Strenz

Hi, We always arrive 2-3 days before a cruise with Windstar, because our Caribbean Windstar Cruises are always in the winter and we are from the Northeast. After the big hurricane a few years ago The Divi rebuilt and we really like it especially with Covid times because you can dine 100% of the time outside: it is near the dock, nice beach, great pools, outside bar and 2 outside lunch places, an evening restaurant that you can reserve and outside table and good food, like the Wind Surf it fits us. We also have stayed in Oyster Bay which is a semi island, before Covid it had three independent restaurants, nice beach and good pool. We did not want to rent a car. Philipsburg is midway between Oyster Bay and the airport. We have also stayed at the Holland House which is very close to the dock, nice beach, lovely restaurant, no pool even though it is in the town the way it is build it is quiet. You do need a beach side room. On the French side further away is the Grande Clase Beach area, an area that was completely rebuild, hotels, lovely restaurants. About a $40 cab ride to the dock. We have been very happy with the Divi, won't break the bank, I am a swimmer so I love the pool and the beach. Enjoy, great cruise. Happy Sailing.

Congratulation. I hope you have a happy, healthy life together. Good Start selection and the Spirit as well. We think Tahiti and the Laguna screams out sails. The beautiful reflections bouncing off the hills into the water. Sailing under a profound umbrella of stars at night. If you love nature and raw beauty you will love Tahiti. We completed the Sicilian Splendors a few weeks ago and we had a 4.5 hour sail along the Amalfi Coast as beautiful as that sail was, we both decided that Tahiti beat it in beauty. Tahiti first and Amalfi second. Truly two sailing cruise experiences made for sails. This is after 25 sailing cruises with Windstar Cruises. We did the WS's first Tahiti cruise back in 2014, on the Spirit after completing the Pacific crossing, we stayed onboard. We swam with the sharks and the string rays, we did Michael Pool's Spinner dolphin excursion fascinating, on the Island of Huahine we saw the blue eyed eels, the ancient Maraes, " relatives " of the Moais on Easter Island we had seen, great museum there too, only thing left are the stands because the statues were built of wood unlike on Easter Island they were rock. Fascinating. We learned, swam, snorkeled, experienced, was great.Have a grand time. Happy Sailing.

We like Deck one, smoother sail,if you are prone to any kind of seasickness you want to be on deck one middle. However, we like being forward on either deck because when we go into port to dock you can still use the elevator. We do not get sea sick so we like being forward. Happy Sailing

Love your postings. I agree on a trans ocean journey there are not enough hours in the day to do lots of " nothings ". Staring at the sea, reading, napping, leisure feasting, walking laps, exercise in the pool, greeting sunsets and sunrises, joining a trivia game, reminding oneself of the grandeur of the ocean. We never get sick of the Surf and our travels and vacations on her 217 days on her and 17 to come. We always feel fortunate. Enjoy the rest of the crossing, keep up the posting. Thanks Happy Sailing.

How nice of you to write all this. We, here, on Cape Cod can relive our crossings " sans" the huge waves, our three gratefully both ways Atlantic and one to Tahiti were are as if the oceans never had waves, we were indeed lucky. Happy Sailing, WOW 69 luckily people.

We are " go backers ", whether it is the WS cruises up coming 26 th, more than that 25 under sail 1 motor pre stretch, hotels/inn that we love, we will often make detours, restaurants ( sadly we have not eaten inside since 3/13/20 in our home area and only when absolutely necessary on the road or inside on the Surf ) and in traveling and vacations. It is all individual. We adore the Surf, for us if something is off so be it, I sometimes will write WS privately and that goes for all the other places we frequent. Life for us is too short to moan. We appreciate what people try to do for us to make our trips lovely. We feel fortunate to be able to do what we do. Frankly rudeness, moaning over trivia saddens us. People simply need to do what they like: don't like WS don't go, go to a happy place so others can enjoy theirs. Happy Sailing

We have been cruising with WS since 1999. We love it, therefore time and again we go again. I have always said the difference between Seattle and onboard is night and day. Over the years one sees a bit of improvement from the central office but it always manages to fall back, especially now there is Miami and Seattle offices. We just had an OMG incredible cruise 10/6. I wish there central office could be better, does not need to be OMG incredible but it needs to improve. Happy Sailing

We returned Tuesday from Sicilian Splendors, great trip by the way, see my review on CC, we received a very nice canvas bag. Great trip, it was our third time booking it and being able to go: 2020, 21, 22 went! On again over Christmas for 17 days, we can't get enough. Happy Sailing

I do not see the sign as pretentious. I see it as a polite way of stating that dining dress should be a bit nicer than beach/touring wear. If the sign was designed it is probably because people are not paying attention to the dress code in the dining room. Happy Sailing

Highly recommend reading The Path Between the Seas, David McCullough. Having the history made me appreciate such an incredible building feat. We loved that passage with the Wind Star. The smaller ships enabled us to passage the entire canal. We loved going under the Bridge of the Americas, the optical illusions were really fun. We had a terrific guide on the ship that also gave us additional information. I would think the new addition would also be fascinating. Happy Sailing

It is rather odd wording. It does say all departures 2023. Call them it needs to be reworded.

