Pudgesmom

In my opinion, Windstar has “missed the boat” on beer. There are so many wonderful IPAs, lagers and pale ales available today. The beers  on the ship are pretty much limited to the old American standbys. I like a good lager, not the watered down American beers. They used to have Grolsch sometimes, but it was not available on our cruise in March. I think this is an area for vast improvement.

So good to hear you’re home and on the mend! 

I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through this. 
 

We were in Indonesia on Ponant (French ship) last fall. My husband had some medical issues that would have probably cost close to $1000 on any other ship. French medicine? $88! And the doctor stopped by twice to check on him in our cabin. You will be in good (and affordable!) hands if you seek treatment in France. 
 

Get well soon! 

What is your itinerary?

47 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

We are also on Breeze next week and I was informed that Luggage Tags are issued at check in at the port.  As far as any other cruise docs I am gonna cal my TA now.  See you on board!

Check your emails. They send it straight to you, not your TA, although maybe they get a copy too. There are multiple answers here on this thread and others, including one already linked here which is on this page. I will link it again. There is also a search function you can use. 

Laundry package is the best $133 you will spend on your vacation!

Pools on cruise ships are always small. Water is very heavy and the pools are usually on the top deck. Those two factors can affect the balance of the ship when the water starts sloshing around. 
 

On a tropical cruise, I prefer to spend my time in the ocean, maybe just use the pool to cool off.

I guess those people won't be traveling on Windstar! 😉

We have traveled on two other small ship cruise lines, and they had the same procedure as Windstar. They have done it on every one of our 10 or 11 Windstar cruises. Its never been a problem. If you are late enough to miss the ship sailing, they will return your passport to the agent at the dock.

@Strenz hi- always love your posts and we love Windstar, and especially Windsurf, as much as you do. 
 

I have an off topic question for you. I’ve seen you post a couple of times that you “don’t want to pay for others.” It’s in reference to addons like the drink package.  Could you please explain your thoughts behind this? Thanks!

Thanks so much for posting. How did you find the shore excursions? Do they have onboard lecturers?

I would say no, not worth it. We have cruised quite a bit, however only once on Regent and Ponant each. We sailed on Regent in the second to highest category, and Ponant on the second to lowest. 
 

We are an active couple in our mid-60’s.
 

On Regent, we were very disappointed in the pre-cruise hotel, shore excursions and overall atmosphere. In our case, the average passenger was late 70’s to early 80’s. The food was very good to excellent. The main dining room was the overall winner, with the Italian restaurant only so-so. We don’t go to shows so can’t speak to that, but found the lounge entertainment very dated. Included shore excursions were mostly bus rides or slow walk abouts. Our butler was delightful. We did enjoy being able to choose daily where to have dinner. The ship, Splendor, was inwardly focused and lacked the outside venues and deck space we prefer. The library was spectacular.
 

Our Ponant cruise differed slightly from normal in that the ship was fully chartered by Abercrombie and Kent and the language used aboard was solely English. The food was outstanding with just one or two dishes missing the mark over two weeks. Passengers  were closer to our age. We loved the ease of getting on and off the ship. (No meeting in a large room to have your number called.) Our excursions were uniformly fantastic. Note here: A and K ran these with their personnel and some ship people, so may not be a good comparison. Entertainment was adequate. We loved the daily lectures on topics germane to the region. (Indonesia) We personally prefer the smaller ship atmosphere (700 vs 200). 
 

While we enjoyed the Regent cruise 1 1/2 years ago, we would not book with them again. Value (to us) was not there. We have already considered Ponant again since our sailing last fall and hope to travel with them again in the near future.

Of course, everyone is different! 

On a side note, they have some delicious coffee drinks with alcohol. They are included in the beverage package, or individual pay. Great late afternoon pick-me-up if you’re so inclined.

@LAFFNVEGAS thank you for posting about your trip. We abandoned the massive ships years ago, but I remember your helpful posts on the HAL board. I’m happy you had a chance to experience Windstar.

Take a small sprayer of air freshener or perfume. The bathrooms are small and your traveling companion will thank you. 

Usually just walk up and show your passport.

That’s a really nice floor plan. Thank you very much for sharing the photos. 
 

It seems to have one window instead of the normal two. Did you find it to be dark at all?

I can’t speak to the smaller ship, but have sailed many times on the Windstar ships. Compared to a large ship, you will notice an enormous difference. The food is great, service superb and there are never any lines for tenders, food, or anything else. There is a board here where you can learn more about Windstar. Have a great time whatever you choose. 🙂

The last two weeks of August are prime vacation season on the East Coast. There will be plenty of children as others have said. Washington, D.C. is a ghost town before school starts the day after Labor Day. We moved to Texas years ago and it was a shock to see the kids back to school in early August.

