Ski Mom 2

Would anyone know about carrying off your own luggage in Santiago De Chile (San Antonio), Chile?

Thanks Jazzbeau for your thoughts. We had our choice of aft balconies - deck 6 or 8. I couldn’t make up my mind but the rep suggested 8 so that’s what we picked. And to be honest it’s one reason we decided on Azamara…love me some aft balconies!

Well my TA spoke to the DM at Windstar and basically got the runaround, "Star Breeze is being pulled from this location, you should convince her to continue to sail with WS," blah blah blah. Lip service at best and at worst. My husband is totally pissed and we are moving on. I looked at Silverseas and at Seabourn as well as Azamara. I think we have found a new cruise on Azamara sailing on 4 January 2024 Australia/New Zealand for 17 nights. It has loads of NZ ports with many late nights. I have a Veranda Plus stateroom on hold that is on Aft Deck 8. There were no suites available at this time. The room is a bit smaller than Wind Surf so I think we will be fine (I'm liking the idea of the aft balcony). If anyone has any thoughts they'd like to share about Azamara I'd appreciate it. I have also posted on the Azamara page.

Our Windstar Star Breeze New Zealand cruise in January 2024 has disappeared and we are looking for another cruise. We found the Australia/New Zealand voyage on 4 January 2024 on Azamara Journey and have a Deck 8 aft Veranda Plus Stateroom on hold. The rate includes an upgrade to the beverage package, WiFi and $150 pp OBC. There were no suites left but we are happy with an aft balcony although the rooms and shower seem small. We love the port intensive cruises of WS. We love the crew, the small ship and the other folks that travel on WS. This cruise and Azamara look like it could be the right fit for us. Has anyone sailed on both Windstar and Azamara and can comment on the similarities and dissimilarities? Has anyone used the air program through Azamara and what did you like/dislike? Can we fly in early and stay extra days? Can we upgrade to business class? Thank you for your help!

Spent the last two days looking at different options to replace our WS cruise in January 2024. Have narrowed it down to Azamara, Silverseas or Seabourn. Timing is right for us and ports are about the same. We have never sailed on any of these cruise lines. Prices are a bit all over the board. We will try to do the Gold Coast/Great Barrier Reef on our own afterwards. We have loved Windstar and have a cruise coming up on Oceania. Any ideas on what to think about in regards to any of these lines would be appreciated.

Thanks Host Jazzbeau for the suggestions! Today all the January 5, 2024 Star Breeze cruises have disappeared from the website. We have one week to decide if we take our deposit back plus a $200 OBC each that must be used by October 2024 or move to another cruise paying the current price with $300 OBC each. Of course this doesn’t take into account our 40% off for one of the cruises and the 7/7 discounts in the second leg, our back2back discounts, our all inclusive rate of $79 pp versus $99 pp it will cost if we rebook, and all our onboard credit. We have friends that were joining us and they are unhappy as well. Again such a bummer!

We had been looking for quite a while for New Zealand and Australia. I thought I wanted to go all over New Zealand and then up the Gold Coast of Australia. There are only a handful of those and the timing doesn't line up for us. When my husband saw this one he said we'll do Australia another time and I thought heck yes! We have friends in Dunedin we were planning on seeing so this is a double bummer. I've already been looking but of course, it's all the same I saw prior to booking this one. And we had an awesome deal too 😞

We booked Star Collector: New Zealand and South Pacific Escapades January 5—24, 2024 over a month ago. We also added on Polynesia: Pearls of Paradise : January 24—February 4, 2024. This took us from Auckland to the South Pacific to Tahiti; a one of a kind cruise in our minds. Here is what the original map looked like: Tonight we received an email that said: "We have been looking forward to you joining us on the Star Breeze, January 5, 2024 sailing. At this time, we need to inform you that the Star Breeze is no longer available during this timeframe as the ship has been taken out of public service for these dates, and as a result this cruise has been cancelled." What?! So I get we are over a year out but this was a one of a kind sailing. What the heck does "taken out of public service" mean? We recently sailed on Wind Surf and there were several things that weren't quite up to par from pre-Covid but we were willing to try again (we really do love Windstar) but my husband is very unhappy. What has happened? 1 01/05/2024 AUCKLAND BERTH 1:00 pm 5:00 pm 2 01/06/2024 RUSSEL, BAY OF ISLANDS ANCHOR 7:00 am 4:00 pm 3 01/07/2024 AT SEA 4 01/08/2024 WELLINGTON BERTH 1:00 pm 5 01/09/2024 WELLINGTON BERTH 5:00 pm 6 01/10/2024 LYTTELTON, CHRISTCHURCH BERTH 8:00 am 4:30 pm 7 01/11/2024 PORT CHALMERS, DUNEDIN BERTH 9:00 am 6:00 pm 8 01/12/2024 STEWART ISLAND, OBAN ANCHOR 8:00 am 5:00 pm 9 01/13/2024 CRUISING DUSKY SOUND 7:00 am 9 01/13/2024 CRUISING DOUBTFUL SOUND 8:00 pm 10 01/14/2024 AT SEA 11 01/15/2024 PICTON BERTH 11:00 am 9:00 pm 12 01/16/2024 KAIKOURA ANCHOR 8:00 am 4:00 pm 13 01/17/2024 NAPIER BERTH 1:00 pm 10:00 pm 14 01/18/2024 GISBORNE BERTH 8:00 am 4:00 pm 15 01/19/2024 TAURANGA BERTH 9:00 am 6:00 pm 16 01/20/2024 AUCKLAND BERTH 8:00 am 9:00 am 16 01/20/2024 AUCKLAND BERTH 1:00 pm 16 01/20/2024 AUCKLAND BERTH 5:00 pm 17 01/21/2024 AT SEA 18 01/22/2024 AT SEA 19 01/23/2024 AT SEA 20 01/24/2024 LAUTOKA, VITI LEVU BERTH 8:00 am 9:00 am 20 01/24/2024 LAUTOKA, VITI LEVU BERTH 1:00 pm 20 01/24/2024 LAUTOKA, VITI LEVU BERTH 5:00 pm 21 01/25/2024 SUVA, VITI LEVU BERTH 7:00 am 6:00 pm 22 01/26/2024 SAVUSAVU, VANUA LEVU ANCHOR 8:00 am 10:00 pm 23 01/27/2024 AT SEA 24 01/28/2024 NUKU'ALOFA, TONATAPU BERTH 8:00 am 5:00 pm 25 01/29/2024 AT SEA 26 01/30/2024 AT SEA 27 01/31/2024 AVATIU, RAROTONGA ANCHOR 8:00 am 4:00 pm 28 02/01/2024 AT SEA 29 02/02/2024 BORA BORA ANCHOR/WATERSPORTS 8:00 am 6:00 pm 30 02/03/2024 MOOREA ANCHOR/WATERSPORTS 8:00 am 6:00 pm 30 02/03/2024 PAPEETE, TAHITI BERTH 10:00 pm 31 02/04/2024 PAPEETE, TAHITI BERTH 10:00 am

