it was recommended as an exclusive luxury style yacht cruise which would provide more time in ports and access to ports other ships could not get to. In fact, we were at ports after all other big ships arrived and disembarked and had to leave prior to the other ships embarked. The upkeep of this ship is extremely disappointing as the upholstery is torn and frayed, some furniture have broken legs and badly stained. the furniture is from the 80's and it has not been refurbished in some time. it is scheduled to go in for a total retrofit. The menu on all 3 restaurants is very limited and mediocre. There is limited entertainment (one duo playing music), no cruise director to create any kind of activity. it is very boring and lacklustre in every way imaginable. This ship is in worst condition than most ferries that transport cars and people. They do not honour the description of their excursions either. Last excursion said that the bus would drop you off at your hotel with your luggage. That never happened and you were left to fend for yourself trying to get a taxi along with all the other passengers that were stranded. All in all, this is the worst experience I have through all my cruise lines and I have cruised all over the world. I would not recommend this ship for any reason. Read Less

We just returned from a Baltic cruise on the Windsurf. My husband and I are a well traveled couple in our early 60s. We have only taken one "big" cruise boat tour which was to Alaska on another line. I just don't care for ships with 3,000 passengers and all that those crowds entail. The Windstar cruise line fits our needs perfectly. This was our 2nd cruise with Windstar, the first on the Surf. We aren't looking for a lot of onboard entertainment options and appreciate good food and the casual atmosphere. We always choose to have dinner with other passengers and have met some very interesting, well traveled people. On this trip, Windstar had invited a guest lecturer who spoke to the passengers on , "The Romanov Dynasty" and "Deception in WII". (all pertinent in Norther Europe and Russia) These lectures were extremely interesting and very well attended. The 3 excursions we took were enjoyable with knowledgable guides. We did hire a private guide in St. Petersburg (not through Windstar) and were very happy that we did. I heard positives regarding Windstar's St. Pete's tours however they did not go into a few of the sites that the private tour did. Our special event evening was a Russian ballet, "Swan Lake". What a memorable opportunity! Our cabin had been upgraded to a suite (321) which was spacious and we definitely appreciated. Our previous experience was on the Star Pride which was an all suite vessel. (Pride is smaller than the Surf and we actually like the smaller size better) All in all, a very good experience and we plan to travel this line in the future. Read Less

This was our first sailing with Windstar and we were looking forward to the "Luxury" experiences that they advertise. We were sorely disappointed. We are seasoned travelers. This was our eleventh sea-going cruise and we have sailed with other luxury lines, so we know that our expectations were not out of line. We sailed with Crystal twice, and Seabourn four times and never were disappointed. We sprang for one of their more expensive suites - came to over twelve thousand dollars, so naturally our expectations were high. We did like the itinerary - Northern Europe. Sailed from Copenhagen with stops in Northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, then to the North Sea with stops in Amsterdam and Belgium. The shore excursions were very enjoyable, though pricey. The problems were with the service. The staff that deals with the public could not adequately speak or understand English. We have never encountered this before. It was close to impossible to understand some of the waiters. It was very difficult to make our needs and wishes known, to the reception desk, to our steward. Some specific mishaps: a non-existent wake-up call; extremely hard pillows, when I asked for down pillows was given more of the hard ones, asked a second time, same results - ended up sleeping without a pillow for the next six nights; minibar not refilled, then filled sporadically, but charged us as if it had been restocked; whirlpools closed more often than open, info book in room stated they were open until 11pm, were locked at 9pm. Food was only average. Twice I had lamb chops, both times they were tough and flavorless. You could not hear the announcements in the room. I called reception, they said to go our into the hallway if I wanted to hear them. No clock in the bedroom. Safe was located on the very top shelf in the closet at the very back. I had to climb on a chair to be able to open and close it. The door to our patio did not seal well, heard a whistling wind and felt a draft all night. Read Less