Checking Cabin Availability

[Windsailer]

Does anyone know of a way to check cabin availability for Star Breeze cruises without calling WindStar or a travel agent? TIA.

[Host Jazzbeau]

One of our members created a really useful website that had up-to-date listings of cabin availibility for all Windstar cruises – and then Windstar changed their website so it was impossible for bots like that to get the data.  I haven't found a replacement.

[Windsailer]

Thanks. Really appreciate the info. 

[Petoonya]

Host Jazzbeau.....the mainstream cruise lines allow cruisers to watch cabin availability. Do you or anyone else know the reason WS and others don't allow peeking at availability?

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Host Jazzbeau.....the mainstream cruise lines allow cruisers to watch cabin availability. Do you or anyone else know the reason WS and others don't allow peeking at availability?

Mainstream cruise lines do.  Luxury and small-ship cruise don't.  I don't pretend to know the reason for this, but it does seem to work that way.  And as someone who pays a lot of attention to cabin selection, it does bother me...

[Del Rio]

With smaller ships the availability can often change faster.  The ideal cabin you saw last night, is gone this morning.  And smaller cruise lines, like Windstar, would prefer you keep an active conversation going with your TA or an inside customer service rep.

In most cases TA can see these numbers as fast as an inside rep. can.  If your TA cannot (or will not) tell you what's available, it may be time for a new TA.

[sail2day]

I am a first time Windstar cruiser. What is the likelihood of buying an upgrade to another category within 30 days of a cruise at a reduced rate?

 

Since the ships are sailing at 60% capacity it seems that is would be possible.

[FLbeachbaby]

Well I posed this exact question just yesterday to the “helpful” Windstar agent.  I was considering moving to a balcony since it is a big birthday celebration for me. I was told that there are no discounts or price drops honored and if I want to upgrade it will be at whatever rate it was when I booked. First time Windstar cruise btw. I have cruised extensively on various other lines and have never met with that response so it was quite eye opening and would then make me wait until the last minute to book Windstar in the future if I decide it is a line I enjoy. The jury is still out in pre-cruise mode.

[patty1955]

18 minutes ago, FLbeachbaby said:

Well I posed this exact question just yesterday to the “helpful” Windstar agent.  I was considering moving to a balcony since it is a big birthday celebration for me. I was told that there are no discounts or price drops honored and if I want to upgrade it will be at whatever rate it was when I booked. First time Windstar cruise btw. I have cruised extensively on various other lines and have never met with that response so it was quite eye opening and would then make me wait until the last minute to book Windstar in the future if I decide it is a line I enjoy. The jury is still out in pre-cruise mode.

A while back there was a price drop on our Apr 2022 cruise. I called and upgraded for a $50 administrative fee, which I'm told will be available to us as on OBC

[new_cruiser]

1 hour ago, FLbeachbaby said:

Well I posed this exact question just yesterday to the “helpful” Windstar agent.  I was considering moving to a balcony since it is a big birthday celebration for me. I was told that there are no discounts or price drops honored and if I want to upgrade it will be at whatever rate it was when I booked. First time Windstar cruise btw. I have cruised extensively on various other lines and have never met with that response so it was quite eye opening and would then make me wait until the last minute to book Windstar in the future if I decide it is a line I enjoy. The jury is still out in pre-cruise mode.

Somebody either:

• misunderstood your question,
• gave you an answer specific to a cruise less than 90 days out, or
• gave you the wrong answer.

Windstar has a price assurance policy that lets you take advantage of price drops up to 90 days before sailing. I've had my price adjusted many times. Sometimes the drop has been over $1000. When you change price, you get the conditions that go with the new price so if your original price had some perks and the current lower price doesn't you will loose those perks. For example, our 18 day Med cruise for this fall originally had $400 in OBC. We lost that when we repriced, but the cruise price went down by $2600 so definitely worth it. 

