Things are not looking good for Windstar's parent company

[eroller]

Ambassadors International, the parent company of Windstar Cruises posted a second quarter loss of $22m. They warned additional capital is needed to continue operations in the immediate future, and that bankruptcy and a suspension of planned operations in 2009 are a possibility. They are still trying to sell off non-Windstar assets without much success.

 

None of this looks good for Windstar. I'm booked on the WIND STAR out of Athens next Saturday and I hope all goes well. I'm concerned about the solvency of the company and the impact of this news on the overall onboard experience. Will it decline due to cost cuts and the crew being worried about their jobs?

 

I wish Windstar was still an entity of Carnival Corp. At least then they had the financial backing of a very secure and well run organization. I can't say the same about Ambassadors International.

 

Ernie

[hmorrow]

We're booked for the TA at the end of Nov. Glad I have insurance! We love Windstar- I hope they can solve their financial problems and keep on sailing.

[Amazing Ariel]

I hope so too. Just returned from wonderful 8/8 Istanbul - Athens cruise.

[brazzleman]

I'm hopeful. I've been watching their stock - spent most of the recent months at around 28 cents (!), but in the last week it jumped up to 47 cents and trading volume increased.

 

It looks like they were able to sell everything off (except for their river boats) and are now just concentrating on the cruise ships. Only recent news I see is that they hired a former Holland American person to be their new VP of Fleet Operations.

 

That being said, we are booked for 2 back to back weeks this fall, and again the next fall. For next year's cruises, one week is part of a wine club charter in the Med (which sold out in a little over 2 weeks) followed by an alumni sailing. I have a friend who is a travel agent, and she's says it always seems busy when she calls - now whether that is due to downsizing their reservations department or increased business, I don't know.

 

Regardless, I have travel insurance (and I double checked regarding bankruptcy - you have to have the policy in place at least 7 days prior to the declaration of bankruptcy for it to cover anything) so I'm covered.

[chicagogal]

 

For next year's cruises, one week is part of a wine club charter in the Med (which sold out in a little over 2 weeks) .

 

Even if sold out, I am curious about the "wine club charter". When is it and what is the itinerary? How did you hear about it? Someone else mentioned it a few weeks ago in another thread but I never heard any more ... sounds fun. Enjoy!

 

Thanks

[brazzleman]

Even if sold out, I am curious about the "wine club charter". When is it and what is the itinerary? How did you hear about it? Someone else mentioned it a few weeks ago in another thread but I never heard any more ... sounds fun. Enjoy!

 

Thanks

 

I think I may have mentioned it. It just went out to the members of the winery's club, and was arranged thru a private company. The rates are alittle higher than normal (even charged more for the A cabins on Windsurf's 3rd deck), but all of the wine from the winery are included in the price - supposed to have a celebrity chef, entertainment, and excursions catering to those who like to learn about wines. Said it was Windstar ramped up a bit.

[Bigdogwon]

I just recently returned from a Windstar sailing in the Med. I talked to a staff member who informed me that CCL still holds the ship as collateral. And if the ship are not returned to service after CCL takes them back all the crew will resume working on other CCL products such as HAL.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

I just recently returned from a Windstar sailing in the Med. I talked to a staff member who informed me that CCL still holds the ship as collateral. And if the ship are not returned to service after CCL takes them back all the crew will resume working on other CCL products such as HAL.

 

Not sure that is good news either way.

[chicagogal]

I think I may have mentioned it. It just went out to the members of the winery's club, and was arranged thru a private company. The rates are alittle higher than normal (even charged more for the A cabins on Windsurf's 3rd deck), but all of the wine from the winery are included in the price - supposed to have a celebrity chef, entertainment, and excursions catering to those who like to learn about wines. Said it was Windstar ramped up a bit.

 

That sounds fun. Where will you be cruising? Enjoy!

[Mike2131]

...definately with insurance. We were booked on one of the Regent Navigator cruises cancelled due to the accelerated dry-dock. We have always been intrigued by Windstar and the current flash offer was too good to pass up. It fit our "locked in" time frame (mid-December), the price was very appealing and we really liked the itinerary.

