Windsurf, Windstar, Windspirit - Anyone recently back?

[sealord]

There is a thread for the Xpedition with a similar name that provides information about the ship and other trip details. It has grown into a 'monster' thread. Due to the nature of small ship sailings, the individual sailing roll calls don't see a lot of action, and I discovered on our recent Barbados Windsurf trip that I could have used more specific information. For example the ship's laundry deal ... $100 dollars per cabin for 'unlimited' laundry, allowed me to use about a third of what I had packed. And if I had known, I would not have packed it. They do a great job, and it was nice wearing freshing laundered and ironed clothes, instead of wrinkled up stuff out of the suitcase, or duffle bag.

 

Are there folks out there who would like to offer an opinion about whether this would be useful? Those who have been on Windstar cruises could share their experiences with those contemplating a trip on one of these fine ships, and they could compare the available itineraries and the advantages of one ship over another, etc. :D

 

I'm going to post this before I lose my work ... again. :rolleyes:

[6rugrats]

You have posted this in the roll call forum; it should probably be moved to the regular Windstar forum. Lots of your discussion topics have been covered in that forum.

[Host Walt]

You have posted this in the roll call forum; it should probably be moved to the regular Windstar forum. Lots of your discussion topics have been covered in that forum.

 

I have moved the thread to the main Windstar forum.

[sealord]

I have moved the thread to the main Windstar forum.

 

Thanks Walt.

 

I have a photo album from the 31 Jan 2010 Barbados trip. The URL is posted below in my signature line.

 

:D

[SellaVee]

Thanks, sealord, for posting your photo album, I enjoyed seeing the pictures, and it was useful to note what people were wearing as I often see threads asking about dress codes. This is a great idea for a thread.

[sealord]

Thanks, sealord, for posting your photo album, I enjoyed seeing the pictures, and it was useful to note what people were wearing as I often see threads asking about dress codes. This is a great idea for a thread.

 

You are welcome. Time will tell if this thread will 'fly' or not. It is not my idea really. I copied the idea from the Xpedition thread by a similar name. But people have found that thread to be so useful that it has been going now for about six years. With 'casual' cruises like this and the Xpedition, the pictures really do help when it comes to 'packing' time. ;)

 

For the Windsurf 'elegant casual' dress I minimized my packing with a couple silk shirts, and a couple silk trousers. Then I alternated ... white on black, black on white, black on black, and white on white. That took care of most of it. :D

[Ajbike]

Great Album Sealord, We are going on the same cruise in March so this is a big help.

 

Thanks

[sealord]

Great Album Sealord, We are going on the same cruise in March so this is a big help.

 

Thanks

 

One thing we wish we had known about in advance is the 'laundry deal'. Unlimited laundry (no dry cleaning) for $100 per room (2 people). They wash and iron, and they do a beautiful job. Even the underwear looked like it had been ironed. If you put it out by nine PM, it returns by the next evening before dinner. We had laundry done every night, and had we known about this, we could have practically used back packs for luggage. ;) We used about a third of the clothes we brought, and went home with bags full of clean clothes.

They also have drink and wine packages that are very convenient. If interested, you must sign up for these deals on your first day on the ship. :) And, if you buy a drink/wine package, you both must buy a package ... but not necessarily the 'same' package. :D By day 2 or 3 the staff 'knows' everyone by name and 'package', so they know who has prepaid drinks and who does not ... sharing is not allowed.:rolleyes: I actually expected to have to straighten out some 'billing' errors, but there were none. They got it all right the first time around.

[Ajbike]

Do you remember the price of the different drink packages, Also do you remember the "ala carte" pricing for laundry? It seems we wouldnt spend $100 unless laundry by the piece is very expensive?

 

Thanks again for all your help, I will make sure to keep the thread going when we come back.

[6rugrats]

Do you remember the price of the different drink packages, Also do you remember the "ala carte" pricing for laundry? It seems we wouldnt spend $100 unless laundry by the piece is very expensive?

 

Thanks again for all your help, I will make sure to keep the thread going when we come back.

 

This board has a pretty good search feature, and you can pull up threads discussing these issues, such as this one:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=885023&highlight=drink+packages

 

You can find some of these prices on Windstar's webpage:

http://www.windstarcruises.com/WindstarExtrasDetail.asp?frame=shopping

 

No memory at all what the laundry prices were, but we sent ours out, and it was very reasonable. We did not spend $99 the entire week.

