Questions abt Norwegian Wind

[cruisemama5]

My husband and I are sailing on the Wind 10/28. I am wondering if anyone can give me information about this ship and/or the 11 day cruise.

Does it take a long time for the tenders to get everyone off the ship?

 

Is it worth getting the extra shore excursion to Fanning Island, or is the main beach just as good. Also, are there bathrooms at either beach? Does the tender go back and forth during the day, so you could go back to the ship for lunch, and then come back to the Island?

 

Also, do the tenders go back and forth at all the stops where they are used?

 

We have never sailed with this cruise line and after reading some of the threads, I wonder about the food, how crowded the freestyle dining makes it to eat, especially the buffets, etc.

 

Thank you for your help.

[hotspur]

We have never sailed with this cruise line and after reading some of the threads, I wonder about the food, how crowded the freestyle dining makes it to eat, especially the buffets, etc.

We've never sailed the Wind but twice sailed her twin, the Dream.

 

1. Food is a matter of individual taste, but we've found the food on four NCL cruises (two Dream, two Majesty) to be comparable with the food we've had on Celebrity, HAL, and Renaissance. One nice thing about freestyle is the ability to divide your dinner both in time and in place, perhaps by having appetizer and main course in the main dining room before a show and then enjoying coffee, tiramisu, and cheeses in the Trattoria after the show.

2. We've never waited more than ten minutes to be seated in any of the two main dining rooms on each ship, nor in the Dream's Italian restaurant, the Trattoria. (The Wind has the same Italian restaurant.)

3. Yes, the buffet on Wind and Dream, called the Sports Bar, is somewhat undesized, given the stretched size of the ship. I have read in various threads that the Wind and Dream have done some things to address this, like:

a) Opening a second buffet room for breakfast, sometimes the Trattoria and sometimes one of the main dining rooms. (This is what they did on our Dream cruise to Alaska. The other main dining room served a sit-down breakfast.)

b) Opening the Trattoria's dining room as an additional sitting area at lunchtime for passengers choosing to eat in the buffet. (The Trattoria is one deck directly below the Sports Bar buffet.)

c) Or, if the Sports Bar area is crowded and you would like to sit there anyway (great views out the windows on three sides), ask to join another couple at a table for four. We've done this often and have always been welcomed and as a result made new friends.

 

Enjoy your cruise. Go with a positive attitude. Take advantage of all the open deck space on the Wind to enjoy the scenery of Hawaii.

[FrozenOne]

Come on over to the Roll Call for the Oct 28th sailing on the Wind!

I am planning a meet and Greet!

[MidtheNight]

My husband and I are sailing on the Wind 10/28. I am wondering if anyone can give me information about this ship and/or the 11 day cruise.

Does it take a long time for the tenders to get everyone off the ship?

 

Is it worth getting the extra shore excursion to Fanning Island, or is the main beach just as good. Also, are there bathrooms at either beach? Does the tender go back and forth during the day, so you could go back to the ship for lunch, and then come back to the Island? My recommendation is to not just sit around on the beach anyway....go explore the island. Those who live there are wonderful, friendly people surrounded by sheer wild beauty.

 

Also, do the tenders go back and forth at all the stops where they are used?

 

We have never sailed with this cruise line and after reading some of the threads, I wonder about the food, how crowded the freestyle dining makes it to eat, especially the buffets, etc.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

It does take a while for the tenders to get anybody wanting to go ashore actually off the ship. Tender tixs typically help to keep it somewhat organized though and we never really noticed when we had to wait a long time.

 

If I remember correctly only the main beach has facilities. Also, why would you want to return to the ship for lunch??? They make lunch right on the island for you so you don't have to bother.

 

As far as the dining rooms and being crowded the only time we had a problem was on sea days on the Wind. All of a sudden all those people who swear that they don't want to eat early showed up at about 6pm. We had an hour wait the first sea day down to Fanning Island (table for 4) after that we asked the maitre d' to just put in a standing reservation for us at 6pm and we didn't have a problem....we breezed by those that were waiting.

[kapoho2]

We have been to Fanning Island three times and have never purchased the excursion over to the private beach. I do hear that it is very pretty...but there are no facilities over there.

 

We have always had fun on the main area of Fanning Island. It is fun to walk around and see how the local folks live. The craft market is right there and is interesting to look around and purchase some trinkets made of shells. You can also get your passport stamped by the local authorites.

 

There are restroom facilities on the main area. NCL also sets up a nice BBQ for lunch. I remember hot dogs and hamburgers and different types of salads. They also have several beverage huts and ice cream cones or pops (Hagen Dasz..I believe) for purchase. The main area for swimming has plenty of little beach chairs available, and the cocktail servers are circulating constantly.

 

We have never had a long wait for a dining room on the Wind. Several times they gave us an estimate of 40 minutes...but they always called us much sooner. We tend to dine later...usually around 8:30 pm. The Sports Bar buffet does get crowded...but somehow it all works and you can always take your food out to tables on deck.

 

Tenders at the tender ports run back and forth all day long. We have never gotten numbered tender tickets....we just wait for "open tender" to be called. This tends to happen about 10am.

 

The Wind is a fun and friendly ship. Have fun!!

[California Dancer]

I am sailing on OCT 28 , Keep me informed Chris

[FrozenOne]

PLEASE come to the Roll Call for the Oct 28 sailing of the Wind.

Information will be posted there about the meet and greet.

 

We need to know how many are going to be attending.

 

Please reply on the roll call.... THANKS!