Just back from Wind Star 12/16/06 - Part 2

[KatWag]

More on Curu -

 

Wet landing again. In all the wet landing spots, Carlos (who is fantastic by the way, more about him later) was waiting on shore for us to take us to a spot where we could rinse off our shoes. Be sure to take some money with you for this stop. There is a small shop which sells souvenirs and all proceeds benefit the reserve. You can also get bottled water and sodas there. After rinsing off our water shoes and changing into walking shoes we met our guide (Wilhelm) and headed off. For this excursion make sure you take and apply your insect repellent. I'm not sure if all the guides follow the same path but we veered off into a field with high grass at one point. There were cattle in the field, surrounded by a number of cattle egrets. You'll definitely want to watch where you walk here, if you know what I mean. I stepped in something unpleasant. :(

 

When we reached the other side of the field we saw a small deer. Our guide thought the deer was probably a pet at some point, was likely confiscated and released at the reserve. Not at all afraid of humans - she came right up to us.

 

Lots of monkeys here - we got some great sightings. It was an interesting walk - we learned a lot.

 

After Curu the ship headed over to Tortuga. The zodiacs started transporting the passengers to the island. The crew had been working all morning to get everything set up. The beach BBQ was amazing. Even if you are not a beach person you really do not want to miss this. Lots of picnic tables set up - plenty of shaded areas. And the food was incredible. We couldn't believe how much we ate. There is a family on the island who has a concession for deck chairs with umbrellas. A few are in shaded areas. I think for two chairs for the day it was around $10. If you are interested, make sure you are one of the first folks off the ship so you get a good selection. They don't have enough good chairs / good spots to go around. If you can't get a deck chair, though, you can still find some good spots to spread your towels. The beach here is very rocky. We all walked pretty gingerly until we got farther away from shore. I ended up giving up and asking my husband to go get my sandals for me.

 

Next day was disembarkation day - very depressed bunch of passengers in the lounge waiting to get off. The transfer to the airport went very smoothly. The airport transfer passengers (2 busses) left the ship at 8AM. Folks transferring to the hotels left at 8:30AM as did the independent passengers. We made a rest stop half way through. Note here: depending upon how early the flights are, the guides told us they sometimes cannot make a rest stop on the way back. Might want to keep that in mind when debating whether to have that extra cup of coffee in the morning.

 

Don't worry about taking water for the ride to the airport. The guides had coolers full of chilled water and handed them out when you got on the bus.

 

Highlights:

 

Staff - the Captain really sets the tone here. He is waiting to greet you when you first board. Couldn't find a nicer more down-to-earth person. And the staff he has assembled is terrific. The bar staff, the room stewards, the dining staff, even the folks who are walking around the ship doing the maintenance work always have a smile and a friendly word. Carlos, our Costa Rican excursion expert, was exceptional. Always on shore to greet us, he is an excellent ambassador for both Windstar lines and Costa Rica.

 

Sailaway - We'd never sailed Windstar before. The first night, when they unfurled the sails, started up the music and then swung the ship around and pulled away was truly magical.

 

Food - with the exception of one or two beef dishes, the food we had on this line was some of the best we've ever experienced on a cruise ship. The selection at night is not quite as much as you would find on a larger ship, but everything was beautifully prepared. I think the beef issue is probably because we are used to grain fed beef. Most of the beef we had either ashore or on the ship seemed tougher to me and I'm guessing it was grass fed beef since that seems to be the norm in south and central america. Just a guess, though. All I can say for sure is that the beef dishes I had didn't match the quality of the other dishes.

 

Deck BBQ and Beach BBQ - these deserve a special mention since they were such a treat. Be sure not to miss the grilled lobster tails on the deck BBQ night or the ribs on the beach BBQ. One tip on the deck BBQ night - try to get a table near the railing rather than one of the middle tables for four. The tables for four that are set up on the grillwork can be hard to get in and out of because the space is so tight. Folks facing backwards literally only have about 5 or 6 inches before their chairs would reach the 10 inch drop off to the deck - one woman hurt her ankle badly when she misjudged the distance and fell.

 

Lowlight - honestly the only negative we experienced or heard from other passengers related to Jane and Simon, the hostess and host. Several folks, including us, felt they were treated inappropriately. Maybe they just really need a vacation. I know that a job like that is really hard and probably they have to deal with a lot of really unpleasant folks. I just think that in a position like theirs, you really have to have the sort of personality which lets you roll with it a bit more. And this sort of thing is easily experienced on other lines as well. We sail Regent mostly and we've heard a number of folks comment that Regent's front desk staff don't seem to match the overall caliber of the rest of the cruise staff. Maybe it just comes with the job.

 

Overall - would we sail Windstar again? In a heartbeat.

 

I would do a different sort of itinerary though. We really discovered this cruise that we prefer a more touring type of vacation. This trip is really more geared toward sun, sand, and relaxation. We've been checking out the brochures (nicely laid out for us in our cabin :)) for their European itineraries. And having run into a number of folks on this ship who have sailed Windstar in the Med and who raved about the experience, we're looking into that for the next trip.

