Mimi A

On 6/16/2021 at 2:49 PM, themutis said:

Wow a free cruise 🙂 what could be wrong with that!

Sounds wonderful!

15 hours ago, sail2day said:

I just received an e-mail from Windstar today cancelling the July 3rd sailing that I was booked on. This is after they sent me an e-mail last Wednesday telling that that everything was fine with my sailing. The cruise line dropped the ball on this. 

As it turned out, it was the vaccine that caused the problem - Windstar was to have had sufficient supply to vaccinate their remaining crew in St. Maarten, but it did not come. Windstar has now made arrangements to sail to San Juan after current sailing disembarks and allowing the 2 weeks for the crew to be fully vaccinated, necessitating cancellation of June 26 & July 3 sailings to be cancelled.

I understand your disappointment, but vaccinations in foreign countries are in limited supply. It is not really Windstar's fault.

16 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

Mimi-

Two sailings. Sept 4, 2021 transpacific and Aug 4 2022 Tahiti the 18 day.

Per my post above, I am not continuing this research any longer, except obviously there are cabins available for sailings more than a year away. As for transpacific 9/4, cabins available in all categories. Little, if any, price reductions.

3 hours ago, patty1955 said:

Do you have anything on the April 7, 2022 Transpacific?

Not much booked at all yet in cabins below Owners, Classic & Deluxe which are not available - 

3 hours ago, caymancouple said:

Wow, good info.  How about the July 10th out of SXM.  Thanks

 

July 10 - also plenty of availability.  8 Cabins in top 3 cats - owners, classic, deluxe.  7+ in each of five cats - 2 balconies & 3 oceanviews, 6 cabins in other cabin cats.

156 total Cabins for yacht ships (lengthened). For our sailing, there are 4 categories with 7+ available, with some sold out, and all the other categories (including up to Owners, there are 14 total). At least 42 empty, so possibly have room for 84 pax to book to 100%. Windstar told me they would be maxing out at 80% availability for the first 4 sailings, but might be able to open up more cabins by August. 80% of 156 total cabins = 124 cabins approx. can be sold, leaving 32 needing to be vacant.

More availability on 7/24 - 6 Cats w 7+,  all others add up to 12 cabins. More than 54 cabins available to 100% Cap or 22 to 80%.

Anymore sailing dates you may wish to know? Or specific cabin category? 

All cruise lines are being careful to follow CDC regulations and err on the side of safety. 

As for pricing, the RT St. Maarten sailings have been on 7 for 7 multiple times in the last month, so they are doing their best to get them sold. It is highly unlikely anyone will receive an upgrade even if there are vacant cabins. If anyone is interested in upgrading, be prepared to pay the current list price for the category, unless you are at level 3 or 4. Lines have already lost so much money over the last 16 months and they are not giving anything away probably for the next two years anyway.

Can anyone offer any insight or recommendations on the logistics of sailing out of Colon, Panama? We will likely fly into Panama City the night before, arriving around 8:30PM. It appears to be about 1.5 hours between Panama City & Colon & I understand Colon is not so great...? Does anyone have any recommended areas or favorite hotels in Panama City? Would a particular area be easier considering that we are only there a very short time? Would like to try to find a day tour that might show us a bit of Panama City; possibly the Canal & then drop us in Colon if possible.....

Can't help you, but we will be on this sailing as second leg of B2B starting 3/10 from Puerto Caldera, CR - hope to see you on board.

As many times as I have signed up for the 7 for 7, I never get it emailed to me. I usually look for it on Windstar website. I cannot find it this week. Am I missing it or is it gone?

If you still haven't booked, here's a link through tomorrow: https://www.windstarcruises.com/find-cruise/?specials=79&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_content=trade-top-button-link&utm_campaign=17-0184_7-for-7_v34-trade

Thinking about the Sea Breeze in March 2018. How long will it take me to travel from San Jose to Puerto Caldera port? Then on the flip side how long to travel from Colon to Tocumen Intl. (PTY) airport? Also, would you recommend a taxi or private car? Thanks in advance for any advice.

