Joc123

I'm so sorry to hear this. I will never understand or accept execution of anyone under any circumstances. Others, I'm sure will feel differently, just my opinion.

I am in Australia and like you, became very frustrated with the lack of information before our cruise. I could not access the website, sent emails, no reply, no contact in Australia etc but I did use a TA. Fortunately he did manage to get paper preregistration forms which I filled in and he faxed them!

I had no idea what time transfer to the ship was but when I checked into the hotel (which I had booked through WS) all of the information was there. It went smoothly and the cruise was wonderful, but I spent many sleepless nights beforehand, wondering if that would be the case.

Oh, very disappointed to read that the block party is back! It was nowhere to be found on our last two cruises on Sojourn so I assumed it had gone away.

Who was your CD?

The cruise director is Jan Stearman. I gather she is a fan of the block party and lists it as a Seabourn Signature Event!

Thank you Sunprince for your review. We were on the same cruise and I agree with most of your points. The crew were by far the best we have had, and the food great. I particularly liked Chef Neil's freshly made salads for lunch.

We also mostly ate outside, the only time we ate in the restaurant, they lost our order!

We thought the entertainment was ordinary, the singers and dancers below average but the band was good.

We didn't get a whiff of cigarette smoke all cruise.

The touchy subject of children. We were well aware of the family you mentioned, but I must say we had a different experience. The kids were in the pool a bit but I didn't find them to be problem. They are kids and you can't expect them to float around doing breaststroke. I did notice the younger one strongly objecting to something, but his mother put an end to that very quickly. We weren't on deck 7 so it may have been a problem in the passage, I don't know. I do think some people can be a little precious forgetting they are kids and their families have paid their money. We thought the kids on board were very well behaved.

The one thing I would love to see the end of - the block party! It is horrible, the crew hate it (not that they would ever say, but you can tell) and on our deck at least, the passengers hate it. We were the only ones who come out - we only did because we didn't want to be the only ones who didn't come out!

We are currently on Sojourn in the Med (10 days) and the MDR has been closed every day for lunch. The weather is very hot and it is lovely eating outside but it can get crowded at times. The food has been wonderful.

I hope you enjoy the cruise as much as we did. In our opinion it is the only way to do Tahiti. We would go again in a heartbeat.

I find it interesting that tipping is a topic of discussion on several boards at the moment (Seabourn, Silversea,Windstar). I am Australian and tipping is not part of our culture. I appreciate that when in USA I need to tip, however I find I'm never quite sure when, to whom, and how much. This is why I love traveling on lines that have tips INCLUDED. I have found that the crew work hard and mostly are wonderful. This is why I will give to the crew fund. What does a butler or waiter do that is above and beyond the call of duty that deserves an extra tip? It is often stated that the crew know who tips and who doesn't? How? Do they look at the country of origin and think "they are from Australia, they won't tip? We won't go out of our way for them?" I hope not. This is why I find this topic disturbing. If tipping extra becomes the norm on "luxury" lines this will be a game changer for us.

I have stayed out of the tipping debates until now because it is not in our culture and it is something that I find awkward. What I don't understand, is why you think the hostess did an exceptional job and made such a difference to your experience just by finding you a table that you liked. You even say you ate later to make it easier. How is this going above and beyond the call of duty? Isn't this her job?

Slice Salentino says next we will tip the plumber. If my drain is blocked, I would rather tip the plumber than someone who shows me to a table we wanted MOST nights.

I really hope people don't go down this path, it would be a game changer for us.

We did half day tours every day and found that was enough. Time spent on board was usually swimming off the back of the boat, reading on deck or having a nap whilst "watching" a movie. We thought long and hard about the drinks package but decided against it. For a couple it is $116 per day. We spent $30 - $40 per day. That was for a Champagne and a beer before dinner and 1 - 2 glasses of wine each with dinner. It was not worth while for us. If you like cocktails, drink spirits or wine with lunch, it maybe worth your while. I don't think many people signed up for the drinks package on our cruise.

They will happily tell you when and where Internet is available in port. It was not available in every port in Tahiti and as we needed it more often we decided the package would work better for us.

We really didn't find the internet too bad. In fact DH thought it was better than we have experienced on Seabourn. It really depends on time, place and weather. There was one morning when we couldn't connect at all but in the afternoon it was fine.

We really didn't find the internet too bad. In fact DH thought it was better than we have experienced on Seabourn. It really depends on time place and weather.

It has taken us 15 years to get back onboard Windstar. Our first cruise was on Holland America, too big, second one on Windstar, at the time too small, and then we settled on Seabourn. However when we decided on Tahiti as a destination, and after looking at all the options, we decided on Windstar. We were not disappointed.

We arrived in Papeete late in the evening. The transfer from the airport to the hotel went smoothly and we then had 2 nights in Le Meridien (ordinary in our opinion) before our cruise.

The transfer to the yacht went to plan, everyone was on time.

When we arrived at the dock our luggage was opened and inspected, no X-ray for scanning,so there was a bit of a delay but not too bad. We then headed towards the gangway. The Windspirit looked beautiful, and although this was the yacht we had been on previously, we could not remember it all. She is an old girl, but she was gleaming in the sunshine. We knew then that we had made the right decision.

