Toucanbritz

We were lucky and had perfect weather when we visited Bequia. It was our favourite port of call due to it being small and feeling less touristy. That being said, there were a lot of vendors with stalls along the length of the main road. Products ranged from model boats; necklaces made with bone (cow and whale) and shells; T-shirts and other clothing; bags; jams and jellies; fruit and vegetables. All the vendors we spoke to were friendly, not at all pushy and were happy to answer questions about their products. In fact, we spent a long time talking to one vendor who explained how he made the bone jewellery to us. Bequia is famous for model wooden boats, which are beautiful, but on the pricey side. If you turn left as you leave the jetty and walk towards the end of the street, you'll see an Internet cafe on your right hand side and next door to that is a store, whose sign says "water taxi" but the store holder makes model boats - it's well worth taking a peek in. If you turn to the right when leaving the jetty, you'll reach Belmont Walkway, which is a path that runs along the water's edge. There are a number of nice looking restaurants and cafes there and if you keep walking along, you will reach the footpath to the Princess Margaret beach, which we thought was lovely. The trail over to the beach involves a slight climb up, then you descend to sea level by a wooden stairway. From here, you then need to use the path immediately next to the cliff face (which was a bit uneven in places and waves do wash in over it) as the walkway is currently broken. Our voyage director said that water taxis could be taken to the beach if the trail option doesn't work for you. Princess Margaret beach had a few vendors with stalls, one of whom was renting out sun loungers and selling beers along with jewellery and clothing. As there is a lot of natural shade available on the beach, we opted to find a quiet shady spot under a tree and used our towels to lie on. The water here is crystal clear; we saw trumpet fish as we walked along Belmont Walkway. Others on the ship said there was good snorkelling accessed from the very far end of the beach. We were lucky to have a number of tall ships moored in the bay during our visit, which were great to look at from the tender on our way from and to the ship. As the town is so compact and the beach so close to it, you should be able to enjoy all that it has to offer in the time you have there.

Another thumbs up for Cosol! My daughter and I went on their tour in December. There were other cruisers from several ships that were in port, enough for a total of 4 or 5 vans; so definitely worth asking if they can put you with others. The vans did spread out though so none of the stops were crowded. This is definitely the best tour I've done - the guides were super friendly; you saw a lot of the island; got to eat a lot of food and the drinks were constantly flowing. Definitely worth the money.

BTW, we were on a ship that docked in Castries, so I don't know if that makes a difference to the company asking for a minimum number of participants.

If you are OK with long climbs and are not afraid of heights, hiking up the stairway to the fort is well worth it in Kotor. There is a small fee that you pay on your entry to the trail. I'd suggest wearing running shoes as the stones can be slippery in places, though we did see some people doing the climb in flip flops. There is also a significant drop with no barrier in places, hence the comment about "not afraid of heights". Bottled drinks were offered for sale by a few vendors on the trail.

When we visited Kotor, the Executive Chef was offering a market tour. If this is offered on your cruise, it's well worth doing. It's interesting to see how the vendors react to the chef and they are keen to let you taste their produce; it's also nice to get to eat what he purchased back on the ship. BTW, the tour is free. We were in Kotor for the whole day on our cruise, so we had plenty of time to do the market tour, the climb, explore the town and enjoy a local beer (as our reward for the climb ;) )

It's worth getting up early to be on deck for the sail into Kotor; it's a beautiful fjord.

We loved exploring Dubrovnik's walls and alleyways and managed to navigate our way to a bar that overhangs the sea. Your ticket for the walls also gives you access to the fort that is just outside the walls. If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you will love Dubrovnik as the early seasons were filmed here. If you're interested, there are a lot of vendors offering "Game of Thrones tours" taking you to specific filming locations.

Just done the same ports; we tendered into all of them.

Have used Barrachina Restaurant for luggage storage. The taxi drivers should know where it is, though they may drop you a few yards from it to avoid going around the one way system. Just walk down the passageway that leads to the restaurant; then you actually walk through the restaurant to get to the area where they store the luggage, for which they give you a claim ticket. The staff member asked what time our flight was and told us the latest time by which we needed to leave downtown to get to the airport. They suggested a $5 tip for the storage, which I thought was very reasonable as it allowed us to explore the town and forts; otherwise we would have just been sitting at the airport for a long time. There was no expectation that you purchase a drink or meal, though as it is the place where the Piña colada was invented you may want to try one if you have time.

I'm not a fan of ship's water and do not drink soft drinks. Do they have bottles (preferably larger size) of sparkling water available at the bars to purchase? Thanks!

They have Perrier available; they serve it by the glass, not the bottle, but as it's free, you can have as many refills as you'd like.

We will be there in March and are hoping to visit Flamenco for awhile, then go to Tamarindo Beach to snorkel with the sea turtles there. Has anyone done both beaches during the 8 to 5 stop? I'm wondering if we are planning too much.

Some people on our cruise last week did both beaches. The taxi dropped them off at Tamarindo Beach and the driver gave them directions on how to walk over to Flamenco beach (a 20 minute walk). We saw them back on the ship and they said they had visited both beaches easily within the timeframe, taking a taxi back to the ship from Flamenco Beach.

