Star Pride questions about the ship and also about what ports out of San Juan are tender or docked

[fedexretiree]

We are thinking about taking the Star Pride next month out of San Juan.

Some of the rooms have connecting doors and I know from other ships to stay away from them but the category we are looking out this is all that is available.

Anyone ever stay in them and are they noisy?

Here are the ports that we are going to.  Can anyone tell me which are tender and which are docked?

We are wanting to just go to a nice beach on each of the stops so wondering about the smaller islands if there will be taxis or do we need to do ship tours?

Thought that I read that they serve complimentary beer or wine on this ship for meals but not finding that anywhere now, is this true?

Last question, what is the approximate price of beer and rum punches..

Thanks in advance for the felp

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico	-	10:00 PM
2	Charlotte Amalie (St.Thomas), USVI	8:00 AM	10:00pm
3	Gustavia, St. Barthelemy	9:00 AM	10:00 PM
4	Little Bay, Montserrat	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
5	Philipsburg, St. Maarten	7:00 AM	10:00 PM
6	Jost Van Dyke, BVI	8:00 AM	11:59 PM
7	Virgin Gorda, BVI	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
8	San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico - 7:00 PM 2 At Sea - - 3 St. Georges, Grenada 9:00 AM 10:00 PM 4 Bequia, Grenadines 8:00 AM 10:00 PM 5 Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 6 Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes), Guadeloupe 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 7 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8:00 AM 2:00 PM 8 San Juan, Puerto Rico

[marinaro44]

The window and balcony cabins don't really "connect."  The doors into the two "connecting" cabins are side by side at the end of a short hallway off the main hallway.  To "connect" the two cabins you have to open the door to both cabins and close the door at the main hallway.  It's hard to explain.  Look at the deck plan and you might understand.

[fedexretiree]

2 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

The window and balcony cabins don't really "connect."  The doors into the two "connecting" cabins are side by side at the end of a short hallway off the main hallway.  To "connect" the two cabins you have to open the door to both cabins and close the door at the main hallway.  It's hard to explain.  Look at the deck plan and you might understand.

Oh ok....thxxx

[fedexretiree]

I just booked this and saw on the documents where it shows tender or dock so that question has been answered.  

But I would appreciate any good beach advice on

Gustavia, St. Barthelemy

Little Bay, Montserrat

Jost Van Dyke, BVI

Virgin Gorda, BVI

Bequia, Grenadines

Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes), Guadeloupe

[6986]

My husband is visually impaired and when we asked a cab driver on Virgin Gorda to take us to the Baths, he suggested we go to Spring Bay instead. It was a great option. The path to the water is not very difficult, it has the large boulders and calm pools of water. It was truly awesome. It was just before the Baths from the direction that we came. In fact we could see part of the Baths from Spring Bay. You can google Spring Bay for more info and also see more info on TripAdvisor. 

[Strenz]

Gustavia: nice walk to Shell Beach, need water shoes for beach, taxis very expensive as is the island, lovey marina

Jost: White Bay, taxi or open air vans were $5, great beach, we like Gertrude's, buy drink get a chair, great conk fritters

Virgin Gorda  think  that is where beach party/ lunch is, beautiful across from Bitter End, tender to beach
Bequia beautiful island taxi to beaches

Ils des Saints, beautiful walk to Plage des Pompiers walk with goats, great beach, 10-15 minutes, also on the main street look for the crèpe maker, grumpy old guy but you will think you were at the best crépe maker in France, tiny outdoor shop

Enjoy, those are some of our favorite islands. Happy Sailing

[milepig]

Windstar maintains a list of tender (or Zodiac) ports, I'm not sure it's 100% accurate:

 

https://www.windstarcruises.com/accessibility/

[Misty Morning]

As an FYI, we were in Les Saintes 3 weeks ago and Pompierre Beach was being worked on by heavy equipment.  Not sure if they have completed their work, but it was definitely not pretty when we were there.  Sea weeds everywhere, restaurants all closed.  Town was nice though.  Maybe they are gearing up the beach for peak tourist season.

 

Bequia: you can either take a taxi to beach or use a water taxi (more fun).  Jack's bar is great

[schmidlapp]

We were on the Legend in late 19

Prior to "the virus ", 1 week from San  Juan. It was the same itinerary as the Pride is currently on. Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Only dock ports were St. Thomas and St. Maarten, everywhere else tender.  Our favorite day was the beach bbq. Crew went all out, food and service exceptional!

Be aware, St. Thomas is on a Sunday, not much open, Good beach day. Montserrat very little to do unless on volcano excursion.

We shopped our feet off in St Maarten and St Barts. 

We wish we would have done the 14 day as the 7 day ended way too soon. Looking so forward to being back on the Legend for 11 nights over new year's!

