milepig
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Posts posted by milepig
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I don’t see any downside to this. Bringing the triplets on board was a mess. But these are new and increase the fleet from 6 to 8. Not 3 to 6. Perhaps some lessons were learned.
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On 3/18/2024 at 7:28 PM, caymancouple said:
So, I noticed the Star Legend no longer has any booking options past Oct. 6th of 2025. Looking at the other 2 yachts they show cruises till April of 2026. Is Windstar selling the Legend? Your thoughts?
i think selling is not on issue . They've just invested millions in the triplets and their looking good and they need the capacity.
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i called Silversea. It's just a note about the excursions.
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Our summary on My Silversea contains this note"
Free Shorex Subsidy Alas Sm25
I have no clue?? This is for a 14 day cruise in Alaska.
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I love the early Yacht Club coffee. get a cup with a shot of expresso, grab a little roll and go on deck, which is empty at that hour. heaven.
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We noticed a steep decline in the food quality. No lobster and horerid dessert display at the bbq. beef was universally inedible. but service was the same as always.
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On 1/20/2024 at 6:11 PM, Strenz said:
We did a market tour with the chef in Kotor, it was outstanding. We tasted and learned about cheeses, meats, honey, breads, I mentioned that one one honey I have ever tasted in my life, the chef bought about 12 bottles for breakfast, he later told me they lasted 3 days. It was fun. Happy Sailing
In our experience the market excursions are rare, but wonderful. they weren't well advertised, ask at reception.
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The interview is just standing in line. From experience, take copies, you need them. In the end, the process was easier than for India by a long shot.
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4 hours ago, canderson said:
FULL Windsor, too, not one of those lopsided subvariants!
I just called Silversea, for another matter, and while I was on the phone asked about Alaska they confirmed that there is no formal night.
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6 minutes ago, drron29 said:
For the Nova, Ray and Expedition ships ties are not required. For the classic ships they are only required on formal nights in Atlantide/ MDR, Salt/ Indochine and La Dame.
Jackets not required on Expedition ships and reported as optional on Nova and on Ray when it starts.
On the classic fleet required in all restaurants except the Grill and pizza restaurant. La Dame virtually always a jacket required and usually in Atlantide. The other restaurants it depends on the Maître d. Though I have rarely seen it enforced in the other restaurants.And some times Atlantide has a Maître d who doesn’t enforce the dress code.
And that is what makes it complicated.
Vacation isn’t meant to be complicated! It will all become clear and we’ll go with the flow.
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2 hours ago, milepig said:
Having read the whole thread, I’d just like to know what we’ll see on the Muse in Alaska this summer, and how we find out. I have no problem dealing with reality, but have no idea what that means.
I guess what I’m looking for is a chart. The muse has these restaurants. And on various nights formal/informal/casual the vatt try ious restaurants are?? I know the grill is alway casual, as is pizza, others?? -
50 minutes ago, Downunder55 said:
On the Muse last year, they insisted on a tie to get into Atlantide ....
I hate ties at the best of times, so the next day decided that any ugly tie would do ..... so cut up the cover of evening magazine, used the wrapper from the nightly chocolate, and a disposable napkin and made one ....
Used it for the rest of the cruise with no argument at an venue..... other than my dearest wife who thought it looked ridiculous !
Under which Level was this, informal or formal?
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Having read the whole thread, I’d just like to know what we’ll see on the Muse in Alaska this summer, and how we find out. I have no problem dealing with reality, but have no idea what that means.
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there was someone who posted availabiliity lists but I think that no longer works. they were linked from here.
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On 8/9/2022 at 4:07 PM, avalong said:
I sincerely hope that the "dumbing-down" of the buffet is a temporary thing due to supply issues or whatever. I really loved it in its previous incarnation.
For those of us not blessed with access to New England lobster, the ones that Windstar had were, as they say, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. 😀
It was the same last fall as it was two years ago. Massively downsized from the past. But we survived.
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2 hours ago, grangerlady said:
It is scheduled on our June 8th sailing.
