Windsurf, Rome to Barcelona Oct 29 to Nov 5

[JoanneCam]

My husband and I have been on 7 or 8 Windstar cruises, but the last 2 years we tried Oceania and SeaDream, just for a little variety. Everyone has their own opinion, but, without a doubt, Windstar is the line that suits us the best, especially in terms of value for the money.

 

I had been on one European cruise in the past and avoided further because I believed that part of the European experience is to enjoy the food in each stop, and, also, with the hectic sightseeing schedule in each port, it is almost impossible to fully enjoy the ship. Well, in my old age, I have learned to relax and accept the fact that I can use a cruise to find the ports I wish to return to later to see in more depth. The fact that the ship often sailed by 5pm made the eating on shore issue very easy – lunch or none. Also, we had 3 days in Italy before the cruise and 3 days in Barcelona after making sampling European cuisine a good part of our vacation.

 

We were a bit concerned that the Windsurf was scheduled for dry dock one week after the end of our cruise, but there was very little cosmetic evidence of need for repair and everything seemed to work just fine. The food was very good, as usual and although the coolish temperatures made hanging out on the deck in shorts and T-shirts as we do in the Caribbean difficult, we did make full use of the hot tub. I had a great message in the spa (best ever) and we enjoyed the staff in the casino. I have only 3 complaints, none of which would prevent me from signing up for our next cruise tomorrow. First, the service at lunch was really below their usual high standards. The majority of times we were on the Veranda, especially sitting outside, we had to ask for such basics as water, menus, etc. despite what appeared to be a normal number of staff. One day, after everyone around us had been served, half of which had arrived after us, my husband had to get up out of his seat to tap someone on the shoulder and ask for a menu, etc. I am not inclined to nitpick, but I feel loyal to Windstar and I would hate to have first timers treated this way and not return. Secondly, the European wines on the wine list were twice as expensive as the California wines, something that did not make sense to me since the ship had been in Europe since the spring. We simply bought wine on shore and paid the corkage fee, but I would have been happy to buy it on board if the prices were reasonable. Lastly, we renewed our wedding vows on this cruise and the captain and staff were perfect in every way. It was just what we wanted. My only complaint is that the photographer (who was just great) was not allowed to sell us two or three 5x7’s as we requested and could only offer a package at more than $150. Again, it just doesn’t seem to make good sense.

 

As far as the ports were concerned, Elba was beautiful, interesting, good shopping and a place I would love to return to and explore more fully. Portofino is the definition of picture perfect and we also enjoyed taking the bus to neighboring Santa Marguerita, a larger and more diverse town. We had planned to walk back, but could never quite figure out where the trail began.

 

Monte Carlo had received a lot of bad reviews on various boards so my expectations were low, but we enjoyed it fully and never even made it to the side of town with the casino in it. We spent the morning touring St. Paul de Vence (absolutely not to be missed) with a quicker stop in Nice to see the flower market. In the afternoon we walked around the harbor looking at the gorgeous boats (my husband is a boat guy) and then went up to the old city of Monte Carlo and enjoyed the lovely views of the harbor from above and some shopping. The palace is closed in November or we would have done a tour there. I wish we had had a few more hours of daylight.

 

St. Tropez did not get the attention from us it deserved as we arrived 2 hours late and we had scheduled the “Inland Villages of Provence” tour in the afternoon. Again, we had about enough time in St. Tropez to realize we would like to return and to have a very nice lunch. I was a medieval history major in college and all things European fascinate me, but, in a word, this tour was boring. My husband referred to it as the “lemmings tour”. We went to 3 little villages (and I mean little) that had little history and seemingly no people living there. We spent a great deal of time waiting for people to use the restroom. It was the only flop of the trip.

 

My expectations for Marseille were also low and this was just about right so I was not disappointed. We went on a great tour of Aix en Provence and then walked around the waterfront and the town itself. It was fine, just a big city trying to succeed with urban renewal.

 

Sete was a smaller, more approachable version of Marseilles. We are from a fishing port in the USA so we were interested to see all the professional fishing boats and all their gear on the docks. We visited the market and had an outstanding lunch of oysters and mussels. Although I would not rush to return there, we had a very nice day.

 

We are planning to do another cruise in 2007, hopefully on one of the smaller ships since our last 3 Windstar cruises have been on the Windsurf and we have forgotten what the smaller ships are like! If anyone has any questions I can answer, do not hesitate to email me. I love Windstar Cruises.

[KatWag]

Thanks, Joanne. We're about to try our very first Windstar cruise (Costa Rica) on December 16th and I'm reading everything I can - I'm so excited about it. Which of the itineraries you've done were your favorites?

 

Kathy

[Sonoma Terry]

My husband and I have been on 7 or 8 Windstar cruises, but the last 2 years we tried Oceania and SeaDream, just for a little variety. Everyone has their own opinion, but, without a doubt, Windstar is the line that suits us the best, especially in terms of value for the money.

 

I had been on one European cruise in the past and avoided further because I believed that part of the European experience is to enjoy the food in each stop, and, also, with the hectic sightseeing schedule in each port, it is almost impossible to fully enjoy the ship. Well, in my old age, I have learned to relax and accept the fact that I can use a cruise to find the ports I wish to return to later to see in more depth. The fact that the ship often sailed by 5pm made the eating on shore issue very easy – lunch or none. Also, we had 3 days in Italy before the cruise and 3 days in Barcelona after making sampling European cuisine a good part of our vacation.

