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Considering Windstar


deadzone1003
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Currently, we are booked on an Oceania cruise to the Amazon for Feb. 2022.  There's a 50/50 chance it will be canceled or modified so much that it will not be worth it.  So, we are looking around for other options that may interest us.  We have sailed many cruiselines though lately we have been sailing Oceania.  The itinerary always take 1st place so even going on a Costa ship is no problem for us - we actually like them.  We are looking at the 24 night Noumea to Papeete cruise departing on March 14, 2022 aboard the Wind Spirit as an alternative if our Oceania cruise gets canceled or modified too much.  One of the questions I had was the condition of the ship but supposedly it is coming out of drydock in Feb. 2022 in Singapore.  I am quite aware of the lack of entertainment and activities aboard the Wind Spirit (it appears to be just a tad quieter than an Oceania ship).  On sea days, my wife and I spend most of the day on the top deck, relaxing in the shade, drinking cold drinks, scanning the Internet, jumping into the pool to cool off.  Question:  is there much shade on the top deck (there doesn't seemed to very much except in the areas where they are serving food)?  My wife burns easily so shade may be a necessary requirement as we do not like the idea of being below deck most of our sea days.  Is the Internet on Wind Spirit been upgraded so it doesn't feel like dial-up?  For those who have sailed Oceania, how do the food compared?  How much movement is there on Windstar Spirit in the open ocean?  Thanks for any help.

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Hi,

We have only been on the Wind Star but I believe it’s virtually the same layout as Wind Spirit. There IS shade on deck but I’d say it’s fairly limited- the loungers do have umbrellas but one side tends to have shade while the other is in sun depending on time of day. There’s also some seating (but not loungers) in the bar area and that has shade all day. Be aware that the pool is tiny!! More like a plunge pool really, so fine for dipping in and cooling off but you can’t get any exercise in it!! In fact, on our last trip we stayed in a hotel where we had a bigger plunge pool on our balcony than the pool on Wind Star!!

 

Entertainment on our last cruise was restricted to a musical duo, but that was a very port intensive itinerary with no sea days at all. It might be different if there are sea days. It might then include trivia or similar?  I’m not sure I’d be all that keen on so many sea days but I do know some people just love that opportunity to totally relax. I’d be wanting to jump overboard!! Which is a point - if they stop and put out the water sports platform at all then you might be able to do just that!! 
 

We loved our last Windstar cruise and found the staff and food to be great. I think I’d prefer a bigger ship for a long cruise with a lot of sea days but it’s horses for courses!!

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, Mocamps said:

Hi,

We have only been on the Wind Star but I believe it’s virtually the same layout as Wind Spirit. There IS shade on deck but I’d say it’s fairly limited- the loungers do have umbrellas but one side tends to have shade while the other is in sun depending on time of day. There’s also some seating (but not loungers) in the bar area and that has shade all day. Be aware that the pool is tiny!! More like a plunge pool really, so fine for dipping in and cooling off but you can’t get any exercise in it!! In fact, on our last trip we stayed in a hotel where we had a bigger plunge pool on our balcony than the pool on Wind Star!!

 

Entertainment on our last cruise was restricted to a musical duo, but that was a very port intensive itinerary with no sea days at all. It might be different if there are sea days. It might then include trivia or similar?  I’m not sure I’d be all that keen on so many sea days but I do know some people just love that opportunity to totally relax. I’d be wanting to jump overboard!! Which is a point - if they stop and put out the water sports platform at all then you might be able to do just that!! 
 

We loved our last Windstar cruise and found the staff and food to be great. I think I’d prefer a bigger ship for a long cruise with a lot of sea days but it’s horses for courses!!

 

 

 

Thanks for the info.  We just use the swimming pool to just cool off.  Problem with the itinerary that we may be interested in, usually the only cruise lines that does something like this are luxury lines.  Do Windstar suffer from chair hogs like all other lines? 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/10/2021 at 11:13 PM, Mocamps said:

Hi,

We have only been on the Wind Star but I believe it’s virtually the same layout as Wind Spirit. There IS shade on deck but I’d say it’s fairly limited- the loungers do have umbrellas but one side tends to have shade while the other is in sun depending on time of day. There’s also some seating (but not loungers) in the bar area and that has shade all day. Be aware that the pool is tiny!! More like a plunge pool really, so fine for dipping in and cooling off but you can’t get any exercise in it!! In fact, on our last trip we stayed in a hotel where we had a bigger plunge pool on our balcony than the pool on Wind Star!!

 

Entertainment on our last cruise was restricted to a musical duo, but that was a very port intensive itinerary with no sea days at all. It might be different if there are sea days. It might then include trivia or similar?  I’m not sure I’d be all that keen on so many sea days but I do know some people just love that opportunity to totally relax. I’d be wanting to jump overboard!! Which is a point - if they stop and put out the water sports platform at all then you might be able to do just that!! 
 

We loved our last Windstar cruise and found the staff and food to be great. I think I’d prefer a bigger ship for a long cruise with a lot of sea days but it’s horses for courses!!

 

 

 

Hi--I am also considering a WS cruise -having never sailed with them-only on bigger ships and a river cruise.  How is the motion on WS?  Do they have stabilizers like the bigger ships?

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Yes, the Wind Spirit has stabilizers like bigger ships.  The motion is still dependent on the sea state but because of the size expect a little more motion.  There is shade in the pool bar area and we have played cards with other couples at one of the tables there.  We never lie out in the sun but there are a variety of places to find shade depending on the direction of the ship and relative location of the sun.  The internet is so-so unless there is a recent upgrade.

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We’ve sailed all of the Windstar types of ships and have never felt it was any different than the few larger ships we’ve sailed. Im going to discount the one almost hurricane day alee

of British Isles when we anchored between three tankers on Star Breeze. 25-30’ seas and even then they were serving meals. I was hanging on to the side of my bed!
 

The worst rolling we ever had was in the Caribbean on HAL Oosterdam  in 8-10’ seas. I’ve experienced that level of seas from all  four directions  on Windstar. On the Oosterdam,  It was horrible in the upper decks. You’re never ever up that high on wind star so the ship can’t roll that far. (This is totally my experience!)

Edited by Pudgesmom
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On the star and spirit I’m a big fan of the umbrella tables just outside Veranda for the afternoon. They are chairs at tables but there are seldom many people there so you can “move with the sun” and crew walk past and will usually ask if you’d like something. Very quiet. The table is nice for your drinks, books, laptops, etc. 

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