Windstar just cancelled us after final payment was made

[franosu]

:confused: We reserved our cabin this past summer and made the final payment two weeks ago. Our room was not on a waitlist - they indicated that 6 cabins were available when we booked. In addition, we booked excursion through the cruise line and they fully charged my credit card for those as well as the cruise. We booked a Costa Rica cruise for January 25th as well as pre-cruise hotels and excursions. They notified our travel agent today that they were cancelling our cabin because the ship was oversold. I had made reservations for air transportation, hotel stays, transfers, etc. that I hope I can cancel. The line offered two dates in March and said they would give a $500 per passenger credit but those dates won't work for us.

 

I am very disappointed with this cruise line. They should not have accepted final payment if they believed there was a chance that they could not accommodate us. Their business practices have left a bad taste in my mouth. I really enjoyed my other cruise on this line under previous ownership but if this is an indication of how the new owners intend to treat their customers I will not be a future customer.

[SailorJM]

Similar happenings are being discussed in the "New to Windstar" thread.

 

What I said there:

This is very disappointing information! We would not expect this, and we certainly will think very, very carefully about booking another cruise on Windstar. We have just gone through the cancelled-cruise situation with Windjammer, and are in the process of getting our money back via our credit union since we used our Visa card. Credit union is working diligently on our behalf, hotel in Costa Rica where we were to catch the cruise didn't charge us, and AAirlines only charged us a small amount for putting our miles back into our account. Windjammer has/is apparently going under (no pun intended), and cancelled our cruise 10 hours prior to our getting on the plane. Then it cancelled ALL cruises, and took its website down. We then discovered Cruise Critic website and will use it for info from now on! We had purchased insurance thru Windjammer, and we have since learned that is a big NO NO! Get third-party insurance for your cruises. At least we DID know to use the credit card. Credit union has actually put the funds back into our account, while it attempts to deal with Windjammer....not an easy thing to do these days since you can't get thru on the phones and can't make contact on website.

 

My point: get third-party insurance and use a credit card for your vacation expenses. You have a better chance of getting your money back.

[Ephraim]

Similar happenings are being discussed in the "New to Windstar" thread.

 

What I said there:

This is very disappointing information! We would not expect this, and we certainly will think very, very carefully about booking another cruise on Windstar. We have just gone through the cancelled-cruise situation with Windjammer, and are in the process of getting our money back via our credit union since we used our Visa card. Credit union is working diligently on our behalf, hotel in Costa Rica where we were to catch the cruise didn't charge us, and AAirlines only charged us a small amount for putting our miles back into our account. Windjammer has/is apparently going under (no pun intended), and cancelled our cruise 10 hours prior to our getting on the plane. Then it cancelled ALL cruises, and took its website down. We then discovered Cruise Critic website and will use it for info from now on! We had purchased insurance thru Windjammer, and we have since learned that is a big NO NO! Get third-party insurance for your cruises. At least we DID know to use the credit card. Credit union has actually put the funds back into our account, while it attempts to deal with Windjammer....not an easy thing to do these days since you can't get thru on the phones and can't make contact on website.

 

My point: get third-party insurance and use a credit card for your vacation expenses. You have a better chance of getting your money back.

 

Windjammer and Windstar are two entirely different companies.

[SailorJM]

Yes, Windstar and Windjammer are not the same. But having just experienced major probs with WindJAMMER over canceled cruise and lack of customer support, and now reading about cruises being canceled by WindSTAR and lack of customer service by same..... that is what prompted my post saying I will think twice about booking a Windstar cruise at this time.

[franosu]

I expected Windstar to offer some form of compensation such a cruise vouchers for a future cruise - but no. My TA called them and all they would offer was a discount on one of the three cruises that have open cabins for Costa Rica - December 15th or two in March. I am really leary of going through the planning process again and making new arragements for air, hotels, transfers, etc. and then having them pull the same stunt. They cost us money and tons of time but to them we are insignificant. I don't know what happened to the great customer service that the old Windstar had. Don't book this line.

[6rugrats]

I expected Windstar to offer some form of compensation such a cruise vouchers for a future cruise - but no. My TA called them and all they would offer was a discount on one of the three cruises that have open cabins for Costa Rica - December 15th or two in March. I am really leary of going through the planning process again and making new arragements for air, hotels, transfers, etc. and then having them pull the same stunt. They cost us money and tons of time but to them we are insignificant. I don't know what happened to the great customer service that the old Windstar had. Don't book this line.

 

In your earlier post, you said Windstar was offering you a $500 per passenger credit for the March sailings. Is this the "discount" you are now referring to? What about your airfare? To make a change is probably going to cost you a fee. Will they reimburse you for that?

