Windstar Cruises
Wind Star Cruise Review
Tahiti

Doug Sturgess/Jeff Riley

Age: 41
Occupation: Physical Therapist/Manager
Number of Cruises: 11

We have sailed on the Windstar once before on the Mayan Riviera and decided to take the Tahiti cruise 2 weeks, back to back in July/August 2004. We had a great time, but the service in general was not up to the standards of our first sailing a few years ago.

The reason we're posting this information is to let the public know how our experience was handled both onboard the ship, then later by the corporate office. We were shocked by the poor service by a few individuals on the ship and even more surprised by the response to our concerns by the corporate office. What follows is the letter our letter, then their response.

September 15, 2004

Sandra Scragg
Manager, Marine Hotel Operations
Windstar Cruises
Seattle, Washington

Dear Ms. Scragg,

We recently returned from the July 30 and August 6 back-to-back Windstar sailings in Tahiti. We received a letter in our stateroom from you during the first week of our stay inquiring about our satisfaction and our general expectations. We completed our surveys while aboard but want to bring some things to your attention directly.

Our first Windstar cruise was in 2002 in the Mayan Riviera and our expectations were certainly exceeded. We raved to many of our friends (and acquaintances on subsequent cruises) about how amazing the Windstar experience was. Two close friends, Jon Eichelberger, MD and John Rochat, MD, decided to join us for this two-week Tahiti vacation based upon our previous experience with Windstar Cruises. Unfortunately, none of us had the experience we expected from such a leader in the industry.

For example:

Host & Hostess Chantal & Jean Michel’s attitude in general was unfriendly and 180 degrees opposite of what any passenger would expect to receive aboard Windstar.

The shower in our first stateroom -102- would provide only very hot water. At first, this was only extremely uncomfortable. We reported it to the receptionists and were told maintenance would be contacted. The following day we hadn’t heard anything, so we asked our stateroom steward if anything was being done. He told us that it was a big problem and it couldn’t be fixed during our cruise. He suggested it might have to be fixed in dry dock. By the third day, the problem had worsened and the scalding hot water made the shower unusable. We had to shower in our friends’ stateroom and at the poolside shower, so we decided to escalate the problem to Marco van Belleghem, the Hotel Manager. Within 30 minutes he determined the shower was unable to be fixed that week and promptly moved us to stateroom 138. We were pleased that Marco was extremely professional and responsive but disappointed this was not the initial response from reception.

At the end of the first week, we received a letter from Chantal & Jean Michel (see attached). It specifically stated, “We would like to offer you the possibility to change your stateroom for the next cruise. If you accept, you will be moving to stateroom 104.” We told them we would rather stay in stateroom 138 to avoid moving our belongings once again. They told us it was not a choice despite the wording in their letter. They stated they couldn’t change the manifest since that was controlled by the Seattle office.

We didn’t receive a simple apology for any of our inconvenience for the scalding shower or having to move to 3 staterooms in 2 weeks. To the contrary, we were made to feel that we were an inconvenience to them. On our first sailing with Windstar, we were very impressed that we once received a written apology in our stateroom for a minor inconvenience.

I asked Chantal at another time early the first week how I could hook my digital camera to the TV in our stateroom. She said it was impossible and offered no further assistance. Later, on the advice of the dive staff, I contacted the Communications Officer, Iain (I apologize for not having his last name). He was happy to come to the cabin and show me how to easily attach my camera. I was very happy since I’m a photographer and wanted to view my photos while on board. Iain was very kind and genuinely interested in helping me. It was disappointing that Chantal did not offer to check with anyone else before telling me it was impossible.

We wanted to take the tour of Papeete scheduled for disembarkation day, August 13, but found out it was cancelled. On other vacations we have simply hired taxi drivers who provide tours, but we did not want to wait until we got to the dock and waste time looking for someone. Our friend Jon volunteered to ask Jean Michele & Chantal if they could help us arrange an informal tour. By this time, all of us dreaded dealing with either of them, but we thought they might know someone reputable that would offer a quality tour.

The morning after signing an agreement for the tour, Jon told us it was arranged and he was pleased it was only going to cost $70.00. He was not sure if it was $70 per person or per couple. When we asked about the price, we were told it was $700.00 – not $70.00. We consulted with our friends and decided to cancel the trip. Chantal told Jon that she had his signature on the form that said $700.00 so there was no way to cancel the tour. Jon should have paid closer attention before signing the form, but I don’t think he was expecting a four hour taxi tour to be $700.00 and was caught off guard. If we would have planned this tour with the same operator, he said he would have charged less than $200.00 for the four of us. We fully expect Windstar Cruises to make a fair profit; however, Jon’s misunderstanding of the price was rooted in his confidence that Windstar Cruises would not take such advantage of its guests. Given our other experiences, we are not sure if this was Windstar policy or simply “Chantal” policy.

