22Mermaid

4/2014 Oceania Trans-Atlantic cruise's 1st port of call was Bermuda. We lucked into Michal (Mike) of Affordable Ride Tours in his bright orange mini-bus. If you want a real tour with an 'ambassador' of Bermuda who won an award for tourism, HE is your man. He made a special stop for a Dark 'n Stormy, the local fish stew, a short Rum Twizzle (Swizzle?), collection of some pink sand, along with anything else we wanted to do. He will customize the tour for you, and you'll get info from a real local. His van is well-traveled, so if you want to go to the beach, you'll be comfortable getting back into it with a little sand in your sandals. We really enjoyed his tour!

Thanks again, Lyn. That's very helpful info.

Maybe I can return the favor of good info. Regarding your DH and Windstar...I recommend it to cruisers who like 'quiet' quality. It is a rich experience that is more subtle. And I wouldn't rave (or complain) about the food, so it might suit you fine, as it did us! The sports deck is fabulous, and if you have any interest in the bridge, it is usually open. The whole experience is relaxing, and you should be fairly agile for using the tenders or if the ship is under sail with a modest 'tilt.' You can meet everyone aboard, if you like, or just stay to yourselves. It's smart casual and you'll meet interesting pax. I hope I've offered some new info for you here.

Lyn, am I reading your post correctly that you've been on 9 Oceania cruises?! Oceania is one line that I thought might be a possibility for us. Do you prefer the smaller or larger Oceania ships?

Good reminder, Lerin, that this is a cc-only world and should not be conclusive. I would hope that it would be representative of a greater 'sample,' but it's actually only those who are aware of cc and motivated to submit comments. As you point out, that's a very small number.

Good info, jmf123. I'll check out Paul Gaugin. We did cruise Tahiti on Windstar a long time ago. Le Ponant is definitely appealing, so I appreciate knowing of cruisers who loved it

Thanks, Marco. I agree about the comparison. If you liked the 'ocean liner' cruise and the European river cruises, would you cruise them again to a new destination? Or would you choose Windstar the next time?

Thanks, John, for the details about Star Clipper. I, too, noted and dismissed the comments from passengers with unrealistic expectations. What I did note of concern were several comments that criticized the food, cleanliness, attitude of the crew, and stopping at no-name places that were only near the advertised ports of call, with no way to actually get to them.

There were enough of these comments that indicated that these were not one-off situations, so I'm glad to hear that you have had only great cruises with Star Clipper. We've sailed enough to appreciate your observations about the sails, rigging, and bow-sprit netting. Very cool!!

Thanks, Lyn. I will look into Le Ponant. I agree that it's impossible to compare cruising to sailing, so that's why I'm looking for cruisers (sailors?) who've done both. I'd like to know what cruise lines/ships were at least as good as Windstar's in terms of the overall, albeit it different, experience.

Thanks, Lerin, for suggesting Star Clipper. I just read the reviews, and there many that are extremely undesirable to Star Clipper. They seem to have a challenge with product and service consistency. It was worth a look, though!

Thanks, CruiserBruce. Your comment encouraged me to go back into Windstar's board to scour it again for info. Although most comments are exclusively about Windstar, I did find just a few comparisons to other cruise lines/ships. There was one great review I read about Windstar vs. Oceania, which was particularly helpful.

I am getting the sense that once people cruise on Windstar and like it, they tend to stick with Windstar. If true, I understand!

We enjoy Windstar, but would like to try a different cruise experience that is even better than Windstar's. Can you compare your positive Windstar experiences to other small to mid-size ships you've sailed?

As a past Windstar cruiser, you understand the attractiveness of the smaller ships where there are fewer people at the buffet, an absence of frequent up-selling of drinks and ship products, and a pool that is not taken over by kiddies. We don't need big entertainment, but would like the talent to be worth seeing.

Quality food would be appreciated. A quieter but richer presentation of all services and facilities is appealing. Windstar's sports deck is fabulous in warm water destinations, and their open bridge policy is terrific. The relaxed atmosphere and smaller passenger list are also what we appreciate.

So to you Windstar cruisers, what other cruises (and specific ships) can you recommend? Thanks in advance for tackling this nuanced query.