 

I think to all cruise lines, the passengers are pretty insignificant in a way. They are in business to make money and it appears they make more money on this sailing with a charter. Most cruise lines have cancelled passengers for a charter; Windstar is no exception in this regard. But, I would be pretty upset if my cruise was cancelled, especially with such short notice!

 

I've been on four Windstar cruises, going back to 1988, and sailed under three different owners. I haven't found much change over the years but the make-up of the crew when the first owners sold to HAL.

 

If this happened to me, I doubt I would book with Windstar either. I spend lots of time and energy planning vacations and to have a wrench thrown in at the last minute would really upset me. I hope this works out for you.

[franosu]

We were offered a $500 discount if we booked one of the Costa Rica cruises at the dates they had available. No other compensation was offered (no airfare refund, etc.). My TA is miffed - she said that she has never had this happen. She said most of the lines will work with you and if they do make a mistake (like Windstar did) they will compensate you in order to keep you as a customer. I am waiting for a call back for her as she asked for the chance to contact the line one more time and see if she can get this matter resolved.

[6rugrats]

I would be miffed at the airfare problem. For most airlines, you are going to be charged a $100 change fee for each ticket if you purchased non-refundable tickets. And, even if Windstar compensated you for this change fee, you are going to end up with a credit on an airline on which you may not want to fly. And you usually have only one year in which to use your credit.

 

I hope your TA can get this resolved.

[franosu]

Windstar finally came through with a reasonable offer. The allowed a $500 per person credit and let us book a different cruise at the same price that we had on our Cost Rica cruise. So we are going to cruise Athens to Rome in October. We are let down that we could not do Costa Rica but were glad that Windstar worked with us. I love the ship, the crew and the service so we will give them another chance.

[Nexi]

We were also booked on the Jan 26 08 Windstar Costa Rica sailing and were told Friday, Nov 9 that the ship had been chartered and we were bumped. Our options were either full refund, or $500/each onboard credit on a future sailing. On Monday, we called Windstar for clarification. The story then changed...and there was a third option - to go as planned. Fortunately, we had not cancelled our flights, hotel or transportation with Coach Costa Rica. We will be on that sailing.

[whatnot]

I'm feeling a little better since I saw your post. We are also on the Jan 26 sailing. I have not heard anything from Windstar but was beginning to wonder if the ax might fall any day! I keep checking their website to see if my booking number still works and it does. Hope to meet you on board!

[franosu]

Our TA called Windstar and had a heart to heart with them. She had the impression that they were going to let us go and bump someone else but I thought that was a poor way to do business and told her that we would take their offer. I did not think that it was right to bump someone else so late. You may have been the lucky person who was bumped and then given the cruise back.

[Nexi]

I think the bad publicity played a major factor in their sudden generosity to honour fully paid for bookings. As long as everyone is happy with their final plans, that is the most important thing.

[steel magnolia]

Got a call from one of the travel agents in the agency we use (our agent/owner was out of country). Said Windstar had called to say that the Wind Star cruise out of Puerto Caldera Jan. 19 was over-booked, and offering a cruise in March, refund of our airline fees, and $500 shipboard credit. Mind you, we booked this cruise back in April, '07, and have back to back cruises booked in May. Told her to tell them NO, and fired off an angry e-mail telling them that 3 weeks before our cruise was way too late. Also pointed out that their recent poor customer service has been a subject on the internet, and that if they canceled their alumni, they would kill their most faithful following. We'll see what happens. Have noticed that some folks that are on the Jan. 26 cruise are still going, while others were told that the ship had been chartered, and their trip was canceled. I suggest everyone send messages to let Windstar know they are in danger of losing their most faithful passengers, otherwise they will not change their policies. Mind you, we have sailed with Wind Star 8 times. I am so sad at the recent turn of events.

[jandar0721]

We are also on the Jan 19th sailing from Costa Rica and were also asked if we would be willing to cancel due to the ship being over booked. We were offered a free cruise any time in 2008 plus reinbursement of any additional costs (eg: airline costs) that we would incur. We also declined their offer!! :confused: However, we are left wondering just what is going on with this company??? How do they manage to over book a ship when one books a specific cabin? This will be our third Windstar cruise. The first two cruises have been very good but problems with customer service and management always make me nervous!

[upgrademe]

It is truly disheartening to hear about all of the issues about cancellations posted on the boards.

 

The new company is a huge proponent of chartering their ships.

 

A few words of caution for those who've been allowed to board their sold out cruises. Given the passenger count on Windstar ships, if there is a significant size group, more than 30 on board, it will negatively impact the experience you've come to know and love on Windstar. My wife and I were on one a few years ago when a company chartered a portion of the Windsurf in the "med". It was an award cruise of some sort and we found that the people in this group are not your "typical" Windstar passengers (rude, drunk, etc) as well as one of the lounges "closed" for their evening cocktail parties.

 

Please do report back on your experience.