What did you do on Sicilian Splendors?

[Ski Mom 2]

Lipari, Italy - Another beautiful day for a walk around the town. I found the cutest shop and got several gifts. We found a beautiful basilica, some pretty gardens, and a not so great pizza lunch.

 

The best part of our stop in Lipari was the sailing past Mt Stomboli, an active volcano that just happened to erupt (or at least throw up some fire) as we sailed past! It was incredible and the all the passengers were out watching. They served appetizers as we sailed past which was a nice touch.

 

That evening, the captain made the announcement that we would not be able to go to Sorrento due to more rough seas. This was a BIG disappointment for many on board. The captain said he had tried to get us to Naples but there was no room so we would be heading to Salerno, Italy instead of Sorrento. We had booked a private tour out of Sorrento and now the dilemma was how to get a hold of the tour company to let them know the change in plans and to see if they could come to Salerno instead. We had made some new friends on this leg of our journey and it ended up they were meeting the owners of the tour company we were using for lunch (small world!) and needed to figure out what they were going to do as well. I went to reception where they tried to help me contact the tour company (even though it was a private tour and not through WS). They tried to call for me but because of the late hour, no one answered. Reception gave me some free internet time to try to send them an email. Luckily for me, they responded back but not with good news. Due to the fires above Positano, they said there would not be enough time for us to do the tour we wanted and our friends would not be able to taxi to Sorrento to meet them. It was a sad moment but we made the best of it the following day. 

[Ski Mom 2]

Salerno: Several officers told us they had never been to Salerno before. WS came up with several tours but we, along with our new friends, decided to look for a taxi to take us to Ravello for the day. Luckily for us, we found a local who had a friend with a taxi and helped us arrange a trip to Ravello. We hopped in and off we went along that crazy, twisty, narrow road! Ravello was wonderful and we had a luncheon at a local restaurant and then did some serious damage at the ceramics store (I'm waiting for my delivery tonight as I type this from our new friends).

 

Too soon we had to meet our driver and head back to Salerno. But, because tonight was the deck BBQ, we had until midnight to be back on board so my DH and I set out to explore Salerno in the evening. We found a place for Italian meats where the gentleman spoke very little English but his food was perfect! There were a lot of pedestrian streets and we walked along those with all the rest of the locals. It was so nice being surrounded by locals and no other tourists in sight. A stop for gelato and we headed back to the yacht just in time for a bit of dinner and of course, the line dancing! All our crew friends were there and as always, it was such a fun time and a true Windstar experience!

 

Amalfi - It was a very short stop at Amalfi so we got off and headed to the ferry to head to Positano right away before it was overun by tourists. What a neat town (when it was empty). After wandering around down by the sea,

we started up the hill and got about half way up before the tourists started coming down. It was a crazy sight!

 

We left Positano and took the ferry back to Amalfi with just enough time to find a limoncello shop, taste their limoncello, purchase some limoncello,

and get back for one of the last tenders. I wish we had had more time to wander around Amalfi but I guess you can't see it all. 

 

Our last sail away was so beautiful as we cruised from Amalfi, past Positano and Capri and up the coast of Italy. It was bittersweet as we realized, after 25 days at sea, our time aboard Wind Surf was coming to an end. We had such a marvelous time with all our new friends and as always, the crew and officers made it so very special. I have to say I'm getting a bit teary-eyed just thinking about it!

 

A few housekeeping points:

 

We were on board for 3 cruises and had originally booked a cabin on deck 1. A few months after booking, the upgrade fairy came to visit and offered us a suite on deck 3 which we most happily accepted. Having 2 bathrooms for 25 days at sea saved our marriage 🙂 Need I say more? Plus it was so nice to only have to go up 1 level to the Yacht Club and the pool or down 1 level to exit the ship.

 

The crew is the most awesome of folks! We have sailed twice before on Windstar and both times, Aladdin was on board. When we asked as we boarded in Lisbon if Aladdin was aboard, imagine our surprise and delight when we were told he was! We love that he remembered us and throughout our 25 days we got to know more about him and his family. We were truly blessed. And of course there was Farid our cabin steward; Hari, Russ and Ada our servers; Anna at the tour desk and Anne at reception that were so kind and caring. 

The officers on board were outstanding as well. Captain Pedro, head of Hotel operations Calvin and Julian, and Merrick Saldanha, maitre d' hotel were available, helpful and knew us well by the time we walked off the ship. The food was good (although after 25 days they really need to extend their offerings to a 10 - 14 day food rotation versus a 5 day rotation).

 

Wind Surf is a lovely girl but is showing her age. We were told she will be going into dry dock November 2019 which probably can't come soon enough. No matter, we love her and will sail again one day.

 

And so my tale comes to an end...until next time!

 

Good-bye from Captain Pedro and Head of Hotel Operations, Julian.

[Doh15]

That was a really interesting trip report-- thanks for coming back and sharing! (although it just makes me wish I had a trip there planned... 🙂 )

 

(pics are not coming thru for me but that might be my problem)

[Strenz]

Hi again, Thank you. The Sicilian Splendors is on the top of my wish list I hope they have it on the Surf  for 2020. There are 2 very important paintings by Caraviaggio in Valletta  that I have to see. We have been to Sicily  a couple of times and we adore it. Trapani is lovely as is Erice. Thanks for your insight. We were in Sicily with the Surf last year on the Venice to Rome, we docked in Messina and took a driver to Catania and visited the gritty, fabulous market and Bellini’s tomb ( my favorite opera composer ). The G7 was following us so much of that area was off limits but it was a great cruise. Your posts have been fun. Happy Anniversay belated and thanks for sharing. Happy Sailing

[Ski Mom 2]

Thanks Doh15 and Strenz for the kind words. I'm sorry the pictures aren't working for you Doh15. That's been my favorite part of the update to Cruise Critic - being able to add the photos. 

 

We had folks ask us which cruise was our favorite? Treasures of Southern Spain & Morocco, Yachtsman's Harbors of the Rivieras, or Sicilian Splendors. We realized we really couldn't answer that because each one of these cruises were stunning and there were highlights on all of them. One of the reasons I enjoyed Sicilian Splendors was it brought us to many places we wouldn't be able to see if we did a tour on our own of southern Italy. Being on Wind Surf really helped make this area so very special.

[monemavasia]

Thank you Ski Mom 2.  Really enjoyed your account of your fabulous B2B2B on Windstar.  It was most informative as we choose our shore excursions on our latest booked Windstar cruise as well as plan hopefully for future adventures. Fair cruising in the years ahead!

[Ski Mom 2]

You're very welcome monemavasia! We realized pretty quickly that most of our ports on our back2back2back were all quite small and very manageable on our own. We find joy in meeting the locals, sampling the food and beverages, wandering the streets, peeking into interesting shops and just soaking it all in. If this sounds like your cup of tea, any of the 3 cruises would be perfect. And while we have also enjoyed some of WS tours, we just didn't feel the need to take too many of them this time around although the ones we did participate in, certainly helped us see the sights that we might not have found on our own. I think some times folks are nervous about heading out on their own, especially if there is a difference in language. Even when we couldn't communicate by speaking, we still managed to "converse" with the locals. Have a wonderful time on your next WS adventures!!