We are on the Star Breeze March 10 sailing arriving the 9th to stay at the Marriott and I was looking for info on transportation from airport to the Marriott (Windstar's go to hotel in San Jose). It doesn't look that far on the map; however, they want $69pp transfer, so will check with drivercostarica. We did book the transfer from hotel to port with Windstar. Anyone else on same sailing?

Can anyone tell me where the power outlets (not USB) are in relation to the beds in a Cat 4 cabin on Royal Clipper? I ask because my partner needs to use a CPAP machine every night, and we wonder whether we will need to take a long extension lead. Thanks.

We sailed her two years ago in the Caribbean - first off, they use European 220v plugs and there were a couple near one side of the bed - the other side is flush against the wall. You can borrow an adaptor from the sloop shop/guest services. I don't remember if there are any other ones, but there is a lamp on the desk, so there may be one there. Enjoy an authentic sailing clipper - she is a beauty and we are sailing the Star Flyer in less than 3 weeks in the Adriatic/Med, but her outlets are American 110v. Don't understand why, but not complaining. My husband has CPAP also. You could take a power strip, but will still need an adaptor.

We have just booked with the Royal Clipper in the mediterranean for September this year. Although we have cruised many times, we have never taken a sailing ship. Can you give us any recommendations, that might help us to better prepare ourselves for this new adventure?

We loved our Royal Clipper sailing in January 2015 in the Caribbean, so much that we are sailing Star Flyer in October 2017 in the Adriatic/Med. for 15 days. Please feel free to read my Cruise Critic review. I will guess that since you have not taken a sailing ship, you are inquiring about general info. First of all, I will say that I have heard that Mediterranean cruises will have more of an international passenger list with perhaps French, Italian, German, Spanish, and varying English speaking people from UK, Australia, New Zealand and probably few Americans. We have booked the Star Flyer anticipating that to be the case for our cruise. The Royal Clipper is currently the lines flagship and the largest. We love the casual ambiance (country club casual for dinner and shorts are permitted in the dining room for lunch and breakfast which are buffet style). Come anytime to eat during the hours of service and choose your table. Be prepared for tendering to ports frequently as some ports don't have large docks and others will have larger ships at the docks. Both boats operate in each direction simultaneously. The marina aft is great for water sports - kayaks, etc. and swimming and is available at most ports. Snorkel gear is provided. Rooms generally have plenty of storage but some staterooms have different layouts and most lower categories do not have a lot of square footage (less than 135). Portholes are small but allow plenty of daylight. There are 3 swimming pools and many people are topside during sailing hours for conversation as well as entertainment at the bar area. Plenty of loungers and people like to hang out at the bridge area and assist crew in lowering/raising sails and there are times to climb to the crows nest (my favorite part for the great views). Absolutely be prepared for water spilling over the shower curb as the curtain does not touch the floor (unless that has changed); there is a drain in the bathroom outside of the shower to handle the overflow, but the floor gets completely wet if showering while sailing so don't put bath mat down til ready to exit. We showered while anchored or in port when we could. There is a lot of info on their website as well.

As for inquiring about #217, we had #248 which was midship, and we noticed that the floor starts to ramp up slightly in the hall at about the location of #217, but I believe you are far enough towards midship that you will not have a lot of swaying

That's exceptionally generous of you to write down thoughts and recount in such detail your experience. I have been quite caught up in trying to make a decision, as flying to Athens from Seattle (and the reverse) is not so easy, and I'm quite sensitive to temperature, although I suppose there must be a breeze coming off the sea even when the ship is docked at port.

 

It's either the Star Flyer or Azamara in October. Difficult to decide. I would October would be much more pleasant, and having a gym aboard is also another plus. I'm not sure if there are deck chairs, or if the decks are designed there only for people with verandas. The anonymity of being in a group of almost 700 is rather nice, too, as opposed to the 160+ at the Star Clipper.

 

Two very different experiences...

