Groups on cruises

[kathy16]

After reading a thread on the Carnival board about a large group on a cruise

pretty much "ruining the cruise" for the other passengers, does anyone know how to find out if there are any "big groups " (relatively speaking), reserved on a particular Windstar sailing? I realize that the number of passengers are low compared to the bigger ships, but I would prefer to sail on the WindSpirit without a "group" .

[Bazel]

Windstar does not lend itself to groups and having worked in leisure travel for more than 10 years - we were never successful in selling a "group" on Windstar. Much more likely to encounter a partial charter - if at all. But again - I wouldn't worry, those who choose Windstar are looking for a specific cruise experience and will likely be of similar mindset even if they happen to be part of a group.

 

BZ

[eh2zed]

I think Bazel is correct. However, from another board what you do is google the ship name, the word "group" and the date and see what comes up. I did it once and it worked.

[KLG]

Well, our only Windstar experience, on the Wind Surf, did involve a group and it really detracted from our experience. Whether it was a partial charter or "just" a group, a company had about 35-40 of its sales employees on an incentive/reward package. The ship was otherwise about half empty (a lot of cancellations right after the start of the Iraq war), which may have made the effect of this group worse. We felt as if we were in the company of college kids, except that these "kids" were in their 40s. They dominated the lounge, drank heavily, brought their bottles of beer in the swimming pool (no glass on deck, right!), and made enough noise in the alternative restaurant that we heard them from the other side of the room. Fortunately, about halfway through the cruise their boss showed up, and suddenly they turned into adults. We enjoyed the ship a lot more after that.

 

Unusual? Don't know. Will Windstar tell a TA if there's a group on board? Again, I don't know. But it might be worth asking.

Karen

[chicagogal]

There was a group of about 80 on our Windsurf trip last week (Venice to Rome). (They were construction industry people all from Canada) They were kind of noisy at times, but all in all no big deal or disruption. They did close Degrees Restaurant for them for one night.

[kathy16]

I did ask my TA (vacations to Go rep), and he said Windstar wouldn't/couldn't (?) tell him. I did learn that my Wind Spirit cruise only had a couple of cabins left... I did try googling as previous poster suggested, but no info.

[winegirl]

I am guessing about this, but I bet there are few, if any, groups on the alumni sailings on Windstar line. So once you have sailed, you are eligible for the alumni rates. The fact that these sailings sell out quickly would make them less available to groups, all of whom would have to be prior Windstar passengers.

 

I'd also guess that there would be fewer "groups" on the Windstar and Windspirit than on Windsurf, which carries double the number of passengers. The Windstar and Windspirit carry only 150, and there's nothing to "do" at night, as well as only one restaurant on board for dinner. So they can't close the dining room for a group, and the lack of a larger casino and bar scene usually discourages the "partying salesperson" type of passenger, which we also try to avoid.

 

When we sailed the Mediterranean on Windstar, the passengers were pretty much non-flashy, non-disruptive, well-mannered and friendly professionals or business owners who were badly in need of some "down time" and didn't want to be up all night partying. They enjoyed the food, the wine, the company and a good night's rest after a long day on shore. We enjoyed this cruise more than any other vacation we've been on and are sailing the Carribean this winter and Spain next fall due to our wonderful Windstar experience.

[twotogo]

Kathy16,

 

 

I don't know about small groups but only big groups. We booked a cruise last May for Costa Rica in early March. Fast forward to September. The cruise line said they had to cancel our reservation or move it to another date because the ship had been chartered. So, our next choice a few weeks earlier sounded good until we found out that one had been chartered also.

 

Windstar offered compensation to move to the end of March but with the airline penalties and reissue fee it would still cost us more than we expected.

It came down to staying in Costa Rica for a month or just not going on the ship. We opted for no cruise.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and I'm glad others have enjoyed their time on the Windstar group and I'm sure many more will, but I doubt we may go on one. I think we wil stay with a bit larger ship so even a group on board will not bump us off completely.

[Capt. Mike]

On our second Windspirit cruise there was large group of customers from a midwest newspaper. They were all the top advertisers and this was a "gift".

The group generally did know each other put for some reason the whole social scene on the cruise was dud. I couldn't put my finger on why it did not work but it didn't. We are used to a great social interface with the other passangers and it just did not happen this time. We are fun loving Texans who rarely act our age (mid 50 to early 60) and have had the best time ever on the Windspirt in the past and on later Windspirit cruises. Just plain weird the way the group just put a damper on our cruise. Sorry, don't mean to put down midwest newspaper advertisers. (my wife just reminded me very few of the group drank liquor, ohhh, never mind, now I know why!)