We cruise on 3/4/2016 it is after final payment will windstar honor a price drop?

 

 

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Yes they will. We realized that the fare for our recent cruise had dropped significantly 8 days prior to the sail date. As I had booked directly with Windstar, I called and asked if they would honour their price promise, which they did without any quibbling. As previous posters have said, Windstar determines what they will give you as compensation, but we were very happy with how they dealt with our request.

The earliest time for boarding is shown on your e-ticket.

We always take the laundry package as it enables us to just bring carry on, even when we've had land-based stays pre- and post cruise. As other posters have said, you just write special instructions on the form that goes with your laundry bag.

My husband dives, so he did the Wreck of the Rhone dive from Tortola and loved it. I did the snorkel tour out to the caves and the Indians. Unfortunately it was raining that day and the tour operator only took us to the caves. I have since snorkelled the Indians and it is full of colourful sea life. I also did the catamaran trip out to Sandy Cay from Jost. You swim into cay from the catamaran. They didn't offer the option of walking up to the Bubbly Pool when I did it. I've done that though on a different visit (non cruise) and it was about a 20 minute hike up to it. The sail into Virgin Gorda is very good; the Wind Surf is the largest ship that can go into the bay. I opted to spend the day on Prickly Pear - they had all of the water toys out and the beach buffet was good. The tender went in a triangle - the stores and restaurants, the beach and back to the ship. The people who went to the Baths were back in time for the beach meal. They found it crowded as other cruise ships berthed in Tortola had brought their guests over on excursions. If you want to do this trip it may be worth checking out if other ships are in port in the BVIs that day. In St Bart's we just walked around town and up to the lookout.

A number of people have posted reviews of the Yachtsman's Carribbean itinerary on Cruise Critic; they should pop up if you put the phrase in your search. I note though that your itinerary is in a slightly different order from ours - Antigua was our first port and we moored overnight at Jost.

Being able to go onto the bridge (when it's open for visitors) and watch the crew at work is a highlight of all of our cruises with Windstar. The officers are always happy to answer your questions providing they don't have something they have to do! It's worth looking down off the side of the ship when moored at night; we saw large tarpon swimming up and down the length of the ship feeding on the smaller fish that were attracted there by the ship's lights.

We did this cruise a few years back on the Windsurf. We opted to go to Nelson's Dockyard for several hours, which we found very enjoyable and relaxing. It was a relatively easy walk to Nelson's Dockyard from the tender drop off (hilly, but short). Other cruisers and crew walked to a nearby beach. The route to both was initially the same with those going to the beach turning off at about the halfway point. The crew were good at pointing us in the right direction. On our return to the ship we enjoyed some time off the sports platform, lounging on floating mats and the inflatable raft with slide. We saw lots of fabulous boats, both while on the tender and at Nelson's Dockyard. Not sure if we were just lucky (our stop was on a Sunday in March) but there were hardly any people at Nelson's, which was a bonus. This port stop was one of the highlights of the cruise for us.

By the way, there was a cafe to the right of the tender drop off point where for the cost of a cup of coffee you could connect to their wi-fi; a much cheaper option that purchasing the Internet package onboard the ship.

Hope you have a lovely cruise! It's a great itinerary and being on a smaller ship, you moor in lovely bays.

For our meal at Hotel de Paris in 2014, dark suits or smart blazers and pants were the norm for the men and cocktail dresses for the women. Formal wear was worn by a few. For safety reasons the women were asked to remove high heels when boarding to/from the transfer vessel. Windstar provided bus transfers to/from the hotel. After the meal, we opted to walk back to the port. It was a great experience walking down a section of the road that was in fact part of the track and to see (and hear!) all of the parties in full swing on the various yachts moored in the harbour. We also saw lots of expensive and rare luxury vehicles, which my husband thoroughly enjoyed.

The whole Grand Prix experience was fantastic - great seats in the grandstand; and for those keen fans (such as ourselves) who wanted to see the support races on both days, Windstar provided us with very tasty lunch boxes.

Definitely a "must do" experience for Formula 1 fans.

All of the ports of call were great - lots of history and charm 😊 We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise!

Yes, it's only the large pieces of luggage that they take, not your smaller carry on.

We saw a tourist information office near the Pile gate in Dubrovnik. Just bear in mind that Dubrovnik is supposed to be a tender port, so you should be entering the city walls at the Ploce gate;not sure if there is a tourist information office near there. We entered the city via Pile gate as the Captain opted to dock in Dubrovnik as there was a swell that would have made tendering difficult. The port was quite a distance from the city so Windstar arranged for a bus shuttle to and from the port. I see that the Dubrovnik card includes bus transportation - not sure you would need that as the main attraction is the pedestrian-only walled city. We walked the walls and went up to the adjacent Fort (included in the city wall ticket) and enjoyed exploring the many alleyways and taking in the scenery while sipping a beer. Others on the cruise also took the cable car.