Excuse me if I chime in here - My husband and I have sailed the Royal Clipper January 2015 in the Caribbean and are scheduled for a 15-day Venice to Malta this October 7, 2017 on Star Flyer. We have seen most Caribbean islands multiple times and this had been our first in the Grenadines area which is now our favorite part of the Caribbean. The main thing I want to reinforce is that it is a very different actual sailing experience as opposed to the Azamara cruise. We enjoy the more casual ambiance with the sailing ship, plus the ports visited are smaller and more unusual; hence our choice on Star Flyer. We have traveled multiple times in this general Adriatic/Med area but wanted to do it on a sailing vessel to reach smaller, less visited ports, especially Greek ports. We have sailed both Azamara ships in the Caribbean prior to their classification as club cruises. The amenities and overall experience is as mentioned very different, though we love the former Renaissance ships now sailing under several cruise line flags. We also chose October as we are hoping there will be fewer European passengers and that possibly the ship will not sail full as it is much smaller than the Royal which had 179 on our sailing. I have tried to set up one of these roll calls in March for our Star Flyer, but no response thus far so it will probably not have many Americans aboard. For those that can give us more info on Star Flyer and/or ports, please feel free to post here or the link at Star Clippers Star Flyer 07 October - 22 October 2017. Personally, I am looking forward to sailing on the upcoming new Star Clippers vessel to begin sailing December 2017. :D

When we booked a couple of months ago, Star Clippers sent me a link to: ROYAL_CLIPPER_GRENADINE_2014_15.pdf for the excursions in an email. When I typed it into a browser now, it did not copy/paste, but go to their website and then copy the above pdf and perhaps you can get it; if not, call and ask them to email the link to you. :)

Hi all, just wondering if the Cat 6 cabins on the Royal Clipper are all the same size. On the deck plan, Cabin 212 appears slightly larger than the others but not sure if the drawing is 100% accurate. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Travelinguy probably knows best as I haven't actually traveled on the Royal Clipper, but when I inquired via phone as to the sizes of the rooms, I was told cat. 5 is 118 sq. ft. and cat 4 is 124 sq. ft. You can call their 800 # and inquire as to the size. I noticed that #232 is single bed only and the other cat 6 cabins have fixed double bed. We are in cat 3 which is only 145 sq. ft. (and cat 2 as well)

Picked this up on another thread for those needing conversion rate:

Most of your stops use the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is fixed to be US$2.70.

The Barbados Dollar is fixed to be US$2.00

I see you have started your roll call for your sailing which is about 6 weeks prior to ours and JoBake is continuing comments -- you two must be great friends even though you live far away in Europe. Still have no new sailors on our sailing so please continue to post there if you think we would be interested in information. :)

Sent from my MZ609 using Forums mobile app

Mimi A - when the RC calls at Souffriere they usually take (weather permitting) those passengers who are interested on a RIB to where a beach meets the foot of one of the Pitons as it drops down in to the sea. The snorkelling there is the best I have ever had! A land tour may be offered taking in some aspects of the Pitons. Marigot Bay ( a small but attractive area) is well known to yachtsmen as a haven in which to shelter from storms and, thus, is a great destination for yachties, even "in season". The music that is played at each sailaway is, as indicated by muskatnuss, Vangelis 1492 The Conquest of Paradise - which is also known as "Columbus" !!!.

 

:D Sounds wonderful! What is a RIB? I am guessing "they" refers to the Clippers staff. I have never seen the Pitons up close in the two previous visits to St. Lucia and I am excited to be able to snorkel there as well. In our last visit, we did a snuba (snorkeling/scuba) excursion at Pigeon National Park and the first time, we did a drive around plus visit the town at the main docking area in Castries. Soufriere will be new to us. Thanks for all your tips as I definitely want to see the best snorkeling available as I plan to get my money's worth (everyday if possible). :)

Jo!!! You forgot the Champagne at Sailaway. I love to stand there, listen to Vangelis and watch the Sails as I sip a glass of Schampus ( as we say here). Tear-jerking!!! Yes!!! :o

 

I see you are quite accomplished with Star Clippers -- I hope you continue to post on this forum any info you think would be helpful. THANKS MUCH.

I found this list of port times on another forum I believe from JoBake - thanks.