They are. Prepare to be hauled into the action or flee. Good time for a bathroom break.
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10 hours ago, dandee2 said:
Club Med 2 (Wind Surf sibling) just got a 10M facelift.
I think Wind Surf is safe as long as it brings money. But it is kinda unproductive to drydock both ship separately. Both company could save $$ by having similar system replaced at similar time including the sails.
https://www.travelandleisure.com/club-med-yacht-2-what-its-like-on-board-7104293
https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Revamped-Club-Med-2-on-mission-to-grow-brandI'm pretty sure the sails on the Surf have recently been replaced. a few years ago? THe article calls it the largest sailing vessel. I thought that it and the surf were the same size??
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Yes, keep on top of it. At one point I had a folder and speadsheet showing credits, (use by dates, etc) COVID hit us hard with cancellations. My TA had the actual credits, but there were also many airline and other bits and pieces. I'm using up the last the summer, yes! Most were easy to deal with, extending use-by dates, etc. a few we had to push a little. I think the only thing we just lost was a small AirBNB deposit, the guy was being a jerk about it, it wasn't worth fighting so we let it go,
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The only times we felt a little squished was in Veranda at peak breakfast or lunch time, expecially when there were a lot of tours departing or coming back at the same time. This is what room service is for if it bothers you, but any line seemed to clear quickly.
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On 2/26/2023 at 8:15 PM, Misty Morning said:
We just got off a 7 day cruise on the Wind Surf and would like to give our impressions on the ship and our cruise after a 3 year pandemic induced hiatus. We last sailed the Surf in March 2020 (the last cruise before everything was halted), however we did sail 16 days on the Star Pride in November so I think it's opportune to make comparisons.
Food: Continues to be excellent, many people raving about the food, even long time Seabourn clients who had never been on Windstar said the food and service was just as good on Windstar as Seabourn, so it goes to show how good it is. Yes there is no longer lobster at the deck BBQ but they now have it on the last night in Amphora. Had dinner once in Candles (veal chop is back and was great) and twice in Stella (rack of lamb and coquille St Jacques) and all were excellent. Just a note on dress code, they do enforce the no shorts policy in Amphora, we saw group of 6 with one person in Bermuda shorts and Maitre d' told to them they either need to change or they could go to Candles which they took up. Nice way of deflecting a problem
Air conditioning. We had AC issues on the Pride in November and it seems there are still problems with it as we speak. However this was not a problem on Wind Surf, AC worked well, just too well. There is no fan adjustments in the rooms just a temperature adjustment. The fan speed however was on full blast all day and all night and was very noisy. I did not remember it being as noisy on our previous Wind Surf cruises (we had done 4 prior to this cruise). Heard similar comments from a few cruisers.
Rooms: Had no issues with room, however the location aft on deck 3 (309, upgraded from 109) meant the room was shaking hard when the captain was backing up the ship to drop anchor in the morning and there was also noise from of the tenders being lowered, which lasted a minute or two. Next time would choose a room more in the center as in the past we had always been forward
Sail away/Sails. Sail Away continues to be a highlight for many Windstar passengers, especially on the sailing ships (a bit underwhelming on the Star Ships). However many passengers, including myself, felt the music was just not loud enough. If you want to make a dramatic statement on sail away, ensure the music can be heard loudly from many areas of the ship. That being said, the sails were also not out much due to strong winds. This is becoming more and more of an issue as people expect the sails and yet they were only out a few hours all week. If this is going to be the new normal (i.e. less sails), I am leaning more and more towards the renovated Star Ships, with their larger rooms and what I feel is a better and larger centralized pool and bar layout but can understand why some people may like the little private nooks and crannies spread out all over the Surf
Crew/Service: Great as usual. Gradually there are more and more women in bartending and waiter position which is a welcome change.
