Wind Surf Review
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My Wife and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary aboard the Wind Surf on the Glitter & Glam of the Rivieras tour (Barcelona-Rome) Sept 20-27th, 2014. The key to this cruise is knowing what to expect, so you're not disappointed. We chose it mainly for 3 reasons: 1) the ports of call, 2) the intimacy and personal service of a small ship, and 3) small ship access to the ports.
We're experienced cruisers and travelers. Here's our honest opinion of our trip last week.
THE SHIP: This gal is 26 years old and shows every bit of it. She's tired, rusted, requires a ton of lipstick and daily maintenance to appear reasonably presentable up close, but from afar, she's got an amazing silhouette, classic lines and turns heads everywhere she goes. It's far from a luxury ship as frequently described, but it has a certain character to her that is rather appealing. It holds just over 300 passengers so it's small and therefore not at all crowded, intimate, and is able to access ports that monster sized ships don't. The staterooms are updated, comfortable and exceptionally well designed with plenty of storage and built-in 115V (US/Canada) and 230V (Europe) power outlets. There's a well appointed gift shop that's quite reasonably priced and stocks anything you might forget, and some nice memorabilia. This ship is surprisingly stable. It has very tall masts which offer balance and stability. The ship is 600 feet long and has very little rocking motion. It is however 28 years old and mechanical noise does transfer through the ship. Fortunately, the captain uses the sales virtually all the time while sailing at night which reduces/eliminates use of the engines. We've cruised on much bigger ships that are quieter, but have much more noticeable rocking motion than this ship.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Stateroom
Our stateroom 236 was updated a number of years ago. The room is spacious with many built-in features for entertainment and storage. There are extra overhead bins for storage and the bed is raised to allow all your luggage to be stowed away nicely. The bed is queen size (Canada/USA standard) and the support under the mattress is uncomfortable, much like sleeping on a cot or pullout couch. The pillows and comforter are very nice. The heating/air conditioning in the room works very well. We traveled in hot sunny weather and the room remained nice and cool at all times. There are no balconies in the state rooms, just 2 small round window ports, which are very rough, rusted, and fogged up (installed 26 years ago), with nice curtains to hide them. The washroom is traditionally sized (tight) with single sink, rounded toilet cubical, rounded shower cubical with curtain and great water temperature and pressure. The overall condition of the rooms is good, with obviously visible signs of aging (loose pot lights, delaminating shelving, broken & scratched furniture). Once again, we used this ship as a water taxi from port to port, so we didn't spend much time in the room other than to sleep and get ready for the day. For that purpose it was plenty comfortable.