Edited December 9, 2022 by schmidlapp

[J&MSails]

Marmalade restaurant in San Juan is fantastic.  It is within walking distance from where the ships dock.  It is pricey but well worth it.  Get reservations and go with a group, lots of fun

Beer and wine are not complimentary on Windstar

[gracebest]

We stayed in a "connecting" cabin in September on the Pride.  There is a very small alcove off the main hallway, with two cabin doors very close together.  That being said the only noise we heard was if our"'suitemate" let the door slam when entering or leaving.  We were very mindful of that, as was our suitemates, so it wasn't a problem.

[fedexretiree]

On 12/7/2022 at 10:06 PM, 6986 said:

My husband is visually impaired and when we asked a cab driver on Virgin Gorda to take us to the Baths, he suggested we go to Spring Bay instead. It was a great option. The path to the water is not very difficult, it has the large boulders and calm pools of water. It was truly awesome. It was just before the Baths from the direction that we came. In fact we could see part of the Baths from Spring Bay. You can google Spring Bay for more info and also see more info on TripAdvisor. 

THANKS..This will be a great option for us if we don't think that we can do the other trail.

[fedexretiree]

On 12/8/2022 at 7:24 AM, Strenz said:

Gustavia: nice walk to Shell Beach, need water shoes for beach, taxis very expensive as is the island, lovey marina

Jost: White Bay, taxi or open air vans were $5, great beach, we like Gertrude's, buy drink get a chair, great conk fritters

Virgin Gorda  think  that is where beach party/ lunch is, beautiful across from Bitter End, tender to beach
Bequia beautiful island taxi to beaches

Ils des Saints, beautiful walk to Plage des Pompiers walk with goats, great beach, 10-15 minutes, also on the main street look for the crèpe maker, grumpy old guy but you will think you were at the best crépe maker in France, tiny outdoor shop

Enjoy, those are some of our favorite islands. Happy Sailing

AWESOME information.  thanks for taking the time to break it down for us.  

[fedexretiree]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:40 AM, milepig said:

Windstar maintains a list of tender (or Zodiac) ports, I'm not sure it's 100% accurate:

 

https://www.windstarcruises.com/accessibility/

PERFECT...thanks

[fedexretiree]

On 12/8/2022 at 5:31 PM, Misty Morning said:

As an FYI, we were in Les Saintes 3 weeks ago and Pompierre Beach was being worked on by heavy equipment.  Not sure if they have completed their work, but it was definitely not pretty when we were there.  Sea weeds everywhere, restaurants all closed.  Town was nice though.  Maybe they are gearing up the beach for peak tourist season.

 

Bequia: you can either take a taxi to beach or use a water taxi (more fun).  Jack's bar is great

THANKS....Oh gosh so sorry to hear that...Do you have another beach suggestion in Les Saintes?

[fedexretiree]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:09 AM, schmidlapp said:

We were on the Legend in late 19

Prior to "the virus ", 1 week from San  Juan. It was the same itinerary as the Pride is currently on. Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Only dock ports were St. Thomas and St. Maarten, everywhere else tender.  Our favorite day was the beach bbq. Crew went all out, food and service exceptional!

Be aware, St. Thomas is on a Sunday, not much open, Good beach day. Montserrat very little to do unless on volcano excursion.

We shopped our feet off in St Maarten and St Barts. 

We wish we would have done the 14 day as the 7 day ended way too soon. Looking so forward to being back on the Legend for 11 nights over new year's!

THANKS so much.  Beach BBQ sounds wonderful from what I have been told.  So excited for this trip

[fedexretiree]

On 12/9/2022 at 2:33 PM, J&MSails said:

Marmalade restaurant in San Juan is fantastic.  It is within walking distance from where the ships dock.  It is pricey but well worth it.  Get reservations and go with a group, lots of fun

Beer and wine are not complimentary on Windstar

THANKS.  Wish beer and wine were complimentary...Darn... We are used to Celebrity but actually its not really complimentary on there either ...it is actually hidden in the cost of the trip

[fedexretiree]

4 hours ago, gracebest said:

We stayed in a "connecting" cabin in September on the Pride.  There is a very small alcove off the main hallway, with two cabin doors very close together.  That being said the only noise we heard was if our"'suitemate" let the door slam when entering or leaving.  We were very mindful of that, as was our suitemates, so it wasn't a problem.

Great.. I slightly panicked when I saw that almost all of the cabins were "connecting"  Thought about the noise we had on a connecting door on Celebrity...Never again for that type of cabin...Avoid at all cost...lol

[fedexretiree]

Wanting to thank all that have responded to my post.  Please if there are any other suggestions, beach ship tips or whatever please post.... It's always good to have great information from previous travelers that have been there and done it.

[6986]

We also did the underwater submarine excursion in St. Barts and were surprised how much we enjoyed that. We saw lots of fish. We walked to Pebble Beach after that. 

[fedexretiree]

Is this the Yellow Submarine?  If so I Google it today and the are out of business.  Looked like a nice trip.

[Misty Morning]

Funny because the Yellow Submarine is still showing as an excursion in St Barth on the Windstar website

[fedexretiree]

That is weird...I did a google search and it took me to trip advisor and it shows permently closed.

I just did another search and guessing they are still in business.  Gonna send them a msg.

Thanks...