In Which Jane Flunks Luxury Caribbean Cruising
Everything about Windstar cruises is perfect. For other people. Unfortunately, not for me. I had had enough of my luxury cruise 2 days into our 7-day sail and jumped ship on Day Four.
Which would puzzle other people … actually, pretty much anyone would think my husband and I were out of our minds. I mean, what’s not to like?
The drama of the sails … five enormous computer-controlled sails rise up from the ship’s beautiful teak decks. Spectacular.
The staterooms … romantic, with generous bottles of L’Occitane beauty products. Queen-sized beds and amazing water pressure in the shower. Beautiful sea view 
Upon first sight, I pronounced the room sex-worthy.
Food … all you can eat with unlimited room service included in the price of the cruise.
Speaking of service … gracious, efficient, always with a smile.
The spa … fab. Hot stones massage a deux with my husband. Amazing.
Destinations .. a new one each morning. We docked at Bequia, Dominica, and St Lucia, all new places for me and each interesting enough.
Bequia, part of St Vincent
But.
The ship bored me. I felt trapped. I tried tried to relax and … couldn’t. I read everything I’d taken with me and most of a Booker Prize-winning novel I purchased at a cute little bookshop in Bequia. I fiddled with the iPod docking station and the DVD player … watched one of my favorite movies, the in-this-case blessedly long Shawshank Redemption.
Slept (etc) … a lot.
Something was definitely missing. I was having fun but not being nourished. Everyone eating at the same time, everyone in town at the same time, everyone carrying their Windstar totes …. It was like being at camp with turn-down service.
Nothing about it challenged me; my biggest decisions in a day were whether to dine in Theme 1 restaurant or Theme 2 restaurant or sign up for Fun Activity 1 or Fun Activity 2.
That's me … the weird don't-make-me-cruise person. Bequia in the background.
Flew home to Barbados from St Lucia this afternoon on LIAT, “Leave Island Any Time” airline. Love being off that ship. Love it.
Most people would call a Windstar cruise the ultimate in luxurious relaxation and they’d be right. Most people would love every pampering moment of this Leave-Your-Brain-At-Home holiday. We met (intelligent) folks on board who’d been on ten-plus Windstar cruises.
I take my Windstar-logo hat off to them.
9 Responses to “In Which Jane Flunks Luxury Caribbean Cruising”
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Perhaps you were just homesick; you wanted to be back booking rooms!
Hey, you don’t even know me, Stephen … and yet you seem to know me all too well! Truth is, if I’d had high-speed wireless internet, the cruise would have been far more enjoyable for me. Because, truth is, I love to work more than anything else.
Everything about this cruise sounded perfect but…
No high speed… this would also drive me nuts.
You look radiant! And Bequia is really beautiful.
Gosh, thanks, Ashmita (blush). And, yes, Bequia is a special place.
Hammer, you may be like me: everything in life is better with high-speed. How’d we ever live without it?
You’re still the best at putting words together to make people laugh, blush, dream, and want to know who that is behind those “Foster Grants”…….er…..RayBans????
I love you two!!!!
Gosh, my dear friend, thank you for visiting my blog and even leaving a comment. Barbados is a place on this planet I find inspiration … it’s almost like falling in love with a really good man — even as you become aware of his less-wonderful qualities, his inherent goodness and specialness still weigh far more heavily in the equation. That’s what Barbados is for me, a place with a soul – and a place I fall more in love with over time.
You know me and sunglasses, my dear. Never enough.
You sound like me: pokey dial-up connection is worse that not having internet at all! It’s high-speed or just-forget-it-I’ll-do-without.
thankyou lots, I must comment that your website is amazing!