Are you aware that is hurricane season?

If you take it to the dining room, you will pay a small corkage fee. They also aren’t crazy about bringing your already opened bottle to the bar to drink. However, we often walk around with a glass from the cabin.

There is another configuration to the cabins, which we prefer. It reverses the seating and sleeping areas, for a lovely living space next to the big window. Especially on colder itineraries, we find we use it quite a bit. It can be a bit tight with the two doors. Anyway, hope you have a great cruise! ( We are Windsurf people, but get it’s not for everyone.)

I’ve always disliked buffets. When on vacation, I want some to come to me, take my order, and deliver it. I carry too much food around at home!

On 2/12/2024 at 4:21 PM, artbcpa said:

PLEASE NOTE: We have done a lot of cruising including on the former Crystal ships, but our first cruise on New Crystal will not be until later this month.

 

Excursions: We have not found there to be much difference between the ships. We much prefer private excursions from outside companies. Having said that we have scheduled several excursions with Crystal on our upcoming voyage. Part of the reason is that we are interested in experiencing whether the influence of A&K will make a difference. We were also pleasantly surprised at the reasonable prices Crystal is charging for their excursions. The prices on old Crystal were exorbitant and the quality was hit or miss. We are hopeful that things will be different.

 

Size of the ship - We have traveled on everything from the mega ships (over 6,000) to the fairly small ones (250-300). We have enjoyed the most those between 700-1,000 passengers. We love the entertainment and variety of activities that ships of that size can offer. When he have traveled on smaller ships, there were just too many things we missed. The large ships are just not our cup of tea. They often do have great entertainment, but the long lines and the pettiness of charging for every little thing is a real turnoff. 

 

Service - For the most part, service on the luxury cruise lines is outstanding. We don't tend to use the butlers as much as those who are constantly entertaining in their cabins.  From top to bottom, Crystal's service was the best.

 

Onboard lectures.- Of all the luxury cruise lines we sailed, Crystal lecturers and daytime activities were the best - until Edie (former President). We are hoping that things will return to the pre Edie period. Crystal always had excellent port lecturers, but they also had the most interesting lecturers in unique topics.

 

Some of things that sets Crystal apart, that we hope A&K retains. Every couple of years when the Olympics were going on, Crystal hosted its own shipboard games and had former Olympians as speakers who also gave out the medals. Formal nights (now fully optional). We love to dress up, especially  in Asia. Some of the gowns the women wore were out of this world. Unlike other ships, Crystal always made sure a staff person was present to supervise the activities. We were surprised when some other luxury ships did not. 

Thanks for the reply. I hope you’ll come back to share your experience after your “new” Crystal cruise.

On 2/12/2024 at 11:25 AM, ChatKat in Ca. said:

The Crystal Experience is superior to the Regent Experience. The crew is welcoming but will take cues from the passengers. The excursions are not bus loads full. We cruised Regent for years and tried a Regent Cruise last year and were sorely disappointed .  We cannot wait to be back on board later this year. 

Thanks for the reply, but not the comparison I was seeking.

I’m not sure how exactly long ago, but sometime in the past couple of years, the aft section of deck 3 was changed. Those rooms were almost all suites, which are two staterooms combined. The suites have a couch, coffee table, and side chair. They have two bathrooms and dressing areas. The square footage is twice the size of regular cabin. 
 

The reversion to the third deck aft suites to regular cabins now means that those rooms ( with lowest numbers starting at 300) do not have the extra square footage or features listed above. They are exactly the same size as cabins on decks one and two. 
 

Any photos or descriptions you are reading online of a larger cabin describe it BEFORE the suites there were cut in half.
 

On a side note, when Windstar bought the Windsurf from Club Med, all of the rooms on the ship were the smaller size. They added the suites to reduce capacity. 

We have traveled on both premium and luxury lines, but not Crystal. We have done numerous land trips with A & K, as well as a full ship charter with them on Ponant. Our experiences have been excellent overall. I'm aware that a trip with Crystal would not be as all-inclusive as an A & K voyage. My question is mostly about shore excursions as well as a few other things.

We would love some input from anyone who traveled both with A & K and with the new Crystal. We are particularly not into large buses and big groups onshore.(Poor experience on Regent)  Are the guides well selected? 

How does the medium size ship compare to a much smaller vessel?  I assume there would be very little waiting onboard, say for dining or other things like tender boarding.  Is that true?

What about onboard service? We prefer a low key approach. 

Are onboard lecturers giving sessions pertinent to the sailing at hand or are they more generalized topics based on the lecturer's area of expertise?

Any other comparisons would be most welcome.

Thank you. 🙂