 

I have copies of the daily sheets and everything from the cruise, so if anyone has any particular questions, just ask away and I'll try to answer them.

 

I did see a few posts about whether to pre-book excursions. Definitely do that - we encountered a number of passengers who were very disappointed to discover that the excursions they wanted were filled before they ever arrived at the ship.

 

Oh, and one last thing - depending upon your cabin location, be sure to glance at the window before changing. We were in 120. Thankfully, the afternoon I went back to the cabin to change, I looked out the window first. An entire zodiac full of fellow passengers and crew was waving at me - the boarding platform for the zodiacs and tenders was right outside our window. :eek:

[nancyrg]

thanks for the review-i cannot wait to go!

one question-how long is the transfer to the ship for embarkation and then how long was it back to the airport?

 

thanks

nancy

[KatWag]

Hi Nancy,

 

You're definitely in for a treat. I think you are going to love it. I was totally relaxed - did not think about work at all and that never happens to me.

 

Figure between 2 to 2.5 hours or so for the transfers each way. It's only a two lane road, very twisty. And used by lots of trucks which take cargo back and forth. We often had to go pretty slowly behind a truck struggling to go up the hills. And there are very few spots for the bus driver to pass. On the way back, we left the ship around 8AM, left the pier about 8:20. And we pulled up to the airport about 10:50. The way down was pretty similar. Keep in mind that we had a half hour at the rest stop both ways.

 

By the way, my husband suggested that you be sure to double check the times for your excursions once you get on board. It seems like they switched times on folks in several instances. He was talking to a passenger who had booked the early ATV excursion online. Somehow the ship staff switched him to the newly added 1PM excursion but did not notify him of the change. So he showed up for his previously booked excursion, confirmation in hand, and was told he had been switched. So definitely check the times. After our call from Jane re: Curu, I did notice that they had a sheet posted just to the right of the reception desk. Not sure if they do that all the time, I'd never noticed before, but definitely double check your times once you are onboard.

[yogagal47]

Thanks for that great review! We are on the 12/30 cruise and you have given us lots of helpful info. Just a ? If you arrive at the port at 1-3 pm depending on which transfer time you have booked what do you do once you are on board(we depart at 8pm)? Did anyone get off the ship once they had gone through the embarkation process? Did you happen to notice if their were any shops around(my son is looking for a surf shop before we depart)?

Happy New Year to you! Julie

by the way-this will be our 4th time cruising Windstar-the first was Tahiti and the next two were on the Surf in the western med. This will be the first time cruising for our 25 and 26 yo kids and they will love the sun and surf part!

[KatWag]

Hi Julie,

 

The ship docks in a very industrial area. I did not see any shops or anything to walk to. And as far as I know, nobody got off once they boarded. Most folks seemed to unpack then headed for the pool bar, checked out the library, searched out a shady reading spot, etc.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Kathy

[CtWolfpacker]

Katwag,

Thanks for the great review. We're doing the same trip on the Star in February '07 and have a quick question for you. Do you remember the name of the Captain? We're hoping that it was John Clark. He has been the Captain of our ship on our last three cruises (this will be our 9th on Windstar). He is really a terrific guy!! Sorry that you had the unfortunate incident with Jane. I can tell you from our past experiences that yours was the exception rather than the rule. I hope that you included your comments about the experience on your critique at the end of the cruise. They are read and acted upon.

 

Andy

[KatWag]

Andy,

 

I have good news for you. John Clark was the Captain on our trip. He's a terrific asset to Windstar, isn't he? Such a great guy. Very down-to-earth and funny.

 

Enjoy your trip - I head back to work tomorrow and I so wish I was back onboard right about now. :)

 

Kathy

[yogagal47]

Is it true that their pool is closed? what did you do for two days! Seriously-we arrive tomorrow around 2 and were expecting to use the pool. What is the story? Thanks, Julie

[KatWag]

Sorry, Julie. I just saw this post and you are likely long gone.

 

I didn't even check out the pool so I don't know if it was closed or not. We were beat when we arrived, took a nap then went to the happy hour and then dinner.

 

Our only full day in San Jose we toured all day. Butterfly farm and coffee tour in the AM then we had a private San Jose city tour in the PM. Back to the hotel in time for happy hour and then dinner again. :)

 

Hope you have a great trip!!

 

Kathy

[nancyrg]

kathy:

we are trying to decide what to do on our full day in san jose

 

did you book your tour through the hotel? is there someone there to help us book something to do?

 

also-did by chance you check out the gym at the hotel?

 

thanks!

nancy

[KatWag]

Hi Nancy,

 

We asked our TA to check things out for us. She booked our tours through Swiss Travel, which turns out to be the same company Windstar uses. They have a web site at http://www.swisstravelcr.com

 

We were really pleased with the tours and I would definitely recommend them. There is a Windstar desk at the hotel plus a concierge, so I'm sure they could also help you with tours and suggestions. Although we did not have time to take advantage of it, I did hear that the hotel runs a shuttle into town as well.

 

Didn't check out the gym at the hotel, unfortunately, so I can't help you there.

 

Kathy