Saturday - Barbados All aboard 21.30 Sailaway 22.00

Sunday - Union Island / Chatham Bay Grenadines. Arrival 12.00. Last Tender (back to the ship) 16.30. Sailaway 17.00

Monday - Grenada - St. Georges Arrival 12.00 All on board 23.00. Sailaway 23.45

Tuesday - Tobago Cays - Arrival 09.30. Last Tender 16.30. Sailaway 17.00

Wednesday - St Vincent and Bequia. Arrival Kingstown, St. Vincent 08.00. Last Tender 12.00. Departure 12.30....... Admiralty Bay Bequia Arrival 14.00. Last Tender (18.00 Beach. 18.30 Port). Sailaway 19.00

Thursday - Martinique. Fort de France arrival 08.00 Last Gangway 11.30 Departure 12.00. Anse d'Arlet - Arrival 13.00 Last Tender (18.00 Beach. 18.30 Port) Sailaway 19.00.

Friday - St. Lucia. Marigot Bay Arrival 07.30 Last Tender 11.30 Departure 12.00. Soufriere Arrival 13.00 Last Tender 16.30 Sailaway 17.00

Saturday - Barbados - Arrival 07.00 :)

It appears as though this is considered a Roll Call thread as Star Clippers has a link under other cruise lines from "P-Z" -- I have cut & paste what I did on the attempted Roll Call page on my other thread and post here and we will use this thread. Not sure if I can delete the other thread I started earlier.

So this is the ROLL CALL for the Jan. 24, 2015 sailing to the Grenadines from Barbados on the Royal Clipper -- please post if you are going. I love to discuss with future pax things to do in ports, past cruising experience, favorite ports, etc.

I'll start by saying my husband and I are from western PA and are fairly frequent (about every 9 months or so) cruisers. We are looking for something a little different; hence, Royal Clipper sailing yacht. I personally am SSSSOOOOO looking forward to this cruise due to its nature and also to see the beautiful Grenadines. Our last cruise was in April on Celebrity Summit from San Juan and it was our first visit to Grenada (we also love Celebrity and smaller cruise ships). We want to return there as well as St. Lucia (I have not been able to actually see the Pitons on our previous visits there), Martinique and Barbados and see all of the Grenadine islands we are scheduled to stop at. We love port-intensive itineraries and the southern Caribbean in general and of course we love to get away from PA winters in January or February. We are avid snorkelers so I plan to be in the water most everyday. We are in our early to mid 60s (Dave's 64th birthday is this Friday 9/12 and he is still employed full-time); I have retired.

Please feel free to post whatever is on your mind and we will be happy to answer questions if we can (this will be my 21st cruise and my first was when I was 8 years old sailing for a month from NYC down the east coast of S. America including some Caribbean on the SS Brazil).

Mimi A - nice to see that you have opted for the RC. As it is your first time on the RC perhaps I could let you have one or thoughts to get you started? Boarding usually starts at 4.00 p.m. and the compulsory lifeboat drill may be around 6.00 p.m. Dinner starts at 7.30 p.m. and I suggest that you go in to dinner promptly and leave by about 9.45 p.m. Then make your way up to the open part of the bridge ready for sailaway at 10.00 p.m. The first sails will be being raised as the ship leaves the Port. Listen as well as watch.

 

Sailaway. Imagine this:- a warm tropical breeze, the stars shining above, tens of thousands of square feet of sail above you and what you hear when "listening". Yes - that will be you there - it can be quite emotional!!

 

Thank you JOBAKE for all your comments - I have spent the last 24 hours viewing multiple YouTube videos of the Royal Clipper and am quite aware of the music and that the other sailaways are usually at sunset at the other ports. In fact I have teared up while watching these videos as I am in great anticipation of the upcoming cruise and I don't know how I can wait 4 months!!!!! It will go by quickly as the last months before a cruise usually do and so much will happen between now and then with the holidays, various birthdays, etc. I thirst for info and do a lot of research prior to my cruises and my husband says I am obsessive to that end. Please join me on the new thread for the Roll Call I have set up with further comments - you will be welcome. :) Enjoy your sailing to the Windwards in February.

We have a hold on this sailing, but don't see anyone else posting a roll call for it - trying to decide between this and Wind Star. Any comments?

I have started a ROLL CALL on this same forum (different thread) today. Please start posting on that one entitled January 24, 2015 Royal Clipper ROLL CALL as we have completed our deposit on that cruise.