In Venice we opted to just buy the 72 hour vaporetto transit pass (we stayed 2 nights post-cruise) and paid separately for entry into the attractions of our choice rather than being locked in by the museum and transit pass. BTW, entry to the Correr Museum (at the opposite end of St Mark Square from the Basilica) is included in the Doges Palace ticket. We thoroughly enjoyed the Palace and the Basilica, but were less impressed by the Correr Museum. The vaporetto pass also let us get out to Murano and Burano, which were definitely worth visiting. Obviously if you enjoy visiting museums, the Venice museum/transport combo may be worth it for you.

Last year when we were on the Star Pride they did have a future cruise sales rep onboard. At the time, the rep said it was being done on a trial basis. Guess they didn't think it was worth it as just got off the Star Breeze and there was no mention of booking future cruises or on the 5% discount for booking within 60 days of disembarkation....something they could easily promote in the daily newsletter left in the stateroom.

Even with having a future sales rep onboard, it wasn't a smooth process....no reservation confirmation given at the time of booking as this had to come from the head office. Then head office only sent it after I chased them and asked where on earth it was...it was somehow lost in their system!

The TV in your stateroom has the Sky Sports channel, so if they are covering the matches you should be able to watch them!

We've just got back from the August 31st sailing. We stayed at the Hotel Grande Bretagne pre-cruise and on our arrival we asked the hotel staff about transfer times to the port, but they didn't have any information. However, on the Sunday morning, the Windstar rep was at the hotel - her desk is on a mezzanine landing just up the stairs to the right of the elevators. She was there on both the Sunday and Monday mornings (we sailed on the Monday) and a transfer information package was left in our room on the Sunday. Our bags had to be outside our hotel room by 9 am on the day of sailing; these were taken by the hotel staff to their secure luggage storage room. We had to be in the hotel lobby and our account settled with the hotel (for any meals, etc that weren't included in the package) by 1:15pm, so we were able to enjoy some more sights of Athens in the morning. The bus picked us up at 1:30 pm. After ensuring that our bags had been loaded onto the bus, it was a short 20 minute or so drive to the port. The Windstar rep pointed out some sights on the way. Once at the port, suitcases were transferred to the ship by the porters while you went through security and then onto another waiting bus for a short ride to the ship, where we were greeted by the Captain and one of the other officers. Check-in is done on the ship and after receiving our room key we were able to go to our cabin. Lunch was served in the Veranda until 4 pm. The hotel was wonderful and we found the port transfer to be very smooth. We were able to eat and unpack before the mandatory life boat drill. Hope you enjoy the cruise as much as we did!

The laundry package is definitely worth it, particularly if doing pre- and post-cruise stays. The cost is dependent upon the length of the cruise. We're on the August 31st Venetian Passageways cruise too and the unlimited laundry fee is $140 per cabin (no dry cleaning). The package has to be ordered either before the cruise via the My Windstar section of the Web site or on the first day of the cruise through guest services. They won't let you add it after the first day.

I have also sent an e-mail enquiry to Windstar and not got a response. Will be mentioning that on the comment card.

We did the Monaco GP cruise on the Star Pride last year. It was a Grand Prix themed cruise, so everyone's cruise fare automatically included the GP tickets, which we received while on the cruise. We had no say on seat selection - they just had a stack of tickets and pulled from the top of the stack as each party presented themselves (we had to line up to get them). On our cruise we were in port for the whole weekend, so we were able to watch the qualifying and the support races. The ship was not docked and tenders started running early in the morning for those of us keen not to miss a minute of the event! They even gave out packed lunches to those who wished to have them and their delivery coincided with the timing of the first tender. Windstar had arranged for a guide to lead us from the tender area to the race course - about a 30 minute walk, I think - and they took us to the entrance of our stand. We took note of the route taken and walked to and from the track on our own after that. Monaco is definitely one of the Grand Prixs that is on all F1 fans' bucket lists. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the race with the gorgeous backdrop of all of the mega yachts in port and loved having the opportunity to walk a portion of the track the evening before the race, while taking in all of the glitz and glamour. Hope you enjoy your cruise!

We have the pre-cruise hotel and transfer package too. We received our vouchers for both in the mail the other day and there's a note on the transfer voucher that the pick-up time will be given to us by the hotel.

Yes, totally agree with you, Polecat. Despite the response from the cruise line, we are still taking formal wear. Going to Monaco for the Grand Prix is a "bucket list" event for us, and we want it to be memorable for the right reasons, not for being told our outfits aren't dressy enough. :)

Must admit, this conversation has brought to mind a previous cruise we were on where some of our dinner companions came to the formal dinner in jeans - not because they didn't want to dress up, but because when they asked the cruise line what type of clothes they needed to pack, they were told T-shirts, shorts and jeans. They were not happy learning they'd been incorrectly informed. And this was from a cruise line where every sailing of 7 nights or longer has formal nights as standard practice!

I e-mailed Windstar about the dress code for the Hotel de Paris and received the following reply:

"Although aboard our yacht we do not have any formal dress requirements, Hotel De Paris is a formal venue so it would require a sports jacket(at least) and for women you will need to wear a dress."

Hope this helps!

See you onboard!

I was doing some research on Cannes and realized that the Grand Prix cruise is visiting it when the Cannes Film Festival is on. A nice bonus in addition to the Grand Prix itself :)