surfs up but don't miss the ship!

[schmidlapp]

Sorry this is so late but we had to resolve some issues between us and Windstar management for their major snafu on our May 08 Monaco GP cruise.

Please check out my full review in the member review section....

All I can say is its a good thing the ship has such a good staff.

It is the reason we will return..

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=47269

[schmidlapp]

After I re-read my review I forgot to put in that we were told by the ships agent the ship was scheduled for a 5pm sailing. Many of the passengers had wrong documents from the cruise line. We were the only ones to actually miss the ship....

[AustinBond]

Thanks for the review. It was great. We are looking forward to doing the same trip in May with another couple. Thanks to you we will double check the departure time. It sounds like our pre-cruise is similar to yours. I have made contact with the restaurant you used for viewing the GP and will probably do that. They also have balcony seating at an additional cost. Do you think that would be worthwhile?

[luvtojump]

What a wonderful review. It sounds like the treatment you received both before you embarked and after was fit for a King and Queen.

 

My onboard experience on Windstar was very similar to yours. I too felt that the crew, service and food was very good. Having sailed Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, SeaDream, Seabourn, Silversea, Royal Caribbean, Princess and others, I have never experienced a "perfect" cruise. The difference is in the way the imperfections are handled.

 

In your review, it suggests you feel you are entitled to more restitution from their corporate office. I understand that it must have been a huge inconvenience to miss the ship however the way that Windstar handled it sounded perfect. They paid for transportation to the following port, a hotel, gourmet meal and a bottle of Christal. Then more private transportation to the pier in the morning with what I am assuming was a greeting fit for royalty.

 

A mistake was made. The staff did the right thing (if not above and beyond).

 

I am surprised that you feel you deserve more corporate.

[schmidlapp]

What I was trying to say is we really never got what I consider a sincere apology from corporate, all the arrangements for our transfers, hotel etc. was from the ships crew and ships agent in Nice.

The crew of the Windsurf really scrambled to help us out.

Corporate was very as a matter of fact about the mistaken documents. Could you imagine showing up at the cruise pier 4 1/2 hours early (we thought) only to see the ship sailing away.

One of the vp's of the cruise line was on board and we were told he was going to meet with us regarding the document problem. It was not until late in the week after we asked the hotel manager why he had not contacted us did he finally do this. It would have been much better

(and considerate) for him to contact us right away and convey that corporate was sorry for their mistake.

Yes we had a nice hotel room and dinner in ST Tropez, but we would have much preferred being on the ship right away.

I give 0 credit to Majestic Americal Line for handling this situation.

[cruister71]

Just curious but who do you think okayed the stay at Hotel Byblos, the bottle of Crystal in your room, dinner at Spoon (which is a five star restuarant, I wonder how many strings were pulled to get those reservations on short notice) and then the taxi waiting for you in the morning.

 

That sounds like they went all out to make you comfortable while you waited for the ship. I'm sure it was not pleasant watching the ship leave but it seems you where pampered while you waited.

[schmidlapp]

Well, this happened on a Sunday in Nice France, 5pm.

This would make it 9 hours earlier in Seattle Wa where corporate offices are. Do you really think they were staffed at 8 am on a Sunday??

No, I really think the people on the "ground" and on the ship in France made the decision and were responsible for helping us out....

Please don't get me wrong, we did appreciate the help we got, but

management in Seattle in my opinion had nothing to do with it.....

[luvtojump]

Does it matter who apologizes? The staff on the ship did it's part so that these type of things don't have to make it to the corporate level.

 

That is a finely tuned corporation in my opinion.

[AustinBond]

Reminds me of something I read once..."people may not remember what you did but they will always remember how you made them feel"

[lovecruisingtoo]

I agree that the VP should have approached you earlier. However, if it was not the VP pulling the strings to get the hotel etc. done, then I congratulate MAL for giving the people on the ground the authority to take care of the situation right. If the people on the ship had to say "Mother may I", it would never have been accomplished.

[6rugrats]

I understand being upset about the typo on the cruise documents. But, what an adventure you had! It's all in the attitude.

 

I think this was handled perfectly by the cruiseline. I don't see how you missed anything, and you were well taken care of! You were aboard the next morning by 11:30.

 

I honestly see nothing much to complain about, and it appears Windstar did everything they could to make it right.

[schmidlapp]

I guess I'll just leave it alone after one last comment.

My wife and I run a small business. If I screwed up and caused a serious

problem for a customer, and then left it to an employee of mine to fix, I certainly would not ingnore the customer but follow up as soon as possible to be sure things had been made right. I gave credit all along to the crew of the Windsurf and their agent on the ground in Nice for thier quick response and help.

The crew of the Windsurf is like my employee in the comparison. They did thier job in trying to remedy the situation. Corporate where the problem originated did not follow up properly, thats the reason I was so upset.

If you read my review I gave the cruise itself a 5+ star rating. (except for embarkation.) I could have been bitter and tried to find any and everything wrong with the cruise, which was not the case. I am a big Windstar fan and hopefully will be for a long time.

Thanks for all your comments both positive and negative,

hope to see some of you on a future Windstar cruise, just don't miss the ship!!

[cruister71]

The crew did such a great job that you should have forgotten all your worries. It sounds from the tone of your emails that you wouldn't have been happy with the corporate office even if the VP who was onboard greeted you at the top of the gangway on arrival. How much would you be happy with...a full refund or another cruise.

[schmidlapp]

Well, I thought i put it to bed with my last post, but cruister77 whoever you are could not leave it alone. No the vp did not meet me at the head of the gangway, by the way since he was onboard it would have been a nice gesture if he did!

I just hope what happened to my wife and myself never happens to anyone else...

I think all my posts about the positive experience on the ship should tell

you I am not a bitter person. In fact I think it probably did some positive things in convincing some of you to try Windstar.... for that matter it probably helped the parent company of Windstar sell more cruises.

 

As I previously said I hope to meet some of you on a future Windstar

trip!!!