DO NOT BOOK this directly with Wind Star. Once they reeled you in, they never treated you like the customer. We found out other guests paid way less when they booked last minute. We paid top dollar only five months before the cruise and offered us nothing except a small credit to be used only on the ship. Nothing compared to the 66% less than other passengers paid. Moreover, when Wind Star ...
Concerns about Turkey and Istanbul in particular before leaving the US. These concerns were quickly overcome by this 7-day cruise from Istanbul to Athens. Stayed at the Pera Palace for a couple of days prior to departure and toured the city. Istanbul is a great mix of history and modern, the hotel spectacular!
Embarkation was a breeze and the ship was in great shape following its recent dry ...
We arrived early and enjoyed a very quiet Istanbul. People were friendly and we so enjoyed our second visit there. Embarkation was extremely smooth! They had plenty of employees to do each step of the embarkation process and there was no line when we arrived.
This was our first cruise with them and will not be our last! Just loved it. All the cabins on the Wind Star are the same so decks ...
Acknowledging we're not "cruise people" and have no real desire to be on a huge ship after spending the afternoon in SanTorini with the crowds getting to the dock, so I have no comparison to the big ships, but we have taken Viking and they were better in every category in comparison; communication, food, tours, structure. WindStar seems to be lacking in communication in a lot of areas. We ...
I need to preface this with the fact it was our first cruise, we are no strangers to sailing, sea travel and world trAvel but we had not been on a cruise before. Therefore i did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions from small luxury cruise lines. Overall this was a good way to see many places without unpacking a bag continuously.
The disappointment level was quite high. We were on a 6 ...
We were on the Windstar week of June 7 to 14,2014 Istanbul to Athens.
It’s a great itinerary, Istanbul, Kusadasi ( for Ephesus & surrounding area), Rhodes (Old City is terrific), Bodrum ( we toured Castle & went to Bitez beach via dolmus-bus), Santorini (Oia), Mykonos then finishing up in Athens. Every port stop was just wonderful.
The ship experience is different (better) than large mainstream ...
I will be a Windstar cruiser for life after our 2nd voyage with them. After a wonderful week on board the Windstar going from Istanbul to Athens with 5 stops in between it got even better. I had left my University of Florida Football National Championship ring in our stateroom when it fell out of my backpack. Our wonderful steward, Cecep, found it and had it forwarded to our Athens hotel before I ...
We were first time cruisers since we never really had a desire to spend 7-15 days with 3,000 people!! Windstar was wonderful!! Small ship, small number of people, no young children running around, no rock climbing walls!! Loved the serenity of sailing close to the water. Loved the freedom of not having to wear fancy attire. Loved the crew and the open bridge! Loved the cabin and the laundry ...
I had difficulty finding a current Wind Star review when I was searching in late August so I decided to add one.
We took advantage of an amazing bargain on the Sept. 5 cruise from Istanbul to Athens. A charter was cancelled and the whole ship had to be rebooked in 4 weeks. Needless to say it was impossible to pass up so after getting air to Istanbul we booked it.
After embarking on large ...