Sudden Cancellation of Land Portion

[CnV]

Windstar suddenly cancelled the land portion (pre-cruise) of our cruise tour less than six weeks prior to start 2/7/23. The trip was sold as four days travelling Costa Rica including four nights lodging, visiting Arenal and Monteverde, most meals and transfers prior to the sailing on 2/11/23.  Obviously, we have already booked air travel to match the original days of the entire trip.  At this point, the only compensation offered by Windstar has been the refund of the land portion payment, which they did without communication.  

 

I have no doubt this was a situation outside of Windstar's direct control, i.e., a third party vendor, but I'm not seeing any attempt on their part to reproduce anything even remotely similar to the purchased product.  I imagine the vast majority of the px on this sailing selected this voyage because of the pre-cruise activities to avoid the need to create an independent itinerary.

 

If anyone impacted by this Windstar cancellation would like to band together and see what we can cobble together as a group, let me know.  If anyone has any ideas/thoughts on the best way to go about this, that would also be welcome.

 

 

 

 

  

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did a Costa Rica Pacific-coast cruise on Azamara in 2018, with DIY pre- and post-cruise stays.

 

On arrival in San Jose we stayed at the Doubletree Cariari San Jose, a lovely resort hotel with a sprawling layout and a great free Happy Hour [we wanted to be away from downtown to facilitate transfer to the port]

 

We booked private transfers from the Doubletree to the ship in Puntarenas, and then from the end of the cruise in Caldera to Arenal, from Arenal back to San Jose, a day trip to La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and finally to the airport for the flight home – all with Odyssey Tours.

 

We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, which was originally a Smithsonian Institution research station for the Arenal volcano.  When the volcano became dormant the property was redeveloped as a luxury eco-lodge.  It is very nice and has terrific views. It is closer to the volcano than any other property – but because of that location it is also very isolated, so once you are there you want to keep your activities and dining on-site [luckily the restaurant is good and they have a good program of available tours].

 

Then we transferred to San Jose and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana, which is right near a famous soccer [football] stadium.  It is a beautiful hotel, but our room had the worst lighting [dim and never where you needed it] and the shower was the European style with only half a wall/door so the whole bathroom floor got wet.

 

Cab rides (inexpensive) took us downtown to see the top sites:  Museo de Jade, Museo National, Museo del Banco Central (gold), Teatro Nacional, Catedral Metropolitano, and Avenida Central (pedestrianized shopping area) [we didn't have time for all this in one day...] – and later for dinner at the top-rated Restaurant Grano de Oro, with lovely, tasteful décor and terrific food in this old hotel.  [In retrospect this might have been a better hotel choice too.]

 

The next day we had wanted to see the Poás or Irazú volcanoes, but they were closed to visitors at that time so instead we spent the day at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, which was very enjoyable.

 

For more info, see my blog and pictures – and feel free to ask more questions!

[Lvwindstar007]

We did the 4 day tour package in December of 2019.  We loved it, had great accommodations and sites to visit.  The hot springs and Arenal area were wonderful.   We did the cruise followed by the tour.

[Howellmc]

CnV - So sorry to see that happen to you, especially since we are leaving for the same pre-cruise trip in about 2 weeks. I haven't heard anything from Windstar yet, so I hope it is still a go.

We did have this cruise cancelled last year. We did not have the land portion for that sailing, as it was going from Colon to Puerto Caldera. I put together something for us post cruise on my own. We were going to go to Tabacon resort for 2 days and then to the Peace Lodge at the La Paz waterfalls for 2 more days. Then we were spending a night in San Jose. I had us getting around using private transfers, as I had no interest in driving. If anything happens with our trip, I'll probably re-create that. 

I wonder what caused them to make the late change for you? I had noticed last month that this cruise tour combo is no longer advertised. I did call to ask why and Windstar customer service said they were sold out. Also surprised that they didn't at least offer you something extra for the inconvenience. I'm not big on folks who want cruise lines to give them everything for a small problem, but cancelling this late in the game is a huge headache. Something simple like an upgrade or OBC would be good customer relations.

 

Take care and good luck on your trip

 

[CnV]

Thx to those who provide suggestions.  With 2k in airfare on the line, and no indication from Windstar that there would be any compensation for any increase in airfare to change flights, etc. I went ahead and found a travel agent based in CR that put together a very robust itinerary, similar (or better) lodging and private transfers.  

 

To Windstar's credit, they did resurrect the original land portion; however this was more than two weeks after the cancellation.  Sigh . . .   We elected to stick with the new travel plan.  Windstar has since added complimentary laundry service and a bit of shipboard credit which is appreciated.

 

We are still very much looking forward to this trip and are confident WS will be able to make up for the initial missteps once we're onboard.

 

Fingers crossed . . .