yogagal47

Hello All,

 

My wife and I are booked on the Yachtsman's Caribbean cruise in March and dive. Has anyone recently dove with Windstar in the Caribbean. I notice there are three days for dives, but just a tad bit pricey. Does Windstar still have tanks onboard as they used to have a program in the past.

 

Thanks,

 

MS

We just did the January 4th Yachtsman Cruise. My husband has his PADI card and signed up for the excursion from Virigin Gorda and he was very pleased with it. I am sure you could book directly with the dive company based at the Bitter End and save some money if you care to. There is no dive program on board the Windsurf as in years past. My husband said they were outfitted for all their gear while aboard the dive boat heading to the first dive site. There is also a dive shop right in the harbor at Jost Van Dyke so you could book with them as well but the beach there is so lovely-you may not want to miss it.

Thanks so much. We are travelling through the Panama Canal and in Costa Rica. Dont think there will be too many places off ship with internet.

Drake's Bay has a bar where the tenders leave you off-they had internet last year. If you ask some of the crew(spa staff, fitness, watersports) they will tell you. Isla Coiba definitely will not have it. Quepos/Manuel Antonio probably will. Manuel Antonio is a surf town and likely there is an internet cafe/coffee shop/restuarant that has it. Quepos itself is a port town but they probably have a bar or two with wifi. Have a wonderful cruise!

Bring your tablet or laptop-if you buy an internet package you are purchasing data i believe, rather than time. Be advised that although it works in cabins and elsewhere on the ship, it is very slow and you will burn through that time quickly. My husband used it. I waited until Virgin Gorda and went over to the Bitter End Yacht club, ordered a drink and hung out there for a while to receive and send emails. There are also bars in port in Antigua and Tortola. In St. Barts, the restaurants charge for it.

Just off the Surf and got to know the Captain-he is great! Very personable and a big American Football Fan(49ers)! He did a great job of mixing and mingling with passengers whenever he could. We also had the pleasure of having dinner with him for my husband's 60th birthday and it was lovely.

The little monkeys came our towards the end of the barbecue right before we went back on the zodiac. They were over to the left as yor back is to the water. Paddle boarding was especially nice as you are in a protected cove. They also offer massages on the beach. Transiting the canal is very cool.

You can get a day room at the Sonesta Maho- just take a cab to the hotel and check with the front desk. The rate was $65 pp and included breakfast and lunch and all alcohol. We were also given a hotel room to shower and change in. They stored our luggage for us. It was easy and convenient- our flight did not leave until 5:00 so it was a nice way to spend the day.

Sounds good-we are at the Radisson for a few days pre- cruise. It is fantastic to finally be here!

I thought the distance from port to La Plage was walkable. We ported there on a Seadream cruise few years ago. We took a taxi to a lovely hotel on Flamands Beach- had lunch and used their chaises on the beach for the day.

What a cool story about meeting your pilot friend by the runway! I would definitely like to watch the planes land this trip. I see you did the same on St. maarten. Was it at the end of the cruise? We have to kill the day when we get off the ship- our flight departs at 5.

Nice photos Daniel! Thanks for sharing. Did you ear at La Plage on St. Barts?

We were on it. For the most part , I concur, though some of it doesn't matter to us. The free loading travel agents and the corporate incentive people were annoying. And the smoking was not monitored at all. They would sit right next to the pool

Food was great and crew were greater!

Hopefully that will not happen to us-glad to hear you enjoyed the food and crew though.

How were the seas crossing from Antigua to Tortola?

Happy New Year!

This was posted recently and is rather disturbing:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=245889

Thank you- great tip!

Does anyone know who the Captain is currently, and in January??? We are on the Jan 18 voyage, and our daughter on the 4th

I called Windstar to ask a few months ago and never got an answer. Hoping it is Captain McAry-he filled in last year on our Panama Canal Cruise and he was great!

We just did Yachtsman's Caribbean last week. First night was rocky because of bad weather. Even on big ship you could not escape it. Deck one seems to be a favorite for people subject to seasickness but I am not sure about this. I do not think that 10 feet will make a difference. On deck 1, in case of heavy seas, wave goes above the porthole (washing machine effect:D). Deck 2 middle would be my choice.

 

On our first night we both had a Gravol but none for the rest of the week. What is nice about Yachtman's Caribbean is that the ship is anchored on 3 nights so you can go out and enjoy yourself ashore. Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke and Bitter End Yacht club come to mind. Great fun and you will see many crew members enjoying themself after working long hours. (and you have free wifi :))

 

I never been on the bigger ship ship so my observation are personnal.

Dandee-did you overnight on ST Maarten? Just wondering what sort of adaptors we will need. Also-we need to kill the better part of a day before our flight home saturday at the end of the cruise. Do you know of anyone who did the post-cruise excursion with transfer to the airport?

Going to the Pride this year but going home for awhile before taking the helm. Great guy!

Does anyone know who will be Captain when we are aboard the Surf January 4th?

We just did Yachtsman's Caribbean last week. First night was rocky because of bad weather. Even on big ship you could not escape it. Deck one seems to be a favorite for people subject to seasickness but I am not sure about this. I do not think that 10 feet will make a difference. On deck 1, in case of heavy seas, wave goes above the porthole (washing machine effect:D). Deck 2 middle would be my choice.

