Looking Forward to our First Windstar Cruise but have ?s

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hi, We have recently booked Wind Surf for March our of Sint Maarten.We have watched a lot of videos but a few questions come to mind.

First is the Yacht Club Cafe Specialty Coffees included if you do not purchase the All-In Package?

We are very frequent cruisers with Holland America (5 star Mariner) and NCL (Sapphire Latitude) with both we always get the full package for drinks although like with HAL often it will include Specialty Dining, Wifi and gratuities. We always pretty much break even so definitely purchase it, same with NCL But I am a bit confused with Windstar.

I wish there was somewhere on their web site that stated what is included with your fare.

I have heard mention that sodas are included but is this only in the evening in the restaurants? Or is it all day and where?

We are not big drinkers our last several cruises even with a beverage package we would always have one to two mimosas at breakfast, DH may have a beer in the afternoon and I might have a Margarita, then for dinner we would each have a glass (once in a while 2 glasses) of Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling which Windstar has and  sometimes in the evening a cocktail but not every night. I have done the math and added the 18% gratuity and I just do not come close to what we would pay for using just the one Wifi, gratuities and what we would drink for the $89 per person per day. If it was close I may consider this. Am I missing something?? It is not a question of money it just seems high.

Does everyone buy the package? If the speciality coffees are not included  and only sodas at dinner then it may turn the table to being close to breaking even.

 

Next question? Does Windstar send out Luggage Tags and documents or do they come up on their website to print? We just paid final and are at 90 days.

 

Next question does Windstar do like other cruise lines where your last night on board you set out your luggage for porters to pick up so you can retrieve it upon disembarkation.

 

I totally understand the dress code and it is not much different than cruising any other cruise line with Country Club Casual in the evening, that is basically the norm now with all of them

So far from what I have seen the food looks amazing and we cannot wait to enjoy cruising with Windstar. We do not go to shows much but enjoy a bit of live music in the evening in a lounge.

I would appreciate any helpful hints.

 

Thanks so much!!

[r&rd]

Sodas and specialty coffee are included (except those with alcohol) all the time. Specialty dining is included. The all inclusive package is more about convenience if you don’t drink a lot. Sounds like you might be on the border as to whether you save or not. Windstar sends you a document for boarding but I have never been asked for it. Luggage tags are put on at the pier and yes, you put your bags out in the morning and they are whisked off the ship. 
you will love Windstar. Communication may not be their strength but service certainly is worth the price.

[Ski Mom 2]

The specialty coffees at the yacht club (lattes, espresso, etc) are included with the base fare you pay so no extra costs unless you’re adding alcohol to those drinks. Soft drinks are also always free. 
 

We have looked at the drinks package but have never taken it. We like our wine at dinner but prefer a bottle to glasses of wine. And if you don’t finish the bottle they will hold it for you for the next time you want it. Often we will bring our own wine and pay the corkage fee to get what we want. My husband will have a beer before dinner and sometimes I will have a drink but we just don’t think it’s worth it for us. They say if you drink 6-8 drinks a day it works out. As far as WiFi we can usually find it in port and our experience on the ships is the WiFi isn't that great.  Now that may change with the new Starlink system but we will see when we sail in January. 

Don’t expect luggage tags. They will put them on when you arrive. It’s so so much easier in Windstar than the large ships. You show up at the port, tell them your name, maybe show them your license or passport and on the ship you stroll. 
 

I will say last time we left out of Barbados we took a taxi to the port. The port wanted to see our papers from WS to get into the port. I only had them on the phone and couldn’t access WiFi to get on to show them. After about 10 minutes the port authorities finally just waved us in. This had nothing to do with WS and all about Barbados. So now I will take a picture of my documents to have just in case!

 

We love WS and can’t wait to be back on board!

