r&rd

The Maitre d’ is Sharat.

Everything is going perfectly so far. The ship is sailing with 202 guests but I hear it will be fuller next sailing. We are in Limon and did the canal tour - saw lots of wildlife - howler monkeys, sloths, iguanas, lizards, birds. People who did the rain forest extravaganza also loved their tour. I’ll give updates as we sail along!

We have done the Costa Rica/Panama cruise nine times and have probably done all of the excursions. All of them were fine. Probably my favorites are Monkey island (there was a lot of wildlife but we especially like being in a small boat in the middle of the canal); zip lining, River float, Manuel Antonio Park, Mangrove tours. It just depends on your interest and ability level.

The ships are virtually identical. The only difference is the Wind Star has a small covered deck behind the lounge. We like to sit in this area going through the canal to stay out of the direct sun. But other than that choose the itinerary or dates that work for you.

Middle - All suites with “Star” are new (star ocean view, Star balcony). It is the section directly above the Amphora dining room

Windstar will give you a disembarkation form about half way through the cruise and always provide an airport transportation option. The excursions listed on the website will be add ons to the airport or hotel transportation option. Fuerte Amador is only about 20-30 minutes from the airport.

Just a clarification: You can not use non-refundable OBC for gratuities.

Yes, laundry is a good way to use OBC

We were on the Legend for the transatlantic in December. Everything was perfect. I have been on over 40 Windstar cruises and this was one of the best in terms of operations and service. Since the restart of cruising we have been on 5 sailings and there have certainly been some rough edges but the Legend seemed to have it together. Granted it was only about 50% of capacity so that helps. We will be rejoining the ship in march for the Fuerte Amador to Miami cruise which is currently sailing at about 70% capacity. Since a large portion of the crew embarked in Lisbon after the dry dock and before the crossing, I anticipate most of the crew will still be on the ship with the same quality of service. The captain will be rejoining the ship for the March 18 sailing.

You should be fine. Just check that the end of the cable you plug in to charge is a standard USB end. It’s not so much the device as the charging cable.

There is at least one 110 outlet in the yacht staterooms. If you rely on USB ports make sure the cables for your electronics are USB and not USBc which many of the newer devices come with.

The. Marriott has a shuttle from the airport. The last two times we have had the bell captain at the hotel arrange the transportation for us. We have used different companies in the past but there seems to be no difference in price or experience. The distance is about 1 hour with no traffic and up to 2 hours with traffic (especially on Saturdays and holidays when everyone is heading to the beach). Windstar usually uses this hotel and has their bus leave from there. We meet the Windstar rep the night before and get luggage tags (not that that is important but it saves a minute or two at the port) and then try to leave a few minutes before the Windstar buses leave. If you are sailing on the Wind Star you will need to have all of your luggage hand searched at the port since they do not have scanners and then have the dogs check out the luggage for drugs. This is why we try to get to the port before the buses since the luggage search thing takes so much time. The yachts have their own scanners so they do not hand check all luggage before boarding.

Yes!

Online it currently lists the beer and wine package as $55 and the full package as $65.

We actually stay at the Marriott by the San Jose airport and leave from there - but it is only 5-10 minus away. We have done this cruise 9 times - it's our favorite. The one time we tried flying in the day of the cruise the flight was delayed and with up to a two hour drive to the port we would have missed the ship had it not been delayed because of an earthquake in South America.

I always reserve a driver. it is at least an hour drive and often longer with traffic. The cost of a private driver was about $120 last year. The Windstar transfer will cost you more than that if there are two of you.

Most are 24 hours but there are sometimes exceptions. Some of the Alaska excursions, for example, have a 72 hour cancellation. They will let you know once onboard if any of the excursions need a greater lead time for cancellations.

I always bring a bottle and have it filled with ice and Diet Coke. When on deck the waiters will take the bottle and bring it back filled - no problem.

You either have to call or cancel once you are onboard.

We were on Windstar in an Alaska last July. There were a few college age people but no teens.

Will the price of internet increase with Starlink?

It is offered through Windstar in Moorea.

We had the same experience on the Breeze earlier this year, did not have that experience on the Legend for some reason. We thought the staffing was more than adequate. We will be going back on the Legend in a few week and did call to see how full the sailing was. We were told it is about 60% but capped at 80% which I thought was interesting. I have only been able to get numbers by calling. Occasionally the chat feature will give me that information as well but those are the less trained people who answer simple questions but then tell you to call when it is more complicated. Don’t know that I trust their estimates as much.

Dr. Poole - he’s wonderful!

Both Windstar and Azamara do Iceland intensive itineraries