Anyone recently sail on a full star ship?

[Redtravel]

We are big fans of Windstar.  We especially like the Star ships.  When they announced the stretching and adding more cabins, we wondered if adding guests would work. We enjoyed sailing on the Breeze last fall after the stretch. However, with only 130 guests, there was lots of space.  They didn’t enlarge Yacht club, Compass Rose, or the Lounge.  Aamphora and the Veranda were enlarged.  Star Grill was never open for dinner.  Cuadro 44 was very small.  We ate there once and decided not to do it again. 
If you sailed recently on a Star ship that was full, was there enough space in all public venues?  

[zentraveler]

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

We are big fans of Windstar.  We especially like the Star ships.  When they announced the stretching and adding more cabins, we wondered if adding guests would work. We enjoyed sailing on the Breeze last fall after the stretch. However, with only 130 guests, there was lots of space.  They didn’t enlarge Yacht club, Compass Rose, or the Lounge.  Aamphora and the Veranda were enlarged.  Star Grill was never open for dinner.  Cuadro 44 was very small.  We ate there once and decided not to do it again. 
If you sailed recently on a Star ship that was full, was there enough space in all public venues?  

Hate the new cabins (bed by balcony and uncomfortable couch) but there always seemed to be space wherever we wanted to be except perhaps the outdoor patio/deck (8?) on a good weather sea day around lunchtime.

[milepig]

The only times we felt a little squished was in Veranda at peak breakfast or lunch time, expecially when there were a lot of tours departing or coming back at the same time. This is what room service is for if it bothers you, but any line seemed to clear quickly.

[SVBing]

Just of Pride 302 onboard…. No real space problems per se…. As earlier shared Veranda can get a bit busy periodically. Q44 is a smaller dining venue… but reservations spaced arrivals. 
 

[2LoveToTravel]

Just off the Pride. Ship was full for the first time. Crew working hard. We felt they were a little short staffed, but it all worked well. Love the space since the stretch.

 

[medskis]

A Windstar agent told me a few days ago that Legend was looking like 70-80 % full for our March 29th ten night sailing out of Miami….last one of the season before TA 

[r&rd]

We are currently on the legend with 232 passengers. This is the first time in all of my Windstar voyages that I have actually encountered the chair hog phenomenon. There are lots of sun loungers but most are in the full sun. The pool men said I should probably get there at 6 am. By 8 am all the “shade” chairs have been “saved”. So a full ship may be problematic in a very warm climate.

[zentraveler]

58 minutes ago, r&rd said:

We are currently on the legend with 232 passengers. This is the first time in all of my Windstar voyages that I have actually encountered the chair hog phenomenon. There are lots of sun loungers but most are in the full sun. The pool men said I should probably get there at 6 am. By 8 am all the “shade” chairs have been “saved”. So a full ship may be problematic in a very warm climate.

Are people using them or they all taken by towels and various "place savers"?

[Strenz]

They must be chair hogs if you have to get to the pool by 6 am. I have never seen that happen on the sailing ships. People put a towel down but not many if them. It is announced on the sailing ships not to do that. Happy Sailing

[r&rd]

The towels and books are there early and then the people show up a few hours later. By lunch all the chairs are full

[6rugrats]

Sad to hear that.  I first sailed on the Wind Star in 1988 and have never seen this.

[Misty Morning]

The problem on the Star ships is getting a place in the shade (mostly on deck 7 Pool Deck) as there is very little shade on deck 8.  Prior to the stretch, they used to have umbrellas tied to the railings on deck 8 but they usually got destroyed by the wind pretty quickly so I think they gave up.  The same issue can also happen on the Surf depending on where the sun is (people will reserve loungers on the shaded side of the ship)  It was never an issue getting a place in the sun though and we had 270 onboard in November

[Barrycat]

Late in checking back in to CC but wanted to leave a comment.

We were on the Breeze in January for 39 days in what WS considered three segments. The first segment  was full and we didn’t like it. At breakfast the Veranda was full with every table except for a few of the new addition add ons  taken. The tables are tightly spaced and it was uncomfortable. At dinner the staff was stressed and despite their best efforts it showed. The excursion manager was always frazzled and often did not seem to be in control. The hotel manager who generally strolls around to chat with passenger and solicit comments was seen on deck twice in 39 days. The captain was the least visible on our 15 WS cruises.

As always the non officer crew was wonderful despite the added workload. In the later segments as the passenger list thinned, the non officer crew shined as usual.

[Pudgesmom]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:50 PM, Barrycat said:

Late in checking back in to CC but wanted to leave a comment.

We were on the Breeze in January for 39 days in what WS considered three segments. The first segment  was full and we didn’t like it. At breakfast the Veranda was full with every table except for a few of the new addition add ons  taken. The tables are tightly spaced and it was uncomfortable. At dinner the staff was stressed and despite their best efforts it showed. The excursion manager was always frazzled and often did not seem to be in control. The hotel manager who generally strolls around to chat with passenger and solicit comments was seen on deck twice in 39 days. The captain was the least visible on our 15 WS cruises.

As always the non officer crew was wonderful despite the added workload. In the later segments as the passenger list thinned, the non officer crew shined as usual.

It’s very disappointing to read that from you as I know you are a well traveled Windstar passenger. We haven’t been on a full ship since before Covid, although we had a great time last summer on the stretched Star Pride with about 75% occupancy.