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Travel Assurance Booking Policy


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https://www.windstarcruises.com/travel-assurance-booking-policy/

 

Book a small ship cruise vacation with confidence


Windstar believes vacations enrich people’s lives. The new Travel Assurance Booking Policy is an extra effort to ensure travelers feel comfortable booking a well-deserved cruise vacation now without fearing loss should they need to cancel.
 
Windstar’s Travel Assurance Booking Policy automatically applies to new and existing cruises departing on or after June 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021.
 
Travelers who cancel a cruise booking up to 15 days prior to departure will receive a 100% Future Cruise Credit to be used on another Windstar departure within one year of the issue date of the credit. The offer is good for cruise fare only.
 
Current health precautions and policies

Windstar Cruises has implemented an enhanced health screening questionnaire for guests and crew to screen for possible coronavirus COVID-19. Additionally, crew travel through mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea has been suspended. No one will be allowed to board a Windstar ship who in the 30 days prior to embarkation has been in or traveled from or through China, Hong Kong, Macau, or South Korea, or has had close contact with anyone suspected or diagnosed as having coronavirus COVID-19. Prior to boarding a ship, all passengers and crew will be administered a no-touch thermal scan to screen for fever. Anyone with a fever (≥38 C°/100.4 F°) will not be allowed to board the ship.
Out of an abundance of caution, Windstar has cancelled all Asia sailings in 2020.
 
The safety and security of guests and crew are the utmost priority at Windstar Cruises. Windstar’s knowledgeable team may make additional deployment changes based on current events.
 
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20 hours ago, sb44 said:

Good for them. The entire industry is in deep trouble over this and people need some reassurance.   Proactive is so much better than reactive.

Before I go on my Windstar cruise next January I have one on Oceania in the Baltics in June. I hope O adopts this policy. I am not planning on cancelling any of my cruises unless the airlines stop flying to cruise embarkation cities.

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This is good news hopefully.  We are booked for a June 16 cruise on the refurbished Star Breeze.  We booked a very expensive suite, with the "all in package".   Not sure the "all in" package will be included if re-booking.  And, I certainly hope this credit is the amount paid for the suite you booked, and not just the lowest cost suite.   Also wondering at this point if the Star Breeze will even be ready for June 16th.  We made a small deposit, and our booking payment is due March 13th, so we stand to lose more money cancelling altogether (15% for 120 days out) of a contractually binding full payment, rather than opting for the travel assurance policy which, who knows what can happen within a year.  Either way we will loose our airfare, and I suppose our Trip Insurance premium.  That said, kudos to Windstar for instituting this policy.

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4 minutes ago, SecretFruity said:

  Either way we will loose our airfare, and I suppose our Trip Insurance premium.  That said, kudos to Windstar for instituting this policy.

 

More than anything, I think this is convincing me to book airfare closer to the last minute. 

 

I had booked my Breeze cruise travel with airline points and the cancellation fee was just $150 (paid for by Windstar when they cancelled the cruise.) Our FF plan sucks so when I had to book Azores Airlines to get home from my rebooked cruise, on a full revenue ticket, I spent just $1K more than the taxes and fees  my airline had charged me on the 'free' tickets. Not sure I'd fly them again but the seats were comfortable and the price was amazing on a booking made just 45 days before the flight. Not completely last minute but still a rushed decision that showed me deals are out there a lot closer to sail dates than I had imagined. 

 

 

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@SecretFruity

There is some chatter on the “windspirit..something is up in Asia” post. A few of us are on the 6/1 and 6/9 Breeze sailings. Seems someone was informed from WS that the first two sailings of the Breeze have been redeployed and info is coming soon. Not sure how that impacts the rest of the sailings but I assume it will. We were already cancelled once from April so if this happens again, we aren’t going to rebook until the ship is actually sailing.


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I wonder what that means by "redeployed" and why.  Different itinerary or she won't be ready?  And why would it be "redeployed" and where, as these sailings are not in the impacted virus areas?  

IMO they may be anticipating additional delayed especially with the COVID 19 issues in Italy that could impact progress at the shipyard.


