Great Time On The Windsurf

[dave2840]

Just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Windsurf out of Barbados on March 23. Was a little worried by all of the talk on this board. Well bottom line is, it's all talk. My wife and I feel that there are no improvements that need to be made to this ship or it's crew. Both were highly customer oriented, the crew was especially friendly, outgoing and personal. Whatever more can they possibly do to provide you with a great experience? When I read these reviews on this board (and other boards as well) I wonder what it would be like to live or work with whiners such as some of these folks.

 

Still recovering from vacation, will write a thorough review of the ship, crew and ports-of-call in a week or so.

 

Stay tuned !!

[Lair Bear]

I am glad you had a great trip and we will not hesitate to go on the Windstar fleet again someday. My concern has been not the food nor service, but the itineraries. We have been on most of the trips they offer but like to see new places. If any of the three ships were to operate in the Baltic, for example, we would have chosen that instead of the Oceania ship.

I am looking forward to reading your review and hope it will calm down the fury.

[12B@C]

I too have been on a couple of the Windstar ships and was curious to see how things are going on the forum.

Holy mackerel, what is all this whining about? New management fears, food and service problems, bad hotels, etc. What is going on???

I like to dig a bit into these issues and went through the last 23 postings to see who was saying what. Here is what I found:

Three people had complains about everything, two more only about the quality of the food. One Canadian “commander” in particular was very negative and compared the cruise with one that is twice the price.

Eighteen people had positive feedback from recent journeys aboard the three ships (including the Windsurf). I am not going to list the people here but you can count them yourself.

So what is the big hype, who are you going to believe? If there are those who don’t like what they get, let them complain to the management and don’t come back, but don’t scare the rest of us. Isn’t that what you do when you go a restaurant?

[blackfoot]

Dear 12B@C,why ,why don't you put up about $15K of your money and go on a 14 day cruise and file a report of how great this cruise line is? It was sub standard as compared to what they advertise and most people who cruise that are not pleased with their experiance don't post! My experiance was poor,and I stand by what I say; so don't just blow everyone off, just because you have a fond memory of days long past!

[lovecruisingtoo]

I agree with 12B@C. As I said in another thread, one of the posters that complained about everything had statements that did not tie. For example, the complaint about the hotel is absolutely contrary to what you read on any of the other travel sites. The reviews were for the same time period that the poster was at the hotel. Why would many people say the hotel was great when this one poster said it was bad. The poster also made comparisons between the various restaurants - yet they said they ate only in one restaurant. If the one restaurant was so bad, why not try the other restaurant?

 

Bottom line is that time will tell on how good or bad the new management is. As the MAL management told me, they are aware of the complaints on this board and are trying to address the issues.

 

Maybe they have taken action and we are seeing the results.

[12B@C]

Blackfoot, you are one of the three. Why don't you and the other two just find some other place to whine? Quit repeating the same old song. Your tune is getting awfully boring.

Like I said, if you don't like what you got, go someplace else.

[Surfgirl]

The name of this forum is Cruise CRITIC. Everyone has the right to their opinion, whether good or bad.

 

I cringe everytime I hear someone accuse someone else of "whining." People only use the word "whining" on internet boards when they want to diminish someone else's opinion.

 

Blackfoot had a bad experience, and he is certainly entitled to his opinion. If you had a good cruise, you are entitled to yours.

 

I have only had one cruise on the Windstar line, and loved it. I sailed on Windspirit. However, I found the good (and bad) reviews of Windsurf very helpful in planning my next sail. I appreciate hearing both sides.

 

Please stop attacking the poster if you don't agree with them. It's rude.

[12B@C]

You are entirely correct, Surfgirl. Hearing differences of opinion is what this forum is all about, but you have to admit that hearing the same sad song gets boring.

I’ll let the numbers I showed above speak for them self.

[laurelguy]

Wow..people cerainly get heated over the validity of their critiques. But as someone pointed out..this site is cruise CRITIC. It's open-mike night around here, guys. Yes, many of us who have had a BALL on Windstar are concerned with the new owners and the negative reviews this past year. I'd say from reading these posts that there are as many people who've had a GOOD time as those who have not.

