at the Star Bar, usually at sail aways and the evening of the on deck barbecue. There is also the Lounge where nightly port presentations are given....where the crew talent show is....the Captain's Welcome reception - the staff serves drinks here.

 

Perfect (y)

[jmbklj]

Forgot to mention that we also did room service for lunch a couple of days when we got back to the ship too late for lunch - after 2pm.

[Pudgesmom]

Some additional notes:

 

If the weather is bad, breakfast and/or lunch many be served in Amphora.

 

Candles seating is reduced if weather is not conducive to outdoor dining.

 

Windsurf has an additional dinner venue called Stella Bistro.

[Floridastorm]

Some additional notes:

 

If the weather is bad, breakfast and/or lunch many be served in Amphora.

 

Candles seating is reduced if weather is not conducive to outdoor dining.

 

Windsurf has an additional dinner venue called Stella Bistro.

 

Of course Windsurf are much larger ships. They also have standard ocean view cabins that are not suites. Probably the main reason I picked a Windstar ship and that it was transatlantic and a better price.

 

 

I imagine that when we get closer to leaving that Windstar will send out packages with all of the relevant information enclosed. Until then it's nice to have some good usable info from people on this roll call forum.

[Floridastorm]

I am wondering, with Candles, is there a limit to the amount of reservations one can make? Are the reservations limited by cabin number or by seating space? In other words, on the 13 day Transatlantic, if each of the 13 nights they had seating available, could one theoretically make 13 reservations, one each day? Not trying to be satirical. If each cabin is limited to one or two reservations per cruise then that is the policy.

[Strenz]

They do try to accommodate everyone for at least one dinner at Candles to be fair but if you want to go twice or more simply ask the desk daily or wander to Candles later on in the evening to see if they have a table. People change their minds, have dinner on land etc. and WS tries to accommodate all requests. Lovey experience. Happy Sailing.

[new_cruiser]

I am wondering, with Candles, is there a limit to the amount of reservations one can make? Are the reservations limited by cabin number or by seating space? In other words, on the 13 day Transatlantic, if each of the 13 nights they had seating available, could one theoretically make 13 reservations, one each day? Not trying to be satirical. If each cabin is limited to one or two reservations per cruise then that is the policy.

 

I think because the menu is the same every night, most people wouldn't want to dine there night after night. I expect that on a trans-Atlantic, one could easily book more than one night in Candles. My understanding is that the first day, you can book it for one evening (which gives everyone a chance to book it at least once). Then after that you can book additional times. On an 8-night sailing I haven't heard of anyone not being able to book at least one night and our 8-night last spring the ship was full. If there is enough capacity for people to book at least one night on an 8-day, then there should be capacity to book multiple visits on a longer cruise.

 

On top of that, trans-ocean voyages are usually far from full so you could probably book multiple nights in Candles there.

[Floridastorm]

I think because the menu is the same every night, most people wouldn't want to dine there night after night. I expect that on a trans-Atlantic, one could easily book more than one night in Candles. My understanding is that the first day, you can book it for one evening (which gives everyone a chance to book it at least once). Then after that you can book additional times. On an 8-night sailing I haven't heard of anyone not being able to book at least one night and our 8-night last spring the ship was full. If there is enough capacity for people to book at least one night on an 8-day, then there should be capacity to book multiple visits on a longer cruise.

 

On top of that, trans-ocean voyages are usually far from full so you could probably book multiple nights in Candles there.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

 

My wife is a big steak lover so she would be glad to go 13 straight nights. I practically never eat beef. I guess they will have other items on the menu. :tropical-drink:

[Floridastorm]

They do try to accommodate everyone for at least one dinner at Candles to be fair but if you want to go twice or more simply ask the desk daily or wander to Candles later on in the evening to see if they have a table. People change their minds, have dinner on land etc. and WS tries to accommodate all requests. Lovey experience. Happy Sailing.

 

That's what I thought. (y)