Aug.13, 2006 Windsurf

[rogfam]

Just booked Windsurf next summer from Barcelona to Rome. First time on Windstar; any suggestions?

[rogfam]

50 lookers, no suggestions...alas it must be too far away....

[rogfam]

From the lack of response, I gather I'll be traveling alone. Gather the service will be great!

[pvan]

We just booked Nice to Rome on June 18, 2006 and we were told we were planning well in advance...

[golfergal]

I'd say you are early for people also doing that cruise, but I'm sure you'll get comments from those who have done that trip. We just returned from Nice to Rome and LOVED it. So much so we are talking about Windstar for next September, which is super early for us to be planning. Thinking Greek Isles or Lisbon/Spain. If you're not on vacation, you should be planning one.

 

I'm still trying to catch up with work stuff, but I'll post a mini review shortly. You can also email me directly if you have specific questions.

 

Sheila

[rogfam]

Sheila,

Happy that you enjoyed the Windstar. What ports did you visit in France and Italy? I'm sure that our cruise has a few similiar stops. We did the Greek Isles and Turkey in July on Celebrity and it was great. Any questions on this please feel free to ask.

Glenn

[ToniBruce]

Hi!

 

As first time cruises we sailed aborad the Windstar in early August from Venice to Rome. Sailing on board the Windstar is a sheer delight, so much so that we are contemplating making reservations for the Barcelona-Rome cruise during the week of August 13.

 

Enjoy, enjoy!

 

Bruce

[rogfam]

Bruce, love to have you along!

[golfergal]

Glenn,

Our ports were Nice, St. Tropez, Monaco, Portofino, Livorno (2 days), and Porto Vecchio, and Rome. St. Tropez was the only port I was not super impressed with. The town is nice and there are some beautiful views, but in comparison it was only OK. We probably should have booked the beach transfer (since there are very few taxis and it is not walkable) and I'm sure we would have enjoyed it more. Also it was in comparison to some fantastic places. From Livorno, we went to Florence on our own the first day and then decided not to do anything the second day. My parents went to Lucca the first day and loved it. We all really like Corsica and think we probably should have arranged a tour as it looked amazing. I would have preferred to have one day at sea to relax. We relaxed the second day in Livorno, but it is not even close as the view in Livorno is not attractive.

 

If we do the Greek Isles by cruise, it will be a small ship. As much as we were big fans of Celebrity, Windstar has spoiled us of the "big" ships.

 

Talk to you soon.

[rogfam]

Shiela,

Thanks for the feed back. We will be a number of the same ports as you, and as we getting closer, I'll be getting back to you with questions. Even though we were on a large ship for the Greek Islands, I do have lots of info of the various ports, plus, if you plan to spend some time in Istanbul and Kusadasi (great places to visit), I have the name of the great personal guide that we used. Any questions, please contact me.

Glenn

[golfergal]

Glenn,

I look forward to hearing from you. As I start figuring out next year's trip I'm sure I'll have questions for you too. We'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary, so the big question is whether our anniversary trip is a Greek Isles cruise or a villa in Tuscany. Oh, such great dilemmas to have.

 

Sheila

[rogfam]

Shiela,

You should go to both places!! We will be celebrating our 35th next summer (you probably weren't born when we were married). Wife wants to renew our vows on the ship; didn't know that they expired....

Glenn

[books0209]

RogFam

 

We have booked Barcelona-Rome week of Aug. 13. RogFam, we will be married 38 years, so the 4 of us may have seniority or will be some of the oldtimers on cruise.

 

This is first time for us on WindStar, but have been on 18 cruises on conventional cruise lines. Princess being our favorite.

 

Also have booked, PreCruise 3 nights in Barcelona (Hotel Rey Juan Carlos), and post cruise in Exedra Hotel in Rome. Any experiences with these, my wife and I have none.

 

Looking forward to hearing from shipmates, and meeting next August.

 

 

 

Elliott & Gloria

[rogfam]

Hi Elliot and Gloria,

 

So here I thought that we would be the only ones on the cruise....happy you will be with us!! Are two daughters are also joining us.

 

Our first time on Windstar also; always have sailed on the larger ships and have had a great time. We heard nothing but great times about Windstar from friends.

 

We are flying to Spain early and staying 5 nights in Marbella. Flying Aer Lingus (best connections and price) and since there is a stop in Dublin we decided to stay the weekend there visiting the local pubs.

 

Staying at the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona (great reviews from friends and travel websites). Your hotel is also highly rated. Not familiar with your hotel in Rome. What area is it located in? We were in Rome this past July and stayed at the Excelsior which was excellent. Flying directly home from the cruise.

 

Looking forward to seeing both of you next summer. Keep in touch.