Stops: This cruise had no sea days and 6 tender ports. Falmouth/English Harbour got replaced with St John's in Antigua due to swells (more on this below) and the Wind Surf no longers enters into the North Sound Channel in Virgin Gorda due to the BVI authorities not dredging or surveying the channel which was already close the Wind Surf's 5.4 meter draught (the Star Ships can enter the channel as they are lighter than the Surf). It now anchors north of Prickly Pear which makes for a rougher exposed tender ride. Falmouth/English Harbour is also getting problematic as the Authorities are no longer allowing the Surf to anchor inside Falmouth Bay but on its outskirts which leaves the ship more exposed to high swells. The ship had to call in St John's (really not as nice as English Harbour) at least 50% of the time this winter. St Barth's and Montserrat have also been problematic tender ports this winter for similar reasons as the ships are forced by the authorities to anchor further and further away. This is something Windstar management should start looking into as many people book these cruises for these ports specifically only to have them replaced at the last minute. I understand security comes first
Finally, having been on the renovated Star Pride, it is becoming clear that the Surf is due for a major drydock (last one was in early 2019 to take out casino). The ship, especially the outside and the decks, are looking tired and a bit rusty. All deck and stateroom furniture would need to be replaced. However the public rooms and restaurants still look good but areas around the pool bar and Compass Rose would need to be redone completely. As for the space, there were 270 passengers onboard and while there are nooks and crannies everywhere with chairs, they may be far from the pool or bar. Pool area was always busy, with chairs taken up quickly. We enjoyed the expanded deck space on Star Pride, there were always chairs available (there are close to 100 chairs available in the pool area vs about half of that on the few decks near the pool on the Wind Surf.
Still an amazing cruise but will definitely focus on Star Ships in the future.
This is not the first report I've seen that says the sailed ships are feeling really old. Is this a general consensus? I know that there were thoughts that they' surpassed their normal lifespan and that the cruisers were bought to extend the life of WS as we know it. Several years have past, and gobs of money has been spent on them, but very little (apparently) on the sailed ships. Are there any plans afoot to reconcile this? I can't say, since only sailed on the cruisers since they came online (including the first trip on the Pride out of Singapore under WS ownership) best trip EVER, we even had Capt. Jack, who I still miss, what a hoot. I hope they have plans!!
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On 3/1/2023 at 5:38 AM, marinaro44 said:
Windstar should update its system to allow you to book online using OBC from Windstar. Especially considering the steep prices we're now seeing. They're getting a lot of float from us.
Disagree. It would be nice but On Board Credit means exactly that, it must be used on board. Cancelling and rebooking excursions is a way around that.
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The yacht club is staffed as well and they make coffee to order. I think it opens at 6. I get up first, get ready and grab a coffee up there. Then we meet for breakfast in veranda a bit later.
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On 12/12/2022 at 8:50 PM, floatplan said:
I was on Pride in October and had the all inclusive drink package.
I would say I found it hard to get drinks, only drank beer and wine so nothing complicated. Be prepared to be proactive flagging down staff to get drinks. Best to go to the bar and get your own, especially 2nd.
At dinner the server usually took the wine order so you can get 1 glass. Trying to get 2nd glass was much harder, I think I never got a 3rd.
Cuadro 44 was excellent with the best service, because it is so small. It served Spanish wines that were always refilled.
You have to sign paper receipts for all your drinks, an annoyance. They will track you down to your cabin the next day.
So I cannot recommend the drinks, but if you do be assertive to get served. The espresso based coffee drinks are excellent.
We had bad wine service exactly once, in 20 itins. They just never came and were uncooperative. When leaving Amphorae we complained to the maitre-d, who we knew from previous trips. He not only apologized and said they had a lot of new staff, but the next night he flagged us down and we had perfect service with never ending wine, and all was back to normal the next night. WS pays attention to details and handles things. No drama.
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15 hours ago, new_cruiser said:
I have something similar - they're dirt cheap and weigh almost nothing. Throw some in your bag. If you don't need them you're out a few bucks.
Solo Travel on Windstar
in Windstar Cruises
Posted
If you're friendly and take the initiative, WS folk tend to be very friendly. or if you wish, they'll leave you alone. We've found that a great way to meet people is to join the jigsaw crowd.