Windsurf review

[englishtraveller]

Having returned from our Windsurf, Barbados cruise (17th Feb sailing) I will attempt an objective review.

 

We arrived in Barbados four days prior to the cruise and stayed in the Silver Point Hotel which was excellent. We hired a car for the four days and dropped the car off at the cruise terminal at 12.45 on the Sunday as boarding was timed to start at 1.00pm. Driving in Barbados was no problem and driving to the cruise terminal and dropping off the car was stress free as Sundays are very quiet as most shops are shut.

 

Boarding was a professional and speedy process (you could even take a coach to the ship - a mere 50 yards - but we felt able to walk!). Our bags were security scanned and we were able to bring 6 bottles of wine on board to drink in our cabin (no charge) or take to dinner (a normal $14 corkage, but still worthwhile)

We were offered complimentary cocktails and canapes while we completed the process of being issued with a card (to scan us on and off the ship and charge items to account). This whole process took no more than 30 minutes which included chatting to several fellow passengers while we enjoyed our drinks.

 

Passengers

Majority 50+ age range (our party were 30's, 40's and 50's)

75% US, 25% British

We were told there were around 260 passengers on board. I think the ship can accommodate just over 300? (please check this)

 

Cabin

We were taken to our cabin by a steward. We had a cabin on deck one (the lowest and cheapest). The cabins are very comfortable with a spacious bathroom with excellent powerful shower, plenty of soft towels, robes, acres of storage space, flatscreen TV, Ipod dock (husband in heaven), dvd player, portholes letting in plenty of light but a lot of lighting if required, excellent hairdryer. It took us a while to find the power points (2 under the dressing table - the steward was on hand to find them for us!).

A very comfortable king or queen size bed (can't remember - but big!). Plenty of good quality toiletries and a bowl of fresh fruit on arrival. Fridge big enough to hold our 6 bottles of wine with a bit of fiddling. Air con was adjustable and worked well. As you were near water level we did get "the washing machine effect" in a swell, but this was not a problem but a bit of fun!

 

The cabin was kept spotlessly clean (serviced at least twice a day by Rudi who we did not see often, just the fruits of his labours when he cleared up after us!)

 

There are lifts to all floors but as you had to wait a bit and we needed to work off the food we usually walked. While at sea watertight doors divided the corridors on decks 1 and 2 for H & S reasons - this could cause a bit of a problems when finding your cabin as if you came down the wrong stairs you would not be able to travel the full length of ship to your cabin and would have to go up 2 levels and down again - I think our sense of direction made this worse!

 

Library

Well stocked with DVD's and books. magazines etc. Precis of main US and UK news on sheets.

 

Fitness

Seemed well equiped and used, although we put all our energy into relaxing and eating! Treatment rooms also looked excellent but we did not use this.

 

Food

Meals were one of the highlights - how anyone can be critical I can't imagine. Paul and I dine in top restaurants and have travelled widely and believe me, the food provided for this number of people was excellent.

Breakfast

We ate at the Veranda - an extensive buffet breakfast included lots of fresh fruit, cereals, cooked meats, smoked salmon, yoghurts, cooked of all kinds etc etc. You could also have a la carte ( we enjoyed the best eggs benedict we have had in a long time as well as wonderful eggs florentine). I also enjoyed a lovely pot of Earl Grey every morning and Paul enjoyed real flavoursome coffee (not of the american variety - although I'm sure this was available for those who like it!).

A continental breakfast was available elsewhere on the ship also.

Lunch

Excellent extensive buffet of hot and cold dishes, new dishes daily. We particularly enjoyed the thai coconut chicken soup (the best since Thailand). There was also a la carte available (wok cooking, burgers, sausages, fresh grilled fish etc etc.). Complimentary water and ice lemon tea, other drink orders charged to account.

Afternoon tea

Sandwiches and cakes in Compass Rose - One day was crepe suzette!

