Our cruise was the "Yachtsman's Caribbean", a 7-night round trip voyage to/from St Maarten, with stops in Antigua, Tortola, Virgina Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and St Barths. This was my 10th voyage on the Wind Surf, including 3 voyages when the ship was owned by Club Med. I guess I am just a repeat offender?

As usual, we flew into St Maarten a few days early (always a wise choice) and spent 2 nights at the Sonesta Beach Resort and Casino at Great Bay, from where we could look across the water at the cruise ship dock. See my review on Trip Advisor for our great stay there. We boarded the ship right after 1 PM, and the check-in was completely seamless. We settled into Cabin 151, located very near the front of the ship, just a few steps from the steps/elevator up to the Veranda and the AmphorA restaurant. Prime location! Only nit was that a few of the pillow shams were slightly frayed. I was also pleased to see that the L'Occitane "Verbena" soap was back, although I missed the shampoo and body wash. Soon we were sailing away to the strains of "Conquest of Paradise", and marveling at the fantastic sunset.

First step was to get to know the crew, as they are the heart and soul of Windstar. Several of the crew remembered me from past voyages, and greeted me by name. Even one of the deck hands recognized me! First stop was at the Customer Service desk, where I picked up a Windstar windbreaker that I had bought on a previous voyage, but inadvertently left on the ship. The Wind Surf crew found the windbreaker for me, shipped it to Seattle, then transported it by courier to the Wind Surf so that I could pick it up. I later bought several other articles of Windstar apparel in the ship's boutique. Read more