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You know how on those large cruises you walk into the boat and there is this grand staircase and you look around and there are about a thousand people trying to get on board when you are. There are lines all over the place and everywhere you look there are scores of people. Well if you book a Windstar Cruise you won’t see any of that and oh what a blessing it can be.
The Wind Surf is the largest of their sailing ships and she is quite amazing with her 5 sails blowing in the wind.
The main reasons we picked a Windstar Cruise was because it was a sailboat, there were fewer passengers and it seemed like it would be a more personal environment. With 310 guests and 201 crew there is the opportunity to get to know the other passengers and the crew on a more personal level. They say the crew will know your name and it is true.
Another thing that enticed my husband as the sports platform. While the boat is anchored the back of the boat can open up and they have lots of sports toys you can place with. They have a giant trampoline, catamarans, snorkeling equipment, stand up paddle board, kayaks and even water skiing. The only issue is if the waters are rough they will not open the sports platform.
The ship has a great feel and is elegantly decorated and the pool looked inviting enough to sit down and relax and have a drink from the bar as you hang around the pool conversing with other passengers or just laying on the deck chairs soaking ups the warm sun.
The stateroom was a good size and we didn’t feel squeezed in like sardines. Our stateroom was more than likely on the lower end since we didn’t pay a bunch and we were on the lowest level of the boat where passengers stay, right at the waterline. The crew cabins are actually one level below ours. By the way, yes there is a dvd player in the room and a Bose iPod speaker with an Aux cable so you can attach any phone or device through the headphone jack. This was good to see.
Everything we needed for our excursions were on our bed the first day and our elf would come in and turn down the bed daily and put the next day’s schedule on it. The bed would also be made every morning. Our elf was named Tissa and she was amazing and was hidden most of the time but on the last day we finally got to meet her and she was so nice and sweet.
Now we all know that one of the main things on a cruise is the food. On the WindSurf the food was amazing. I must say there weren’t the choices like on a larger ship with anything you want any time of the day. Though there is food available 24 hours a day. There is a menu for room service which you can order from 24 hours a day (there is no additional charge for this). There is a small cafe open from 6am to 6pm with sandwiches and such. The Veranda where breakfast is served was open from about 7:30 to 9:30am depending on what time we ported and then lunch was from 12 to 2pm. There were three places to have dinner, Candles, Stella Bistro and the main dining room AmphorA. Candles and Stella Bistro are by reservation only and AmphorA does not need reservations. All restaurants are open from 7pm to last seating at 9pm. With a Windstar Cruise there is no formal night and you can sit with as many or as few people as you want. One night during the cruise there was a barbecue on the deck, with tons and tons of food all other restaurants were closed this night. The food had almost anything you can imagine from shrimp, lobster, steak and chicken and all kinds of side dishes and many desserts to chose from.
In The Lounge and in The Compass Room there was entertainment every night. The bands were the Mellow Yellow (which was a singer) in the Compass Room, and The Lounge had Nextstage Band. They were amazing and had such a variety of songs that you just sat there singing along. This is the lead singer of Nextstage Band she had a great voice.
I will go further into our cruise on the next post, but in the meanwhile if you would like to take a Windstar Cruise please visit their website. We had an amazing time and will more than likely find ourselves on a Windstar Cruise in the future.