Dinner

We mostly ate in the main restaurant at about 8.30. We had met another couple on Cruise Critic Blog and on our first night at dinner were asked if we would like to join other diners. We joined another four passengers who remained our co-diners for the rest of the week (by choice, and have remained firm friends!). We remained a group of between 8-10 for the rest of the week and were always found a table immediately.

Food was very good. Beef always cooked to order (mine perfectly medium rare as requested), lamb pink and tender as it should be. Wonderful fresh seafood. Excellent service. Each couple had brought there own wine which was served at the correct temperature and to the correct couple! Cover charge payable as is common practice in all restaurants when you bring your own wine. House wine was not of the quality I would have expected but I was aware of this in advance. Wine list was available but out of our price range! You could choose from 5 courses and as some on our table would have all 5 and other different combinations, it could have been difficult to coordinate, but only once were our orders wrongly distributed. As the food was so good we often found it difficult to choose - not a problem....... it was suggested we try a bit of each!!

 

Excursions

We only took the St Lucia catamaran trip - this was good fun, but meant that we missed the beach barbeque.

I would suggest that you do your own thing - most trips are easy to arrange yourselves and much cheaper, less crowded and more fun!

We pre ordered a car off the internet for about £25 on St Barts but managed to do it on the dock at St Martin (from a company run by a guy and his mum) for about £20 for the day - great people and adequate car.

Had a taxi tour on St Kitts for (can't remember how much, but a lot less than an excursion). Taxi tour for 3 hours on Guadaloupe - Basse Terre $80. We managed to climb half way up the volcano with great views and a short tour as well - more expensive here but still cheaper than a tour. Hired a taxi for 6 of us for short trip to beach on Les Saintes for snorkling - 20 Euros there and back for whole taxi.

 

Ports

We tendered at every port but Basse Terre and Bridgetown. This was regular and frequent (only ever had to wait a maximum of 15 mins). This could be a problem for those with reduced mobility - we had no problems. It was a little annoying that those booked on Windstar excursions were allowed to tender first. Those of us who may have booked our own tours had to wait - I have to confess that I did ignore this rule after the first day with no challenge.

Snorkling equipment was very good and issued to those who wanted it - no charge.

Barbados

Wonderful, "rough around the edges" destination - we had an additional 5 days here.

St Kitts

A pleasant main town with friendly people and unspoilt countryside.

Nevis

Lovely beaches - try "killer bee" cocktail at Sunshine Bar

St Barths

Only island we didn't enjoy - too many rude residents with too much money not wanting tourists. This was a beautiful island, but we feel that the people make a destination and we did not like it here!

St Martin

WE stayed on the French side where we hired a car. This was our favourite island - laid back, friendly, wonderful street food to try and lovely beaches.

Guadaloupe

Basse Terre - interesting town - loved the volcano climb - brilliant views!

Les Saintes - another favorite - laid back beaches - reminded us of Thailand.

St Lucia

Wonderfully green and beautiful - don't miss Marigot Bay!

Entertainment

You wouldn't go Windstar for the entertainment. We spent most pf our evenings over dinner but did listen to Callum and Joyce in the Compass Rose. They were pleasant to listen to for background music - fun "name that tune" which we always missed as we were still at dinner! Some of our party enjoyed the casino.

 

Service was always excellent with attentive, friendly and professional staff. We had no problems with communicating with staff - anything we wanted was provided correctly and promptly.

 

Open Bridge

Do take time out to visit the bridge - facinating with informative crew happy to explain everything.

 

Sails

were up most days - leaving port was always an event with the horn blowing and everyone waving - the ship is an imposing sight!!

 

Water Sports platform

We did not use this as there were not enough hours in the day! It would have been better if it was open longer hours maybe - however if you are out exploring all day you don't have the time or the inclination when you return. I do know it was open when we were at some ports and there were windsurfers, canoes, sailboats, snorkle equipment (although you cannot use these off the ship, or from a boat you take from the ship due to the ever present H & S!). I did notice diving equipment, but I think you are no longer able to do this from the ship (not sure on this one - we do have a diving card but did not chose to do this on this trip).

