Considering Windstar?

When I heard the news that Windstar had purchased the beloved little sisters, I began looking a bit closer at their itineraries. I had sailed several times on the Club Med 2 (identical to the Windstar Windsurf) and loved it before discovering Seabourn in 2009. I have followed many of the reviews for Windstar, but never found a review from past Seabourn passengers. Since my top 3 favorite cruise lines didn't offer cruises that worked for me in my designated vacation window, I decided to give Windstar a try.

I am now back home with lots to share. Unfortunately, I was not on one of the triplets, but on their largest sailboat the Windsurf. I already knew that the cabins were only 18 sq m so I booked one of their double cabins. It was great having two bathrooms.

Signing for drinks was not as much of an inconvenience as I expected. We ordered a bottle of champagne each evening in the lounge and it followed us to our designated dining spot. What kind of scared me upon embarkation when they propose the drinks package was that the bar manager did not know the difference between champagne, vin mousseux and cremant. For him if it came from France it was automatically champagne. It was a good thing that we asked to see a bottle of their "house champagne" and decided to pay as we go.

The service was very good. The majority of staff are Indonesian and seem happy to please. It was a pleasure watching their line dancing, it was clear that they were really enjoying themselves as well. I would compare the service to Seabourn as perhaps less sophisticated but more sincere.

The food .... Everything that I tried was very good. However, once again, less sophisticated than Seabourn. There was very little creativity and shell fish was very scarce. One exception, the langoustine tails at the deck bbq were overflowing, plus they were half-peeled from their shells and very easy to eat.

Entertainment was limited to two musical groups. A duo from the UK that played nostalgic music and a Filipino band that made me feel like I was back on the Legend, Spirit or Pride. There are no shows or dancing under the stars.

Fellow passengers - I think that we can all agree that one of the pluses of the 3 yachts was that it was very intimate and easy to get to know other passengers. For some reason this cruise felt a bit less intimate. The ambience was very casual, which I prefer, but it was more of an Urban Outfitters casual as opposed to a Country Club casual if that can describe it without sounding like a snob.

One thing that was far superior to Seabourn, the LAUNDRY PACKAGE. I loved it. 109$ for one week unlimited laundry and pressing. And get this...same day service. I always choose the laundry bags as part of the rewards privileges, but this is waaaaay better.

Would I sail with Windstar again? Yes, the overall experience was very good, but I prefer Seabourn, SilverSea and Crystal (in that order).

Two other points that I wanted to mention but forgot (jetlag).

1) For those with food allergies. My husband has critical food allergies. The restaurant manager made sure that he had a menu 24 hours in advance, he chose his dishes and the meals were prepaid in consequence. On Seabourn, even with the new ticketing at the entrance to the restaurant, the allergies have never been taken as seriously.

2) Excursions, on all cruise lines, are at times not cancelled due to weather conditions even though they sometimes should be. We were scheduled for a beach excursion on a day that it rained all morning. At the meeting time for the excursion the rain had stopped and the tour operator was going ahead with the trip. We were informed that it might rain again and those of us who wanted out could back out. It was very fair play and much different from a negative similar experience I had on Seabourn a few years ago.

Many thanks for your observations.

No not considering Windstar anytime soon.

A few months back we spent 10 days on Wind Spirit around French Polynesia. We had not been on Windstar for 5 years. The only reason we chose this was that we were in the area (well NZ only 5 odd flying hours to Papeete, which is short for us!) we had never visited before and any Seabourn was wrong timing for us.

We found Windstar to be greatly improved. Besides the refurbishments everything seemed to have been taken up a notch.

Service was excellent (inspite of fewer passenger/crew ratio) Everyone knew our name within 1 day, everyone went out of their way to be friendly approachable and responsive.

We found the food had improved a lot; I felt it was equally as good as Seabourn without maybe the high end choices.

And we absolutely love the laundry package, the best value package at sea, especially if you have been travelling beforehand!

We did not take the drinks package but had no problem finding something to suit our tastes. The "chit signing" was more discreet, no having to sign the minute your drink was delivered etc., rather waiting until you decided to move on and then a quick scribble, with usually your room number already put in for you, such was their service.

Officer interaction was ok, but not greatly in evidence and only a few hosted tables over the 10 days.

The open bridge policy when at sea means you can spend time with them and have interesting, informative and meaningful discussions.

The signature events, such as the Motu picnic and deck BBQ were excellent, well organised and great entertainment.

Would we sail Windstar again? Most probably if the itinerary was right. Will we sail Seabourn again. Almost certainly though we have yet to experience the big ships and are a little apprehensive.

I have sailed both Seabourn (Sojourn) and Windstar (Wind Star - sailing ship). The two products are not really comparable, nor should they as they offer different levels of inclusion, staterooms/suites, balcony vs no balcony etc.

We took the Wind Star cruise of the Grenadine islands because we really wanted to do a sailing ship experience. I agree with the OP on pretty much all accounts. The service is wonderful, although a bit different than Seabourn, the food good, and the other passengers/experience a bit more casual (but not tacky). I have been on Seabourn and Regent cruises with with many more tacky, self absorbed, classless people than I saw on Windstar but that is just my experience ( and maybe a factor of the size of the ships). That comment is contrasted by the many wonderful people we have met on all cruise lines.

The main reason I would probably not sail the Windstar 3 sister ships is that they do not offer great value. Windstar priciNg is high for what you get. I would forger to pay a few more dollars and go with Seabourn for a better overall experience ( I would not say that for Regent, which I think is way over priced).