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Treasures of Spain and Portugal 2024
Anyone going on the Spain and Portugal trip in April 2024? It doesn’t seem to be a popular month. What’s the weather like in April on the Wind Surf?
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Anyone going on the Spain and Portugal trip in April 2024? It doesn’t seem to be a popular month. What’s the weather like in April on the Wind Surf?
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April is perfect. It is more important to check if the renovations to the Wind surf are done. The ship , rooms are dated and old. Has not been renovated in 20 plus years. Can not recommend
According to the Windstar website, the redesign of Wind Surf was scheduled to be completed in 2024 and 2026. I don't know if COVID has moved those dates.
Wind Surf
Travel Weekly says the Wind Spirit will undergo a full remodel to be completed in 2025, while the Wind Surf will be upgraded in two phases, one in 2024 and the other in 2026. The update will include a full redesign of all public spaces, including new layouts, furniture, wall and floor coverings, lighting, and custom art.
Not done. I would not go on that ship until it is done. Best
Ship is old and beat. Plastic furniture is outdoor dining areas. Needs heavy rehab.
I’m in Sint Maarten and about to board the Wind Surf tomorrow. I was last aboard in 2020 after it’s most recent renovation. They had added some staterooms by splitting some of the suites into their original configuration. They also rebuilt the lounge putting the stage where the casino used to be in a central location. Zantara has done a great job maintaining the ship compared to the previous owners. I will give it a good look in the next few days and report back We have not been aboard for a few years, but during our fourteen cruises on Wind Surf we have observed the effects of a number of renovations. There are always things that need to be done, and they work on it constantly while underway. The hot tubs are always a bit of a problem, but all the ships I’ve been on have trouble with hot tubs.
We were on it in April. No renovations. Room were terrible however the shower was incredible. Could be a stunning ship. It is old and best. Nicest staff however ship is sloppy and food is so so. No a great trip. Very unorganized .
Ok. I don’t often offer rebuttals but this is necessary. I was walking on the pool deck on day two and a woman stopped me to ask about my Wind Star T-shirt … “you must be a regular?” I said yes. She said, we have never done this and we love it. More later … we are on vacation.
Well … a little more rebuttal. We have been back for a while after two weeks on the “Surf”. There were a few first cruisers that I met and they all loved it. Most of the guests were previous Windstar guests. A surprising number prefered the smaller boats … Wind Star and Wind Spirit. They are all being totally renovated in the next couple years, in two phases. The food was very good, the service superb. We thought we might be the most frequent Windstar cruisers at the welcome back party … we have 154 days on Windstar … there was a couple there that had 300 days on Windstar. We of course knew several of the crewmembers, and we had our favorite waiter “Daddy”. Sailboats are not for everyone. Windstar’s rebuilt “Star” ships are all suites, and beautiful. So if you are into a ‘comfort’ experience, versus a ‘sailing’ experience … go on the ‘Star’ ships. We have been on all of their boats and the food and service is as good as you are going to get on a boat. There are 3.3 passengers per crewmember on “Ion of the Seas. There are 1.6 passengers per crewmember on Windstar. If that’s not good enough try Silversea. You get your own butler.
Sealord - Did the ship ever use the sails? When we were on the Wind Star they went up once for 15 minutes while standing still! I realize a lot has to do with the wind.
They sail quite a bit in the Caribbean. We actually had too much wind to sail during much of our last cruise. I have seen it do around ten knots on sail power alone. I once got up at three in the morning when I was awakened by the engines being shut down … a Naval officer thing. We went out to see them cruising along with twenty six thousand square feet of sail … no engines. They were making bread and pastries in the galley and the smells were amazing. When you are going from point A to point B on a schedule, sailing often does not make sense, but it is fun when they do it.