 

Sea

Things were a little rougher at times than we were expecting - do take precautions beforehand if you think you will be vulnerable as it is too late once you feel queezy. There are pills available free outside infirmary - you just help yourself.

 

Disembarking

We were asked to leave our packed bags out by 1.00am on the morning of departure with coloured tags to indicate your status (early flight, hotel transfer, independent etc.)

We were asked to be in the lounge by 6.15 at the latest to clear immigration. This was a little early and I wonder if entirely necessary - it would have been good to have had a little more leisurely departure on our last day. This was completed in less than 15 minutes and we then went to breakfast - we left the ship at 8.30 - you needed to leave by 8.45.

You were asked to remain on board until your "tag colour" was called. This was completed easily and with no queues. Uor bags were waiting for us in the cruise terminal.

 

An added bonus was the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 that docked alongside as we enjoyed breakfast before disembarking.

 

 

I hope that this has been an objective account. We loved the cruise and would put it high on our list of best holidays.... and we have had a few good ones!!!

 

Highlights

• Ease of meeting new friends (use Cruise Critic Role Call)
  
• Food and service
  
• Size of ship (big enough to be comfortable, small enough to meet a lot of people and visit smaller ports)
  
• Comfort and cleanliness in all areas
  
• Cabin (particularly showers!)

Room for improvement

• Early departure on last day
  
• Priority tendering for Windstar excursion people
  
• Better quality "house" wine
  
• More extensive opening of sports platform (although we still may not have found time to use it!)

I hope this has been helpful - I may be able to find more info on costs, currency, ports etc. for those who want it.

 

For those who are worried - DON'T BE

Unless you are a member of the Royal Family, President Bush or maybe the Beckhams you will love it!!!!

Don't be shy about talking to others and you will make some great new friends as we have.

[dave2840]

We are sailing on the March 23 Windsurf cruise out of Bridgetown. We are on the other (Southern Caribbean) leg. We booked wayback in September, and have survived a terrible New England winter soley by anticipation of returning to our favorite part of the world. Comments on this board have been a little scary (misbehaving Texans, poor quality food etc.) and frankly, we were getting to feel like we had made a costly mistake. Then along came your review. Thank You for your objective review and for bringing us the real situation on board Windsurf.

[kickinback]

Your review put us at ease for our upcoming Windsurf cruise out of Barbados.

We are sailing B2B segments out of Barbados starting March 23rd and 30th (which includes the ports you visited.) We appreciate your objectivity and the details of your recent experience onboard Windsurf. We've been reading some negative reviews here too and it sounds like things are either back to normal or were just fine to begin with on the Windsurf. Sounds like you had a great cruise and we are looking forward to an equally enjoyable sail aboard the Windsurf! Many thanks!

 

cheers,

 

kickinback

[chgodog]

Excellent review EnglishTraveller!!! We agree 100 percent with all of your information!!!! We had a wonderful time, and were very pleased with the people, service and the ship. Most of all, our new friends (including EnglishTraveller) made the wonderful voyage even more wonderful!!!

 

We wish you (our fellow travelers) as wonderful a voyage as we had!!

[lovecruisingtoo]

Let's hope the good reviews continue.

 

We, like others, had been getting concerned about what was happening with the line. If the good service continues, it will put those fears to rest.

[englishtraveller]

Thanks Chgodog for your kind words - Having re read this in the morning (after finishing it late last night with jet-lag) I notice some hideous spelling mistakes - apologies folks!

[143tilly]

Thank you soooooo much for the great review. You've put my mind at ease! We're sailing 3/23 and I was really starting to worry reading the recent reviews. We were on the Spirit last year when the news came down that the line had been sold and have been watching the message boards since...I was afraid this was going to be our last Windstar!

