Our Southern Italy and Croatia cruise on the Wind Surf was wonderful. I would gladly relive each day again.
Wind Surf Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45
Review summary
The cruise was wonderful, the destinations interesting and lovely, the staff and crew exceptional.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food in the main dining room was delicious. I do not eat meat and there were always delicious vegetarian and fish options available. The soups were particularly good, so don't pass those up.
Onboard Activities
There are not a lot of activities on board ship compared to a larger ship, but that was perfect for us. We enjoyed the activities during our one day at sea which included a fruit carving demonstration, time for the spa, a tour of the galley, and time to just relax. There was always music available in the evening to listen to and a small casino. If you want a lot of ship board activities, Windstar is not for you.
Entertainment
Service and Staff
The staff is outstanding, friendly and helpful.
Ship Quality
We love the small ship experience. Our stateroom and the entire ship was always clean and well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
If you want a ship with lots of activities, do not sail with Windstar. If you want a small ship experience that goes to interesting ports, quite often those ports the large ships do not go to, and you want a friendly staff and enjoy looking at lovely sunsets and the stars at night, then Windstar is for you.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Truthfully, we did not spend time in Civitavecchia. We took the Windstar transfer by bus from Rome and went directly to the ship. Be aware that Windstar offers this transfer for a rate far below any rate you will get from a private company and that you do not have to take the entire hotel and transfer package through them in order to get the transfer.
We took the tour to Pompeii and found it extremely interesting. We also had time to walk around Sorento which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Lipari, Italy
We enjoyed Lipari, particularly because it was not full of tourists. We had the most delicious cannoli from a street vendor. We hired a private car with driver to take us around the island. There were several at the port when you disembark the ship, so no need to book this in advance.
We booked a "Godfather" tour through Sicily Shore Excursions with another couple and thoroughly enjoyed visiting the small towns, church, cafe and train station where parts of the movies were shot. It was also nice to get into the small towns of Sicily.
We rented a van and driver when we got to Brindisi and went to visit Albertobello, which is a charming and unique town, and to a beautiful beach.
We did not book an excursion, but instead just walked around the town and had a lovely day.
Montenegro is absolutely gorgeous. Make sure to be out on deck at sunrise as the ship enters the fjord like entrance to Montenegro. You will take lots of photos. We took a ship excursion that took us into the countryside. We had a great guide and it was an interesting and beautiful excursion.
I went on the Adriatic Sea Adventure excursion which included the "blue cave" which I did not feel was worth the money. The "blue cave," although fun to swim in, was not the color blue I had seen in photos of blue caves in other areas. We spent most of the time pulling other passengers on the zodiac around on an inner tube, which was not an experience I was interested in. Dubrovnik itself was very crowded because some large cruise ships had dislodged their thousands of passengers.
Hvar was a charming port to walk around. I hired a private guide to take me kayaking for a few hours, which was a lovely experience, although the there were a lot of swells in the water and I was glad that the guide, who was a lot stronger than I am, was on the kayak with me.
Venice is a wonderful and unique city to visit. Once we figured out how to get around by vaporetto, we loved it. I would advise taking a private water taxi to whatever hotel you book rather than a vaporetto, unless you take the cruise package in which case the transfers will be included.
Disembarkation
Traveler Photos