We recently disembarked off Windstar’s Wind Surf. This sign was at each of the evening dining venues.

Oh wow! I thought the restaurants were done at 9!

Can I ask what constitutes a "later hour" for dining in the specialty restaurants? We are a few days out from making our initial specialty restaurant reservations and are traveling with several others who don't get as many reservations as we do and are trying to figure out how to include them in some of ours. Thanks!

Well another couple of question have come up amongst our group and since you've all been so helpful, I thought I'd throw out a few more... Two of our group are in suites (and can make our reservations in a few days) while the rest of the group must wait another month. Looking at their invoices, I've been told they only get 1 reservation per specialty restaurant while we get 2. If we want to include one or two of those couples with one of our reservations, does that mean we have booked their one and only for that particular restaurant? Or are we "pulling them into our reservation" and therefore "giving them" an additional reservation? If we want them to join us more than their 1 per restaurant do we need to wait until we're on board and then try to change our reservation from 2 people to 4 people and pull them in that way? Is this something my butler could do or is it best to go to the restaurant myself and ask? My TA has given me the name of her O rep that has offered to "help me" make my own reservations and potentially pull in some of our group to those reservations. Has anyone done this? Is it worth it? Are they helping so many clients that you still may or may not get the date and time of what you're hoping for? Is it better just to do it myself? Again, thank you all for your insight!

Thanks for the replies so far! I did think of another question if you don't mind... Our actual group is 12. If we want to all dine together at least once during our cruise, what's the best way to go about that? Booking ahead? Booking on board? Specialty restaurant? Main Dining Room?

Our Specialty Restaurant reservations open up in just a few days. This will be our first O cruise and I'm wondering how do you choose which night to eat where? How do I choose today where I want to eat in January? We are also traveling with several others (many who can't book yet) and I know I need their info to pull them into my booking. We are cruising for 20 days and have 2 reservations per specialty restaurant. We do prefer to eat late and we do like to eat with others (great way to meet folks) but today I don't know who I'm going to meet! 😄 If you'd share your thoughts I'd appreciate it!

We were in 109 back in 2020 right before the shutdown. We found a "secret" passageway to go up to the pool that was an easy walk. There was some noise when coming into port but other than that we liked being aft.

Yes, the rate increased in the beginning of October.

Currently on Wind Surf. There is no Netflix, Hulu etc. they do have several channels that run movies. The DVD library is still here along with DVD players in the rooms. Games and puzzles available.

We boarded Wind Surf today in Venice. This is the sign at the entrance to the restaurant.

We were just in Montepulciano for 4 nights. They have over 13 caves or cantinas that different wineries use to store their wine. Many of them are free to the public. You can tour the caves and then ask for a wine tasting. We paid for one tasting and several were free (especially if you plan to purchase). One thing we did learn about Montepulciano wines. When you see wines with the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo label, these are NOT from Montepulciano! They just use the Montepulciano wording and they are much cheaper. Montepulciano has basically two types of wine, Rosso and via Nobile. Be prepared for lots of hills and lots of walking!

Look in the area of the Piazza Navona. I like to stay in the curve of the River Tiber (so looking at the map to the left of the Piazza Navona.) We stayed once with our two sons and once 2 weeks ago. You can walk to the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and more. Put in some parameters and options should pop up. Good luck!

According to my TA, this is what she received from Windstar. “Starting October 5, our All-Inclusive Fares for 2023 and beyond departures will increase to $89 per guest, per day, so make your All-Inclusive bookings today before the fares increase!” I think it sounds like if you book it prior to October 5 you’re grandfathered in.

Typically I will wear a cute dress to dinner (I’m a sucker for a cute short dress). I have worn white capris or a short skirt with a fun top in the Caribbean. I’ve also worn a little black dress to celebrate an occasion. However, I wouldn’t wear my hiking capris to dinner. I think as long as you’re comfortable and happy and feel good about yourself you’ll be fine. Enjoy!

Mauibabes- We are on the same cruise! We will be arriving in Rio to tour the falls amd Buenos Aires prior to boarding. Following the cruise we will be touring to Machu Picchu and the Amazon to make a 42 day trip! This will be our first cruise on Oceania. We are huge fans of Windstar and are looking forward to this trip and to Oceania!

How do you go about finding out about these Wine and Tapas evenings? We are cruising SA in January and this sounds like a nice option.

Thank you! I have emailed the hotel but haven't heard back yet (not sure I have the correct email address) so this is good if that's my only choice. Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks!