albertamom

We are doing this cruise in the new year.  I'll be excitedly following along! 🙂 

Thank you so much for sharing your journey.  We are doing Auckland-Bali in 2024, so I'm very interested in hearing about your experience. 😃

16 hours ago, grobma said:

There was one mention of it in this thread back in February but because a) things change, b) I want to make sure, and c) I just love this thread so appreciate the chance to bump it, I wanted to ask again:

 

Is the Biosteel sport drink shown on bar menus included in the Premium Plus plan? The plan literature says "energy drink" are included, but that usually refers to Red Bull. Thanks!

The Biosteel was included for us on the Prima two weeks ago.  👍

I've loved your review, @BirdTravels!  Is there a jogging track onboard?

5 minutes ago, ollienbertsmum said:

 

 

As has been pointed out, you do not get directly from train to ship.  We had a shuttle booked, maybe if you stay overnight by the time you return you will be too late for the shuttle.  However you will have time to look for a taxi/bus.  You won’t have any stress about the ship leaving without you so you can eat drink and make merry and take advantage of an overnight.  I have been on multiple western med cruises and never had one.

We feel very lucky to have an overnight, so want to take full advantage. Thanks for all the info. Merrymaking is definitely on the agenda!  😃

4 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

You cannot walk from the ship in Livorno, it's a huge industrial port and you are required to use the shuttle buses or a taxi/car service to get around.

 

How are you thinking about using your two days in the area?

That’s good to know, about the port. Thank you. 
 

We plan to do Pisa one day and a Tuscany wine tour the other. 😃

6 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

We spent the day walking around Livorno on one of our trips.  We did get the shuttle in though.  Not sure what was near the port, but a very walkable town.  Saying that, I think if I had the luxury of overnighting in Livorno, I would be more likely to want to visit Florence and have time to enjoy an early supper after the crowds had gone.   There are regular trains back to the ship. 

I hadn’t thought about that!  I’ll look into the trains. Thanks! 😃

We are overnighting in Livorno on Viking, and are thinking that we might like to have dinner ashore.  Are there any recommendations for dining near the port?  Is the area walkable?

4 hours ago, aaroncstrong said:

Thank you @albertamomfor asking to be convinced! Previously (last month) I sailed on NCL in the Haven. It was a great experience, but reading everything above about Windstar is making me rethink our plans on NCL. We do have a couple of NCL Cruise Next certificates so it'll be in our future plans, but perhaps we will try Windstar first...like this fall if only I could convince my husband who controls our budget. 🙂

The Haven on NCL is really special, but after trying Viking (again, which we love), we are really sold on the smaller ships.  I absolutely love everything I've heard about Windstar, and am quite sure we'll try it as soon as we can.  

Good luck convincing your hubby! 🤞

4 hours ago, Ski Mom 2 said:

We discovered Windstar on our Panama Canal cruise in 2015 and haven't looked back! We love many things about the line, here are just a few...

 

We love port intensive itineraries. We did a back2back2back in the Mediterranean in the fall of 2018; 25 days with only 2 sea days! We love waking up every day in a new, small port where we can choose to wander around the old town finding the perfect spot for lunch with the locals, drinking the wine, doing a little shopping, and a bit of sightseeing.

 

We love coming back to the ship and having cocktails with new and old friends, having dinner and catching up. The company we keep is the entertainment; we haven't missed the big shows, the comedian, etc. And I like the casualness of the dress; I like wearing my cute dresses to dinner (no heels and hose for me)  and my husband loves not having to wear a coat and tie.

 

We love that on every Windstar cruise we have made new friends for life. Passengers that enjoy the travel, the food, the drink, the locals, the sights and can appreciate how lucky we all are that we can experience the world together.

 

We love the crew on board. They know your name by day 2. We have sailed on 3 separate occasions with a crew member we first met doing the Panama Canal cruise. Two years later he not only remembered us by name but asked about our sons who were on the Panama Canal cruise with us but not on that current one. They are all kind, compassionate and will go out of their way to make your cruise and your day a better one. We have had lovely captains who took the time to greet us when we were out and about the ship. The hotel manager and the dining managers have been outstanding as has our wine sommeliers. Going up to the bridge late at night to see how it works and having the stars explained to us has been amazing.

 

We love the food and the choices we are given. We have asked for dinner options be served as appetizers when joined by friends at the table. We love being able to bring our own wine and being served without a hitch in the dining room and other venues.

 

We love the fact on our back2back2back the upgrade fairy visited us prior to sailing and we got to experience a suite on Wind Surf that gave us 2 bathrooms for those 25 days (and saved our marriage too!) 😄

 

We love to watch the sails go up at sail away while the music plays and we share a moment with each other and friends. It is a spectacular moment to behold.

 

We love the size of the ships and don't ever want to sail on a mega ship ever again!

 

We can't wait to sail in September to Italy and Croatia aboard Wind Surf; it will feel like coming home!

 

Thank you for all the details!  I love absolutely everything you mentioned! ❤️

4 hours ago, SailingSteve77 said:

Albertamom  -

 

We have't sailing on Windstar's motor yachts yet, but we love the Wind Surf (5 sailings thus far).  One of the most romantic events on the Wind Surf is the Sail Away.  

 

Absolutely beautiful!  Thank you for sharing.  🥰

We were on the Breakaway two years ago, and will not cruise on it again for this very reason.  I don't know why it seems worse than other ships, but in our experience it definitely was.

We had reservations at Le Bistro and they wanted to seat us "outside", which is right at the base of the staircase on Deck 6.  The smoke smell was so bad, that I could not possibly imagine eating there, so we chose to wait until they had a table "inside" the restaurant.  That really is a terrible spot for a specialty restaurant.

12 hours ago, neverlaysup said:

We have primarily sailed Celebrity over the years. Our first Windstar experience was last month on a 14 day cruise. It was a completely different experience than the big box cruise lines. Upon embarkation, the Captain (Simon) and Hotel Manager (Andreas) met us at the gangway to welcome us aboard. The Captain even took our bags and carried them on board for us!! With less that 150 passengers of our first 7 days and about 170 the next 7, the ship was uncrowded and super peaceful. We were able to sit and have coffee and conversation with the senior officers on a daily basis, it was fantastic. No two pages of activities each day, no casino....just plenty of loungers and open space to sit and relax if not on shore. I still like the big ship experience but for the most part, we are going to move over to Windstar and other small ships.

That sounds absolutely perfect to me!  🥰

11 minutes ago, Babr said:

But not laundry, correct?  It may have been included at one time. I do not see it in the current offering.

 

Windstar provides the experience you describe as your preferred way to cruise, but I find the shoreside customer service lacking. Perhaps it is because they are a smaller line and lack the depth of resources, but many times I find the customer service agents to be uninformed. Even the pre-cruise documents appear to be boiler plate without specific information about the itinerary, just an admonition to be aware of local regulation and requirements. 

I don't see laundry listed as well.  Thank you for your comment.  I have generally found my fellow Cruisecritic members to be way more informative than any customer service agents.  I am so grateful for everything that I have learned over the years, and so far the Windstar board is not letting me down.  😀👍

edit:  I was just looking through the details of a 14 day Panama Canal to Bridgetown and it says that there is complimentary daily laundry service.  🤷‍♀️

I love your blog!  Thank you for sharing it.  I am strongly considering booking our first cruise on Windstar, and you have given me a push! 😃

4 hours ago, 6rugrats said:

Which package?  If it's the one the includes laundry, tips, wifi and the drinks package, as long as you choose what's allowed in the drink package, no, there won't be any bill at the end but spa/excursion/gift shop purchases.

 

I have been on all the Windstar ships, including the departed Wind Song.  I dislike the Windsurf.  My favorite ship is the Wind Star, but the motor yachts do have larger rooms and nicer bathrooms.

When I look on the website it gives me the price for "cruise only" and "all-inclusive", which says wifi, unlimited drinks and gratuities.  I love that there are no hidden costs.

What is it that you do not like about the Windsurf?  Conversely, why is the Wind Star your favourite?

4 hours ago, Strenz said:

We love the sailing ships. We have sailed on them 26 times only one time with the motor yacht which we liked but our hearts  are in the sails. This is what we love :  Huge amounts of deck space you can always find your corner, WS is elegant without being ostentatious, the crew is spectacular, small harbors, the food has great choices, great quality without, my prejudice , giant buffets, food is my hobby and passion and I am simply not a buffet person, we love the wind, when the engines stop and we are only under sail it is truly a dream come true for us, we really love the small size and in the sail boats we do not care that  there is no balcony because we love deck living.  Cabins are lovely well thought out, not huge, plenty of storage, great laundry service, the interiors are very pretty not over the top more of a sailing boat style.  It truly fits us. I hope you give WS a try and like it as much as we do. Happy Sailing

Can't talk about drink package or WI-FI, not big drinkers and when we are on we want to be in the moment so we do not use WI-FI. 

 

Thank you SO much!  It sounds really, really lovely. 🥰

If you book the all-inclusive package, will there really be no other charges onboard (other than shore excursions or gift shop purchases)?

7 minutes ago, RemPuck said:

There are two room layouts - Original and "Star." The Star categories were added during the stretch (cut the ship in half, pull the pieces apart, add a new section containing 50 additional staterooms plus additional public spaces, etc).  The original layout has the bed when you enter the room and then the sitting area near the windows/French balcony.  The new rooms are reversed, with the sitting area as you walk in and the bed nearer the window.

 

For us, sliding the windows open while sitting on the sofa/chairs is like being outdoors.  I am not sure I'd feel the same if the bed were at the door and the sitting area were across the room.

 

(The rooms are identical in size and all rooms have new bathrooms; only the layout is different.)

 

The small size of the ships makes meeting people very easy and the crew knows your name (and preferences/drinks) by the second dinner on board.  We've done one cruise each, Star Breeze (pre-stretch) and Wind Surf (in a suite) and have another Star Breeze cruise booked.  The Wind Surf rooms were small (other than the suites) and without the French doors, felt small.  But (unless confided to the room for isolation, as we were unfortunately for part of our trip), the amount of time spent in the room is limited.  There are great open spaces around the ship, from multiple outdoor decks (sun and shade) to lounges and bars.

 

 

Thank you so much!  I am thinking the same thing, that having the sitting area by the doors would be perfect! 

Moving from NCL to Viking, I LOVE how small the ship seems and how attentive the staff are.  I can imagine being blown away again by the difference between Viking and Windstar.

5 minutes ago, Babr said:

The balconies are only French balconies - enough room to open the door and peek out. Quiet time alone will be inside.

I see that on the videos I've found.  At least we can open up the doors and see and hear the ocean, enjoying the fresh air.  🙂

Hello!  We have cruised many times on NCL.  Since we became empty nesters, we discovered Viking Ocean and absolutely love it.  I'm becoming more and more tempted by Windstar.  I'm not sure if we would like the sailing yachts, because of the lack of balconies, but the motor yachts look inviting.

We love good food, good wine and whiskey, interesting ports, good conversation, but also like our quiet alone time (hence why we love balconies).  

Why do you love Windstar?  Which yachts do you love the most?  Do your best to convince me to jump ship! 😁

We were on the Bliss in February.  As platinum members, we received $25 OBC per cabin (not each), but only after we asked about booking the Behind the Scenes tour onboard.  They don't automatically apply it.

7 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

 

 

 

 

I repeat parts of my first reply in different wording then:

The Champagne Bar is unfortunately "converted"  to a regular bar in all aspects except the name, and has THE SAME BAR MENU as the bars "next door".

 

I have been cruising with NCL regularly since 2003 and the Champagne Bar used to be my favorite bar on every ship.  But after they stopped having a special "champagne menu", I find it to be just another bar and nothing special. 

 

Except that on the Jewel class ships it is usually also the "piano bar" onboard (which is nice, but still without a Champagne Bar menu).

 

Gotcha!  I had hoped that since the Gem hasn't been refurbished yet, it would still exist in its former glory.  It would've been one plus to sailing on a well-worn ship.  ☹️

4 hours ago, juju2454 said:

Hello,  

 we will be on the Gem in December,  and I have read most of the bar menus on here and other pages, but have not found one for the Champagne bar on Gem.

 

Is there one I just haven't found?  Is there one at all?  I have tried a search and well came up with every bar but that one and even those that did come up weren't helpful, sadly.    But I have those all saved  😉 

Anyone got a clue where to find one for Magnum champagne Bar?? 

 

Tia

I've been looking for the same thing.  Hopefully one turns up!  We are cruising just after you, in January.

I'm eagerly following along!  We're booked on the Gem next January.  Great tip about taking a picture of your suitcases.  I hope yours turns up.