 

Glenn and Merryl

[books0209]

Glenn & Merryl

 

I haven't booked any flights yet, but have some cheap flights (at least they were last week) on Continental ($987/per person) non-stop. Last year we did Baltic Cruise, from Copenhagen, but stopped pre cruise in London to visit friends for 3 days. Flew in what they called World Class Plus,(one better than Coach),only 2 seats in row. More Comfortable than coach, but less comfortable than business. Luckily, going home we got upgraded to Business Class. Was terrific.

 

Our daughter's name is also Meryl,(not too many of those) but only one R.

 

Notice you live in New York, NYC? or? we live in Lawrenceville, NJ near Princeton, NJ, but both wife and I grew up in Brooklyn (me) and Queens (Jamaica Estates) for Gloria.

 

Good to hear from others on this cruise, but don't expect to hear from many more. LOL

 

Will keep in touch,

 

 

Elliott & Gloria

[books0209]

Still haven't booked Air as yet, won't book until I make final payment. Can always change dates we fly.

 

Tried the Westin Excelsior in Rome, it was booked, so I sit with two hotel reservations, the Exedra, and the Sheraton Roma which is not exactly center city. Exedra is 5 star hotel , near Piazza dell Repubblica, the Sheraton is on the Viale Del Pattinaggio, my Cruise guy stayed there and told me it was short ride to center city. Cheaper hotel, but nice he says, I'll probably cancel this. Really wanted to stay in Excelsior, Ill keep trying for rooms.

 

Glen,Merryl, let me know what you think.

 

Elliott & Gloria

[rogfam]

Elliot,

Hard to believe that the Excelsior is already booked. Probably they are holding a block of rooms for a group, and will release some as the time of booking gets closer. Keep checking back every few weeks.

Wouldn't stay out of the city center. The beauty of Rome is walking the city fromy our hotel, not waiting for a cab to drive you in.

Good luck

Glenn

[spots25]

hi! anyone else going? let me know. i am looking forward to this trip. been on big ships but not a windstar! can't wait!!!

[rogfam]

It's been awhile...anyone else going?

[jbrains]

My husband and I are booked on the 8/13 Barcelona-Rome Wind Surf cruise. We've never been on a cruise before and we are really looking forward to it. Based on this message board, I might be building my hopes up to much. Oh well. The anticipation is part of the fun for me. Nice to see that I'm not alone! See you in Barcelona!

 

P.S. I just signed up for the Roll Call for this cruise. Not sure what this means, or what I get access to, but it seemed like a good thing to do. I saw another person signed up there too. There are more of us out there!

[rogfam]

I just replyed to you on the other nessage board! Here is what I wrote...

 

Jbrains, Welcome Aboard! We will be on the cruise with you this August. Had a posting awhile back seeing who else was cruising, and it died of lonliness.

We have cruised many times before, but never on Windstar. Many of our friends have sailed with them over the years, and have raved about the experience. Like you, am concerned about some of the recent posts.

Last summer we were on the Celebrity Galaxy in the Eastern Med. and the posts also were negative...age of ship, poor physical condition. Fortunately, they were incorrect, and we had a great cruise. Hope this is the case here.

You mention you lived in Aix-enProvence. How far is it from Marseille? Are we better off to hire a guide/driver for the day, or simply take a cab and explore on our own?

Are you staying in Barcelona pre-cruise? We booked an excellent hotel if you need suggestions.

 

I think it would be easier if you reply to this board.

 

See you are from Conn, we are from NY.

 

Again, welcome aboard.

[jbrains]

We must have been posting on alternate threads at the same time. In case you didn't see it, here is my response to your other post--I should have put it here to begin with.

 

Ha! I just posted a response to your nearly dead post--it's not dead yet! (bit of Monty Python humor) From my recollection (take it for what it's worth...), Aix is about 1/2 hour by bus from Marseilles. Yes, I said bus. I was a student at the time and landed with a backpack (no roller boards in the olden days) and a small purse (the dollar was much mightier then). For more current, credible info, you might check out the town's tourism website http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/uk/ or http://www.provencelive.com/practica...oaix.html#taxi . The latter site says that a taxi from the Marseilles airport to Aix costs E39 day rate and E50 at night--probably similar costs from the port. Alternately, the bus leaves every ten minutes from the Marseille bus station and costs E4 day rate and E10 night rate (not sure how long it takes, but I'll continue to research). My guess is that sharing a taxi is the best bet, at least on the return trip. Hopefully the Wind Surf crew will have some good suggestions as well. Aix is a very beautiful town. Brush up on your French--with the throngs of demanding tourists (who often forget that they are guests), the locals really appreciate the effort (FYI--French spoken with Aixois dialect sounds more like Italian than French, so try to sing it :). Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for offering Barcelona hotel info. Yes, we are staying in Barcelona just for one night prior to THE cruise and we have a well-situated, safe and economical hotel, the NH Duc de La Victoria--nothing too spiffy, but the comments I've seen on tripadvisor.com have been positive. I think it will meet our needs for such a short stay.

 

Bask in the anticipation! I know that I am! Thanks for your feedback.

[rogfam]

bump