As our 10-day vacation “Jungles and Jewels of the American Coast” cruise involves an finish, it’s time to replicate and summarize our general impressions of our first expertise on a Windstar Cruises’ ship – the Star Legend.
My topline takeaway: Having taken dozens of cruises, this one ranks proper on the high as certainly one of our favorites.
Star Legend is among the six ships within the Windstar fleet — three are motorized (Star Legend is one) and three are crusing ships. Actually, Windstar prefers the time period “yacht” to “ship.” And for good purpose. Size-wise, they’re like mega yachts, with visitor capability measured in a whole bunch as an alternative of hundreds.
On our voyage, there are 230 friends (capability is 312) and 200 crew. Of that quantity, 91 are first-timers. Windstar boasts a big base of repeat clients.
But past measurement, Windstar — whose motto is “180 degrees from ordinary” — delivers a yacht-like expertise for his or her friends, from attending to our each have to calling you by identify after the primary day. The workers, high to backside, on Star Legend is first fee, beginning with our room attendant, Davis, who performs like a private butler with out being intrusive.
There are not any formalities right here. Guests and crew alike work together with a causal friendliness that evokes the sensation of a household vacationing collectively. The overriding feeling is loosen up and make your self at house, whether or not that’s lounging by the pool or having a latte within the Yacht Club.
As is the case with most small ships, you received’t discover a on line casino onboard, or flashy Broadway productions, water slides or nonstop actions 24 hours a day. But the shortage of these is strictly what makes this type of cruising so enticing to many, who yearn to see the world in type, having fun with nice meals and repair alongside the way in which. It’s good that the senior officers freely combine and mingle with the friends — even the Bridge is open for visits throughout sure instances.
Our stateroom is de facto extra a collection, with a separate residing space, walk-in closet and upgraded tub. While the dwell TV channels are restricted (I did expertise soccer withdrawal), it provides dozens of flicks on demand and a few nice music channels. Our favourite playlist is Windstar Signature, with 100 songs that actually match the temper. There are additionally loads of plugs, each USB and in any other case. And for the primary time, we didn’t make the most of all of the accessible storage, one thing of a Christmas miracle.
The majority of Windstar cruises are centered within the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, with one ship serving Tahiti year-round and others that journey to Australia/New Zealand. They are presently reserving journey by the top of 2024.
The solely hiccups on our cruise was the cumbersome check-in course of, which I perceive is considerably dictated by Miami port procedures, and the standard of the WiFi, which may use some upgrading. I don’t depend the climate points — that’s not in anybody’s management.
So general, I’d fee our Star Legend cruise a 9.5 on a 10-point scale. It simply doesn’t get a lot better should you’re celebrating the vacations at sea.
We are grateful to Windstar Cruises in addition to All Things Cruise for this cruise story.
10 Night – Miami to Miami – Windstar Cruises Star Legend (cruisecompete.com)