Ski Mom 2

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!

I booked cooking classes for our January 2023 on Marina. When I look at the info for the cooking classes it says single stations.

Thanks! I have an email in to the hotel we will be staying at and hope to hear from them soon.

We are arriving into the Rio airport from the US in January 2023 and need a ride from the airport to our hotel. Has anyone arranged their own transportation from the airport to their hotel? Did you pre-arrange a pickup with a taxi service? Uber? Did you just use a taxi upon arrival? What was the cost? We are joining a private tour in Rio but they want to charge us $65 each for transportation and I feel like that is high. Thanks for your input!

Welcome home! Partly because of you and your raves about Tahiti, we decided on a January 2024 cruise doing a back to back starting in Auckland, around New Zealand, up to Lautoka and ending in Tahiti. We love the sails but it's Star Breeze for this sailing which we haven't ever done so it will be fun and interesting. Once we get a bit closer (we have Wind Surf in September and Oceania Marina in January 2023) I will pick your brain about all there is to see and do in Tahiti!

Why not ask the food tours you’re interested in if they will adjust the times for you especially if you explain the timing of your ship?