Lunch on embarkation day

[CathyK2]

This will be my first time on Windstar and I know that we can embark anytime after 1 pm. Do they serve lunch once boarding? If so, do you know how long this runs, for those of us not getting there in the 1 pm time frame?

 

And regarding lunch on the other days, the Cruise Critic section on the restaurants says that there is a Yacht Club Lounge that you can have sandwiches for there or to take ashore for a picnic? I'm quite certain that on the larger cruise ships, they are always telling us we can't take food ashore. Is there any clarification on this?

[stcruise]

There is a buffet lunch set up in the Veranda upon boarding. Here is my reply to an old thread which shows some photos:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45147866#post45147866

 

I hope you enjoy your first Windstar cruise.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

One of those photos is not very encouraging, the handles of the salad tongs are laying right on the salads....

 

[CathyK2]

There is a buffet lunch set up in the Veranda upon boarding. Here is my reply to an old thread which shows some photos:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45147866#post45147866

 

I hope you enjoy your first Windstar cruise.

 

Thank you. Do you know how long they have this set up? Meaning, if we are not getting there until 3 or 4, would there still be some kind of snacks or something?

[sb44]

I believe there is food until the all aboard time. People straggle in all afternoon. We were last people to board once and had something delivered to the cabin after lifeboat drill. You will be well fed.

[Ski Mom 2]

I can't remember how long the welcome lunch ran since we boarded around 2 and it was still going. There is the yacht club lounge that has coffee and cappuccino and espressos along with small breakfast items (croissants and pasties) and sandwiches for lunch and early afternoon. I don't see why you couldn't take the sandwiches off the ship. I don't remember anyone saying we couldn't. I can't remember the crew persons name at the moment that works there most of the time but he was very nice and remembered that I liked cappuccino and my husband wanted American coffee. [emoji4]

 

 

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[BBQ Lover]

Aki and Yusuf were manning the Yacht Club back in December. At night, they also were waiters at Candles. They were two of our favorite crew members on the ship. I mentioned to Yusuf that we wanted to eat at Candles more often and he said just to talk to the maître de and he could get us in based on availability. We talked. We ate. We enjoyed.

 

Yes, they will give you sandwiches to take off the ship.

 

Other crew members that we really liked were Harry, Daddy, and Lusia in the veranda. They also pulled double duty in other dining areas of the ship. Harry could really cut a rug on line dancing night.

 

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Edited February 23, 2016 by BBQ Lover

[CathyK2]

Again, thank you for helping this Windstar newbie. All of you are great and have me so excited to get this vacation started. Thanks again!

[Ski Mom 2]

It was Yusuf at the Yacht Club I was trying to remember! Thank you! He was very kind and cute too!

[sb44]

All of the crew pulls double duty every day. They work about 16 hour days so I suggest you go above and beyond the daily service charge to your account. The last night is a great time to catch the people who have given you their all. You will be amazed at this crew. They're the best part of Windstar. We're on the Surf again in April and can't wait!

[maureencruiser]

Yacht Club Lounge that you can have sandwiches for there or to take ashore for a picnic? I'm quite certain that on the larger cruise ships, they are always telling us we can't take food ashore. Is there any clarification on this?

 

I wondered about this, as well. I'll find out in a couple days! :D:D

[Lobes1]

And regarding lunch on the other days, the Cruise Critic section on the restaurants says that there is a Yacht Club Lounge that you can have sandwiches for there or to take ashore for a picnic? I'm quite certain that on the larger cruise ships, they are always telling us we can't take food ashore. Is there any clarification on this?

 

 

We have taken sandwiches ashore from the Windsurf. It was not a problem in most European countries. Some countries that you might visit do not allow this, however.

[CathyK2]

We have taken sandwiches ashore from the Windsurf. It was not a problem in most European countries. Some countries that you might visit do not allow this, however.

 

 

In reality, with this particular itinerary and what I'm thinking I'll be doing, I won't need sandwiches to bring ashore. But in the past, I did have cruises that I would have loved this option but was always told you can't do that. So yes, this caught my attention. But here I am, looking over my ports and wondering where I'd like to have a picnic just because we CAN. I'm sure if there are ports it isn't allowed, they would let us know.

[milepig]

One of those photos is not very encouraging, the handles of the salad tongs are laying right on the salads....

 

 

Those tongs do look unusual, and I note the room is empty. Were they maybe just setting up and hadn't arranged things yet?

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I imagine pax will lay tongs back down where they found them.

 

No salad for ol' Ragnar....

 

Saw a un-PC bumper sticker once: "Be kind to plants, don't eat them." :rolleyes:

[sb44]

If you went into most restaurant kitchens you would never eat again. Agree with Milepig. It looks like they were just setting up and also the camera angle. Every buffet I've experienced on Windstar has been immaculate with staff standing by to help and immediately clean up spills, replace empty items, etc. And I've toured the galleys on 3 of theur ships. They are super clean and incredibly diligent in taking care of sanitation.

[stcruise]

The photos I posted were from either 2011 or 2012 and I really can't remember if they were in the process of setting up or not, but as Milepeg noted there really aren't any people around, so it could be that the buffet was not actually open yet and I snuck in to get photos!:D

 

I agree with sb44 that I have always felt that everything has been very clean and well taken care of whether in the kitchen or in the buffets.

[acruisefan]

We took a lunch with us for an all day independent excursion that did not include lunch. I asked about it the day before at the sandwich & cappuccino bar. They told me to call room service the day before I needed the lunch and place an order to pick up at the cappuccino bar. They not only packed the sandwiches that I ordered but the included chips, bottled water and fruit in an insulated bag.

 

No charge for this - they just requested that we return the bag at the end of the day.

[CathyK2]

We took a lunch with us for an all day independent excursion that did not include lunch. I asked about it the day before at the sandwich & cappuccino bar. They told me to call room service the day before I needed the lunch and place an order to pick up at the cappuccino bar. They not only packed the sandwiches that I ordered but the included chips, bottled water and fruit in an insulated bag.

 

No charge for this - they just requested that we return the bag at the end of the day.

 

Wow...what a great set up. Now I need to scan through my ports and see where we might like to have a picnic on the beach. I honestly don't think it's something we need this cruise but it sure would have been wonderful on some past cruises. How long ago was this? And which ship?

[acruisefan]

We were on the Windsurf and I think it was 3 years ago in the Carribbean on the island of Dominica.

Often I like to try the local restaurants if we are out and about all day (particularly the French islands!) but this was an all day escorted and somewhat remote adventure - snorkeling, natural hot springs, a little hiking, etc, - that would not be serving lunch as part of the trip.

[CathyK2]

We were on the Windsurf and I think it was 3 years ago in the Carribbean on the island of Dominica.

Often I like to try the local restaurants if we are out and about all day (particularly the French islands!) but this was an all day escorted and somewhat remote adventure - snorkeling, natural hot springs, a little hiking, etc, - that would not be serving lunch as part of the trip.

 

Yes, in reality, I'm with you. We love eating out at all of the ports, but most of the Caribbean ports we have been to so many times before and my rule was always to sample the cuisine to any NEW island. Still though, I don't think I will really be needing to bring sandwiches off shore and agree with you that the french islands are great for eating out. My only real thought was having a picnic on St. Barts since things are SO expensive there, but naw....going to eat out. Still though, that really is a nice touch that Windstar does.