 

We understand the financial crunch the parent company is facing, but just wanted to get some first hand feedback. The few reviews seem very favorable. For those who have recently sailed, how is the quality of the service, cuisine, and ship upkeep been on the Wind Surf? Advice or tips?

 

Thanks in advance.

[brazzleman]

That sounds fun. Where will you be cruising? Enjoy!

 

Its a Nice to Rome cruise - couple of ports on Corsica along the way - decided to continue on the Rome to Venice sailing as it was an alumni sailing.

[hmorrow]

Regent is our favorite line. We cruised on the Windsurf around Italy about 2 years ago, and we couldn't believe how good the food was. It was as good, or BETTER than Regent. The service was excellent.

 

Very laid back, and not much in the way of entertainment, but we loved every minute of it. So much, that we are booked on the November TransAtlantic from Lisbon to St. Martin.

Helaine

[brazzleman]

I was reading thru their 10Q submitted to the SEC the first week of August and available on their parent company -Ambassadors International's website.

 

Overall occupancy on the line is down from around 85% in the first 6 months of 2008 to around 81% for the similar period this year - which doesn't sound too bad - but they been discounting, so who knows? They are saying most of their decline in cruise income is because they are no longer operating the river boat line.

 

The plan from it states:

 

For the remainder of 2009, we are focused on improving our Windstar Cruises business performance and have identified three major areas for improvement as follows:

•Increase our sales and marketing efficiencies to drive more sales, which will enable us to scale our campaigns to a level appropriate for a company of our size;

•Increase onboard margins and guest satisfaction by replacing and/or directly managing key onboard services;

•

Reduce operational costs by renegotiating key vendor contracts or eliminating certain third party relationships that will allow for significant direct cost savings, efficiency gain and product improvements.

One of the "third party relationships" eliminated was the management services contract with V. Ships Leisure that handled the 3 ships. The company will begin to directly manage the ships starting Sept 4th:

 

From a July 7th article:

Windstar will take complete control of managing its shipboard deck, engine, and hotel operations, as well as shore-based management functions such as port operations, technical and hotel purchasing, compliance, and human resources. New positions have been created at Windstar's headquarters in Seattle to manage the new responsibilities.

It will be interesting to see what if any changes are noticeable this fall with the change.

[orianagal]

Ambassadors International, the parent company of Windstar Cruises posted a second quarter loss of $22m. They warned additional capital is needed to continue operations in the immediate future, and that bankruptcy and a suspension of planned operations in 2009 are a possibility. They are still trying to sell off non-Windstar assets without much success.

 

None of this looks good for Windstar. I'm booked on the WIND STAR out of Athens next Saturday and I hope all goes well. I'm concerned about the solvency of the company and the impact of this news on the overall onboard experience. Will it decline due to cost cuts and the crew being worried about their jobs?

 

I wish Windstar was still an entity of Carnival Corp. At least then they had the financial backing of a very secure and well run organization. I can't say the same about Ambassadors International.

 

Ernie

 

I am just commenting about the Carnival corp remark

well run organization ??

I think they Carnival Corp absolutely let down Cunard when the takeover took place and also their own Carnival cruises are just a risk to and basically rubbish to experienced cruisers thats mine and alot of others opinion I never met anyone who is a repeat cruiser with exp on other companies who really liked a Carnival cruise also the comments on youtube are sketchy ...if I was desperate I probably would go and try to ignore the basic concept but to me its just a cruise on a very nice looking ship with a let down of a company treating people like sheep. (sorry sheep !):rolleyes:

Terrible experience the last time I cruised Carnival the waiters didnt turn up to our table of 8 then we ended up at the Pizza bar most nights.

They ended up sending a crew (spy) to our table to intimidate us when I complained. ....it was trashy experience.

[Mike2131]

Regent is our favorite line. We cruised on the Windsurf around Italy about 2 years ago, and we couldn't believe how good the food was. It was as good, or BETTER than Regent. The service was excellent.

 

Very laid back, and not much in the way of entertainment, but we loved every minute of it. So much, that we are booked on the November TransAtlantic from Lisbon to St. Martin.