 

You can choose to upgrade instead based on availability. I've also sometimes had Windstar offer a free upgrade. One time I took the upgrade. One time I didn't as we preferred our cabin location and the cabins were otherwise the same. (Neither cruise happened as they were cancelled due to COVID.)

 

As patty1955 mentioned, there is a $50 pp charge for changing the price but they offset it with an equal amount of on board credit. 

[new_cruiser]

The Price Assurance Policy is about half-way down the terms and conditions page:

https://www.windstarcruises.com/terms-conditions/

[FLbeachbaby]

1 hour ago, new_cruiser said:

Somebody either:

• misunderstood your question,
• gave you an answer specific to a cruise less than 90 days out, or
• gave you the wrong answer.

Windstar has a price assurance policy that lets you take advantage of price drops up to 90 days before sailing. I've had my price adjusted many times. Sometimes the drop has been over $1000. When you change price, you get the conditions that go with the new price so if your original price had some perks and the current lower price doesn't you will loose those perks. For example, our 18 day Med cruise for this fall originally had $400 in OBC. We lost that when we repriced, but the cruise price went down by $2600 so definitely worth it. 

 

You can choose to upgrade instead based on availability. I've also sometimes had Windstar offer a free upgrade. One time I took the upgrade. One time I didn't as we preferred our cabin location and the cabins were otherwise the same. (Neither cruise happened as they were cancelled due to COVID.)

 

As patty1955 mentioned, there is a $50 pp charge for changing the price but they offset it with an equal amount of on board credit. 

That is good to know. Thank you. So I guess in my case specifically, It is the timing. I am about 6 weeks out.

[FLbeachbaby]

Just now, FLbeachbaby said:

That is good to know. Thank you. So I guess in my case specifically, It is the timing. I am about 6 weeks out.

And this would also apply to the OP's question regarding timing as well. So now we both know.

[FLbeachbaby]

4 hours ago, sail2day said:

I am a first time Windstar cruiser. What is the likelihood of buying an upgrade to another category within 30 days of a cruise at a reduced rate?

 

Since the ships are sailing at 60% capacity it seems that is would be possible.

Also, the person I spoke with mentioned 80% to me. I'm not saying that's correct, just that it's what I was told. (This is for the Star Breeze sailings coming up.) And I have paid for upgrades at discounted fares on other ships sometimes days before sailing. 

[r&rd]

I have been offered upgrades 4-6 weeks before sailings - sometimes for a fee sometimes not. I have also shown up and had an upgrade. But this was all pre-pandemic and who knows what will happen with upcoming cruises. I also suspect the new loyalty program will play a role in who gets offered upgrades.

[sail2day]

10 hours ago, FLbeachbaby said:

Also, the person I spoke with mentioned 80% to me. I'm not saying that's correct, just that it's what I was told. (This is for the Star Breeze sailings coming up.) And I have paid for upgrades at discounted fares on other ships sometimes days before sailing. 

So the Star Breeze will be sailing at 80% capacity for the summer sailings?

That seems quite high compared to the other cruise lines. I created a roll call for my July 3rd sailing and now one has responded. That leads me to believe that the ship might be sailing at less than 50%. I'm quite curious to know. 

[Pudgesmom]

12 minutes ago, sail2day said:

So the Star Breeze will be sailing at 80% capacity for the summer sailings?

That seems quite high compared to the other cruise lines. I created a roll call for my July 3rd sailing and now one has responded. That leads me to believe that the ship might be sailing at less than 50%. I'm quite curious to know. 

The ships are so small that many roll calls have only one or two posters.

[sail2day]

18 minutes ago, Pudgesmom said:

The ships are so small that many roll calls have only one or two posters.

Thanks for the info. Let's see how many people are on board....

[Pudgesmom]

27 minutes ago, sail2day said:

Thanks for the info. Let's see how many people are on board....

We once did a transatlantic on Windsurf with only 31 other guests. It was truly like having a private yacht. 
 

