Winstar 3/4 Costa Rica -- I just booked! Yeeha!

[Leejnd4]

Well after days and days of trying to convince my husband to book this cruise, we just did it. YAY! Anyone else going? I didn't see anything on the roll call board, so I thought I'd give it a shot here...

 

LeeAnne

[jsiegel]

Don't be disappointed if you don't connect with anyone before the cruise, we were so surprised at how friendly everyone was on board. We were on a first name basis with probably 1/2 the other passengers and we're both very shy, so others probably knew everyone on board.

 

I know Thousand Oaks is pretty big, but you wouldn't happen to know Rickie and Alan Whitman? They are good friends of my family.

 

Jackie

[Leejnd4]

Sorry, the names don't sound familiar. They wouldn't happen to work at Amgen, would they? My husband works there, along with about half of Thousand Oaks. ;)

 

I'm really excited about this cruise. This was sort of a snap decision -- we have friends who moved down to Costa Rica several years ago, and have been asking us to visit, so we decided to go ahead and do so. I didn't actually expect a cruise to be available that worked within the time frame, budget and location, but I happened across this one so I nabbed it.

 

This will be the smallest ship I've been on. I've been on a couple of the big behemoths, as well as on the smaller Radisson Seven Seas Voyager (about 700 passengers). I'm looking forward to the more casual, intimate environment. My husband, who is a sailor at heart, is looking forward to seeing the sails!

 

It would be nice to connect with someone in advance, to discuss the merits of the various shore excursions etc, but I'm a friendly sort so I'm sure I'll meet folks on board.

 

In the meantime, if anyone who's done this cruise has any must-sees or must-misses they'd like to tell me about, I'm all ears!

 

LeeAnne

[jsiegel]

The Whitman's daughter, Beverly Adler, works at Amgen.

 

The only Costa Rica port we were at was Bahia Pariso also called Drakes Bay also called Marenco. I don't recommend the Nature walk. It was over-priced for what we got. Every where they took us was walking distance from the ship and open freely to the public. We did get explanations of the plants we were seeing, but didn't think it was worth $90 per person.

 

Jackie

[KatWag]

Congratulations!

 

Knowing you from the "other" board, I know how beautifully you write. Can't wait to see your review.

 

Todd and I are booked for December 16th and I really am looking forward to trying Windstar.

 

Enjoy every moment.

 

Kathy (Kathleen on a certain "other" board.) :)

[Leejnd4]

Garsh, Kathy, thanks so much! :) I'll be sure to post a full review. I don't know what the internet situation is onboard, but I'll be sure to keep a journal, and I'll type it up as soon as I can.

 

Where does your Dec. 16 cruise go?

 

I just can't believe how fast this is coming up. I've never booked a cruise on such short notice before.

 

Jackie, thanks for the heads up about Drake's Bay. We haven't figured out what to do in that port, but we don't usually do organized excursions unless they are taking us somewhere really interesting (such as the zipline tour, and the Granada tour) that we can't do on our own. I've been reading about the Nat'l Park near Drake's Bay, and we'll probably try to figure out how to do some hiking there. It sounds like it's unbelievably beautiful, as well as remote and relatively undisturbed by humans. I find that REALLY appealing!

 

LeeAnne