Prices so low- worry about default

[Petoonya]

6 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Windstar and Renaissance have at least three major differences, all in Windstar's favor.  

(1)  Renaissance had just ordered eight ships that were seven times as large as their previous fleet (30,277 tons vs 4,200) – on credit.  Windstar only has the Star Plus Initiative costs, and they have been spread out by the delays for asbestos and now the shipyard suspending activity.  So Windstar is under much less financial stress.  

(2) Renaissance was completely independent, so they had no other resources to depend on.  Windstar is owned by Xanterra, which has many other activities (all travel related, but not cruising and so possibly able to return to business even more quickly) and which is backed by billionaire entertainment magnate Phillip Anschutz.  So Windstar has much deeper financial resources.  

(3) Renaissance's policy of not paying Travel Agent commissions meant that their ability to generate new bookings after 9/11 was severely limited.  Windstar has good relations with the travel agent community and its small ships will provide the selling point that "smaller is safer."  

 

So, no guarantees, but I think Windstar is well positioned to survive.

Thanks so much Host Jazzbeau.

You have exactly the insight and experience I was seeking. Feel a lot more comfortable booking both the cruise and shore excursions after reading your post. As you say no guarantees but sure sounds as though in difficult times WS is situated far better than Renaissance ever was to weather this crisis.

Thanks once again for the boost of confidence. 😁

[susiesan]

If the sailings start in September as planned then I think we can all be confident that 2021 cruise should be a go. My final payment is due Oct. 6 for Jan. 14 cruise, and if Wind Spirit has not commenced cruises by then I will likely cancel.

[Barrycat]

Just to add to the comments from Jazzbeau.

Windstar is wholly owned by Philip Anschutz a 80 year old resident of Colorado who is estimated to be worth $11.5 billion. The diversity and the history of his holdings is amazing. Railroads, oil, real estate, telecommunications, wind farms, movie production, resorts, sports teams, music festivals, sports venues, as well as Windstar.

Windstar is obviously not a major holding in the Anschutz portfolio. That said, he is easily in the position to survive  the money hole that Windstar has become In the past few months and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. The question is, what is his tolerance for the current situation and what is his view of eventually making his investment pay off. Many of his holdings other than Windstar are being negatively impacted by the current situation. Resorts, sports teams, music festivals and concerts are all suffering in response to stay at home orders. Anschutz did not become a billionaire by making bad financial decisions and the fate of Windstar is totally in his hands.
Let’s all hope that he has a soft spot in his heart for Windstar and that he will decide to stick with his investment.

[Petoonya]

17 hours ago, Barrycat said:

Just to add to the comments from Jazzbeau.

 

Let’s all hope that he has a soft spot in his heart for Windstar and that he will decide to stick with his investment.

Thanks for the additional info. I will keep fingers crossed Windstar is a pet project for Mr. Anschutz.

[vtgumby]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:34 AM, Petoonya said:

 

 

So I'm not speculating as you suggest- only looking for other's take on it. Maybe a better question would have been to ask if anyone knows about WS financial picture. Best wishes to you.

 

 

 

 

Hi Petoonya...I read your post as a question, one that many others are wondering in regards to all cruiselines and not as a rumor or speculation, merely a question. Thanks for asking which prompted good replies from our host and others. Glad to learn Windstar is being backed by a billionaire!

[TakingFlight]

Petoonya, maybe you have less to worry about. As of today most of the Tahiti prices have jumped. All of the Spring 2021 (March, April) cruises are no longer $1399 for the 7 day. My 3/25 cruise jumped overnight to $1999. Some of the summer cruises are even higher--6/17 is $2499. So not the high prices we were used to in the past, but definitely trending upward. So glad we locked in the low price when we did!

[Petoonya]

7 hours ago, TakingFlight said:

 So glad we locked in the low price when we did!

Yes, counting our blessings!

[Petoonya]

21 hours ago, TakingFlight said:

Petoonya, maybe you have less to worry about. As of today most of the Tahiti prices have jumped. All of the Spring 2021 (March, April) cruises are no longer $1399 for the 7 day. My 3/25 cruise jumped overnight to $1999. Some of the summer cruises are even higher--6/17 is $2499. So not the high prices we were used to in the past, but definitely trending upward. So glad we locked in the low price when we did!

Finally got around to looking at prices and wow really a big change. There often  seems to be one bragger on every cruise who advertises what a cheap price they paid. While it's uncomfortableI always wonder how they managed it but I guess some of it is sales like this. (I won't brag.) I was actually considering changing dates for Wind Spirit from May 24 to Apr 29 but guess my window of opportunity is gone now. Booked a November 2021 cruise at the low price just as a backup in case of COVID and glad I did when prices were lower.

[susiesan]

The 7 day cruise prices have gone down for most dates in early 2021. My Jan. 14 is at $1399 before taxes and I paid $1535 before taxes. I have asked my TA to see if I would be better off re pricing agin, whether I would keep all of the OBC I currently have, $600. I am not using the Windstar web site pricing, I am going off of my online TA prices.