The second week of our trip included special events for Windstar alumni. Our friends, John and Jon, had completed a 7-day Windstar cruise the previous week so they assumed they would be included. When we discovered they were excluded, we explained the situation to Chantal and Jean Michel and asked them to include our friends so we could all participate together. They said “no” and told our friends they would have to fill out some paperwork and send it into the Seattle office to become Alumni.

Of course, John & Jon were in the middle of French Polynesia so this was an impossible task. Regarding the Foremast Club, Windstar’s website states

“Cruising with Windstar automatically enrolls you in this complimentary club. Benefits include special discounts and invitations to onboard events such as special receptions with the Captain.”

Since John and Jon’s previous cruise had just occurred, it is understandable that your systems would not yet be updated. However, it was not understandable that your onboard staff lacked the common sense to remedy the situation and managed to be rude and unempathetic as well. We felt badly attending the two functions without our friends. Something Windstar invested in to thank its repeat customers was turned around by the Host staff into a negative experience.

Dive masters Linda & Bart were friendly but did not deliver the high quality of service we experienced with Dave & Dianne Kelsey on the Mayan Riviera cruise of 2002.

They did not take care of our privately owned dive suits and gear. They told divers they would take care of only Windstar-owned equipment and everyone else would have to take care of their own. It was very difficult rinsing our gear properly the first several days in the scalding water in our stateroom. We were advised that if we did not keep our equipment in our cabin, it might disappear. On our previous cruise, Dave & Dianne rinsed, hung and stored our private equipment after each dive and did an incredible job. On subsequent cruise vacations following our first experience with Windstar in 2002, we told all our diving acquaintances how wonderful Windstar is for divers because they make it so easy – not this time.

The large rinse tanks on the Sports deck were never changed the entire first week of diving. By the third or fourth day there was so much sediment and bacteria growing in the tanks that they began to smell. Still, the tanks went unchanged and Linda & Bart continued to “rinse” the equipment in the filthy water. One tank was labeled “disinfectant” and the other was labeled “water,” but we were told by Bart that they were opposite of how they were labeled. It was unclear all week long which tank was which.

In contrast to the above, here are a few examples of Windstar meeting our expectations on this cruise:

Dive masters Tim & Carrie delivered excellent service our second week comparable to Dave & Dianne Kelsey (what we now consider the gold standard).

Tim and Carrie replaced Linda & Bart during our second week and did an incredible job, especially considering the mess that was left for them. They had a nearly impossible task, yet diligently organized and cleaned all the equipment prior to our first dive of that week. They demonstrated the highest degree of professionalism as dive masters and we had a wonderful week under their care. They deserve special recognition for their hard work, professionalism, and friendly attitude.

Captain Ian Wardhaugh was genuinely friendly.

We enjoyed our long talk with the Captain during his reception for Alumni. We had a lot in common -- especially regarding diving. Following the trip, he emailed us to apologize for our disappointments and assured us that he would have corrected some things if he would have known about them during our cruise.

Other personnel were “Windstar quality” including bartenders Mark and Mandy, and electrician/engineers Neil and Nick. Neil even replaced the screw that had fallen out of my eyeglasses.

We don’t often take the time to write letters to companies, but we felt compelled to write this one because we want Windstar to maintain the standards that first impressed us in 2002. We hope that our negative experiences were unusual and realize it is difficult to manage a business like yours without customer feedback.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Riley & Douglas M. Sturgess

The response from HAL:

To paraphrase, they apologized for our experience and said it was the exception to the norm, which we understand. However, in response to our concerns, they assured us the Host & Hostess "...feel that they both have many good qualities that will make them a success with Windstar cruises." There was no mention of the $700, four hour tour of Papeete that would normally cost $75 per person and no mention that our friends were denied Alumni status to attend the Captain's private reception on their second week of the cruise (they had paid full price for both weeks). HAL thanked us for our thoughtful comments and looked forward to seeing us again on Windstar.

We were both shocked with our treatment by the Host & Hostess aboard the Windstar, but even more shocked to hear HAL's response to our concerns.

With 11 cruises under our belts, we know that these types of experiences can happen. However, we expected a more responsible response from the company after bringing our concerns to their attention and we are very disappointed. When others ask us about cruising in the future, we're most likely not going to remember the first fabulous sailing with Windstar, but the last sailing and the company's lack of response.

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