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I called Windstar today and inquired (as a new cruiser) about the 6/1 sailing and 6/9 sailing. The rep said “there is no availability for 6/1” I asked if the ship was sold out and she said no, it’s just not happening; the ship is delayed. She said they are still on schedule for the 6/9 cruise and that it would, as far as she knows, depart from Puerto Vallarta. Not sure how that happens if the ship is delayed; maybe they plan to sail it empty all the way up to PV. I don’t have much of an appetite to be the first sailing post refurbishment. I’ve done it with another line and there are still kinks to be worked out. We may just cancel and make other plans.


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I'm beginning to think the 6/14 sailing won't happen either, and if it does, I'm with you regarding a new sailing post refurbishment.  What were the issues you had with the other line post refurbishment?  The same sailing we are on for 6/14 (The West Coast) is being offered 9/16, but I think the weather will be cool once we hit San Francisco, because one of my favorite things to do on Windstar is the al fresco dining, breakfast, lunch, and Candles at dinner.  Delays with the Coronavirus, things are just not looking good!  We have a few months, so I guess we'll wait and see.

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SecretFruity- Most notably were electrical issues still being worked on and some plumbing issues. Working on carpet replacements in the hallways mid-sail, touch up paint being done in the staterooms. It wasn’t severe enough to ruin our cruise so to speak, (although others were complaining) we just said to ourselves that would prob be the last time we’d book the first sailing. We do have some time but on the other hand I’d like to make other plans. We may just wait and see if it’s cancelled. With yours being the James Beard sailing, seems like they’d have a lot to lose trying to line up chefs and such.


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Hmm. Not sure I like that.  We booked an expensive suite, I would want what I pay for.  As for the chefs however, they must already be lined up and ready to go I would think. That said, we're not going for the James Beard reason.  We want to stay stateside this year, and we love the West Coast and the itinerary.  Are you going to cancel and get the credit, or just cancel and get your money back? 

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45 minutes ago, SecretFruity said:

  Are you going to cancel and get the credit, or just cancel and get your money back? 

 

Haven't decided that part yet. We've made the final payment and are at day 100 so were in the 120-90 day lose your deposit range. If we dont make a decision within the 90 day window then we will take the credit. Arrghh..

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 I'm beginning to think the cruises in June will be cancelled by Windstar.  Three possible reasons, 1.) Star Breeze will be further delayed,  2.) the future of Coronavirus and travel restrictions, 3.)  if the cruise doesn't fill book enough because people are afraid to travel, wouldn't Windstar have to cancel?  Like you say "Arrgh.."

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The June 1 cruise is cancelled. I was told this morning that the official announcement would be within the next week when offers and compensations are worked out. They still have to get the ship to Alaska so unless there are further delays in Italy my guess is they would rather sail the ship half empty than empty. I have been on Windstar cruises in the past with less than 40 guests onboard.

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r&rd thanks for the update! Just a bummer overall to hear this. Figured the first round of delays was all...

 

The 6/9 sailing is 1/3 full (156 cabins, 57 booked currently ). I think we’re going to wait it out and see if 6/9 is cancelled too. I’m just not a fan of being the first sailing after a refurb especially an unprecedented (for Windstar) ship stretch.

 

 

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We are considering booking the june 9th cruise on the star breeze ! They want a final payment March 7th .  As stated very few rooms  on this cruise have been purchased.

 

Having to book airfare and other important things ahead of time makes this a tough choice . I wish there was more transparency on how things are going in dry dock and when they ACTUALLY think the work will be done and have sea trials. the lack of reports does cause call for MANY  questions.

 

So tough decisions ahead for sure. Windstar could make things a bit easier if they stepped up and gave weekly reports on the star breeze progress. unfortunately they have chosen  not to .

 

 So we shall see if Windstar answers the call or continues to fall short of important posting regarding this cruise and those afterwards. 

 

 

 

 

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Spanky My

I agree with everything you say.  Our final payment is due on March 13th.  I spoke with my TA, and he advised that we go for the cruise credit which Windstar is offering which will give us a year to re-book a cruise and I'm inclined to agree. You may want to consider purchasing refundable airfare, as well as non refundable hotels on either end if needed.  He said we would not lose our Trip Insurance premium, if we re-book in one year.  I'm just going to hold tight until mid-May and see what happens.  It's all a roll of the dice though, because who knows what could happen to preclude us from booking a cruise in the coming year.  Very frustrating.   I too wish they would give more information of how things are going.

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2 hours ago, SecretFruity said:

Less than 40 guests does not sound like much fun

We did a transatlantic on the Windsurf one time with 33 guests and a full crew of 175. It was pure heaven for us.

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