Thinking of Windstar

We have sailed on HAL, Carnival, Celebrity, Viking ( river) , Costa and RCL before. My wife is uncomfortable with the thought of a smaller ship in the open waters compared to a much bigger ship. Is there any more rocking due to the seas?

We did the Panama Canal cruise in December 2014. We didn't find the ship to have hardly any rocking and rolling. Our cruise after sailing through the canal sailed close to the coast of Panama and Costa Rica. This is one reason we think there wasn't a lot of motion. We really weren't out in the big ocean.

Many of Wind Star cruises seem to stick close to the coast lines so I would think it would be pretty true. Of course if you hit a storm there really isn't anything any ship can do except stay in port.

We have sailed on Wind Star's 180 passenger ship, 600, 1000, 1500 and 4000 passenger ships.

We were on a 600 passenger Dolphin cruise line ship many years ago and hit terrible storms. We were a rocking and a rolling like there was no tomorrow. They had the barf bags every six feet down the corridors.The hull of the ship had no paint on it when we finally made it back to the last port. Nothing will ever be as bad as that!

The sailing ships have great stabilizers also with sails you can set a course to help stabilize the ship. If there is enough time and space they can reset a course like when they do a crossing. We have had very smooth sailings but then if there is surf, high winds movement will happen. After all it us the ocean. WS does a great job of doing their best for passengers to have a smooth sail. Can not compare to the large vessels have only been cruising on WS. Happy Sailing Susanne

The most honest answer is "maybe, maybe not." It all depends on the weather and the location of the cruise. We were on the small Windstar sailing yacht in February in the Caribbean and did not find the trip at all rough or annoying. We did take our Bomine, which is cheap insurance against feeling ill. We had a fine time. LittleRedJohn.

We were on the inaugural voyage of the Star Legend in May, Rome to Barcelona. Very little motion, and we loved the cruise. My wife has somewhat of a problem with "motion of the ocean", but she was OK. Note all cruise ships give out Meclizine and the front desk if there's motion issues and passengers are getting queasy - no cost, no need to visit the Dr.

Worst I have ever experienced was on the Disney Dream which I want to think is about 4000 passengers. Second worst was on the Paul Gauguin which is around 350 passengers. Smoothest sailing I've ever had was the Wind Surf. No one can control the seas, and in my experience the stabilizers on the Windstar ship I've sailed in worked as well if not better than the large ships I have been on.

Motion can be quite subjective. We have been on the small Windstar (128 passengers) and twice on the Windsurf. I am very prone to seasickness and have everything with me from Bonine to a natural oil, Motion-Eze and sea-bands. I chew ginger gum and drink ginger-ale. But I do that on all cruises...regardless of the size of the ship!

The small Windstar cruise was very rocky. But it was an unusual time and the Captain commented on it. He couldn't tender in one day because of the rough seas. The crew was most attentive. On the bad day....I sat on deck. The Windsurf is a larger ship and both cruises were just fine. I had maybe one or two uncomfortable days. The ships do have stabilizers but they are not as stable as the Royal Carribbean Oasis....but then again you're with 300 of your "friends"....not 5000 of your "friends"!

As some of the posters said....it truly depends on the weather and the ocean at the time you are traveling. My Windstar small ship cruise was unusual. The Windsurf cruises were more typical. The Captain does stay as close to shore as possible and for the most part the Caribbean, for example, is most calm. I personally will not go back on the WindStar....but even being prone to seasickness... I would go on the Windsurf. We liked the Windsurf better.