2025 Caribbean Cruise: Observations

 2025 Caribbean Cruise Observations

OVERALL WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME, AND REALLY ENJOYED CRUISING WITH OUR COMPANIONS MB AND RF

THB AND RF ARE CELEBRATING B'DAY #76 IN FEBRUARY...WE COULDD BE TWINS EXCEPT RF ALREADY HAS A TWIN...TRIPLETS?

THB lost a backup pair of glasses and DB found his missing red trunks

The Caribbean 

1. The water around every island and every beach was this gorgeous  turquoise and very clear. 
2. Snorkeling was site specific, generally rocky coastline was best. Don't expect pretty coral or much fish. THB is going to Maui in June and will report on the snorkeling there. 
3. The islands changed  after 2017 when Hurricane Irma wiped out  much of their infrastructure. There are very few birds, blown elsewhere. A number of houses have been denuded, leaving just concrete walls.
4. The last two years of increases in the water temperature have hastened the loss of hard coral. There aren't many fish  in the best spots, very few species. However the water is very,  very clear, with visibility down to 20+ feet, and thus you can see fish in deep water.
5. THB and DB hardly visited the small towns where the Wind Surf anchored. Small to dinky, monotonous small shops. THB had no interest in touring on land. 
6. The Ocean Bay Beach Resort in St. Maarents was just okay, nothing special. Better than the all-inclusive in Baja where we spent 3 days watching Canadians drink themselves silly.
7. Almost no one smoked...on the ship, off the ship
8. COVID masks were seen, more in airports (5%?) than elsewhere

Wind Surf (the Ship)

1. The suite was very nice, shower terrific, plenty of closet space 
2. One of two thermostats had its wires crossed and warm setting = cold air. We told maintenance not to open the  ceiling to fix the problem until after we departed.
3. Our cruise mates' TV never worked.
4. One of two broken tenders never worked, one was repaired mid-cruise; this helped get excursioners off-loaded once one was operational. 
5. There is on US outlet and one European outlet per room (not enough for the typical cruiser nowadays)
6. Overall the staff was extremely friendly.
7. The sailing was at night and we never got a good look at the sails.
8. The intercom in the cabin was turned off, so the door had t be open if THB or DB needed to hear general announcements. Three should have had been a switch in the cabin so cruisers had the option to turn on or off (most of other ships have this capability)
9. Food in general was very good, though as the week went on basics started disappearing.
10. The Marina (where water equipment could be checked out) was suppose to be open from 10-4: well what does "daily" mean? what does 10am mean?
11. Consensus among other cruisers: Wind Surf service levels have continue to drop over time. 

WindStar (the cruise line)

1. UH OH!!!! CODE RED!!!!! 

COMMUNICATION FAILURES ABOUNDED: Almost too many to itemize

• Not easy to get hold of the Miami customer service center
• Wind Surf excursion staff was left out to sea when Miami excursion information was out to sea (lost data sets?)
• Credits showed up on our AMEX statement before our departure with no explanation
• 5 of 6 excursions listed on Day 1 were unavailable when we got on board and the excursion desk was left out of the loop. After talking to the staff and management, THB felt like the truthiness was of epidemic proportions.
• Dinner reservations were available starting on Day 1 at 4pm aboard ship; nobody told us 
• etc.
• etc.
• Consensus among other cruisers: WindStar service levels may have continued to drop over time and they keep signing up, over and over again (19 times was the highest we heard, 4 or 6 was common)

OVERALL WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME, AND REALLY ENJOYED CRUISING WITH OUR COMPANIONS MB AND RF

Book Review

The Devil At His Elbow, Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty, Valerie Bauerlein (read by Maggi-Med Reed): How many generations of lawyers does it take for a family tradition to end in disgrace? Not that many given the right set of conditions: strong sense of entitlement, concentration of power, opioid abuse, inbreeding in a small community, and the ability to bully and cow the local citizens into submission. Highly Recommended (THB will watch the Netflixx series soon)