Helaine

The feedback regarding the on-board experience has been very positive. The laid back atmosphere and casual dress (formal wear has never made the food and wine taste better) will be welcome. The scarcity of organized evening entertainment will not be a problem for us. We have pretty well tired of the production showns and anything simple and low-key will be welcome. The port intensive itinerary will probably make for early evenings anyway.

 

Thanks again and enjoy your Trans-Atlantic.

[SailorJM]

Brazzelman, thanks for the updated information about Windstar and its parent company. Since we are booked for Jan 9 Costa Rica, there will be time to see how this all plays out.....we got insurance, of course (third-party, not thru Windstar).

[chicagogal]

...definately with insurance. We were booked on one of the Regent Navigator cruises cancelled due to the accelerated dry-dock. We have always been intrigued by Windstar and the current flash offer was too good to pass up. It fit our "locked in" time frame (mid-December), the price was very appealing and we really liked the itinerary.

 

We understand the financial crunch the parent company is facing, but just wanted to get some first hand feedback. The few reviews seem very favorable. For those who have recently sailed, how is the quality of the service, cuisine, and ship upkeep been on the Wind Surf? Advice or tips?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

The Windsurf was excellent in late May when we did the Grand Prix cruise from Nice. Staff and food were great. Sports staff were very good too and we used the sports platform the most ever in 9 Windstar cruises.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[chicagogal]

Its a Nice to Rome cruise - couple of ports on Corsica along the way - decided to continue on the Rome to Venice sailing as it was an alumni sailing.

 

Nice! We sailed the reverse (Venice to Rome) in September 2007 on the Windsurf and really loved it. Venice is fabulous!

[Mike2131]

The Windsurf was excellent in late May when we did the Grand Prix cruise from Nice. Staff and food were great. Sports staff were very good too and we used the sports platform the most ever in 9 Windstar cruises.

 

Enjoy your trip!

It is great to hear these glowing reports, even in the face of the economic crunch. We are looking forward to becoming Windstar converts.

[brazzleman]

I'm no business guru, but Wall Street seems happy with the following announcement as the company's stock went up 75% on Friday (now trading at $1.42)

 

SEATTLE, Sept 11, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Ambassadors International, Inc. (AMIE) today announced a restructuring plan to reduce its outstanding debt by up to $70.5 million. The restructuring plan involves:

-- A planned exchange offer for up to all of the Company's $97.0 million of outstanding 3.75% convertible senior notes due 2027 ("Convert Notes"). -- Assuming 100% of the holders of the Convert Notes accept the offer and elect to exchange their Convert Notes, the proposed exchange consideration to be offered will be comprised of: -- $26.5 million aggregate principal amount of newly issued 10% senior secured notes due 2012 ("New Notes") on which interest will be paid in kind (or in cash at the Company's election); and -- approximately 22.3 million shares of newly issued common stock, which will represent approximately 66.67% of the Company's outstanding common stock, immediately following the exchange offer. -- Holders of approximately 59.5% of the aggregate principal amount of the Convert Notes have entered into separate exchange offer commitment and support agreements with the Company pursuant to which the definitive terms of the exchange offer will be agreed and such holders have agreed to exchange their Convert Notes for the newly issued New Notes and shares of common stock in the exchange offer.

[mexicobob]

I am just commenting about the Carnival corp remark

well run organization ??

I think they Carnival Corp absolutely let down Cunard when the takeover took place and also their own Carnival cruises are just a risk to and basically rubbish to experienced cruisers thats mine and alot of others opinion I never met anyone who is a repeat cruiser with exp on other companies who really liked a Carnival cruise also the comments on youtube are sketchy ...if I was desperate I probably would go and try to ignore the basic concept but to me its just a cruise on a very nice looking ship with a let down of a company treating people like sheep. (sorry sheep !):rolleyes:

Terrible experience the last time I cruised Carnival the waiters didnt turn up to our table of 8 then we ended up at the Pizza bar most nights.

They ended up sending a crew (spy) to our table to intimidate us when I complained. ....it was trashy experience.

 

I am "an experienced cruiser". I have always received outstanding service on Carnival. Have noticed that on any venue some people receive the service they deserve.

 

MexicoBob