 

We were a bit concerned that the Windsurf was scheduled for dry dock one week after the end of our cruise, but there was very little cosmetic evidence of need for repair and everything seemed to work just fine. The food was very good, as usual and although the coolish temperatures made hanging out on the deck in shorts and T-shirts as we do in the Caribbean difficult, we did make full use of the hot tub. I had a great message in the spa (best ever) and we enjoyed the staff in the casino. I have only 3 complaints, none of which would prevent me from signing up for our next cruise tomorrow. First, the service at lunch was really below their usual high standards. The majority of times we were on the Veranda, especially sitting outside, we had to ask for such basics as water, menus, etc. despite what appeared to be a normal number of staff. One day, after everyone around us had been served, half of which had arrived after us, my husband had to get up out of his seat to tap someone on the shoulder and ask for a menu, etc. I am not inclined to nitpick, but I feel loyal to Windstar and I would hate to have first timers treated this way and not return. Secondly, the European wines on the wine list were twice as expensive as the California wines, something that did not make sense to me since the ship had been in Europe since the spring. We simply bought wine on shore and paid the corkage fee, but I would have been happy to buy it on board if the prices were reasonable. Lastly, we renewed our wedding vows on this cruise and the captain and staff were perfect in every way. It was just what we wanted. My only complaint is that the photographer (who was just great) was not allowed to sell us two or three 5x7’s as we requested and could only offer a package at more than $150. Again, it just doesn’t seem to make good sense.

 

As far as the ports were concerned, Elba was beautiful, interesting, good shopping and a place I would love to return to and explore more fully. Portofino is the definition of picture perfect and we also enjoyed taking the bus to neighboring Santa Marguerita, a larger and more diverse town. We had planned to walk back, but could never quite figure out where the trail began.

 

Monte Carlo had received a lot of bad reviews on various boards so my expectations were low, but we enjoyed it fully and never even made it to the side of town with the casino in it. We spent the morning touring St. Paul de Vence (absolutely not to be missed) with a quicker stop in Nice to see the flower market. In the afternoon we walked around the harbor looking at the gorgeous boats (my husband is a boat guy) and then went up to the old city of Monte Carlo and enjoyed the lovely views of the harbor from above and some shopping. The palace is closed in November or we would have done a tour there. I wish we had had a few more hours of daylight.

 

St. Tropez did not get the attention from us it deserved as we arrived 2 hours late and we had scheduled the “Inland Villages of Provence” tour in the afternoon. Again, we had about enough time in St. Tropez to realize we would like to return and to have a very nice lunch. I was a medieval history major in college and all things European fascinate me, but, in a word, this tour was boring. My husband referred to it as the “lemmings tour”. We went to 3 little villages (and I mean little) that had little history and seemingly no people living there. We spent a great deal of time waiting for people to use the restroom. It was the only flop of the trip.

 

My expectations for Marseille were also low and this was just about right so I was not disappointed. We went on a great tour of Aix en Provence and then walked around the waterfront and the town itself. It was fine, just a big city trying to succeed with urban renewal.

 

Sete was a smaller, more approachable version of Marseilles. We are from a fishing port in the USA so we were interested to see all the professional fishing boats and all their gear on the docks. We visited the market and had an outstanding lunch of oysters and mussels. Although I would not rush to return there, we had a very nice day.

 

We are planning to do another cruise in 2007, hopefully on one of the smaller ships since our last 3 Windstar cruises have been on the Windsurf and we have forgotten what the smaller ships are like! If anyone has any questions I can answer, do not hesitate to email me. I love Windstar Cruises.

Joanne, My wife & I are contaplating a 10 year anniversary cruise to the Mediterranean in july. We prefer the smaller Wind Sprit but, the Wind Surf has a more favorable itinerary. Looking at Expedia they rate the Wind Star & Sprit 5 stars & the Wind Surf as only 3+ stars. Could you mshed some light on this?

[JoanneCam]

Hi Kathy,

We have been to Costa Rica and loved it but not on a cruise. My first Windstar cruise was a hundred years ago in 1988 in Tahiti, and has to be one of my favorites just because it was Tahiti. I also really enjoyed Athens to Istanbul because you really need to go by boat to see the Greek Islands anyway, and, back then as a young single woman travelling with her college roommate, it was a great way to see some of Turkey. Other than this month all our other cruises have been in the winter in the Carribbean, and I honestly care very little about where we go on those trips as long as its warm (I'm from Massachusetts). That being said, some of the islands we really enjoyed were all of the Virgins (American and British), Barbados, St. Kitts and Grenada.

I tried to get my husband to sign up for the Costa Rica cruise this winter, but he said "too soon for another cruise". Mayber next winter.

 

Terry,

I don't know the answer to your question and would love to hear from other readers. It has been at least 6 years since we have been on the smaller Windstar ships and actually plan to chose one of them next time just for that reason. The Windsurf, to my recollection has a much better gym (not an issue in Europe since we walked so much on shore but I use a lot in the Carribbean), a second restaurant (not a big deal to us) and is not as pretty as far as the lines of the ship are concerned. The only answer I could propose is that at 75 or so cabins, the small ships haver very little competition while there are several ships in the 300 passenger range to rival Windsrf. We have chosen the Windsurf the last 3 times primarliy due to the fact the alumni fares, desired itinerary and our availability seemed to work out with the Windsurf and not the smaller ships. Hope this helps. Joanne

[jimlssi]

Please expand on the plans for dry dock, if you can. We are on the Barbados NB and SB next spring. Thanks.

[JoanneCam]

In talking to the crew a 3 week stay in Lisbon after the last European cruise and before the transatlantic sail was planned to do some cosmetic work (none really needed to our eye except perhaps some outdoor teak stairs that were literally worn out in the center plus a little rust here and there) as well as some more substantial maintenance on the electrical systems and engines. There were no problems on our cruise. The drydock plans seemed routine. Joanne