Muskatnuss Please post a review of your cruise on cruise Critic as I want to get your ideas.

Sent from my MZ609 using Forums mobile app

Thanks for your opinion on the two lines -- we have decided to go ahead with our deposit on Clippers on Monday and am looking forward to a true "sailing experience " as I want to climb the mast and get up on the crows Nest. We are looking forward to the camaraderie with other pax and also the view at night below the water line at the fish illuminated by the ship in some locales. This will be my 21st cruise and I am always excited about upcoming cruises but this will be a new experience and I am so looking forward to this one. I may start a roll call for this sailing date

as I truly want to converse with others on the sailing.

Sent from my MZ609 using Forums mobile app

Hi all,

Just a quick report from my Grenadines cruise on 25th Jan 2014.

What a wonderful and different cruising experience!

You do have to go with a laid back attitude, you are on holiday after all. This is not a military operation like the big cruise ships, so timings etc can change.

 

Embarkation- very easy as mentioned previously.

 

Rooms- this is a sailing vessel and rooms do vary. If you are unhappy let the hotel manager know, he can move you to a different room in the same price band if they are available. We had no issues but it was amazing to hear some of the petty complaints about rooms not being big enough!

 

Breakfast and Lunch is buffet so you can turn up at any time it is running and sit wherever you want.

Tea, coffee and water is freely available all day long.

Dinner is usually from 7.30 and it is better to turn up at this time as it is a little more formal with waiter/waitress service.

 

Excursions- we never did the RC excursions as it was easier to do a taxi tour and cheaper. Quite a few people found the tours rushed. Most of the time we were the only ship in port so you could haggle the prices down, and if you shared with another couple it was cheaper again.

 

Grenada- lovely island, definitely do a taxi tour but research where you would like to go.

Tobago Cays- very easy to go for a snorkel with the turtles $15 water taxis off the beach but not if the waves are choppy.

Beach bar-b-que fantastic and lookout for Iguanas, they are amazing!

St Vincent- the town feels a bit rough so do a 1-2 hour taxi tour visiting the fort and mesopotamia valley. Nearly everyone that went into town came back within 1 hour so we were glad we viewed the island.

Bequia- good for a lazy afternoon, beach or shopping or sightseeing

St Lucia-the best island for us by far.We did a taxi tour with Kimbert from phv tours and we started in Marigot Bay and met up with the ship in Souffriere, really great day, really lovely guide.

Martinique- visit the Balata gardens, they are beautiful. The ship's tour was very rushed apparently so we were glad we did this on our own. The main town was no different to home just a cosmopolitan shopping area if you like shopping but the island is beautiful.

Barbados- lovely island and lots to do depending on personal taste.

 

Ship's activities- snorkelling at the base of the pitons- the best- go on the 2 o'clock schedule as you are more likely to get a full hour but 40mins was plenty as you saw so much.

Watersports and diving, the waves were a bit choppy this trip so not much was offered but the snorkel gear which you kept all week was great for the beach days.

Mast climbing was offered several times in the week.

Spa-book in for the last day as prices are slashed.

 

Disembarkation-again very easy but we got off early before everyone started to queue for immigration!

 

All in all, a fantastic trip, and I would love to do costa rica or cuba with star clippers.

 

Shilu

Thank you for posting this informative summary of your cruise earlier this year - we are planning to go the same time next year (Jan. 24) and I have a few questions regarding your comments. We have been to St. Lucia before on larger cruise ships, but have not been to Soufriere. You note that snorkeling is excellent and that you also went on a taxi w/phv tours -- did you prearrange this? I definitely want to snorkel and see that port but also want to see what's in Marigot.

We were just in Grenada this past March and took an island (inland) tour which included a waterfall and Grand Etang Park so I want to snorkel there --- is there snorkeling other than the place where the concrete figurines were placed underwater?

St Vincent - I see you took an island tour -- I assume you got a taxi at the port; and Bequia -- what's to sightsee?

It appears you did not take any ship excursions, but had a great time with your taxis and local tours.

Thanks again for the info. You can email me at mimi underscore msa05 at yahoo dot com.