Edited December 2, 2023 by Ski Mom 2

[Nearpost345]

based on what you wrote, skip the beverage package, as stated above all non alcoholic beverages are included in your fare. On recent cruises we’ve been asked to keep bags indoors until 06.00 a.m. then place outside suite

Edited December 3, 2023 by Nearpost345

[Host Jazzbeau]

I did the math*, and decided that All-In worked for me but not DW (who doesn't drink alcohol).  So I added one All-In for me, and one Internet for her.  We will pay her gratuities out of OBC.  [We haven't sailed on Windstar yet, so don't have a feel for the included wines or the bottle list.  I know a lot about wine but I'm also happy in the $15-20 bottle retail range so I hope to find something to drink on the package.  If not, I can always switch to G&T!]

 

* PS – in doing the math, I gave full credit for the internet and gratuities – that brought the actual cost of the alcohol to a reasonable price level that won't force me to drink just because it's paid for...

 

PPS – We are long retired and don't need internet for work or for streaming videos, but we use email and check various websites daily at home and like to do this on the cruise [and I am a Host on Cruise Critic so I feel a need to check my forums daily].  That's why two internet packages is important to us.  [Stopping now before I reach TMI...]

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thank you all so very much, you have all answered my questions. Three months from today cannot come soon enough, thankfully we do have a cruise coming up next weekend with HAL to tide us over till we get to cruise Windstar. 🙂

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Thank you all so very much, you have all answered my questions. Three months from today cannot come soon enough, thankfully we do have a cruise coming up next weekend with HAL to tide us over till we get to cruise Windstar. 🙂

When you do your review on Cruise Critic (hint, hint) please include a comparison between HAL and Windstar.  We have generally moved on from mega ships, but I'm thinking that for the Caribbean we might want a larger ship where the warm weather and the ship are the destination and I wonder if HAL could be that ship.  I would be especially interested in comparison of the food on both.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

51 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

When you do your review on Cruise Critic (hint, hint) please include a comparison between HAL and Windstar.  We have generally moved on from mega ships, but I'm thinking that for the Caribbean we might want a larger ship where the warm weather and the ship are the destination and I wonder if HAL could be that ship.  I would be especially interested in comparison of the food on both.

 

Most definitely I will do that. My last two Live Froms was in September HAl Westerdam and November HAL Koningsdam. What became extremely popular was I would post the menu each evening and say What would you order this evening allowing everyone to review the menu. I plan to do that for my Wind Surf cruise. We are in a Neptune Suite Corner aft for Eastern Caribbean on HAL Nieuw Statendam a week from tomorrow and planning on doing another Live From.I will definitely do a comparison with Wind Surf, although I already have a good idea who will come out on top 😉

[new_cruiser]

59 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We will pay her gratuities out of OBC.

It depends what kind of OBC you habe. The OBC Windstar gives you can't be used for gratuities. If you have OBC from your TA, that can be used for gratuities.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

It depends what kind of OBC you habe. The OBC Windstar gives you can't be used for gratuities. If you have OBC from your TA, that can be used for gratuities.

Thanks for the warning.  We will also be taking Windstar excursions, so can use up the OBC that way.

 

[My TA is so generous that I find it better to take a rebate check than OBC.  Also I get cash back from my credit card if I charge things onboard, rather than using TA OBC.  And I still pick up pennies in parking lots.  It all adds up...] 

[wrk2cruise]

Also coming up on my first Windstar sailing.  I have booked a couple of excursions in advance but have quite a bit of OBC.  Someone said I could have them cancel them onboard and rebook with OBC.  Anyone have experience with this.   If this works does the cancelled $$ get refunded to original CC or does it go as refundable OBC?

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Also coming up on my first Windstar sailing.  I have booked a couple of excursions in advance but have quite a bit of OBC.  Someone said I could have them cancel them onboard and rebook with OBC.  Anyone have experience with this.   If this works does the cancelled $$ get refunded to original CC or does it go as refundable OBC?

I read the same thing and hope the same as you.  And either way of refunding it would be fine, because the refundable OBC would soak up any other onboard charges and then ultimately go back to my CC.

 

So far I haven't booked all the excursions I think we will want to take [while I do more research to see if private excursions would be better] – except one Concierge Collection (culinary) that I was afraid would sell out.  But I do plan to book everything I want soon – to protect against price increases.

 

So another question is:  if you cancel onboard and rebook with OBC, do you keep the original (lower) price? 

