Would a Die-Hard Regent cruiser do okay on Windstar for a week?

[UUNetBill]

Background:  Started cruising on Regent in 2009, tried Cunard once for a Christmas cruise and it was okay but not great.  We just hit Gold on Regent and love cruising them, but my wife has a milestone birthday coming up in January and we wanted to do something nice...but nothing on Regent really caught our eye.  I just happened to find a deeply discounted Windstar cruise to Tahiti on the dates we wanted but I’m not sure how different it would be.  I’ve read some older threads comparing the lines but I just wondered if anyone had any more recent experiences on Windstar.

 

I know Windstar isn’t considered a ‘luxury’ product but from what I’ve read, it’s a nice line and a unique experience.  I’d sure appreciate any info anyone could provide.  Thanks in advance!

[HotRoot]

I am more familiar with Windstar than Regent, but my opinion is she would not like Windstar.  You can maybe compare the Seabourn little sisters which are now Windstar ships with Regent since they are all suite ships.  But the smaller Windstar sailing ships do not compare.  They do have a few suites which I have never seen but the standard cabins are small.  I remember having to duck under a television to walk to the other side of the cabin.  And, the bed almost touches the far wall.  I can't imagine someone used to the luxury of Regent liking the Wind Spirit ship.  I would take the deal and sail Windstar in a minute but the question was if someone used to travel the Regent way would like the Wind Spirt and my answer is I do not think so.  I did not look to see what Sea Dream is doing in January but they could be a closer fit for a Regent fan.

[UUNetBill]

Thanks for the reply - my wife says that the smaller cabins wouldn't be a problem, but she actually tends to spend a bit of time there when we're cruising.  But on a smaller ship, it might be the motivation she needs to get out and find a nice quiet nook to curl up in with her Kindle.

 

This is probably going to be the only time we book something without really digging in deep since we hadn't planned on doing anything cruise-wise this year, but now we're looking at maybe doing two shorter cruises...but with her birthday coming up in January it's putting us in a bit of a time crunch!  :-)

 

I didn't see anything on SeaDream that fit our schedule, but I'll put a call in to our TA later today and see what options are out there.  Thanks again for your input!

[UUNetBill]

Aw, geez - now we just found some nice itineraries on Star Clippers...even smaller cabins/ships.  :-)

 

Nice to have options, I guess...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Been on the Paul Gauguin?  Their cabins are small too, but not as small as WIndstar methinks, not much smaller than a standard Mariner cabin.  And the onboard experience is wonderful.  But I've heard good things about the Windstar Tahiti product.  I say if the price is right, go for it! A lot of travelling, however.  Try to get there at least a day, or 3-4 if you can, before the cruise.  It's a long slog--we always stay overnight in L.A. as well on the way out.  And we have twice arranged our pre-cruise around the Air France schedule so that we can use their Premium Economy.  Air Tahiti Nui doesn't have this class of travel, but I believe they are adding it in the next iteration of their planes.

[mikenbob]

49 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Been on the Paul Gauguin?  Their cabins are small too, but not as small as WIndstar methinks, not much smaller than a standard Mariner cabin.  And the onboard experience is wonderful.  But I've heard good things about the Windstar Tahiti product.  I say if the price is right, go for it! A lot of travelling, however.  Try to get there at least a day, or 3-4 if you can, before the cruise.  It's a long slog--we always stay overnight in L.A. as well on the way out.  And we have twice arranged our pre-cruise around the Air France schedule so that we can use their Premium Economy.  Air Tahiti Nui doesn't have this class of travel, but I believe they are adding it in the next iteration of their planes.

 

We would highly recommend the Paul Gauguin and feel that it comes pretty darn close to Regent on many levels.  Plus, they are the real experts in cruising French Polynesia.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 minute ago, mikenbob said:

 

We would highly recommend the Paul Gauguin and feel that it comes pretty darn close to Regent on many levels.  Plus, they are the real experts in cruising French Polynesia.

 

Yes, they certainly are, and I'm quite partisan about the PG, but if the price was right, I'd definitely try Windstar.  It would be tough, but they do a lot of things that are similar to the PG.

[Henk123]

Please take a look at Azamara.

[UUNetBill]

Well, we decided against FP this trip just due to the amount of travel time for a one-week vacation.  Started reeling it in and finally ended up in the Caribbean...and lo and behold, it looks like there's a 10-day trip on Voyager that fits our schedule.  I've got my TA looking at it right now but it looks like we're missing a new experience but gaining a few more nights toward our next SSS tier.  

 

And Wendy - yes,  we looked at the PG, it looks amazing (I think it kept a lot of its 'Regentness' when they sold it) - it's something that we'd definitely look into someday, but it'll have to be sometime that we have a bit more time to play with, especially since we'd be flying from the east coast.  Lot of air hours for just a week on board...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Good choice for a one week vacation, for sure!  We did that once on the PG, one night pre-cruise, overnight in L.A., so a ten day trip that was way too rushed. Wouldn't do that again.

[UUNetBill]

Well, after looking at options we came back to Regent to roost - just booked the 10-day Miami-Miami on January 7th.  Shorter flights, a known product, and, well, dangit, we just like Regent.   

 

I've seen a few posters on here that are booked on this cruise although I don't see a Roll Call.  Kinda late to start one, I think, although we did sign up for the M&M.  Looking forward to getting out of the brutal SC winter (sarcasm intended) for a week and a half in the balmy Caribbean...

 

Thanks to everyone who replied - this board is a fantastic resource.

[orvil]

We'll be on the same trip UUNetBill.  We just got our document package yesterday.  We are getting excited about it.  It's our first foray into RSS.  I hope we like it.  We've always avoided the Caribbean cruises.  We aren't Fun Ship people.  I know we are all looking forward to some warm weather.

[UUNetBill]

51 minutes ago, orvil said:

We'll be on the same trip UUNetBill.  We just got our document package yesterday.  We are getting excited about it.  It's our first foray into RSS.  I hope we like it.  We've always avoided the Caribbean cruises.  We aren't Fun Ship people.  I know we are all looking forward to some warm weather.

Orvil - it's getting close.  We just booked yesterday, which is 'last minute' for us.  Needless to say, the excursions were already pretty picked over.  We'll be talking to Destination Services once we get on board.  We found some 'okay' excursions but some 'good' excursions were already full.  

 

My wife and I have only done one Caribbean cruise so far, and that was on Cunard about 9 years ago.  It was okay but I've never wanted to sail them again (or to the Caribbean, really) - but this one just kind of fell into our lap.  I've heard some rumblings previously that the vibe is a bit different on the Regent Caribbean cruises than it is in the Med or elsewhere.  Maybe a bit more, uh, relaxed, shall we say?  But still not a 'drink 'n drown frat house' vibe.  At least I hope not.  My wife and I both work for a bank here in SC and it's hectic in fourth quarter, so getting away right after that crush will be nice - very nice.  We're just going to want to soak up some sun and surf and relax a bit.  And maybe drink just a few too many rum drinks.  But just a few.   

 

Have you signed up for the M&M yet?  I didn't see a Roll Call for this one and it seemed kind of pointless to start one this close to sailing - although I probably will, just because.  I know we've done some informal M&Ms in the past that worked out okay, maybe we can do one for this cruise, too, if the official one doesn't have the participation...

 

Anyhow, counting down already.  We can't wait.

 

PS - Roll Call started:  

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by UUNetBill
Added link to Roll Call

[DatawCruiser]

Fellow South Carolinian here, although over the coast.  Also on this cruise.  I did sign up for a M&M, but only saw 7 others registered.