[Petoonya]

11 hours ago, susiesan said:

The 7 day cruise prices have gone down for most dates in early 2021. My Jan. 14 is at $1399 before taxes and I paid $1535 before taxes. I have asked my TA to see if I would be better off re pricing agin, whether I would keep all of the OBC I currently have, $600. I am not using the Windstar web site pricing, I am going off of my online TA prices.

You're the second person who has reminded me that your TA is offering considerably lesser prices that on the WS site. It's great no matter how you decide to go but maybe you don't want all that obc as you've been saying and take the better price. As I've said tho some of your $600 cab be used toward gratuities.

[susiesan]

8 hours ago, Petoonya said:

You're the second person who has reminded me that your TA is offering considerably lesser prices that on the WS site. It's great no matter how you decide to go but maybe you don't want all that obc as you've been saying and take the better price. As I've said tho some of your $600 cab be used toward gratuities.

Nancy, I think you are wrong. Windstar is one of the few cruise lines that do not allow OBC to be used for gratuities. I ran into this problem a year ago on a Star pride cruise. I tried to use up the OBC but just couldn't. I spent it on one more overpriced t shirt that I did not need. One thing I like about Oceania is that I always have refundable OBC with them. At the end of the cruise I go to the front desk and they hand me cash.

 

[Petoonya]

15 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Nancy, I think you are wrong. Windstar is one of the few cruise lines that do not allow OBC to be used for gratuities. I ran into this problem a year ago on a Star pride cruise. I tried to use up the OBC but just couldn't. I spent it on one more overpriced t shirt that I did not need. One thing I like about Oceania is that I always have refundable OBC with them. At the end of the cruise I go to the front desk and they hand me cash.

 

Susie- I'm curious. I asked this question about a month ago and was told OBC from your TA can be used for whatever you want including gratuities. I'll see if I can't find the post 🙂

[Petoonya]

26 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Nancy, I think you are wrong. Windstar is one of the few cruise lines that do not allow OBC to be used for gratuities. I ran into this problem a year ago on a Star pride cruise. I tried to use up the OBC but just couldn't. I spent it on one more overpriced t shirt that I did not need. One thing I like about Oceania is that I always have refundable OBC with them. At the end of the cruise I go to the front desk and they hand me cash.

 

Here you go Susie, on page 2 from Redtravel when I asked about gratuities.

 

"OBC as a promotion is not refundable from Windstar and it cannot be used for gratuities.  OBC as a gift from travel agent is refundable and can be used for anything including gratuities.  It can also be cashed in or refunded to a credit card. Windstar excursions are pricey, but worth it."

 

So that money you got from your TA can be used towards gratuities- unless Redtravel is mistaken. Maybe it was WS OBC you were trying to use previously? I had a small amount of OBC from TA on a cruise a year ago but used it for wine so I've not had the experience. This time a nice amount from WS and a huge amount from TA.

Edited June 14, 2020 by Petoonya

[Petoonya]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Nancy, I think you are wrong. Windstar is one of the few cruise lines that do not allow OBC to be used for gratuities.

Susie....sorry to keep posting but here's another thread that a few posts down reiterates that OBC from TA can be used for gratuities.

 

[vtgumby]

1 hour ago, Petoonya said:

Susie....sorry to keep posting but here's another thread that a few posts down reiterates that OBC from TA can be used for gratuities.

 

Our experience is TA OBC is refundable and can be used for anything but the cruise line promotional OBC can’t be used for gratuities, everything else. 
When we did Galapagos that had the TA OBC 1000+ they sent us a check within a week post cruise, the bathroom sized gift shop didn’t have anything we wished to purchase and our TA had offered it up ahead of time, that’s simply too much to spend on a tiny ship.

[Barrycat]

Never used a TA so I cannot comment on that, but I’m certain about Windstar OBC, it cannot be used for cruise ending gratuities.

[kbr]

I always use a TA as they often get MUCH better pricing than what WS offers (that in itself is crazy) and I can always get the TA to give me an OBC (sharing their commission).  I've sailed with WS 4 times and every time I have an OBC from WS and one from the TA.  As others had said, the OBC from WS cannot be used for gratuities but gratuities can be covered with the OBD from the TA.  

 

I recently just took another $200 pp price reduction on a Tahiti cruise, losing the WS OBC, but I'd much rather spend less cash upfront then try to figure out how to use up a WS OBC which is difficult for me, as we never book ship excursions.  

[Petoonya]

14 hours ago, kbr said:

I always use a TA as they often get MUCH better pricing than what WS offers (that in itself is crazy) and I can always get the TA to give me an OBC (sharing their commission).  I've sailed with WS 4 times and every time I have an OBC from WS and one from the TA.  As others had said, the OBC from WS cannot be used for gratuities but gratuities can be covered with the OBD from the TA.  

 

I recently just took another $200 pp price reduction on a Tahiti cruise, losing the WS OBC, but I'd much rather spend less cash upfront then try to figure out how to use up a WS OBC which is difficult for me, as we never book ship excursions.  

Me too Kbr,

I got my cruise with the $400 WS promotion with $600 OBC from the TA which will take care of gratuities for 17 days.  We use the WS promotion for wine with dinner. It was a win-win. I never cruise without a TA.

Edited June 15, 2020 by Petoonya