[hamrag]

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I read the same thing and hope the same as you.  And either way of refunding it would be fine, because the refundable OBC would soak up any other onboard charges and then ultimately go back to my CC.

 

So far I haven't booked all the excursions I think we will want to take [while I do more research to see if private excursions would be better] – except one Concierge Collection (culinary) that I was afraid would sell out.  But I do plan to book everything I want soon – to protect against price increases.

 

So another question is:  if you cancel onboard and rebook with OBC, do you keep the original (lower) price? 

I can also confirm that OBC (provided by TA) cannot be set against gratuities. On our trip we did no excursions, rather self explored, so cannot answer the excursion cancel/rebook question.

 

We absolutely loved Windstar, excellent culinary experience in all venues i.e.MDR, buffet, specialties. They have a deck BBQ one evening, whilst similar to Azamara White Night it doesn't quite reach that level although still very good. The MDR is by far the best we've experienced on any other ship, and we did the specialties only because they were available to us i.e. included in the cruise fare.

 

It's biggest drawback is evening entertainment, which is adequate and no worse than we expected. We'll be seeking out our next Windstar cruise soon, without a doubt.

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by hamrag

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 minutes ago, hamrag said:

I can also confirm that OBC (provided by TA) cannot be set against gratuities. On our trip we did no excursions, rather self explored, so cannot answer the excursion cancel/rebook question.

 

We absolutely loved Windstar, excellent culinary experience in all venues i.e.MDR, buffet, specialties. The MDR is by far the best we've experienced on any other ship, and we did the specialties only because they were available to us i.e. included in the cruise fare.

 

It's biggest drawback is evening entertainment, which is adequate and no worse than we expected. 

We'll be seeking out our next Windstar cruise soon, without a doubt.

 

Thanks.  Those are our priorities:  itinerary, food, then entertainment a distant third.

[hamrag]

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Thanks.  Those are our priorities:  itinerary, food, then entertainment a distant third.

Thanks Jazz, I have a good feeling you will enjoy Windstar as much as we did.

 

I made a late edit about the deck BBQ, if you missed that sentence.

Edited December 7, 2023 by hamrag

[wrk2cruise]

11 hours ago, hamrag said:

I can also confirm that OBC (provided by TA) cannot be set against gratuities.

 

So this OBC is not refundable if not used then?   Glad I got my TA to apply what he was giving me to my final payment!

[Host Jazzbeau]

44 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

So this OBC is not refundable if not used then?   Glad I got my TA to apply what he was giving me to my final payment!

I never take my TA's rebate as OBC – why limit it in any way that the cruise line thinks up?  I also don't let them apply it to my final payment, because my credit card gives me back 3% – why leave that on the table?  Send me a rebate check after you get your commission – pure cash that I can use in any way I like, and doesn't defeat a credit card cash rebate.  Win-Win!

[hamrag]

9 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

So this OBC is not refundable if not used then?....

Correct.

[new_cruiser]

15 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

So this OBC is not refundable if not used then?   Glad I got my TA to apply what he was giving me to my final payment!

 

5 hours ago, hamrag said:

Correct.

Not correct. We had OBC from our TA on our last cruise. The statement of OBC that was in our room stated that it was refundable. We also had $600 in non-refundable OBC from Windstar that we made sure to use up during the cruise. 

 

The refundable OBC was used to pay our gratuities and the remainder was refunded to our credit card.

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, new_cruiser said:

 

Not correct.

Perhaps not in your case! On our recent 18 Nov sailing on Star Pride the OBC from our TA could not be set against gratuities! 😉

[wrk2cruise]

First Windstar cruise is just over 30 days out.  Should I be receiving anything from them in addition to the email "documentation" we received for each passenger?   We received this a couple of weeks ago and after a couple of phone calls it's now includes everything we had booked. 

 

Is this all we need for boarding?  I have filled out the online immigration/household information under My Windstar.  Do we just get luggage tags at the port?

[Misty Morning]

You will not need anything. Just show up at the reception desk in the terminal with your passport and off you go.  You will likely need to show your confirmation email (or a copy of it) to get in the port itself They will put tags on your luggage and get it delivered very quickly to your stateroom.  Very simple