[chicagogal]

I was sooo excited to read Englishtraveler's review. You may remember me as one who posted a mostly great review for our 2 weeks btb Dec 23 and Dec 30 on the Windsurf (our 7th and 8th Windstar cruises) We had a great time then (as well as Venice to Rome in September 07) and I was really wondering what had happened right after we got off the cruise after reading so many awful reviews. Maybe there were a couple of rough weeks. Crew probably did turn over to some extent as the new year started so maybe that - and rowdy "conventioners" one or more weeks - caused most of the problems. Glad to hear things on Windsurf seem to be back to normal again...

 

Now I hope all of us Windstar "fans" can go back to feeling comfortable about one of our favorite vacations!

[schmidlapp]

good news I hope!

One observation is that the ship was not full, 260 of 312 capacity.

This was the case on our first Windsurf trip that we enjoyed so much..

Could it be when the ship is to capacity that quality suffers a bit?

I hope not.

Thanks for the encouraging review!

May 18th and the roar of the F1 cars is not far off......

[chicagogal]

Could it be when the ship is to capacity that quality suffers a bit?

I hope not.

Our 2 weeks over Christmas and New Years were at full capacity and everything was pretty great on Windsurf except the sports platform.

[cruister71]

It's nice to read a review from someone who had a good time and has given an honest and insightful review not just someone looking to complain and nitpick.

 

I still say if one of the reasons your vacation was ruined was because the Front Desk girls didn't teach you how to use an i-Pod properly then there was probably no way you were ever going to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

Thanks to englishtraveller and chicagogal for their reviews.

[winegirl]

I appreciated the review by English traveller. This echos our experiences on the Windstar and Windspirit. It was good to read more detail about the Windsurf, which we haven't sailed on.

[2serendip]

Thank you so much, englishtraveler; you have really made my day. We are scheduled for two weeks along the Croatian coast on Windsurf next fall. We had been on the Windsurf several years ago, and I have been so disappointed and disturbed by all the negative reviews on this site. It is so refreshing to hear that people are still having a marvelous time, and I can now look forward to the trip with much less anxiety. Happy cruising!

[irc2100]

We also appreciate the positive comments. We're doing Venice-Rome in June, and have been really concerned because of all the negative reviews. LAst year, we did Athens-Istanbul on Wind Spirit and loved it. Our only complaints related to small pool and inadequate fitness facility. Otherwise, we loved the ship and expect the WindSurf to be even better.

[chicagogal]

In response to 2 serendip:

"We are scheduled for two weeks along the Croatian coast on Windsurf next fall. We had been on the Windsurf several years ago, and I have been so disappointed and disturbed by all the negative reviews on this site. It is so refreshing to hear that people are still having a marvelous time, and I can now look forward to the trip with much less anxiety. "

 

and irc2100:

 

"We're doing Venice-Rome in June, and have been really concerned because of all the negative reviews."

 

We did this same cruise last September on Windsurf and had a fabulous time. Our only complaint was not enough time to see it all. We both really loved Venice (take a walking tour on the back canals through "Venice Walks" near St Marks ...) and don't miss the Pompeii trip if you like that sort of thing...we loved it.

 

Happy Travels!

[sdmurr]

Thanks for the positive review of the Windsurf...We've sailed the Windsurf twice and the Windstar twice...We've always enjoyed this cruise lines, but there has been much negativity lately and I have to admit I was getting worried..

We're sailing the Transatlantic on April from Barbados to Lisbon. We've never spent 2 whole weeks at sea before...Anyone done this cruise? Would love to hear all you can share...

 

Thanks

Sharon

[travlr21]

Sharon, don't know if you came across my review of the Wind Surf transatlantic last November -

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=673229

 

A few of us were also looking for info from previous crossers before we sailed, but the boards were very silent! It seems to me that a lot of passengers had done the crossing many, many times and they are either reluctant to share their stories, or they don't frequent these boards.

 

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

 

Linda