 

I'm taking particular interest because I'm taking my 83-year-old mother on a Med cruise this May. Her first cruise since the GLORY DAYS of YORE and my first time back on Windsurf since all the changes. I'll hope for the best. And report back! :cool:

[Xoe]

Dave2840, I look forward to hearing a full report of your Wind Surf cruise.

 

I am trying to choose beteen Wind Surf's 7-day southern R/T out of Barbados next March, and Wind Star's 14-day, leaving Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica on March 28, 2009, through the Panama Canal, ending in Barbados. I love the Star and that itinerary, but my budget doesn't love the price. Surf's March 8, 2009 7-day, with the Foremast discount, is much more affordable -- so I am waffling.

 

I'm hopeful that your report, Dave, will help me decide, and will check daily for it. Thanks!

[irc2100]

Even though we had a phenominal WindSpirit Greek isles cruise last summer and are booked on the Windsurf Venice-Rome in July, all the negative review had us worried. But it's nice to see some positive reviews. We'll post upon our return.

[Capt. Mike]

Either you get it or you don't! Going on my 4th Windspirit cruise and I expect is to be as grand as the other three. Some people probably would gripe about heaven too.

[chgodog]

I am not sure what everyone’s expectations are, but it’s not the Ritz Hotel. The Windsurf is a motorized sailing yacht, the largest of Windstar’s fleet. We sailed in February on the Barbados N/B itinerary. The staff was wonderful—knew our names the next day and they bent over backwards to accommodate us, and they succeeded.

 

Food, appetizers, meals were of that: of a cruise…. We all were satisfied, and mostly very impressed. I was not expecting some Paris restaurant!

 

Met new friends the first day, and had dinner with them every night. We had a table of 8 every night, and never heard a complaint regarding food. All was wonderful.

 

The only negative was St. Bart. We took most tours, and snorkeled a lot.

 

If you’re looking for hand holding, dressing up to impress someone else—then cruise elsewhere. If you’re looking to meet new people, make new friendships, and have fun without the kids---this is for you.

 

PS: Check out EnglishTravelers report------------------------quite complimentary as well!!!!!

[ckcruise]

We have only done one Windstar cruise - the Windspirit St. Thomas route. That was 3 years ago and we loved it. We are going on the Windstar in May from Athens to Istanbul and really looking forward to it.

The negative reviews are always a little worrisome but there are some positive ones as well. I think what happens with this small cruise line on cruise critic is that you have a very small number of Windstar guests that actually post reviews and/or participate in the discussion thus it is hard to determine an average experience. Everyones expectations are different and Windstar is not for everyone. Also, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that is exactly what this board is for. We return from out trip in early June and I will post a review of our experience on the Windstar Ship. In the meantime, happy sailing everyone.

[commander courageous]

Well 12B@C

 

I, too. have re-read my posting on the Windsurf experience.

 

Please point out to me where I was sooooooo critical. I simply

said that the "service was disjointed" and the food "not up to

our previous cruise on Windspirit". I was comparing the two

Windstar cruises on this post.

 

On another post, I said that SeaDream was superior to WIndstar,

and twice the price. Is this somehow sooooo critical.

 

Isn't this forum here to express one's experiences. I attempted to

do this on two occasions, and said "my comments were not meant

to be mean spirited nor to discourage anyone from booking Windstar.

 

Were you reading the same postings I wrote. I don't think so!:):)

[irc2100]

We did that trip last summer and loved it. If there are any drawbacks, it's that the pool is too small to be of any use and the fitness room is very small and often crowded. But overall it was a great experience.

[schmidlapp]

glad to hear of another happy customer!

as far as the bickering going on here, as others have said, this is a forum that should allow all opinions.. Where does it say we need to only wear

rose colored glasses here?

I hope to hear all good and bad before we leave in May.

I might not get too high expectations and that may save the trip....