I’ll be interested to know how full your sailing is. Please let us know. 

[sail2day]

6 minutes ago, Pudgesmom said:

We once did a transatlantic on Windsurf with only 31 other guests. It was truly like having a private yacht. 
 

I’ll be interested to know how full your sailing is. Please let us know. 

I will let you know. I am very curious....

[Nearpost345]

Hi Pudgesmom, we had the same experience in May 2017 on Star Breeze sailing across Atlantic into Tenerife, about forty passengers on board.

[Nearpost345]

Re Windstar and upgrades, without even asking we were upgraded from a basic ocean view to a deck higher,  more  centrally located ocean view cabin at no charge, this was back on 2017 on the Star Breeze after boarding on embarkation day.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Nearpost345

[FLbeachbaby]

2 hours ago, Pudgesmom said:

The ships are so small that many roll calls have only one or two posters.

Yes the way I figured according to what I was told, at 80% the passenger max would be 250 or approx 125 cabins. Does not mean they will sell 80% just that it won't be more than that. I wish someone at WS would just say "hey  your sailing is almost full" or " the ship still has large availability" but I couldn't get anything more out of them. I will say some excursions are sold out, but again no idea what the cap is on those because there is no info.

 

I will say I went in and poked around Celebrity and information is very clear about excursions, vaccine protocols, testing, tips for forms etc. They did impress me

[new_cruiser]

2 hours ago, FLbeachbaby said:

Yes the way I figured according to what I was told, at 80% the passenger max would be 250 or approx 125 cabins. Does not mean they will sell 80% just that it won't be more than that. I wish someone at WS would just say "hey  your sailing is almost full" or " the ship still has large availability" but I couldn't get anything more out of them. I will say some excursions are sold out, but again no idea what the cap is on those because there is no info.

 

I will say I went in and poked around Celebrity and information is very clear about excursions, vaccine protocols, testing, tips for forms etc. They did impress me

They have a lot of cruises on reduced solo supplement so some capacity reduction might be due to having cabins with one occupant.

 

I've been on nearly full Windstar cruise 3 times. The way you could tell is that the price stayed constant or went up. Two of them had sales early on (6 or more months out) and the third never went on sale. As the cruise dates got closer, the price never dropped. If they are pretty empty, you will see them on 7-for-7 or last-minute sale price reductions. Since most of the cabins are the same size and similar layouts other than the "Star" vs old layout on the motor yachts, often the cheaper categories mostly sell out and they do upgrades to put the category on sale again. 

 

When the cabin availability website was working, you could also see that they would hold some cabins for Star Collectors so people who book them can have the same cabin for the whole cruise. Those cabins wouldn't show up as available for the single segment cruises, but they obviously weren't booked because they were available for the Star Collector. 

[Mimi A]

156 total Cabins for yacht ships (lengthened). For our sailing, there are 4 categories with 7+ available, with some sold out, and all the other categories (including up to Owners, there are 14 total). At least 42 empty, so possibly have room for 84 pax to book to 100%. Windstar told me they would be maxing out at 80% availability for the first 4 sailings, but might be able to open up more cabins by August. 80% of 156 total cabins = 124 cabins approx. can be sold, leaving 32 needing to be vacant.

 

More availability on 7/24 - 6 Cats w 7+,  all others add up to 12 cabins. More than 54 cabins available to 100% Cap or 22 to 80%.

 

Anymore sailing dates you may wish to know? Or specific cabin category? 

 

All cruise lines are being careful to follow CDC regulations and err on the side of safety. 

 

As for pricing, the RT St. Maarten sailings have been on 7 for 7 multiple times in the last month, so they are doing their best to get them sold. It is highly unlikely anyone will receive an upgrade even if there are vacant cabins. If anyone is interested in upgrading, be prepared to pay the current list price for the category, unless you are at level 3 or 4. Lines have already lost so much money over the last 16 months and they are not giving anything away probably for the next two years anyway.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Mimi A