[sealord]

Do you remember the price of the different drink packages, Also do you remember the "ala carte" pricing for laundry? It seems we wouldnt spend $100 unless laundry by the piece is very expensive?

 

Thanks again for all your help, I will make sure to keep the thread going when we come back.

 

There were five or six different drink packages ... soft drinks, wine, unlimited, etc. I did not keep the list, so I can only tell you what we got. I'm Irish so I got the 'unlimited' drink package for $362.25, and my wife got the 'wine with dinner' package which was $144.90. I know these are odd numbers but they include 'tips'. The 'normal' drink prices were $6.50 each, and that was the limit on the packages. Super premium drinks were more, and for those you would pay full price, not the difference. At dinner you could order any bottle of wine up to $30.00.

 

I did not keep a laundry list. After looking at it once, and then choosing the 'laundry deal', I never really paid attention to the prices again ... and that was on day one. Having used ship's laundry on a ship where the prices were cheaper than Windsurf, I can testify that it takes no time at all for two people to run up a $100 plus laundry bill ... it is actually $99.00 per cabin for two people. Everything we wore during the day, plus our gym gear (where we visited every day), went to the laundry that night, and by the next night we had freshly laundered and ironed clothes to wear. They also have a 'press only' service which is included. That is handy for 'dry clean' only stuff, since they don't have dry cleaning. ;) This is basically a casual cruise, so if you do decide to use the 'laundry deal', you can really reduce the packing problem. :D

[sealord]

By the way, I forgot about the all you want 'wine with lunch' deal. I saw a few people taking advantage of that one. That one probably only works for the folks who do all their shore activities in the morning. It would definitely not work for those of us from the West Coast. :rolleyes: After doing an all-nighter from SFO to Barbados, we never did get on Barbados time. Mornings basically did not exist. :D

[sealord]

Do you remember the price of the different drink packages, Also do you remember the "ala carte" pricing for laundry? It seems we wouldnt spend $100 unless laundry by the piece is very expensive?

 

Thanks again for all your help, I will make sure to keep the thread going when we come back.

 

Actually, I just discovered that I do have that information that I actually got from another Windstar thread.

 

Beverage Packages

Here are their current packages:

 

 

All-inclusive beverage Packages:

 

US $45.00 per person, per day

Unlimited premium cocktails, wines* and champagnes, imported and domestic beers, soft drinks,

bottled water and mini-bar beverages (special promotions of multiple cocktails not included).

Non-Alcoholic beverage Package

 

US $18.00 per person, per day

Unlimited non-alcoholic wines and beers, “virgin” cocktails, soft drinks, bottled water and mini-bar

beverages (excludes alcoholic beverages).

Wine, beer and Soft Drink Package

 

US $38.00 per person, per day

Unlimited wines*, champagnes, imported and domestic beers, soft drinks, bottled water and mini-bar

beverages (excludes liquor).

 

Wine with Meals Packages

Unlimited consumption of wines* and champagnes during meals.

• With lunch: US $9.00 per person, per day

• With dinner: US $18.00 per person, per day

• With lunch and dinner: US $23.00 per person, per day

 

Above packages are based on unlimited consumption, including drinks with meals. Premium cocktails are based on a maximum

price of US $6.50 per drink. All packages may be purchased only for the full length of the cruise. If purchased once on board,

the package must be purchased on the first day of the cruise.

*Wine and champagne selections based on bottles of up to US $30.00. (Choose from “By the Glass” list - $7 and under or

Bottle list $30 and under, glass only not a bottle. If ordering a selection over the above listed limits, guest will be charged for full

amount.) Mini-bar consumption does not include snacks.

All package prices inclusive of applicable taxes. Please note that all beverages are subject to a 15% gratuity.

 

So in order to get the total price, multiply the daily price by seven and add fifteen percent to the total. ;)

 

[sealord]

Another 'by the way'. The 'Windsurf' transfers are $39 per person from the airport to the hotel (Accra), or hotel to the pier, or return. In a taxi the same trip is $10 to $15 dollars per person depending on the number sharing the taxi. Speaking of the hotel, if you book it on your own, the best prices I could find were through WIOL ... West Indies On Line. ;)