 

On our first night we both had a Gravol but none for the rest of the week. What is nice about Yachtman's Caribbean is that the ship is anchored on 3 nights so you can go out and enjoy yourself ashore. Foxy's on Jost Van Dyke and Bitter End Yacht club come to mind. Great fun and you will see many crew members enjoying themself after working long hours. (and you have free wifi :))

 

I never been on the bigger ship ship so my observation are personnal.

Is Captain Alan McAry still at the helm? Looking forward to a review of the cruise if you are planning to post one!

On my photos there are some wearing shorts. Also on WS own video filmed while we were on board (

) Don't worry.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy :)

 

P.S.: 2 weeks also.

Folks on this board love arguing about attire. The fact is that this is a casual cruise line and particularly in the Carribean, shorts and flip flops for the barbecue are totally acceptable. Trust me, no one will notice or care.Wear what you feel most comfortable in-this is your holiday!

We did that cruise January 2013-as I recall there were at least two kayaks-probably more. I think there were two doubles and a few singles. We did paddle boarding at the beach bbcue in Isla Coiba. There is a fairly quiet beach and cove there so it was perfect to try it and they have two of them. They bring all the water "toys" to the beach for the barbecue.

Do not miss Manuel Antonio-if you can do the excursion into the park then spend some tine in the little surf town(not the port). you can have lunch and get chaises and umbrellas and hang out on the beach. we did that and watched our son surf then we took the local bus back to the port-a fun experience. you are lucky you get this port on the cruise. we did the canal last year and were stuck with the day on a disgusting little tourist island in the San Blas in Panama. Overall, a wonderful cruise.

From their website:

http://www.windstarcruises.com/blog/2013/10/windstar-cruises-ranked-2-in-conde-nast-traveler-2013-readers-choice-awards/

Congrats to a wonderful cruise line. We will be taking our 7th cruise with Windstar in January 2014.

:(

Thinking of booking a cruise for my hubby's 55th birthday, I stumbled on a perfect itinerary: Athens to Istanbul. Having sailed on Cunard on several occasions, I was ready to try a smaller ship. The Windstar brochures looked good and it promised casual luxury. While on board, I realized that casual, it was. Luxurious? Not so much. Except for our cabin steward, most of the staff were WAAAAAAY too familiar, addressing us by the first name without an invitation and making a nasty habit of touching one's shoulder at every opportunity. Call me old fashioned, but I am a paying (and tipping well) passenger, not their friend. The food was largely good, though not stellar (salty on most occasions) and the wine list.... well,it was wine, to be sure, but I would not call it good.Heavily skewed towards American palate (heavily-oaked or fruit-forward reds, semi-sweet whites) and no alternatives. The couple of decent bottles on the list were soon out of stock, so we have started buying the wine in ports and paying the corking fee ($17) every night - hardly the promised luxury. The house Champagne turned out to be a dreadly sweet Prosecco. To add insult to injury, after I made my observations known to Guest Relations lead at Windstar Cruises, she dismissed me as a wine snob and basically told me to get a life. So the score is: Windstar got my money, to be sure, but will never again get anything from me or my family, friends and associates.:cool:

Since the poster stated they had previously sailed Cundard "on several occasions" I find it odd that they did not peruse CC prior to their Windstar Cruise to either garner some advice or at least get some tips before the cruise. Then to come on the board for the very first time and post a very negative assessment of their Windstar experience focusing in large part on the WINE-this just seems rather odd. The cruise line is the polar opposite of Cunard both in terms of size of the ship and style of cruising. Just saying...

I have been to both on the same Seadream cruise. While THE BATHS is unusual and scenic, it is heavily touristed. Anegada is truly unique and off the beaten track. We had a great lobster lunch near the dock and visited a lovely beach. Just depends upon what you are in the mood for!

Hi,

Has anyone done this shore excursion on the Windstar Costa Rica cruise?

The description says there is a wet landing from the excursion boat to the park. Is this difficult for people in their later 60's?

 

Thanks a lot,

Rita:)

This might answer your question:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=263944&highlight=wet+landings+costa+rica

My advice would be to look at the conditions on the day you are there - if seas are calm take the Zodiac and relax on the beach or take a walk. As I recall from my visit there in '07,it is a lovely beach.

I wonder if it would include drinks at the beach barbecue?

A friend will be cruising with her husband who is American. She has a peruvian passport and they are cruising from San Diego to mexican ports then back to san diego on a holland america cruise. Is the peru passport sufficient for her to enter mexico?

Ship : Solstice

Deck: 11

Cabin #: 1606

Side: Starboard

Class: Aqua

Location: Midships

Bed: By bath

Balcony: very deep

Wind: rarely

Soot: none

Noise: mostly quiet. Occasionally heard voices from 1608 and tv from 1604. While on our balcony we could hear music from pool deck on sea days when band was playing. It was very loud the night of the salsa party on deck but we went to the party and went to bed after the music stopped.

View: very nice-saw a manta ray diving out of the water as we sailed out of St. Thomas. view is good directly out and forward, blocked to the right.

Comments: The overhang protects from the sun. We had our cabin steward open panels to 1608 and 1610. there is an awkward climb over a bar to go from 1606 to 1608 but it is doable. The balcony felt very private due to its depth. The proximity to the atrium elevators is great. There is a cabin attendant's closet between 1606 and 1608 but we were not aware of any noise from it. You can walk all the way down the hall to the forward elevators, walk up one level and you are at the Aquaspa, aquaspa cafe and the solarium which is super convenient.