Greek Isles &Istanbul
 

We sailed on Wind Spirit May17, 2003 from Istanbul to Athens. Ships capacity ie 148, we had 98 passengers, 14 paid full price, the rest were travel agents recruited 2 weeks prior to cruise date. Of course, they were traveling at a discount. At times, that was very irritating. Sorry that so many Americans were afraid to travel to that part of the world. We loved Istanbul, Bodrum, Ephesus, would return to Turkey in a heartbeat. Greece is a bit different. Greek islands are too touristy. Oh yeah, that looks just like the picture. the blue church dome. Cruise was very nice. But very expensive for what you got. Food was nice,good, but nothing special. Hate that service charge on every drink. Even sparkling water. Service was spotty. We had one great waiter in the dining room and when we saw him at lunch and breakfast. Other wise they were indifferentand more interested in setting up for the next meal than serving cruisers. Room was good for a cruise ship, bathroom was roomy. We would do the same cruise again, but would like the travel agents discount.

Mary-
They probably did a MAJOR discount to the travel agents in order to get SOMEONE to cruise on the ship during that time....

Med cruise booking were WAY WAY down and lots of people were cancelling right and left due to the Iraqi conflict...That is the only reason there were so many TA's aboard.....

Normally, they only allow a few TA's to go for super deals since the ship is soooooooooo small......

We did a cruise years ago and the same thing happened to us....but is was a ship that they were trying to promote to American's and therefore they gave TA's a great deal....Of course, we were not TA's , but we did NOT let this bother us as we had a blast!!

I have been on the Windsurf ( no special deals ) also in May -- a few years ago...but there was no Iraq conflict and the ship was FULL - hardly saw any travel agents-In fact, only saw 2 that told us they were....
The service was FABULOUS--the food was GREAT- the cabins nice- we had ABSOLUTELY NO COMPLAINTS at all....

In fact, we wanted to do the Windsurf again this past Spring ( the Barcelona to Nice sailing) but since the Iraq thing came up , we decided NOT to book....Now, I can kick myself...

I LOVE WINDSURF- and my hubs is a confirmed WINDSURF passenger due to the country club atmosphere and NO coat and tie required in the dining room...Upscale casual is the way to do a European cruise....

Sorry you had all those TA's--but I doubt seriously if that will ever happen again......

Mary, Great to hear about Turkey from somebody who's been there recently.We have been seriously considering this itinerary and are very interested in the condition of Wind Spirit and your disappoinment in the food. Also how was the weather in May? Thanks, RB

We did the wind star last summer Iatanbul to Athens Very relaxed, laid back ship with very good food and lovely well educated passengers, mostly around 50. Nothing to do on the ship except focus on your significant other, which was just what the doctor ordered. (there were loads of them on the cruise. Would do this type of cruise, and these ports again

To: rainbro
Weather in May was perfect, about 73 degrees in Turkey and closer to 80 in Athens. We only stayed in Athens one night, because we rented a car and drove to the Pelopennese area. The weather there was in the 70's. The day in Santorini was overcast. Other than that it was great. ...........Mary