We did a Windjammer honeymoon too. We sailed the Flying Cloud in the British Virgin Islands in 1999. It was great!! I have only been on one other cruise- a Carnival 4 day cruise, that I probably wouldn't repeat.
Pros:
*very casual- no dressing up for dinner, although my DH did get lightly chastised one morning for not wearing a shirt in the dining room.
*if you care to, you can help raise the sails. Most people did this the first day only, but it was fun.
*smaller ships=less people. The chances of hanging out with your fellow passengers making new lasting friendships is better on the smaller ship.
*smaller ships=smaller ports of call. The Windjammers can pull into ports that can't handle the large cruise ships. We saw some really unique places.
*RUM PUNCH!! 5 o'clock every day- Free rum punch on deck!
Cons:
*if you are prone to seasickness, you will be more affected on a Windjammer than a big cruise ship. I am very sensitive to seasickness, so I was very worried about this. How I got talked into a sailing honeymoon, I will never remember. I felt a little nauseous on the first night, but took a dramamine and went to sleep. Next morning, I had my sea legs and it never bothered me again that trip. Some other people on the boat had those prescription patches behind their ears and reported they worked well. I didn't hear one report of seasickness after the first day.
*menu choices- if you are very picky, this may be a problem. They usually have 2 choices at each meal
*cabin size- one word- SMALL! Every cruise ship's cabins are small, but windjammers take it to an extreme. We had a honeymoon room so it had a queen bed, it hit 3 walls. If you book a standard room, there is a better than average chance that you will be in bunkbeds, although the lower berth is usually large enough for 2. Top berth good for storing suitcases.
Overall, we had a great time, and would recommend it. Especially if you are an active and laid back type of person. If you like to be waited on and like the frills of a big cruise ship, it is probably not for you. We are planning to go back for our 10 yr anniversary.
BTW, stczt- you were on the Fantome? Did you get the book The Ship and the Storm? We were in planning mode for our honeymoon when that happened- it was so sad.
Sorry for the novel, OP. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.
We like the relaxed atmosphere. I loved not having to dress up for dinner. If you get sea sick easy you may need something. the boat was small enough we felt waves expecially whe we were eating dinner and the chandileers were swinging. The boat we were on went down in a hurricane a few years after we were on it. Dont worry the passagers got off, but our sweet captian went down with his boat.