At the top of the gangway we were greeted by the captain and hotel manager (it amazes me how they make you feel you are the only passengers they have ever had onboard even though you know they had seen off a boatload a few hours earlier). We then did the paperwork, had our photos taken, discussed the pros and cons with the various packages and were shown to our cabin. I will call it a cabin and not a stateroom because it is a cabin. It is small with 2 portholes and only just enough room to walk around the bed. The bathroom is definitely 1 person at a time but as we discovered later, the shower had the best water pressure we have had on any ship. The cabin has more than enough storage so although small there was no clutter.

Back to the packages. We looked at the drinks package and decided it was not good value for us. It is $116 per day - we ended up paying $30 - $40 per day!

As it was only 7 days onboard, we decided against the laundry package but we did take the unlimited internet. This was well worth while because the Internet is so unreliable it is easy to use up your time just trying to log on.

Sail away was beautiful, the Captain raised the sails and with classical music playing we were off on our wonderful voyage.

We signed up for snorkelling every day and were not disappointed. The weather was perfect, the water warm and crystal clear and the fish plentiful. We also did the 4x4 tour on Bora Bora which was fantastic. Another interesting tour was the pearl farm. I am now the proud owner of a Tahitian pearl pendent.

The food was consistently good, the dining room is lovely and has a relaxed atmosphere. We tried Candles and this was probably our only slightly disappointing meal. The deck BBQ was the best we have had and the beach lunch and dinner were also great. The amount of effort the crew put into these occasions is amazing.

The crew are fantastic. They genuinely seem to be happy and work such long hours just to keep us happy.

Fellow passengers were interesting and very freindly. The ages ranged from young honeymooners to elderly. A lovely mixture.

All too soon we were back in Papeete and I was being told I really DID have to leave the Windspirit.

No cruise is perfect in every way, but for us, this one was as close as you could get. We are very happy we rediscovered Windstar.

On our recent trip we stayed in 224 and loved the position. It is opposite the stairs which was convenient and there was no noise at all. The only down side to this cabin was when we anchored, which was all but 2 ports, they would half lower a tender and it blocked the view and light from the portholes. Seeing the cabin you are talking about is down further, this may not be a problem for you.

I don't think so. There are two completely separate cabins whose doors open off a sort of vestibule. No door between the two cabins themselves.

I'm not sure which cabins you are referring to. Do you have the numbers and I may be able to help.

I am a Seabourn sailor and have been on the Pride Legend and Breeze many times. I can assure you the tenders are safe. They are old, but the ships are old, there is no getting away from that. If there is a swell it is always going to more difficult getting on and off any tender. As it happens, we have just returned from a trip on the Windspirit in Tahiti (back on WS after 15 years) and loved it. We had to tender all but 2 ports and I found the lifeboat tenders uncomfortable, but the ride is so short, does it really matter? I wouldn't cancel a cruise on that alone. I'm sure the crew are still learning about the "new" ships, what works and what doesn't. They are very different, but lovely. Most Seabourn sailors were sad to see them go.

The GP was never boring when it was in Adelaide !!

We (Australia) have an entry this year - Guy Sebastian. How and why did this happen? I hope it means we are now part of Europe, and we will no longer have to to line up in the Alien queue when we arrive at Heathrow!!! I have never really known much about the event (only that ABBA won it one year). From what I have seen so far, I don't think I have missed much.

Jeff, I sincerely hope that voter turnout will be higher that what we are experiencing here. The last Federal election held in 2011 (elections are every 4 years) had a voter turnout of 61.1%. Our last provincial election held in 2014 had a voter turnout of an estimated 52.1%. Apathy is the enemy here and we are paying a high price for it!

Here in Oz it is compulsory to vote. If you don't you will be hung drawn and quartered- well not quite but they do chase you down and you will be fined. In the Senate we can have up to 70 people running and we have to put a number against each candidate. Most of these people I wouldn't give a cup of tea, but I'm expected to give them a vote. Who should I vote for - The Sex Party, Stop Fishing Party, Motoring Enthusiast Party, get the picture? It really doesn't matter who you vote for, you will always end up with a politician 😉

I have sailed on the former Seabourn ships many times. The connecting door is part of the cabin wall and is indeed like a hotel room. We have been in these cabins and have never heard any noise from our neighbours. You will be fine.

Thank you for your reply and photo. That is just what I wanted to know. Not long now and we can't wait.

We are going on our first Windstar cruise (Tahiti on Spirit) and would like to know if DH will need to bring a jacket. Will chinos and collared shirt be acceptable in the dining room?

I love the fact that drinks are included. I'm Sure we have all experienced trying to sort out the bill after a group has eaten and there is always someone who says " but I only had one glass of wine". We are going on Windstar (Tahiti) in June and the thing that concerns us most is the drinks package. It seems very expensive, but we don't know how much buying individual drinks wil be - I do like to be able to have a glass of champagne at anytime:D

So sorry, this was posted by mistake. If anyone is interested, it's a photo of my kids having fun over Easter weekend. Once again, sorry