Barry at, I understand it with Mykonos and Santorini and visitors. In all the travels I have done I do not have to see and do what the masses do because my interests are so different. It was very difficult to find that nook on those two islands. Venice for example it can be a nightmare or walk over the next few bridges enchantment. Happy Sailing

We were on the Star in 2013 Istanbul Athens, Santorini and Mykonos were a mess then as well as Rhodes. Massive amounts of tourism. Kusadashi/ Ephesus, Bodrum and sailing through the Dardanelles great. I think it is a sign of the times, times have changed. We are off on 9/28, Wind Surf 10/6, we have heard Italy has been crazy. We will see. I think WS should find other remote lovely ports in Greece, there are so many of them. Those three are simply ruined by over tourism. We have stayed away from the WS Greek ports because generally 2 of those ports are always included. Since we only cruise with WS I would like to go back to Greece. We really like the sailing ships better than the motors. Hope you still had a good time. Happy Sailing.

Thanks good advice. The restrictions should be right up front. Have a Great Cruise.

We are going on our 26 th on 10/6. I was always of the opinion that with the rock bottom cruise price we lose all perks. I was also told this by my agent. We get very generous OBCs with our agent and due to our status lots of other things with what we think the understanding that if we accept the rock bottom price either right before or after we pay in full we lose it all. I am always doing my math. WS has never been clear on this rather strange. I have never received a straight answer. We do love the WS experience obviously, it fits us. Happy Sailing

When we were in Polynesia the Spirit's sails were always up, always glorious. These sailing ships are motor/ sail and the sails act as stabilizers in addition to supporting the motor. Speed is not even thought of, the ships do not have keels. Why would sails be important in the beautiful lagoon? Do not understand the question. Beautiful part of the world to be on a sailing ship. Happy Sailing

Bravo @honumaui. Have a great time. The one and only time on a motor yacht that happened to us, was great. Happy Sailing

I have a different take. We book WS early, flights are always cheaper further out at least that has been our experience, if we are using flying points the point return is always better further out. As time goes on we take advantage of new specials, WS OBC, lower prices, packages, upgrades, and OBC from our travel agent etc. We always get the cancelation fees returned in the form of OBC. We know that after the final payment date the prices go down and if we were to go with that price we would lose our OBC and other perks, but I do the math and almost always including air we come out ahead. We have done this on 27 cruises with WS. We agree with Wilcoam WS simply fits us. Third time trying for Malta in October ( 20,21, fingers still crossed leaving in 2 weeks). Caribbean for Christmas we have no qualms. Happy Sailing all.

You are correct a good time to start private excursions is 9-9:30 if you dock at 8. The excursion folks know and will be there waiting for you. It is not a strict rule that WS excursion folks go first. In our 26 cruises with WS we have never had difficulty getting in a tender first thing in the am if we needed to. We are on the 10/6 and have a few private excursions reserved and I do not expect any issues. Looking forward to this cruise, it is our third time trying. Happy Sailing

We did the first Wind Spirit from Costa Rica to Tahiti. We sailed along the Equator which in seamen's terms is called the "doldrums ", because it is so calm. 19 days of sheer magic. We loved it. We also did the first Tahiti cruise when we got there. Peaceful, restful, bring books. As for clothing and as for never traveling with a checked bag, and the great laundry onboard, I wear mid-calf culottes with a nice top for inside dinners. I have a pair capris I would wear but they are too heavy for my rules on never checking my bags. Have a glorious time. Happy Sailing.

Agree totally with Minidonuts85, we love White Bay, Yost, Gertrude's, the best conk fritters ever. We adore the Holland House, great place to stay and if you are leaving on your flight late the same day as your return, terrific to hang out, have lunch etc. Enjoy. We are on the Surf 12/10 for 17 days. Happy Sailing

We have traveled the world, we are trilingual, we lived in Europe, my husband is not an American and I am a talker, I talk to anyone because I love interaction and to learn. When I am in a country where I can converse in the language of the country, I speak only that language, always unless the person requests one of the other 2 languages I speak to learn. I have never, ever heard of local being upset over a friend, family member or person on the street receiving a lovely tip for doing a good job. Generosity is something I am proud of. By the way are not wealthy either. Happy Sailing

Because I tend to be generous and appreciate good service and kindness I truly resent being categorized in being a typical tourist. I often get that attitude because we like to cruise on the Wind Surf. We cruise on the Surf because we love sailing and being on the water. We do not like driving. We are not group tour people, my interests are different. On WS, since 1999, we always leave a thank you with money in it for the cabin service, if we have a person who repeatedly has gone out of their way with kindness either bar, table servers we hand them a tip and a thank you note at the end of the trip, for the Yacht Club people who make our lattes every morning twice, we leave a thank you and an envelop to share. At no time ever have we ever felt people expect that from us. How ridiculous to even imply that. It is reciprocal kindness, people appreciating people. I have found recently on Wind Surf they mix the servers up more, you are not as likely to have the same people all the time. There is a daily gratuities charge on your ship board account. Happy Sailing

We have completed 3 crossings, 2 Atlantic and 1 Pacific. Not having WI-FI was fine, Sudoku, you get a sheet everyday including NYT crossword, a mini newspaper in the middle of the ocean there is not much connection anyway. The Ship's connection anyway is always poor. Bring a few good books, they are more activities on crossing than on cruises, look out at the ocean, make friends, write a diary. We always feel there is so much to do without doing much! Appreciate life without being tied to the internet at all times. Have a great cruise, we love crossings, Happy Sailing and Enjoy.

Going on the Surf 10/6, would love to know how the other ships have had much covid: Are people masking inside? On the excursions? Thanks all. Happy Sailing